Page 12 of Wait For Me
“Mom.” Mason stood beside her as he waited to put his plate and cup in the sink.
“Sorry.” She stepped back, staring at the dry faucet. “Emily, last bite. Then the two of you go get dressed.”
Emily bounced up from her seat, dropping a piece of bacon on the floor that Moose licked up with a single tongue swipe. “But what about the chain?”
The staples ripped through the green construction paper circle as Tessa pulled it apart. Two pieces left, one blue and one yellow. Only one more chain to break. She let is go and it fluttered to the floor. Emily and Mason both dove for it, but Emily caught it this time.
She held it in the air in triumph. “Two more days!”
And two days was too long to go without water. Three of them and you’d be dead. Tessa pulled her hair up into a messy bun and secured it with the elastic from her wrist. She really didn’t want to do this, but it was the right thing to do. “Alright guys, get your shoes on. We’re going to meet the neighbors.”
“But we already know the neighbors.” Mason hopped on one foot as he pulled his sneaker onto the other.
“How do you know them?” Tessa was trying to show Emily how to tie her laces again.
“Me and Dad met them. I thought you did too. They’re just this old couple. But Arthur is a retired Marine and his wife Sally gave us popsicles.”
Arthur? Tessa frowned. She definitely hadn’t remembered his name or ever meeting them in person. It’s not like she was anti-social or anything, but she hadn’t really met anyone since they moved here. Between the kids and the dog and settling into the new house right before Landon left, she couldn’t find the time. She knew she should have made some friends and formed some sort of support system before he deployed. But she didn’t and now she could count on one hand the number of times she’d had a face to face conversation with another adult in the last six months. If she would have reached out, would that have made things easier? Maybe you wouldn’t have sent that email.
Tessa cringed at the thought of the last words she’d sent to Landon and wished she could take them back. A moment of weakness and now she couldn’t even get in touch with him, or anyone else for that matter. Nothing like getting social media taken away to make a person realize how truly alone they were.
“We’ll be right back,” Tessa assured Moose as he glanced over his shoulder. He gave a small humph and settled himself onto the couch to wait.
“Not too fast,” Tessa called out when the kids raced ahead of her. She tried to think of what to say as she walked across the street. Sorry I took all our waterwasn’t the best introduction. But she reminded herself that she wasn’t going there to make friends. The right thing to do was to offer a bucket or two if they weren’t prepared. Even though her kids might need it and the cops were just here offering assistance. She almost turned back, putting an end to this stupid plan, but Mason skipped around the hedges dragging Emily by her hand and she had no choice but to follow them.
The driveway was lined with clay pots painted blue and red containing succulent plants with their fat green leaves that thrived in the desert soil. A wind chime hanging from the porch railing sang in the slight breeze, sending eerie notes along with the dust that blew across the yard. She’d never been close enough to their house before to see the two wooden rocking chairs that sat there hidden from view by the hedges. The garage door was open, the interior packed to the ceiling with shelves of organized bins, and the hood of the Dodge Ram sat propped open in front of it.
Tessa reached out to pull her kids back and remind them to behave, but the words got stuck in her throat when Arthur slammed the hood of the truck closed. The man’s hair was gray beneath the fading USMC ball cap. His skin was wrinkled with age and his belly stretched out his stained white t-shirt, but his forearms were massive with veins bulging against the skin. He was much bigger in person than from across the street and stared at her with such intensity that she worried he already knew about the water and was about to demand an explanation. She forced herself to give a neighborly smile.
“Sorry to intrude,” the words rushed from her lips. “I just wanted to make sure you guys were okay.” Arthur grabbed a rag and rubbed it against his fingers, paying close attention to his wedding band which he twisted around twice. The action made Tessa pause. It was so much like Landon’s nervous habit with his ring. “Do you have water? Do you need any? I filled up some buckets last night.” She left out just how much. No use in telling them you’re crazy.
Arthur grunted, turning away, and she took that as her clue to leave. “Come on kids.” The screen door to the porch swung open and a fragile woman in a pale pink house dress hunched over her cane as she stepped outside.
“Good morning,” Sally called out breathlessly. A smile lit up her light blue eyes. “Mason and Emily, right?”
Emily nodded, pulling her brother closer to the house. “Did your car get sick too? Mommy’s car got sick, but Daddy’s truck didn’t and his ship can’t get sick either. He’s coming home in two days.” Tessa resisted the urge to clamp her hand over her daughter’s mouth and drag her away.
Sally laughed. “We saw you driving it yesterday and didn’t know if your dad was home already. That thing sure makes a lot of noise. Mr. Arthur is fixing our truck up now and maybe he can take a look at your mom’s car next.” She motioned for the kids to come closer to the porch. “I made some fudge this morning, but I think I made too much. Would the two of you like to take some of it back home?” Sally glanced at Tessa with an eyebrow raised, the universal mom question hanging in the air.
“That’s fine.” Tessa sighed, feeling even more guilt. “About the water, I don’t know if your pipes are tapped out too. I filled some buckets and can bring one over. I didn’t think about both of us being up here on the hill during a power outage and I’m sorry for that.”
“How many buckets did you fill?” Arthur tossed the rag onto the workbench in the garage and reached down to pull a pan out from under the truck.
“A few.” She chewed the inside of her cheek, thinking about how truly ridiculous her panic must have been. No wonder the water stopped flowing after all she’d stored.
“Hush now.” Sally waved her hand dismissively in the air as she stepped through the door. “We have plenty of water. Never thought the tap water tasted right here anyway. Let me go get you your fudge.” A lizard shimmied across the porch and the kids dropped on their bellies to see where it was going next, leaving Tessa standing there alone with Arthur in the driveway.
She hugged her arms over her chest and tried to make small talk. “Did you figure out what’s wrong with your truck?”
“Nothing’s wrong with it. It just needed an oil change.” He screwed the cap on the drip pan.
“Oh. I thought maybe it had the same issue as my Kia. There’s a bunch of other cars that broke down on the streets too. I wasn’t sure what happened.” She shook her head, trying to clear the image from the gruesome car accident from her mind.
“Did you turn it on right after the power went out?” Arthur asked.
“Yeah. I had to go get Mason from school.”
“You probably got zapped at just the right moment then.”