Hometown Boy

Chapter 3

Present Day

Eliza shook her head to clear those memories and set a bowl of cheerios and a sippy cup of apple juice down in front of Benji at the table. He ate quickly, making Eliza laugh as she scarfed down her own sloppy breakfast of oatmeal and a slightly mushy apple. She needed to go grocery shopping.

Thirty minutes later, she loaded Benji into his car-seat in her car to head to work. The owners of the bookshop where Eliza worked were Sam's parents but with Lydia's dementia rapidly growing worse, it was all Ken could do to take care of her. Eliza basically ran 'Something Old Something New' herself. The White's health problems were the main reason that Eliza had adopted Benji. With no next of kin, she was thankful she had been able to do so. Ken and Lydia couldn't have taken care of the small boy and he would have gone into the foster system most likely. No one knew who his father was. That was something Sam had taken with her to her grave.

What Eliza did know was that he was absent from Benji's life. She didn't think Sam had ever even told the man, whoever he was, that he had a son. Eliza sighed. With no one knowing who he was, Eliza doubted he would ever know about Benji. She drove quickly to the bookshop and unloaded Benji, laughing as she raced him to the employee's entrance at the rear of the building that faced Main Street. One of the perks of working in a family business was she didn't have to hire a babysitter or leave Benji at daycare. She dreaded the thought of him being left with a stranger. She knew he wouldn't be able to handle it. Not now. Even worse was the thought of school. He should be starting kindergarten in a few days, but Eliza was holding him back a year. He had been through so much, Eliza didn't want to toss him in the public schools. Kids were so brutal.

Stepping into the air condition was like heaven out of the hot Mississippi heat. Eliza opened the place up for business and so began a busy morning. She left Benji in the back room with the door open so she could keep an eye on him. The morning passed quickly. Benji played with his Thomas train and colored for the most part of the morning before running to her and lifting his arms, demanding to be held.

Eliza lifted him easily, snuggling his small body into hers as she balanced a stack of books that needed re-shelving in her other arm. He laid his head on her shoulder and a few minutes later, Eliza smiled tenderly as she glanced at him. He was out like a light, his thumb in his mouth.

Gently, Eliza carried him to the back room and laid him down in the play pen she kept there before returning to her customers. The day passed quickly and pretty soon, five o'clock arrived. Eliza gathered Benji's toys and loaded them back into his play bin and closed up shop, heading out to her parent's house for supper.

Martha and Seth Darby lived in a farmhouse that they had rebuilt in the late eighties. It was beautiful, set on a large swath of property outside of Dogwood about ten miles. Eliza had grown up there, along with her two brothers. One of her two brothers, Thomas, was an airline pilot for Delta Airlines and jetted off around the world for his living. Eliza couldn't help but envy his carefree, no attachments, lifestyle sometimes, but she would much rather her feet on solid ground. Her other brother, Lewis, lived in the house right next door to their parents with his wife and two children. Eliza pulled into the winding driveway bordered by lush magnolia trees and smiled at the old-Southern charm of the place. It had really held together well over the past several years.

Seth was in the garden with a bucket of tomatoes when she rolled in, switching off the car and smiling at Benji's excitement to get out and go see Pawpaw. Eliza's parents and siblings had been very accepting of her decision to adopt Benji, much to her relief. She knew that the situation could have had a much worse outcome. Her family loved Benji like he was their own. Eliza let Benji out and watched as he ran over to her dad and shrieked delightedly when Seth scooped him up and tossed him in the air.