Unexpected

Chapter 22

Mallory

I'm unloading groceries from my car when I'm surprised to hear,

"May I help?"

I turned to see Michael, the little boy, from a couple of weeks ago.

"Awe, that's so nice of you. I'd love some help."

He grabs the last bag and follows me inside the house. We start pulling the items out of the bags, sitting them on the counter. I see him look longingly at the chocolate Teddy Grahams (yes, I still eat them at twenty-six).

"Would you like some? I don't mind sharing."

He nods enthusiastically. I open the bag and shake some out onto a plate, sliding it in front of him. He immediately takes to gobbling them down. I then notice how frail he is and the dirt smudges on his clothes. I grab a glass and pour some milk for him as well.

"Thanks," he states after wiping the milk mustache away with the back of his hand.

"You're very welcome." I smile. "Do you have a mother at home?"

"My father takes care of me," he answers simply.

Maybe that accounts for his messy state, or maybe I'm reading too much into it. He is a little boy who is about seven years old, I guess. Playing in the dirt wouldn't be too uncommon for his age, but there is just something about him that I can't quite put my finger on.

"You're very nice." He comments, finishing the last of the snack.

"It must be true that the way to a man's heart is through his stomach," I laugh not expecting him to get the joke, but also remembering how Dane seemed to warm up to my company with the help of some home cooking as well.

"He will love you one day."

I jump at the strange comment and the goosebumps it gives me.

"What . . . who will love me?" I ask with my mind immediately thinking of Josh.

"You'll see."

There's a knock on my side door that startles me. I rush over to answer it and find Dane there holding a can of corn.

"You must have dropped this. I saw it sitting on the ground in your carport."

"Oh, thanks." I take the item from him and turn to place it on the nearby counter, then freeze. "Where'd he go?" I ask myself, eyes darting around the room.

"Who?" Dane questions, stepping inside and glancing around as well.

"The little boy, Michael. He was right here," I answer, pointing to the chair that is now empty. His plate and cup are evidence that I wasn't crazy. There are even crumbs scattered and a scant amount of milk left in the glass.

Dane takes it upon himself to go room to room, looking for the child. I follow, calling out his name, but he is nowhere to be found.

"Maybe he went out your front door," Dane suggests.

"Possibly, I guess, but it would have been so fast . . . and I didn't hear anything. It's so strange."

"You going to be okay?" Dane asks, concerned.

"Yeah." I nod and try to put on a brave smile. "It's just a little creepy, is all."

"Why are you letting people you don't know in your house anyway?"

"He's just a little boy, and he offered to help me bring in the groceries," I answered defensively.

"I can stay for a while to make sure the little fucker doesn't pop out of the woodwork or something."

I find myself relieved that he has offered to hang around, and I quickly consent for him to stay, promising a hot meal in return for the trouble.

We eat dinner and decide to watch some T.V. for a bit. Dane must really see how uneasy I still was for him to willingly watch the Hallmark channel. We're both on my couch with him on one end, and I on the other. But as the night wore on, I ended up stretched out with my head on the armrest, and my feet curled up where they weren't quite touching him. We didn't say much beyond the occasional comment, usually poking fun at the very predictable plot of a romantic comedy.

At some point, I must have fallen asleep because I woke up to an annoying commercial of a car salesman yelling about the big blow-out sale that's happening this weekend. I glance down toward the end of the couch, but it is empty and I now have a blanket draped over me that wasn't there before. I grab my phone to check the time, and see an old alert that I had a new text message. I open it and see it was from Dane.

(Dane) Didn't want to wake you, so I saw myself out. Call me if you need anything.

I smile groggily and shuffle back to my bedroom to climb in beside Mr. Pickles and fall sound asleep.