The days that followed became weeks and then months as the two of them adjusted to a life together. Reid moved Elias into Olivia’s old room, understanding the subterfuge inherent in that: he could show the nosiest of them that—as far as they were concerned—everything about this relationship was completely aboveboard.
Another problem presented itself: Elias had come to him, quite literally, with nothing but the clothes on his back. As quickly as possible, Reid rectified that, taking the boy on shopping trips into Morgantown and assembling a small wardrobe. More subterfuge lay behind the decision not to shop in Laurel Gap; he didn’t want others to notice that the boy had next to nothing of his own, didn’t want them wondering about that, didn’t want them wondering why a man nearing forty was buying clothing for a boy half his age.
“I want to pay you back for this,” Elias said to him, one day.
“I’m not asking you to, you know,” he responded.
“I understand that. But I want this to be as nearly equal as it can be. I need it to be, Reid.”
“Well, then. You’ll need some kind of job.” Something that was not impossible to come by in Laurel Gap, but more difficult now because of the state of the economy. Things were, under Roosevelt’s guidance and economic plan, slowly becoming less dire, but rural communities—and the state was full of them—seemed to lag behind metropolitan areas, to which many millions were flocking in the hopes of finding employment.
Elias smiled. “Yes. I already have one.”
“You do? Where?”
“Bruckner’s.”
“The hardware store? How did you swing that?”
“Well, my old man might have been a tough son-of-a-bitch, but he did teach me a thing or two about working with my hands, and about machines and how to keep them running. It’s not much money, but it’s something.”
“I’ve known Bob Bruckner for a long time. He’s a decent guy.”
“I thought so, too.” Elias grinned. “He spoke highly of you, by the way.”
“Did he? That’s nice.” Reid’s brow furrowed. “I think I teach his daughter at the college.”
Elias’ grin widened. “He was especially complimentary when I let it be known that you were my beau.”
Reid’s head reared back. “You what?”
Elias’ grin faltered. “I… oh, you know I did no such thing.”
“Elias, you have to be careful about things like that. You know that.”
“Yes, Reid, I know that. I was the one who warned you about saying too much.”
“I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to snap. I just…”
Elias went to him, teased a hand through Reid’s chestnut hair. “I know. The only thing Bob Bruckner knows is that I’m renting a room from you. Other than that, nothing.”
—
When it became clear to everyone that Reid Shaughnessy had taken Elias Hazlett on as a tenant, Reid had started a subtle, carefully orchestrated dance with various neighbors and friends. He had concocted the simplest of stories and, perhaps, the truest: that Elias was a troubled young man hoping to escape from an unfortunate past and remake himself. People seemed to understand and appreciate the gesture; for his part, Elias took on the role quite readily. He was always polite and affable with the neighbors, always willing to help out; of course, his job at Bruckner’s helped a great deal, as well. Given the rural nature of their community, Bruckner’s was frequented by a wide cross-section of the populace, and Elias’ intelligence and quick wit quickly found circulation and—among many—a grudging admiration.
What Reid had not counted on was that there were some few people in the community who knew of the Hazlett family.
One of them was Henry, Olivia’s husband.
—
One Saturday, the three of them came down to Reid’s place for a visit and to show off the baby. Laura had survived the rigors and trauma of her birth and had not only survived but was thriving; she was proving to be a happy, smiling baby, even-tempered and good-natured.
For his part, Reid enjoyed having the sounds of a baby in the house. It gave him a kind of hope, that things like this could still take place in times like these.
The five of them sat on the front porch of Reid’s house, enjoying a bright day in late March that had taken everyone by surprise. The temperature that day had climbed steadily into the upper seventies, even as little patches of snow could still be found in some of the north-facing shadows that never saw sunlight. Crocus was poking up in everyone’s yards; jonquils and daffodils seemed not too far behind. This, too, gave him some kind of hope.
The conversation was pleasant and unforced, even though it was the first time that Olivia and Henry had met Elias. Henry and Elias were of an age; Reid hoped for a kind of friendship to take root between the two men.
So far, that seemed to be happening. The two young men shared a love for working with their hands; Henry was part of a contracting firm that built homes and other simple wood structures throughout the county. Reid privately hoped that Elias could parlay his success at Bruckner’s into a talent he might be able to offer to Henry’s company… but he knew that he couldn’t push Henry into taking Elias on; whatever might happen would have to be Elias’ doing alone.
At one point, Elias glanced down at his wristwatch and made a small noise of surprise.
“Yes?” Reid asked.
“I… well, I have to go to work, I’m sorry to say.”
“On a Saturday?”
Elias nodded. “It’s actually our busiest day; everyone comes in from all over the county to make a day of it.”
Henry nodded as well. “We end up there a lot, as well.” He smiled. “I think I’ve noticed you there, Elias.”
Elias stood up. “I hate to leave like this, but…” He turned to Reid. “I’ll be late, I think. Probably won’t make dinner.”
He said goodbye to everyone, slipped into the house, came back out with a set of keys. When Elias had taken the job with Bruckner, he and Reid had spent a few days getting Reid’s old Ford truck up and running; the vehicle was old but still usable and basically sound.
They watched as Elias rattled off down the driveway and turned left, heading towards town.
Olivia turned to Reid and smiled. “He seems like an awfully nice young man, Uncle Reid.”
“He is,” Reid said. “He’s doing rather well, I think.”
“Elias Hazlett…” Henry murmured, shaking his head.
Reid turned to him. “What’s that?”
Henry smiled. “Oh, nothing, really. I just… well, the Hazletts…”
Reid frowned. “You know the family?”
“I do,” Henry responded. “I… well, I mean I don’t, but…” He sighed. “What do you know of the Hazletts, Reid?”
“Mmm, only what Elias has told me. Bits and pieces about his father. Said that it was tough growing up with him as a father.”
“Nothing else?”
“No, I don’t think so.” Reid frowned at Henry. “If you have something to say, say it.”
Henry glanced at Olivia, as if wanting her to excuse herself, but she ignored him. He turned back to Reid. “Whatever Elias has said about his family is only a little bit of the truth. It’s much, much worse than you could ever think to believe.”
“How so?”
Henry said nothing; he appeared to be deep in thought. Finally, “We did some work down there a while back, before I started seeing Olivia. The Hazletts live in the southernmost part of the county. They—”
“I know that,” Reid interrupted.
“Yes, well…” Henry paused, then went on. “They’re way up in one of the valleys, at the far end of a road that’s barely passable on a good day. It would have to be a nightmare on a bad one. It took us the better part of half an hour to get from the main road to their place. I thought it was going to shake the truck into pieces.”
“And?”
“And… well, I’d advise you to go see the place for yourself, but I’d be afraid that you’d get shot on sight if you did.”
“It can’t be all that bad, Henry…”
“No? I’ve been there, Reid. I’ve seen it. It’s… it’s like a bomb went off. Stuff everywhere… old cars and trucks, tractors, farm machinery… things I couldn’t identify. And the buildings… well, he wanted us to renovate some old sheds that were just about to fall down, turn them into housing. Had some cousins coming in from downstate, he said. We, uh… we didn’t ask too many questions. We just did the work as quick as we could so we could get the hell out of there. We pretty much ended up rebuilding them from scratch.”
Henry trailed off; Reid stayed silent.
Then, “Didn’t get paid what we’d asked for, of course. Ephraim—that’s the father—said that because we were young, we didn’t need that kind of money, that we should be glad for the experience. He ended up giving us about half of what we’d asked for—what we’d agreed to upfront—and made it quite clear that if we asked for the rest of it, he would see us in court. And what could we do? We couldn’t afford to pay a lawyer to go after him for the balance. We just took what we could and got out of there.”
“Is there a point to this, Henry?”
Henry bit back his first comment, tried again. “I just… I just think you need to be careful, Reid. I don’t know much about Elias, but the rest of that family…”
“Elias is not his father, Henry.”
“I know that, Reid. I understand. I’m not saying he is. I just… be careful. That’s all I can say. But…”
“But…?”
“There’s something else.” Again, Henry glanced at Olivia, who sat there, idly fussing with Laura. Henry sighed. “Kids.”
“Kids,” Reid echoed.
“Everywhere. There were kids everywhere. All different ages, from babies all the way up to teenagers. Dozens of them. Barely dressed, skinny as rails, like they weren’t getting enough food. Missing teeth, bad skin. I don’t think there was a one of them that didn’t have something wrong with them. And… well… I don’t know how to put this. They… they all looked like… him. Ephraim. They all looked just like him.”
“What are you saying, Henry? That he was somehow the father of all of those children?”
“I… yes, maybe I am.”
“You don’t have any proof.”
“No, I don’t. And I know I can’t prove it. It was just a feeling I had.”
“Did you… well, did you ever see Elias there on any of your visits?”
“I… no, I don’t think so. At least, I don’t recall. He may have been there, but I wouldn’t have known to pick him out for any particular reason.”
Henry fell silent. The three of them sat there. Henry and Olivia traded looks, then Olivia scooped up Laura and carried her in one arm, supporting her with a hip. “It’s time for me to feed her, Henry.” She turned to Reid. “If you don’t mind…?”
Reid looked up, smiled at her. “Of course not. You might find some privacy in the kitchen.”
She smiled back at him, traded another glance with Henry, then stepped into the house, being very careful to close the door behind her.
Henry and Reid looked at each other. “That’s… that’s quite a story, Henry,” Reid started.
“I didn’t mean to alarm you, Reid. I just… again, I just want you to be careful. It strikes me that Ephraim Hazlett is a very dangerous sort of man, one that I would not want to cross. If he knew that…” Henry trailed off, shook his head.
Knew what? Reid wanted to ask, knew he should ask, but he stayed silent.
Henry turned away, looking out into the green valley before them. “There’s something else,” he murmured.
Reid sighed. “What?”
“It’s… well…”
Reid had never cared for Henry’s diffidence when it came to speaking about things. “Henry. Just say it.”
Henry turned to Reid. “You… need to be careful, Reid.”
“You said that.”
“That’s not what I mean. I… you need to be careful about you… and Elias.”
Reid stared at Henry for a long moment; Henry returned his stare quietly. “What are you trying to say, Henry?”
Henry pursed his lips, as if trying to bite back his words. “I can understand it,” he started, speaking slowly, choosing his words carefully. “I can see why you would find him… well…” He trailed off, floundering, seemingly embarrassed. “I mean, he’s… he has his… charms.”
Reid’s heart started hammering. “Henry? I think you need to explain yourself.”
Henry closed his eyes, opened them. “When I first started seeing Olivia, we… talked. About things. About… well…”
“About me.”
“Yes. About… well, your… temperament,” he finished, lamely.
“My temperament? What the hell does that mean?”
“Well, what you are… and what you aren’t, perhaps.”
“Let me guess. Not married. Not seeing anyone. Not… spoken for.”
“Yes.”
“It really isn’t any of your business, Henry.”
“No, I know that, Reid. I do. And you know that I respect you. The job you had raising Olivia… that must have been nearly impossible. And your education… and your work at the college. I don’t know how you did it.” He paused. “What you do, in your private life… that is nobody’s business but your own. I truly believe that. It doesn’t matter to me at all what you are, how you live your life. Who you choose to live it with. It’s just… well, it turned out to be him. A Hazlett.”
“Why do you hate them so much, Henry? Is it because of the money?”
“No. Not at all. I just don’t think that Ephraim Hazlett is going to be tolerant about learning that his son has… has taken up with you. He may be crazy, but he’s smart crazy. Shrewd crazy, maybe. He will take this and run with it if he thinks he can make a buck out of it, and I don’t want to see you get hurt. And he will hurt you, Reid, if he thinks he’ll benefit.”
“I’ve never even laid eyes on Ephraim Hazlett, Henry.”
“You will, Reid. I guarantee it. One day, he’s going to figure out where Elias is and he’s going to track him down.”
“I’ll cross that bridge when I come to it, Henry.”
Henry’s mouth quirked. “If he doesn’t burn it down from underneath you.”