Page 75 of Jackson
His eyes lit up, and his eyebrows lifted. “Are you going to cook for us?”
Paula chuckled. “We both know that’s not a good idea. I’m going to heat up something.” She started to rise from the couch. “We have an entire kitchen filled with goodies from The Sweet and Savory Table.”
She giggled as he swatted her ass, and she hurried away.
Before she reached the kitchen, the landline started to ring. She frowned at Jackson. “Who would be calling that number?”
“Can you get that for me, Melda? It’s probably just a telemarketer, but you never know.”
She shrugged and took the cordless handset from the base. “Cagney residence.”
She was met with a pause and was ready to hang up when a familiar-sounding person asked, “Could I speak to Jackson, please?”
“May I ask who’s calling?”
“This is his brother.”
No wonder the voice was familiar – he sounded uncannily like Jackson.
Paula held her hand over the phone and said to Jackson, “He says he’s your brother.”
Jackson held out his hand. “Let me talk to him.”
Jackson watched Paula step away to give him privacy as he put the phone against his ear. “Hi, Harry. Long time no hear from.” Since Jackson was eight years older, he and Harry had never been close, but they were the only family each other had, and Jackson regretted the distance between them.
“I got a message from your boss saying you’d been hurt. Sorry I didn’t call sooner, but I’ve been out of cell range. Just back from Haiti. What happened? Are you okay?”
“I will be, but I’m laid up at the moment. I got into an accident at work and broke my femur. I also have a slight concussion. What took you to Haiti? Another MSF mission or have you found another way to save the world?”
“Don’t change the subject. Breaking your femur is hardly a normal accident, especially not for a cop. What happened?”
“I was rescuing a kid from a meth lab. I kind of got caught in the tag end of the explosion.”
“And you talk about me saving the world? Pretty soon you’ll leave the force and join me out here or you could always be a social worker. It might be safer than what you’re doing now. Please tell me you at least had body armor on?”
“Yes, Mother. I never go into a possible clusterfuck like a meth lab without at least my vest. I wasn’t going to leave a little five-year-old in there. Anyway, I’ll be fine. My surgeon is an old friend from college, and he says I’m going to be as good as new with some PT. Now what about you? Catch me up.”
They continued talking for almost an hour. The only thing that ended the call was Jackson’s stomach growling loud enough that Harry heard it over the phone. “I think we should continue this conversation later, big brother. Why don’t you go eat? I’llbe in the country for at least a month. Call anytime,” Harry finished.
Jackson called toward the kitchen, “Melda? Where did you vanish to? You didn’t have to go, you know. I wouldn’t have to explain everything if you’d stuck around.”
“I’m right here, Sir. Do you want me to hang that up?” She pointed at the phone.
“No rush. As you gathered, that was my brother Harry. He’s just back from Haiti, which is why he didn’t call sooner. I think I’ve only got his cell phone listed on my emergency contact forms, and he doesn’t always have access to service. Hence the delay in calling back. Of course, it could easily have been six months before I heard from him, too. This was only a week.”
“What was he doing in Haiti?”
“Saving the world. That’s his mission in life. He’s a nurse practitioner and jack of all trades. He was with MSF, Doctors Without Borders, for years. Now he’s involved with an organization called Partners in Health. He’s been helping with health clinics and such for the last year or so. Haiti’s had so many natural disasters and so much poverty that they always need help. Don’t get me wrong. I admire the hell out of him, but there’s always more to do, another disaster or civil war somewhere. I worry about him. It’s a dangerous world.”
“Says the man who almost died in an explosion right here in the good ol’ US of A. Does an attraction to danger run in your family or something?”
“No, but a desire to be of service does. My father was career Army, and my mother volunteered wherever he was stationed. I started off in the Army, too. Harry takes after my mother’s caregiving side, but both of us believe in doing our part to help people.”
Paula didn’t respond right away and merely watched him, unreadable as always.
Jackson found himself wondering about her family. She never talked about them. No casual mentions, no stories, not even the usual frustrations people let slip. What had shaped her into the guarded, controlled woman sitting across from him?
He was about to ask when the microwave beeped, cutting through the silence.
