Disclaimer – As cool as it would be to be a member of Team Heller, it's evident I'm not. Therefore I don't own any part of the Mentalist TV series and am not making any money off these stories.
Didn't have time to send this to my dear beta readers Cumberland River Relic and make-mine-a-kiaora, so I hope you all still find it acceptable. It's just as well for you because CRR and MMAK can concentrate on their own writing to share with you. Go check out CRR's latest chapter of I Remember You, where Jane returns to Lisbon as promised; it's a touching (and passionate!) scene. And Chris (a.k.a. "make-mine-a-kiaora") has a chilling tale called "Fire and Ice" which I personally hope she expands beyond the one-shot it currently stands as.
Anyway...please enjoy this next chapter of Ready or Not.
Chapter 54
When the doorbell rang, it was the last person they expected at the door.
Teresa stared intensely at the line of dominoes on the small card table, trying to bluff Patrick into choosing the opposite end to place his tile. His smug expression told her it didn't make any difference. He placed his tile, blocking her only option to play. She dropped her shoulders with disappointment. As she was about to indicate that she had to pass, the front bell sounded.
Patrick looked puzzled at Teresa and rose to his feet.
"It's not Mrs. MacGyver," he quipped. "She'd just come in."
Teresa chuckled and started to rise also.
"No, I'll get it. You stay and think about your next move."
"What move?" she groused.
"You have one," he said, patting her shoulder.
"Wh-? Have you been looking at my tiles?"
"Don't need to." Then he left.
Once more she glared at the tiles, taking time to compare each of her remaining pieces to the rows in play. What the hell was he…? Well, damn! She had gotten so hung up on a particular combination, she failed to notice another perfectly logical play.
The door from the stairway opened and in stepped a tall, somewhat heavy woman looking around the living room cautiously. She would have been a stranger to Teresa if her neat, styled hair hadn't been a distinct combination of bottle black and bleached blonde.
"Bo! What are you doing here?" She stood up from the card table and crossed to the front door.
"Well, at least you recognized me this time, Reesie," she said, grinning from ear to ear. "Handsome here knew me by both names."
"He's…good with things like that."
They hugged, Bo giving her a massive bear hug.
"God, I worried about you! I saw you down those drinks and then you disappeared. Next thing I know you're in the paper getting proposed to. I figured you were staying at Tommy's old apartment, so I looked it up in the phone book. Had to check on you."
Heat rushed through Teresa's face and she looked at a grinning Patrick.
"Yes, it was a bit of a flurry." C'mon, Patrick, save me here.
"Bethany, can I take your coat?"
"Huh? Oh, no, no, I'm not staying. I am on my way to pick up someone from Midway; the flight is delayed. I thought I'd stop by and invite you to Thanksgiving at my house." She glanced at the card table and folding chairs borrowed from Mrs. MacGyver and then the playpen in the living room. "What's that for?"
"My great-nephew…who…uh…"
"We are the legal guardians of a beautiful four-month-old baby boy named Daniel. And after the adoption application is processed, we'll be his proud parents."
Bo's lips pursed into an 'oh' and her painted eyebrows arched over her dark eyes. She looked over to Patrick and then back again.
"Wow, Reesie, when you set out to handle a situation, you really tie up all the loose ends. Marriage and baby? All this because Tommy died?"
God, where to begin explaining it? She opened her mouth when gurgling sounded in the baby monitor. Daniel was waking from his afternoon nap.
"Reesa, why don't you get Daniel? See if he needs to be changed. I'll give Bethany the highlights of the trip so far."
She flashed Patrick a grateful smile and turned to the bedroom as she heard Patrick begin with "Herein lies the tale…"
The little boy was looking around with a slight look of distress on his face, as though trying to decide whether to start with crying or to go straight to screams. As she leaned over his crib, the unhappiness faded into blankness and then a big grin spread across his toothless mouth.
"Love you, Little Man," she said, smiling as she picked him up. The aroma of full load wafted up. "Papa was right. Time to change you."
She moved over to the changing table, one of the last remaining pieces of furniture in the room besides the bed and the nightstands. Attempting to distract the boy, she made silly noises and exaggerated faces as she removed his soiled diaper and cleaned him up. After examining Daniel's bottom, she nodded with satisfaction and finished the change. She secured the final sticky tab and checked the tightness, then leaned toward the baby monitor.
"The rash is nearly cleared up, Patrick."
She heard footsteps in the hall so she looked around. Bo hurried through the door, grinning broadly, arms outstretched. Patrick sauntered in after, looking every inch the proud father.
"Lemme see! Lemme see! Oh, lookit the little angel! You just must bring him with you tomorrow!"
Teresa looked at Patrick who shrugged and nodded.
"We didn't make any plans for Thanksgiving," he said.
"Great!" Bo said, taking the baby, gleefully bouncing and looking into the child's face. Daniel looked back, his face going from shock to terror. He began to cry, waving an arm back to Teresa.
It took every bit of restraint not to snatch the child from her friend's hold. She felt pain in her chest until Bo transferred him back, making sympathetic noises.
"You poor kid," the tall woman said, gently stroking the little arm now wrapped tightly around Teresa as well as it could. "You really miss your mommy and only Aunt Reesie makes it better, huh?"
"Weeellll…Uncle Paddy is an occasional fair substitute," Patrick said. "But yes, Daniel knows when someone is there to protect him against any boogie man who might come."
"I bet," Bo said, grinning again. She turned and moved toward the door. "Well, dinner is at three. There will be another baby there, my six-month-old granddaughter Caylee, but I have two rocking gliders in the family room and a big playpen. The more the merrier!"
They followed her to the living room. As she closed the buttons of her coat, Patrick held the door for her.
"So what's your address?" he asked.
She looked at his hands and then at Teresa.
"I have an exceptional memory," he assured her.
"3356 South Wallace."
"3356 Wallace. Phone?"
"773-555-2901. That's my cell."
Teresa watched the familiar blankness in his eyes and smiled with appreciation when he 'came back' from his palace. He smiled at her too before nodding to Bo.
"Bethany, we'll see you again tomorrow. Do we need to bring anything? Dessert? A bottle of wine?"
"My mother-in-law is a little Mexican lady who started baking this morning for the big feast, and my husband and I manage to get a pretty good discount on booze. If you know any new jokes – dirty or clean – I hope you'll bring them. I've heard my dad's jokes about two dozen times." She grinned at Teresa. "The same jokes he was telling us in high school."
Teresa had to chuckle as the memories of really lame humor animated by a tall wiry man waving his arms and pulling facial mugs with each line. She loved Bo's dad and had been slightly jealous how he expressed his love for his daughter while her own dad was rarely sober enough to give her the time of day, much less a smile and a joke. Still, Bo knew how it was at home for her and occasionally let Teresa 'borrow' him.
"I know a couple I can share," she said. "We'll be there."
"Well…try to remember a few cop stories, too. My brother-in-law is Sheriff over in Lake County, Indiana. All he ever wants to talk about is police stuff."
Laying a gentle hand on Patrick's arm, Teresa nodded. "We probably have a couple of stories we can share. See you tomorrow."
To be continued…
