Harkham's Corner (Harkham's Series Book 3) (33 page)

“Hi, London. I’m Zach, and I’m crazy about your sister. Do you mind if I take her inside now and kiss her?” He winked at London.

“Feel free to do whatever you want, since you already knocked her up.” London smiled. “Should I wait up for you tonight?” she asked her sister.

Ryan looked to Zach for an answer.

“No. She’s living with me now. I’ll come get her stuff tomorrow morning.” Zach led his girl inside and shut the door.

“We weren’t invited inside.” Adam’s heart sank a little.

“They need to make love,” Mari told him, elbowing his side.

“Oh yeah, I knew that, but I thought maybe he’d feed us some lunch first or something.” Adam’s stomach agreed with a growl. “I feed him all the time.”

“Yes, you do, but he’s got some things to get in order. We’ll come back over later, all three of us with the seats taken out of the van, and we’ll bring Lorraine back the rest of her stuff.” She tugged him to their van.

London was behind them, almost skipping she looked so elated.

“This was a good morning.” Adam gloated a little. He could. He was allowed. He saved his brother and a pregnant woman Oh, yes, and he also found a way to shove Lorraine out of his brother’s life so he could protect his little brother. Wait . . . he also made a new friend.

It was exhausting to think of how much good he’d done this morning and how much had transpired in such a small amount of time.

He lurched at London and hugged her. “Welcome to the family!”

“Thank you, Adam. I’ve heard good things about you Lathams. Got another brother?”

“Nope, but you can hang out with us all the time. I doubt you could ever eat as much as Zach does.” He opened the van’s back door and helped her in.

“Wanna bet?” London laughed.

Adam assisted Mari over to the passenger’s side and whispered, “What does she mean—wanna bet?”

“It means, she’s one of those women I hate, because she’s a bottomless pit and never gains a pound no matter how much she eats.” Mari opened the car door and got in without his help.

“For the love of . . .” He pushed his sweaty bangs out of his eyes, got in his car and drove over to his dad’s house. Might as well get his kids now before London went inside his home and drank all his soda. That part didn’t sound like fun at all.

Plus, if she did that, and it bothered him, the kids might keep him from shoving her out the front door in a brutal fashion. They were good at keeping him civil over things like soda battles.

“Oh, and Adam?” London gripped the back of his seat and pulled herself forward.

“Yeah?”

“I’ve heard you write songs.” London hummed. “I do, too. Maybe we can collaborate some day? Mari says we have a similar style.”

Mari smirked at him when his head jerked toward her. “You do.”

“I share my music with my wife and my . . .” He was about to say family, but then he realized that now included London. “And now
you,
” he said instead.

Something funny happened when he told her that . . . A number drifted into his mind and then it vanished as if it had never been there.

When he searched for any numbers at all, they were completely gone.

That had never happened to him before. Ever.

The numbers were always there in the background, like grass in the yard, or a tree across the way.

Mari could sort of get rid of them temporarily, but not like this complete void he was now experiencing.

This was new! He had to tell Dr. Harkham right away!

He would no longer disappoint her. This was such a happy day, his eyes swam with happy tears.

Chapter 17

Adam burst through his father’s front door. “Amelia! I have great news!” he shouted.

Dr. Harkham bolted into the room, hand over her heart, panting. “What’s going on? Are you all right, Adam?”

He grabbed her into a hug the second he could and shook her with happy words spewing out of him. “They’re gone. They’re actually, finally gone! The numbers. A few times Mari’s banished them for a little bit, but I kind of knew when that would happen they’d come back, and they did. But this time, I can feel it—they’re gone for good!”

Amelia’s eyes lit up, and she licked her lips in concentration, then directed him over to the couch. She fidgeted for a moment, looking a little flustered. “Tell me everything. This is amazing!”

“I know it is. It’s the best day ever, and the numbers aren’t here to know that.” He hopped a little in his seat.

Mari entered the room with London, and the next thing he knew, Meg and his father, holding Button, joined them.

Adam retold how it all happened, then ended with, “And I think it’s because my family’s complete now. Well, almost.”

His dad smiled so big it almost looked like it was lifting him up—making him taller.

Adam liked that. It was good his smile drew him up to the heavens. That was where he belonged.

Every one of these people belonged there. He loved them all, and they had a special place in his gooey Boston creamy heart.

“Good for you, Son. Zach just texted me and told me what you did for him. Wow. I can’t believe you did that. You’re fearless.” His father rocked Button on his hip back and forth, and bounced a little bit.

Button looked at Mari with longing. It was evident his father wasn’t ready to give the baby back over.

His dad always did love babies. He should’ve been a pediatrician, instead of a family doctor.

But then with family medicine, he got to see people of all ages and enjoy all of it.

“Oh, I get it now,” Adam said, nodding and pointing at his dad. “You love babies, but you also love kids and all people. So you practice family medicine, because you love all aspects of family.” He clapped for joy. “Me, too! I
am
like you after all!”

His dad chuckled. “I already told you—you’re much better than I ever was.”

Adam’s heart about exploded with yummy goodness. This definitely was the best day ever, but only after his kids being born and being married. Those were at the top, never to be replaced. But after that—sure. This could be next. He would make sure it was there.

He blinked and smiled at each of them in turn. “I love all of you. You make my heart gladder than a donut ever could. And that’s
huge
.”

Adam visited with his entire family for another hour, simply laughing and having a great time.

They planned out Halloween, coming up in a month, and Meg danced and sang for them as his dad played the piano.

Everything was perfect and in place, except Thomas . . .

He still had to deal with that once and for all.

* * *

Knock, knock, knock.

Adam rocked back on his heels and patted his guitar case, held in his left hand.

Thomas took forever to answer the door, but when he finally opened it, Adam barged right in.

“We’re going to have some father and son time,” Adam said, finding a spot on his dad’s pristine white couch.

“Did you forget? My blood isn’t in your veins.” Thomas choked on a dying cough directly after saying those words.

He looked frailer than last time, and he kind of limped a little on the left side as he walked to the couch.

“I don’t care. It doesn’t mean you’re not family to me, and I have space in my creamy centered heart for two dads. You need me, just like Mari’s mom needs me. Her blood isn’t in my veins, but I put her there. And I already put you in mine, too, so you can’t take it back. It’s not allowed.” Adam opened the guitar case and pulled it out. “It would be too messy to remove you.”

“I can’t play that,” Thomas said.

“I don’t want you to anyway, so it’s fine.” Adam stuck his tongue out at his dad, pretending to be a brat and laughed at himself.

Thomas grinned. “Are you okay, Adam? This seems kind of odd.”

“It
is
odd, because it’s me. And I’m eccentric. Zach says I’m better than odd, because I’m like a kaleidoscope of a man. You never know what color I’ll be, what shape or how I’ll project myself. Tonight I’m guitar man, and I’m going to play a song for you.”

Thomas settled into his chair and held out his hand, signaling for Adam to continue with his plan.

Adam did a happy wiggle in his spot and then got the guitar into position for the music to begin. “I call this one,
With you—I can, too
. It’s about you, Dad. I made it to tell you you’re great, and I like you more than a lot. I like you like you always wanted.”

Thomas’s eyes misted. He coughed, and crossed his arms over his middle, looking amused, a little surprised, but mostly plain old excited.

Adam liked all three of those. It was similar to the times he got to have a donut with his soda and sandwich. Those were perfect combinations.

Adam strummed clumsily, since he was still a beginner, but it sounded sort of like a song. Dustin had been a good guitar instructor up to this point, but he didn’t have a whole lot of time to teach Adam this new skill.

Adam sang, “With you, I can do it, too, because you know how it all should go. You have a way with music, a way with words, though I never heard a word, because I was far away and turned from you. But now I have the right step and the right beat in my heart. Now I have a hand to hold because I’m ready, though it’s hard. I’m with you, and you’re with me—and that’s exactly how it should be. Skip a beat, hum a song. Say your clouds are in the water, and I’ll believe. Say your hurt and I won’t be long. I’ll find you, because you found me first. My dad. My loving, caring dad. Made mistakes and took wrong turns. But that’s okay if it stings and burns. We have the answer and bandages to heal—it’s called family, and we love to kneel . . . In prayer, in deed, it’s all the same to me. ‘Cause you’re in me, and I’m in you—and that’s exactly how it should be. Skip a beat, hum a song. Being together isn’t wrong. I love you. And you’re the best in me, everything I love to do—it all came from what I know of you. It’s you, Dad. It’s you.”

Adam sang a few more lines, but they were both crying, so it came out sounding more like a barking seal, so he ended it.

“Do you hate it?” Adam packed the guitar away.

“I love it more than donuts.”

Adam gasped. “You like those, too?”

“I can’t get enough of them. Every Sunday I buy one. Or I do now that your mom is gone. She never let me. Said they were evil.”

“I love donuts, too. Me, too! That’s me! I have them lots, but I like cream in the middle. That’s better than jelly. Jelly goes on kid sandwiches, and sometimes on toast, but I won’t allow them in my donuts.” Adam’s teeth kissed each other as he smiled wide.

This was incredible! They both liked music and donuts.

“We have a few things in common, don’t we?” Thomas leaned forward, but it made him cough a lot.

“Lean back. Don’t do that.” Adam rushed to his side and eased him back.

“I’ve got donuts in the kitchen right now. It’s Sunday.” Thomas smirked.

“Any Boston creams?”

“No, but I do have long johns. Like those?” Thomas wore a bit of a smug grin.

“I do, but I won’t eat one unless you tell me first if you still want me as your son, and that you really are sorry for drugging me as a kid.”

Thomas swallowed and a hissing breath of air escaped him. “Adam, your mother, she . . .”

“You already told me.”

“No, not all.” Thomas groaned for a second, wiping his eyes with his sleeve. Was he exhausted? Did he need a donut right now?

Adam leaped up and without permission went into the kitchen—a place he’d never been in before—and grabbed the bag of donuts.

“This will help.” He set the bag in Thomas’s lap.

“Thanks, but it won’t help with what I have to say.” Thomas rubbed at his neck, then said, “She wanted to abort you. When she was pregnant, she told me she wasn’t going to have you. She was in hysterics—flying into one of her manic phases. I told her there was no way I’d ever let her do that. She went into a crying jag that lasted for well over an hour. I tried to comfort her, but she was beyond help. So, I held her down. I laid on top of her so she couldn’t move. It was the only thing that made her slow her breathing down. It forced her to breathe with me.”

“That’s smart. I like that you thought of that.” Adam wanted to smile, but it felt wrong, so he settled for a little nod of approval.

“I can’t take credit for it.” Thomas pushed the donuts off his lap and then handed it to Adam. “She kept taking off every night, and I kind of thought maybe she was fooling around behind my back. So, I kept thinking if I could just trap her somehow, I could talk to her and straighten things out—figure out what I was doing wrong to make her leave all the time.”

“Did you talk to her?”

Thomas nodded. “Yeah, but she couldn’t hear me. She was trapped in her head.”

“Wow! By numbers?” Adam’s fingers flexed, and he moved the donut bag out of the way, then gripped the arm of the couch by his dad.