Page 5 of Forgotten Vows
Well, he could.
I’d never truly relax. I couldn’t even if I tried.
“Boring. I was so bored all day long.” He shook his head and sighed, likehewas the one just getting done with a tedious day of employment. Lev never complained for the sake of whining, but I knew what he meant. My son was blessed to be so gifted and smart, quick to catch on to new things and challenge himself with learning and soaking up more knowledge and experience however he could. If the subject matter being taught wasn’t new or difficult enough to engage him, he would grow idle.
“Uh-uh…” I warned him gently, wagging my finger as I smiled down at him.
He furrowed his brow, looking up at me. “What?”
“French,” I replied, coaxing him to get out of his habit of dropping back into English when it was just me and him talking.
He rolled his eyes and lowered his head, focusing on walking. “Yeah, yeah. I know, Mama,” he replied dryly in French.
I hated to be a stickler about getting him to use the correct language, but being multilingual was all part of our identity, of the part of his nature that he had to count on to be versatile. We had to always adapt. It’d been a while since we had to stop, drop,and move to somewhere safer, but that didn’t mean the need wouldn’t arise again.
Although he was born in the States, in a big city across the country from where I’d called home for all my life on the East Coast, I’d tried to keep our “home” everchanging and in Europe or Asia. Whatever it took to be safe and far from the threats that had consumed me for years.
While he wasn’t glum about my correcting him to speak in the proper language here, he wasn’t chatty for the rest of the walk. Hating the chance that I could’ve upset him with the reminder that we had to be prepared for the chance of moving and uprooting again, I sighed and started to talk about what we might have for dinner.
“What do you think you’d like?” I asked before laying out some ideas of what I could cook up. I tried to suggest a menu that wouldn’t include a ton of time in our small kitchen, too. It was too hot to be near the burners or oven.
He smiled, perking up at the idea of dinner. In a flash, he proved that the old saying was true—the best way to reach a man is through his stomach. Lev was just a healthy, growing boy, but his appetite seemed to be endless most days.
On and on, we walked. Keeping our pace steady but slow so we wouldn’t overheat ourselves, we didn’t stop until our road came into view. Then later, our small neighborhood. I’d chosen this area because it seemed both remote and not entirely isolated. I couldn’t control everything, but I was deliberate in choosing this location.
Once the small house I rented was visible in the distance, I let myself lag a bit. Slowing down more with the illusion of safety within reach, I looked over the familiar scene for anything that stood out. Anything that didn’t belong.
Being so watchful and hawkish like this was something I did automatically. At this rate, it would be a part of my personality for the rest of my life.
On guard.
Scoping out threats.
Counting on danger.
Nothing stood out. No changes. No surprises. I wanted to breathe out a deep exhale that life was still as safe and sound as I could make it for us.
“Can I play in the back by my tree before dinner?” he asked after I unlocked the front door and we stepped into the cool space of the small living room.
“Mm-hmm…” I answered him while multitasking to survey the rest of the rooms, to check if anyone could’ve broken in here to trespass and snoop. “Just change out of your uniform first.”
“Okay, Mama!” And just like that, he was off. He was gone, running toward his little bedroom in the back of the house. Knowing he’d be preoccupied while climbing the tree in the fenced-in back yard, I set the bag of mending down and changed before preparing dinner.
I was halfway through setting out the things for a salad when he popped his head up by the window. “Mama, someone’s coming over!”
That was something different.
An unwelcome surprise.
My heart pitched then hammered fast. Someone was coming here? Who? When? Why? And how would he know? Questions bombarded me in the instant panic that consumed me from head to toe. Dizziness hit me up high while my feet felt leaden.
“We got neighbors now!” The huge grin on his face proved how excited he was, but I couldn’t join in.
“A mom and dad with a couple of little kids,” he said. “They’re moving in next door.”
Oh, thank God.A family. They’d be innocent.
“Oh.” Finally, I smiled, trying to relax that it wasn’t someone from my past setting up next door to spy on me and my son.
