Old Flames

Old Flames: Chapter 1

“Is Daddy coming home soon?” Chloe rubbed her face on her tattered yellow blanket.

“No, baby. Daddy has a new home, remember?”

Chloe sighed dramatically as only a four-year-old can do.  “I know. But I want him to come back to our home. He’ll be lonely up there in Heaven. Who’s he gonna play dolls with? And Chris is crying again because Daddy promised to build him that treehouse and he never did. And now he never will.”

Her children were still so young, so Lainie was surprised that Chris remembered that promise. The fact was that Gary promised a lot of things…and he never fulfilled any of them. Her heart broke a little more as she listened to the whimpers of her precious daughter.

“When we get our new house, we can build a treehouse together,” she said. Until that happened, they were stuck with her mother, a cranky, smoking, older version of Lainie.

When Gary said that he would sell the house, Lainie thought she would have some time to sort through the finances and preparations of the divorce proceedings before uprooting her children. But no. With only his name on the house documents, he put it up for sale immediately and an offer was proposed by the end of the week. Now, Lainie had to wait for the sale to close before she could even think of looking for another home, and with the housing market in the slump, the realtor was dragging his feet.

Gary, you fool. How could you do this to your family?

With the stubbornness embedded in her genetics, she straightened her spine and was determined to fulfill one promise to her children. They would have a home again, where treehouses abounded and macaroni cheese filled the pantry.

Christopher came through the doorway and stopped, his hands balled in tiny fists. “I want to go swimming.”

They were so different, Chloe and Chris. Her sweet daughter was content to snuggle on Mama’s lap and fondle her blanket. Her son didn’t need anyone. Willful to the core, he shied away from most physical comforts, resolved on thrusting his dimpled chin in the air with defiance. Lainie smiled at him. He even had his swim trunks on, knowing full well he was going to bargain until the very end.

“Okay,” she said. “Chloe, go get your swimsuit. Chris, don’t get in the pool until I’m out there with you.”

“I’m not a baby,” he said. “I know how to swim.”

“I know you do,” she replied. “But I want to see that famous cannon ball you’ve been practicing.”

He mollified for a second, and then nodded. “I’ll go wait with Gramma.”

Ten minutes later, Lainie was smearing sunscreen on Chloe as Chris edged his way across the diving board, eyeing the water in Genna Moon’s underground pool with wary. She didn’t urge him along, knowing that her son would conquer his fears on his own.

“Are you watching?” he asked with a slight tremble to his words.

“I’m watching,” she said, giving him a smile of encouragement. Chris nodded, scooted forward, backed up, hesitated…and then flew off the diving board into the water. A resounding splash followed his entry into the water. He came up grinning.

“Did you see it?”

“I think that was the biggest splash you’ve done so far,” Lainie called. Chloe raced to the water’s edge.

“I can make a bigger splash,” she bragged.

“Nuh uh,” Chris said back.

“Uh huh,” Chloe returned.