He unwrapped another.
I cleared my throat. “Are you sure about this?”
He nodded adamantly. “I wouldn’t be asking if I wasn’t.”
My heart was frantically beating, threatening to explode with every slam against my chest. “What would I have to do?”
Howard unwrapped another Tootsie Roll and popped it into his mouth. “Oh, we’ll go over it, but don’t worry. I know without a doubt that it’s nothing you can’t handle.”
Disbelief forced a laugh from my chest as I shook my head and inhaled the stale scent of eggs and onions.
“Can I still sweep the floor?” I asked.
Howard’s laughter joined mine as he said, “I didn't expect you'd still want to, but, Soldier, if it makes you happy … sure. You can still sweep the floor.”
***
On my break, I burst through the door of The Fisch Market like a kid busted out of the building on the last day of school and hurried down to the library. Ray was manning the front counter, helping to check out a mother and her young daughter, when I walked through the door.
“Hey!” she greeted me with a grin until I pushed through the swinging counter-height door to bend and wrap my arms around her waist and bury my face against her neck. “Soldier …” She laughed with a touch of embarrassment, scanning another book and placing it in the woman's cloth bag. “You're not supposed to be back here.”
“I know. I'm sorry,” I muttered against her neck before inhaling her fresh floral scent and letting go. I hurried back to the other side of the door, where I belonged, and said, “I got promoted.”
Her eyes widened at the announcement. “Oh my God, really?”
I nodded, struggling to keep the need to bounce around bottled up tight. “You're looking at the new assistant manager.”
The woman—I thought she might’ve worked at the bakery—turned to me with a fond smile. “Congratulations, Soldier!” she cheered before taking her bag of books in one hand and the hand of her little girl in the other.
I thanked her before they had a chance to walk away, and then it was just Ray and me. Her eyes were on me, reflecting more pride than I'd ever seen in my damn life.
“We have to celebrate,” she declared, and that was how we found ourselves at the diner that night.
It was rare for us to go out to eat during the week and even rarer for Noah to accompany us on a school night. But exceptions had to be made, and it was a special occasion.
“So, you aren’t gonna clean the store anymore?” Noah asked as he brought his burger to his mouth.
I shook my head and swallowed a bite of my grilled cheese. “No, I'm still cleaning the store. But that's by choice.”
He wrinkled his nose and stared at me like I'd lost my mind. “You like to clean?”
“I actually do.”
He glanced at his mom, who glanced back at him and said, “I know. He's out of his mind.”
I laughed before taking another bite of my sandwich. It was hard for people to understand how I could enjoy cleaning. I mean, I got it—why would anyone like to handle dirt and grime, especially when it wasn't their own? And believe me, there wasn't much about scrubbing a filthy bathroom I could call desirable. But the results were, and that was exactly the point.
When I mopped and swept and polished the dirtiness away, I could stand back and admire the beauty that had always been hidden underneath. Sure, sometimes, there wasn't much I could do to give a dirty space a brand-new shine. The floor was stained, the carpet was sometimes worn and mottled, but, hey, weren’t we all? And did that mean we didn’t deserve to be fresh and renewed every now and then? Of course not.
“It's rewarding,” I said, giving them the abridged version. “And cathartic.”
“It's a chore,” Ray countered, her eyes dancing with flirtation. Her smile teasing.
I plucked a fry from her plate and pointed it at her. “Well, someone's gotta do it”—I popped it into my mouth and grinned as I jabbed my thumb at my chest—”and that someone might as well be me.”
“You enjoy yourself.” She snorted, her eyes twinkling with jest. “And while you're at it, would you clean my bathroom? Because I freakin' hate doing that.”
“Baby, I'd clean your whole damn house if you asked me to.”
Noah's eyes widened with hope and desperation. “Wait, wait, wait … does that mean I don't have to vacuum or do dishes anymore?”
I shrugged, eyeing Ray with a raised brow and a smirk. “Hey, if your mom says it's okay …”
He grabbed at his mother’s arm and tugged at her shirt. “Mom, do I still get an allowance if Soldier does all my chores?”
Ray glowered at me with a threat that said, You're sleeping alone tonight, as she replied, “Nobody is doing your chores for you, Noah.”
He pouted as she brushed him off and nudged her chin toward his burger.
“Now, finish up. We have to get back home soon. Don't forget that you have school in the morning.”
With a grumble, he took a begrudging bite. I polished off the rest of my plate while keeping my eyes on them both. A bolt of awe struck my heart as Ray bumped her elbow against Noah's ribs, and when he glanced at her, she smiled adoringly, and he couldn’t help but smile back.
This little mother-son duo was incredible. They had been through war. They had seen things I couldn't fathom, experienced things I wouldn't wish on anybody, and yet they remained strong and ironclad. Weathering every storm that came at them, unwilling to succumb to the damage. They had done it together, proving they didn’t need anyone else, and yet, somehow, they saw me as worthy of being included.
Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Officer Kinney approaching as his brood left through the front door. He smiled and waved when he saw he'd gotten my attention, then offered his hand for me to shake.
“Patrick,” I said, accepting the gesture.
“Soldier.” He waved at Ray and Noah. “Hey, guys. Sorry to interrupt your dinner. I just wanted to give my congratulations on the job upgrade.”
“Thank you,” I said, grateful for his acknowledgment and friendship. “Word gets around fast, huh?”
He chuckled at that. “Small towns. You know how it goes.”
“I do.” I nodded fondly.
“Ya know …” He hesitated as his face took on a somber expression, biting his lip and slipping his hands into his front pockets. “I'll be honest. I wasn't sure what to expect of ya when ya moved in. I liked ya enough after we met, but …” He shrugged and offered an apologetic grimace.
“I get it, man,” I said, unsure of where he was going with this.
“Given your past and family history, I'm sure ya understand.”
Family history?
I smiled as the gears in my head creaked to life while not wanting to dig too deep into the past with Noah present. “It's cool, man. You and I are all good—you know that.”
“Anyway, I just wanted to say, you've been a great addition to this town. And I'm not just sayin' that as … ya know … Mr. Cop. I say that as a friend. We're lucky to have ya. I truly mean that.”
I was aware of the stigma of a man getting publicly emotional, especially in the presence of another man. But the clenching of my throat couldn't be fought as I nodded and said, “Thanks, Patrick. But honestly”—my eyes flitted between Ray and her son—”I think I'm the lucky one here.”