Page 17 of Edmond

“Is that so? Where is your son and his wife? I heard that they moved all the way across the United States just to keep you away from their kids. What about Mark? Or even Jamie? Where are they?” She was escorted away, and that was when the man, Lee, said that he was glad to be rid of her. Then, after about twenty minuets, he started the auction up again. But first, he made an announcement. “Ms. Mac here is going to be helping out little Pam with her and that baby. If’n any of you know that young girl, you know that living with her momma hasn’t been a walk in the park. If you wouldn’t mind, you helping her out a little, too, I’d appreciate it. And if’n you have a dollar or two to spare, I’m sure that it would go to some diapers for her, too.”

~*~

Word traveled fast in an auction. The news about Mildred Marsh being kicked out of the action came to him through the long line at the food cart. Also, he was told about his wife and his mother-in-law helping out her daughter, Pam Marsh, too. As soon as he was ready to go and find his wife and her mom, it came around that Lenord Carter had been killed in an attempted arrest of him selling drugs to some minors. The world was suddenly a much better place to be, he thought.

Edmond had never liked Mildred Marsh. She was a bizzy buddy who was forever in someone’s business. By the time his end of the auction was over, he made his way to the other rings that were going on. When he found Mac and the rest of the family, they were making arrangements to have all the furniture they bought put into a larger truck to be delivered. Not only that, but Mac had been able to get in touch with Pam’s brother and he was going to come and get his little sister and all the things that his family had gotten for them. The man, contrary to belief, only lived about an hour away from his mom, so it was a win-win for them all.

“Here, I want you to hold onto this for me. I’m supposed to use it to buy things for the new baby when it comes but I think that Pam is going to need it for things getting set up with her brother and his sons.” He counted out over seven hundred dollars that the others at the auction had given to Mac. “Most of the money came when people bought some of the items they wanted for a lot less. They would give me the difference. And those that purchased the baby items, they donated them back to Lee so that he could do it again and again. Four times, they sold that baby bed before it was finished. All that money from the auctioneer will come to her, too.” He could hardly contain his own excitement because Mac was so excited herself.

“When will she be able to get all this?” Mac told him about her brother coming with his sons. “I heard about a year ago that his wife passed on from cancer. I bet he could use an extra hand around the house with four little ones of his own.”

Not only did they manage to get the baby furniture for Pam and her little one but Mac and Brandy had been able to get all the bedroom suites for less than he’d spent on the equipment that he and Lica had bid on. After it was all totaled up, they had just over two grand in baby items and cash, and less than that with the cost of the bedroom sets they’d been able to pick up for next to nothing. Lica was happy too that they were going to try and make a business though a quiet one in helping people out as best they could. It was a good investment all the way around.

It was later than he wanted to be getting home but he was happy for the day. His brothers had been able to pick up some much-needed items for their own home. Lica and he had enough equipment coming to the slaughterhouse that was going to give them a good start after it was all cleaned up and inspected. On the way home, it was Brandy that ordered pizzas to be delivered. And he thought perhaps he could eat an entire one on his own.

Mac was falling asleep on his shoulder after they had eaten. He didn’t blame her much. She’d had a full day with saving people and making it so that they saved money, too. When she started talking, he had an idea that she’d never been sleeping on him but plotting. He loved her so much.

“In speaking to Brandy we’re going to use the old house—I did tell you that she bought it, didn’t I?” Edmond said that she had. He didn’t mention that she’d told him several times, but he was happy that she was excited again. “We’re going to use the old house as a place to store furniture that we can donate to people that need something. She was telling my mom that there was forever someone that was in need of something. Brandy also wants us to purchase things that won’t be used up so quickly, like diapers. I thought about that, you know about mice getting into them, but she assured me that nothing would so long as they were there all the time. That’s great if you ask me. Not to have a vermin issue. At least not the kind on four legs.”

“When we first moved into the ranch house, there were rats as big as cats around. It had been sitting empty for a long time before we were able to purchase it. They moved out as we were moving in.” She laughed, and he joined her. “Also, you might not know this, but stray dogs will hang out at our places too. They’ll know that we’re related to the Alpha through Lica, so they’ll be more of a watchdog than anything that could be trained to do the job.”

“I like that idea. So that when we have a baby of our own, it’ll be safe as we can make it.” She yawned again as they were pulling into the driveway. “I don’t know about you but I’m willing to leave all the stuff we have in the truck and pull it into the garage and go to bed. I’m beyond exhausted.”

“I am as well. It’s the excitement that wears a person out. And I think that the two of us have had enough for one day.” She agreed and he pulled the truck into the garage after dropping off Mac at the door to their home. Getting out of the truck, he was startled nearly to death when someone came out of the shadows.

“It’s me, Alan Pendleton. I didn’t want to go into your house without you knowing that I’m around. I just want you to give a message to my sister, if you’d not mind.” Once he got his heart and breath under control, he told the man that he could come into the house and give it to her himself. “Nah, she’ll try and talk us out of it, and we’re set on doing things our way for a change. That money that you slipped us, it’s going to be very helpful for us getting a new start.”

“I wanted that for you all. Where are you going, Alan?” He told him it was best that he not know, that Mac would come after them. “All right. I guess I can understand that. But I want you to know that you’re to call me if you need anything. I like you guys, and I’d hate to read about you being in trouble again.”

“We won’t be in trouble no more, Edmond. I swear that on my sister’s heart. Mac and you, you’d be slipping us money all the time, and that’s not us getting on our two feet and being able to be good men. We won’t disappoint her nor you, but we have to do this on our own. And being around you, while I know it would be nice, it wouldn’t help neither of us.” Edmond said he could see that, too. “You’re a good man, Edmond. You helped us out with being on the right track about things. If you need us, all you have to do is send a message to us through Mr. Capshaw. He’s helping us out a little by finding us someone we can trust. I know that we’re doing the right thing here, too. It’s scary, I know’d that, but it’ll be better if we did this on our own.”

After giving the other man a hug, one that he had begged for, Alan slipped out of the garage and into the darkness of the night. He could still see the man, and when he joined up with his brothers, he could make them each out as well. When they hugged, it caught him in his heart that they’d been treated so poorly all their lives, and no one had taken the time to get to know them better. Turning his back on the three of them, he was halfway to the house when he remembered the box lot that he’d bid on at the auction tonight.

Handing it over to Mac, being surprised to see her up still, she took the box. He’d not realized that there had been two of them stacked on each other into the dining room. There, she covered the beautiful inlaid table with a sheet and dumped the contents onto it.

The two of them marveled at the items in the boxes. The one that had made him purchase it was a set of Russian stacking snowmen. He had no idea if they were valuable or not. But had purchased them because he knew that Mac had told him once that she loved anything with snowmen on it. He didn’t care what they were really worth. Someone told him that they could be quite expensive. It was the joy that he got when she pulled them out of the box and stacked them in the window that they were across from.

“I want a large tree. I mean, it’s not like we don’t have the room for it in here. The only thing that is in the living room right now is the couches that came yesterday, one table lamp and the firewood that you brought in for a fire last night. We have a long way to go in finding things for in there.” He told her about the things that he’d been thinking about getting. “I love that idea. Yes, a blanket chest would be wonderful to have also. I love the idea of having a huge assed television. If you’d not mind, the television should be first. I want to watch some football when the players are lifelike sizes for us.”

“The ranch house has a couple of blanket chests in the attic. We used them in the summer months to store the blankets that we used. That way, they weren’t taking up room in our rooms while we were living there. Also, I was talking to the others and they don’t care if we take the kitchen table and chairs either. They’re not going to use them and said that they’d go well in our kitchen. Unless you got one today.”

“I didn’t. The person who ended up with it paid too much for it, if you ask me. But then, I might well have, too, if I really wanted it. The problem with it was that it was too big for the area that we have in there. We don’t need a huge table to have lunch on. That’s what we were going to use it for, correct?”

They talked as they closed up the house and headed to bed. He was ready to sleep until forever in the morning but knew that he was to meet the inspector at the slaughterhouse…they were calling it Frazier’s Meat Market once it was up and running so that he could sign off on the things that were already in place there. The construction company had done a great job thus far in getting them far enough ahead that they could work inside once the weather turned too cold to work out of doors.

Almost as soon as Mac laid down beside him, she was asleep. He loved that she was so comfortable with him that she knew that she was safe. Just as he was about to join her in rest, Ayden reached out to him.

“I want to be a part of what your wife is doing. I can’t do that meat part. I went over there today and I had to leave almost as soon as I walked through the door. I can’t even think about it without being sick. I’m sorry.” He told him not to worry about it. “But I think that I could be a great help to Mac in relocating people. Do you think she would mind?”

“I think that she’s be thrilled to have you guys helping out wherever you can. More than likely, she’d be looking for your help even if you didn’t want to help her.” The two of them laughed, and he could hear his brother sigh of relief. “You talk to her tomorrow and I’m betting you get the best hug you’ve ever gotten from her.”

After his brother closed the connection, Edmond thought that he was about as exhausted as he’d ever been. Closing his eyes, smiling to himself, he wondered what Summer would bring to the table. He’d not heard a great deal about her and wondered at that. But not for very long, he couldn’t let any more thoughts into his head tonight.

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