You Can Go Home Again

Chapter 12

Another hour and the house fills with the living once again. Stanton offers to go over to Pawpaw's with me soon, and the others say they'll come after lunch. Thomas stayed over last night and is clearly hungover, as is Hope. If you were an outsider looking in on breakfast this morning, everyone would appear to be quite jovial; underneath the shallow appearances, tension is in the air between more than one of us. Hope continues glancing over at Ray, clearly hoping that he'll look at her with the same longing. Ray and Derrick continue to exchange icy stares with polite smiles plastered on their faces. Thomas looks over at Derrick now and then, and I remember how upset I was when I last saw Thomas. Derrick and Ray also keep making eyes at me, and I am at a total loss of how to react. Meanwhile, Stanton works on the same piece of toast for a half hour while also focusing on his coffee.

"Stanton, I'm going to brush my teeth and then I'm ready to go over to Pawpaw's," I inform him as he finally finishes his toast.

"Okay, I'm going to hop in the shower real quick, then I'm ready," he manages through a yawn. I smile and roll my eyes, wondering again if Dave has to go through this every morning. I make my way back to my room to finish getting ready. I carefully observe myself in the mirror, making sure the bruises can't be seen. As long as I'm careful with my hair, they should continue to go unnoticed. I'm still sore in places, and every time I look at the bruises, I get flashbacks. I need to keep it together. I hear a clap of thunder, which seems fitting. I hope it just downpours once I'm next door. The rest of the day will only be about Pawpaw. I wonder how he's doing today.

Stanton and I meet in the living as more booms seem to fill the house from outside. We each grab an umbrella, although it's not raining yet, just in case it starts to monsoon on our heads. Everyone else in the house is fairly quiet as we leave, and I suspect they're all nose-deep in their work. We walk over, slightly at a quicker pace than usual subconsciously probably trying to beat the rain. Lisa greets us at the door, looking happy but tired.

"Come on in you two. Ed will be happy to see y'all." We follow Lisa inside just as some fat raindrops begin to fall. We leave our umbrellas by the door and make our way into the living room. Pawpaw isn't in there yet, so I grab a cup of coffee from the kitchen. When I get back, Stanton is trying to coax Pawpaw into sitting down.

"Everything alright?" I inquire as Pawpaw shrugs off Stanton's requests to sit down.

"Yeah, we were just talking about time, I think," Stanton answers as he shoots me a look that is essentially begging me to help.

"Oh dear," Lisa mutters as she walks back into the room with Pawpaw's medicines and a glass of water. "He means that old grandfather clock. He can't find the key to it to change the time." I glance over at the clock in the hall Lisa's referring to, trying to remember if it's ever worked.

"Pawpaw, I think the time on this clock is wrong?" My grandmother chuckles from her chair in the dining room as Pawpaw walks over to me.

"Is it now? I could have sworn I just reset it not long ago." Pawpaw scratches his head as looks from his watch up to the clock, and back again.

"Oh, that clock hasn't worked in years," Grandma says in her teasing voice. "I keep trying to get him to get rid of it," she fake whispers to me. I smile, attempting to suppress a giggle.

"Ah, Bonnie, you don't just get rid of something as magical as this," Pawpaw answers crossly, but with a twinkle in his eye. "Come with me Laney, I'll show you where I keep the key in case you ever need to fix it."

"Oh, you are very special Laney. Ed doesn't let just anyone know about his secret hiding spots!"

"You are special," Pawpaw turns back to me, laying a hand on my shoulder. "Don't ever let anyone tell you any different." I nod that I understand, although I'm not sure I do when we're talking about a key to an old, broken clock. "Now come on, Laney. You help me fix the clock, and I'll make you one of my world-famous Shirley Temples!"