The Meridians(54)

"Hush, Sarah," said Brenda, shushing the woman just as she had done to Jonelle. "Point is that he hasn't seen fit to tell anyone himself, so what the internet says about him is gossip and untrue as far as I'm concerned, until such time as he decides to talk about it to our faces."

"The internet said he was a hero," said the woman, Sarah, a bit petulantly as though she didn't like the rebuke but accepted the justice of it.

"Well, that much I'd believe," said Brenda. Turning back to Lynette, she continued, "He's a good man, that much is sure. And if you're worried about what he was doing in your neck of the woods in the middle of the night, don't be. Scott Cowley is just that: meek as a choir boy. And a good man. We helped him move into his house about seven or eight years ago, and you could just tell within a few seconds."

Lynette felt a cool wash of relief flow through her. Thank goodness, she thought.

But out loud she said, "You said he was wandering?"

"He does that," said Brenda. "He can't sleep, I don't think. Nightmares or some such. So he spends a lot of time at night, just driving around. I asked him about it once and he said it relaxes him. So the fact that he was near when you pulled up was just coincidence, pure and simple. And the fact that he went and got Gil and the others rounded up to help you move in was just what others did to him when he arrived, so I'm sure he was just paying it forward, so to speak."

And that was the end of that. Almost. Because Lynette got the feeling that, given the chance, half the women in the group would have left their own husbands to be with Scott Cowley, and the other half would have at the very least asked him to date their daughters. She filed the information away in her mind. Hard to believe that someone so scarred of visage could be so tender of thought and heart.

But then, she thought, look at Kevin. Most people would dismiss him as being of less value than other human beings. There were even - and she shuddered at the thought - people who advocated for genetic testing, and abortions of any and all people who showed genetic markers of any kind of mental defect. Such people had no idea what they were missing. Kevin was trouble sometimes, he was hard to raise, he took a lot of patience, it was true. But he was also special, sweet, and had a heart that - when you managed to find a way through to it - was as pure as any "normal" person's, and more.

As though he could hear her thoughts, that first morning Kevin had come over and held out his laptop. A single word, "Breakfast," told her that it was time to bid goodbye to Brenda and Jonelle and Sarah and the other women, but as they left they all assured her that they would be back soon to make sure that she had settled in all right.

Lynette thanked them, and was truly glad that she had already made some friends on her very first day in the new place. But she also said goodbye with a bit of a sense of misgiving. Because while all the women she had met were wonderful -with the possible exception of Sarah, who had seemed to be a bit of a busy-body - none of them was really the person she wanted to have over that morning.

In spite of herself, Lynette found herself thinking of a scarred face, and light blue eyes. Of a man so broken hearted that he could not sleep for loss of his family, but so good hearted that he could not pass by a moving van without helping, even in the middle of the night.

She and Kevin said their prayers, and she said one thing that she had never before said, one thing that she never thought she would have said in the aftermath of Robbie's loss.

"Dear God," she said. "Thank you for this day. Thank you for our provender. And thank you for the nice man named Scott, and please bless us that he will again come to visit us."

She finished the prayer.

Kevin held out his keyboard.

He had typed, "Amen."





***





25.

***

It was several months before Lynette once again saw Scott, and when it happened it was under circumstances that neither of them could have foreseen.

Though perhaps Kevin could have.

She was out getting food. With Kevin, that could sometimes be a very involved, very difficult experience. Because he did not like changes in his routine, even something as basic as a trip to the market could be met with resistance, as though such trips were not necessary inconveniences, but rather unnecessary frivolities that were taken at his expense. And even if she managed to convince him to come to the market, it was anyone's guess how he would react once he got there. Supermarkets were, she realized once, much like Vegas casinos: all glitz and glamor, and no clocks around so that one could quickly lose track of time and wander about the market all day long if allowed. That kind of environment was almost always overstimulating for Kevin, who would invariably retreat more and more into himself as the trip progressed, and sometimes would not come out of himself until hours or even days later.

But on this day, Kevin acted almost like any other child would have. He got his shoes and socks on without fuss, and even stood at the door as though anxious for the trip to begin. It was, in fact, one of those rare days when he acted so normal that it gave Lynette an overwhelming sense of optimism and hope. Perhaps things would be all right. Maybe their little family would make it after all.

That was until they went to the store. They arrived in the parking lot of the Albertson's and Lynette found a good spot right next to the door. That was also helpful, since she never knew quite whether Kevin would be happy to leave and dart right for the vehicle, or would be in tears over the idea of going home again. Either way, having the vehicle close was helpful since it allowed her to manage his mood more easily and get him home with less fuss.