Page 119 of Now and Forever

Eric laughs. He loves to see the good relationship that’s grown between his nephew and me. I sweetly let him kiss me, not showing my feet. I give him a kiss on the lips.

“How’s the water?” he asks.

“Great!” Flyn and I say in unison.

Charmed, he touches his nephew’s wet head.

“Put on a bathing suit if you want to stay in the water,” he tells us as he starts to leave.

“C’mon, darling. Cheer up and get in!”

The Iceman looks at me, and, before disappearing through the door, he answers with a tired look on his face, “I have things to do, Jude.”

As soon as Eric closes the door, we sit down on the edge of the pool. We quickly take our skates off and hide them in the back of the closet.

“That was close,” I murmur, dripping wet.

The boy laughs. I do too—and just like that, we jump back in the pool. When we get out an hour later, Flyn throws his arms around my waist.

“I never want you to leave. Do you promise?”

Thrilled by the affection the boy is showing me, I kiss him on the head.

“I promise.”

That afternoon, Flyn goes to Sonia’s house. He claims he has things to do. Eric is serious. He’s not angry, but the look on his face shows me something is up with him. I try to talk to him, and I finally get him to tell me he’s got a headache. His eyes! Without another word, he goes to our room to rest. I don’t follow him. He wants to be alone.

At around five o’clock in the evening, Susto, evidently bored because Flyn has taken Calamar, asks me in his own way to take him for a walk. Eric has already come out of our room, and he’s in his office. He’s looking better, and he’s smiling. I ask him to come with me, to get some fresh air, but he says no.

Wrapped in my red down coat, wooly cap, gloves, and scarf, I walk outside. It’s not too cold. Susto runs, and I run behind him. When we get past the black fence, I start throwing him snowballs. Evidently enjoying himself, he runs in circles around me.

We walk down the road for a long time. Our neighborhood incorporates a huge area, and I decide to enjoy the evening and keep walking even though it’s getting dark. After a while, I see a car stopped by the curb. Curious, I walk up to it. A man in a suit, about forty years old, is talking on his phone, brow furrowed.

“I’ve been waiting for the fucking tow truck for more than an hour. Send it at once!”

That said, he hangs up and looks over at me.

“Car trouble?” I ask with a smile.

The man in the suit nods. “The lights,” he answers, though he’s clearly not in the mood to talk.

I check out the car. A Mercedes.

“May I take a look?”

“You?”

I don’t like that “you?” or the slight smile of superiority that comes with it, but I sigh.

“Yes, me.” When I see he’s not moving, I insist. “You’ve got nothing to lose, right?”

Surprised, he reluctantly agrees. Susto’s beside me. I ask him to open the hood, and he does so from inside the car. Once it’s open, I take the bar and secure it so it won’t slam shut on me. My father always said the first thing to look for when the lights go out are the fuses. I search for the fuse box in this model of car, and, when I’ve spotted it, I open it. I see a couple of fuses and immediately find the problem.

“You’ve blown a fuse.”

The man gets out of the car and looks at me as if I were explaining rocket science.

“See this?” I say, showing him the blue fuse. The man nods. “If you look closely, you can see it’s blown. Don’t worry, your lights are fine. You just need to change the fuse so the light bulb will work again.”

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