Background
Anna is a young mother striving to find a way out of an abusive marriage. She meets a stranger, Troy. Troy fights his own demons. Can they help each other find love, or are their struggles too much?
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Troy stood beside Anna and held up his right arm. "I wanted something in blue, but they only had white bandages." He glanced at the paper in his left hand. "The doc thinks I should get this prescription filled. They're pain pills."
"Which pharmacy do you use? We can stop on the way to your parents'." As she stared at his arm, she lifted her purse. "How many stiches?"
"Mom was right; twelve. She hasn't lost her touch." He glanced at the prescription. "I think I'll wait on this." He shoved it inside his jeans' pocket. "If I need something, I'll get it on the way home."
As they walked toward the door, Anna shook her head. "You're letting your male ego show."
"I'm in no pain. Even if I was, I wouldn't let you know." He put his hand in the small of her back and led her toward the door. "I'm hungry. Let's go."
*****
When Troy and Anna walked into the Sorenson house, Paul sat in the recliner, watching Michael play with a large box. "I'm glad you're home." Paul laughed at the child tipping the box over. "Look what he does next."
Betty walked into the living room, wiping her hands on a towel. "Good, you're here. Dinner'll be ready in about fifteen minutes." She inspected Troy's bandage. "Twelve stitches?" After looking into her son's eyes, she asked, "Did you get a tetanus shot?"
He nodded. "I see you pulled out the secret weapon; a large box. No child can resist them."
Anna knelt and gave Michael a hug. "Have you been a good boy?"
Betty smiled. "This young man doesn't know how to be anything but good. He's been teaching Grandpa the proper way to play with a box." A buzzer sounded. "I better check the rolls."
Anna followed Betty into the kitchen.
*****
During dinner, as Troy described the circumstances of the dog bite, Anna hung her head and stared at her plate.
Betty reached over and placed her hand over Anna's. "Dear, accidents happen. You won't be able to protect Michael all the time."
"Because of my carelessness ...."
"We aren't going to beat the dead horse anymore," interrupted Troy. "That horse is dead and buried."
"Troy's right. We need to be thankful everybody involved is all right." Paul raised his ice tea glass.
Troy raised his, then Betty followed, finally Anna's glass joined the three. Michael threw his tippy cup on the floor, watched it fall, then laughed.
Anna jumped up. "Michael, no! I'm so sorry." After she picked it up, she sighed. "At least the lid didn't come off."
"Mom, I think you'd better share the story of the grape juice stain in the center of Grandma and Grandpa's living room carpet. What was it about six inches by two, maybe closer to three inches? Maybe bigger. The carpet was a light tan color, if I remember correctly."
Betty laughed. "Your grandma viewed that spill like it was a trophy. She even bragged about it when her friends came over. Oh dear, I'd almost forgotten about it. Let's see. You were staying there because I accompanied your dad on a business trip. It was some sort of a lawyer conference and we were going to stay for the weekend."
"You're dragging this out. I was watching a baseball game and Ozzie Smith hit a two run homer in the bottom of the ninth to win the game against the Chicago Cubs. He rarely hit homeruns, so it was extra special. I jumped up and knocked my glass of grape juice all over the carpet."
Anna's eyes widened. "How old were you?"
Paul laughed. "Were you fourteen or fifteen?"
She covered her mouth to keep from laughing.
"I was only fifteen at the time. Grandma understood how something like that could happen."
"She used to spoil you rotten. You could do no wrong in her eyes." Betty wiped a tear. "I miss her. She would have enjoyed Michael."
"The moral of this story, if there is one, is that you shouldn't sweat the small stuff. Children will be children." Paul ran his fingers through Michael's hair. "And you'll make mistakes raising him and he'll make mistakes growing up. You'll just have to love him through the rough times."
Troy leaned back in his chair. "It worked for me. Just look at how good I turned out."
As Betty stood, she laughed. "You're still a work in progress." She kissed his cheek. "I'll get dessert. Warm brownies and ice cream for everybody?"
*****
After Anna helped Betty with the dishes, she went into the backyard to check on the Indian Blankets.
Troy walked up behind her. "I thought I'd find you out here. Michael's sure enjoying that box."
"I know. I checked on him before I came outside." She chewed on her lower lip for a moment before she said, "I'm really sorry my carelessness caused you to get hurt. Thank you for protecting my son. I understand if you don't want to spend time with me anymore."
"You're not getting rid of me that easy. You might as well get used to having me around. I'm not going anywhere."
"Anna, come quick. Michael's about ready to take his first step," yelled Betty from the backdoor.
"What?" Anna hurried inside.
"Another interruption." Troy shook his head, following.
Anna walked into the living room and saw her child standing beside the box. She knelt down, reached out her arms, and called, "Sweetheart, come to Mommy."
Michael took two wobbly steps and fell into his mother's arms.
