Page 6 of Russian Daddy

“And you live alone?”

“I do. I bought a little cottage on Eighth Street.”

“See, now I’m a little worried. Do you have a security system or anything?”

“No. Do you think I should?”

“No question. We can take care of that today too.”

We arrive at the lumber yard where my order has been waiting for pick-up. Torin tosses the boards into the truck like he’s tossing around sheets of paper. Once the truck is loaded, he tells me to wait a moment and follows a salesman inside. I sit in the truck looking out at Main Street.

There are a few people milling around as usual, but one man catches my attention. He looks out of place in this Norman Rockwell-quality scene. He’s wearing a suit with dark sunglasses and leaning against the brick wall in front of the pharmacy. Before Torin got off the train, there were only two men in town who regularly wore suits. One is the only lawyer in town and the other is the Mayor.

I can’t see his eyes but I think he knows I’m staring at him because he quickly walks off toward Church Street. Torin returns to the truck seconds later, carrying a large shopping bag. He tosses the bag in the back and hops inside.

“You should have been here a few seconds ago. You might know the man who was standing in front of Kroner’s Pharmacy.”

“Why do you say that?”

“Because you dress alike,” I answer and a concerned look comes over his face.

“Which way did he go? Did you see him get into a car?”

“No, he walked that way.” I raise my finger to point. “Toward Church Street.”

Torin peels out of the lumber yard and turns left toward Church Street.

“I was just making a joke. I don’t expect you to know everyone who wears suits.”

He tries to play it off, but I can tell something isn’t right.

“Isn’t Eighth Street this way? We’re going to your place, right?” he asks.

“No, we have to drop the lumber at school. That’s the other way.”

“Oh, yeah, right. Well, I’ll turn around when I get to an intersection.”

“You’ve already passed three.”

He looks at me and says, “You were still talking,” then takes the next right.

I ponder my next move carefully. I know that something’s going on, but I don’t know if I should press the issue. He’s made it obvious he doesn’t want to tell me. After what happened yesterday though, I don’t want to be caught off guard again. “Should I be concerned about that man?”

He puts his hand on my thigh. “You shouldn’t be concerned about anything.”

I can’t explain it, but I believe him. I think that if we were driving through quicksand, I’d still believe him.

We drop the lumber off at the school then head back to my place so I can make us lunch. When we arrive, he pulls the shopping bag out of the back of the truck.“Tess, I have your security system. It won't take long to get it installed.”

“Oh, you didn’t have to do that. I was going to call one of those companies tomorrow.”

“They’ll just rip you off. It’s better this way. Besides, it’s easy.”

“Okay. Well, can I help?”

“No. You go start on lunch. I need to make a phone call, and then I’ll get started. Pop’s toolbox should have everything I need.”

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