Page 10 of Night Blind

“I don’t want to impose,” she said softly.

“You’re family; you are supposed to be here,” he said, reaching for the book on the coffee table.

Cherry rose to pour her cousin a glass of wine as Helen took a seat in the additional recliner he’d purchased for Helen when she came over on Friday nights to watch movies. She had a placein this home, and she understood where she fit in. Tonight, she’d done something small for him that had meant a great deal. Once a week, if she could, based on her new schedule, she’d give back to them in any way she could help.

Chapter 4- School

To say it would be unusual for Mark Neary, Chief Deputy of the US Marshals Field Office in Lexington, Kentucky, to arrive at the Blue Campaign Campus of Homeland Security for a personal visit would be up there with a vegan entering a steakhouse. Everyone watched through the glass office partition as Michael Neary looked up in surprise at seeing his father standing at his office door. His assistant Scarlet hadn’t informed him of Mark’s arrival, and people watched in awe of the interaction between father and son. A few made comments about actually witnessing Michael Isaac Neary smiling and showing emotion at the surprise visit. A collective sigh, along with a few ahhs, and awws, resounded through the workspace when father and son embraced. Mark Neary placed a gentle kiss on his son’s temple while the son embraced his father as if he hadn’t seen him in months, although they had been together the previous weekend.

“This is a surprise, Dad; is everything okay? Mom, Rebecca? Uncle Joe?” Slow asked with concern covering his face.

“Can’t a man come to take his son to lunch, catch up, and talk about getting in some hunting this season?”

“Of course, of course, but you seldom, if ever, come into the offices in Louisville. Are you hunting someone?”

“Son, I came to take you to lunch and have some man time without the womenfolk,” Mark said. “We are outnumbered and surrounded. They are trying to overpower us and make us have conversations about vaginas. That child of yours hit me in the mouth again when I tried to kiss her, so I’m here to file a complaint with the management.”

Slow laughed loudly, making everyone in the office turn to stare at this version of the man they’d never seen. He was relaxed, grinning and talking to his father as if they were old friends. His boss Jerry Steinfeld noticed the shift in the energyof the floor, making him barrel from his office to barge in on the fun between the men. He entered the office without knocking, a detail Mark took exception to from the man his son referred to as his boss.

“Mark Neary, to what do we owe the honor of this visit,” Jerry asked, extending his hand.

“Came to take my son to lunch, Steinfeld,” Mark said, staring at the man as he would a felon.

“Dear Jesus, the way you Neary’s look at people is very disconcerting!”

“Well, you can always concert in your own office, over there, since no one asked you to come over here,” Mark said with a smile on his face. The smile was menacing and unsettling, and Jerry knew better than to offer anything more. He nodded his head and left the office, standing outside the glass walls, peering in as if he wanted the last puppy in the kennel but was twenty dollars shy of the cost.

Mark turned to his son, “I always assumed you took the scut work to lessen the time you had to work in this place and for a weasel like him.”

“I keep the job as a cover, and I’m good at what I do,” Slow replied.

“You any good at making me a grandson?”

“Daddy, I’m working on a lot of things, including myself,” he said, looking at his father. “I did some shit last night which made me look in the mirror this morning asking Michael Isaac Neary some questions.”

“Well, damn,” Mark said. “Any regrets?”

“No, but your grandson may arrive cursing and using dirty words no man should know until he’s completed two military combat tours in South America,” Slow said, laughing aloud again. “Daddy, that woman! Lord help me, that woman makesme stand tall, deliver, and look for shiny, sparkly items to buy her for no damned good reason, like this!”

He leaned back in his chair and opened his desk drawer. From the drawer, he pulled out a black velvet box and passed it over to his father. Michael shook his head as his father opened the box and let out a low wolf whistle. “This must have set you back a few bucks?”

“I spent half of the check from my last scut job on it,” Slow said, taking it from his father’s hand to place back in his desk drawer. “Right now, she has a simple band. I want to give her everything she deserves in life and more.”

“You truly love her. I can see it when you think no one is looking, how you watch her,” Mark said. “You watch her as if you find it hard to imagine she’s your wife.”

“It is hard to imagine that she is my life every day and gifted me with a beautiful daughter. Abigail is who I’ve wanted for years, but never felt I was man enough to break through the demons in her life, or if I wanted to be the one who held her when she woke up shaking from the nightmares,” he said.

“And now?”

“She vanquished her own demons, Daddy. She didn’t need me to ride in on my white Harley, guns blazing, to sweep her off her feet. All she needs is for me to be there when she comes home, and when she turns over at night to hit a solid support beam,” he said.

“What about the other one?”

“The Archangel made a visit and enrolled her in accounting classes,” he told his father.

Mark physically pouted as he leaned forward. “If she takes my handle of Slippery When Wet, there will be repercussions and consequences! I will show up and fight a mutherf…”

“Daddy, let’s go get some lunch,” Michael said, rising and laughing as he collected his coat. He passed by his assistant’sdesk to let her know he’d be off campus for a couple of hours. It did not escape anyone’s notice of the similarities between father and son as they stood in front of the elevator waiting for a car to arrive.

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