Chapter 20 - The Blackberry Bush
Two weeks later, the smell of cedar wood shavings and fresh earth filled the backyard.
The collapsed patio table was gone, replaced by a smooth expanse of clean flagstones. The blackberry bushes along the back fence were heavy with fruit, dark purple and ripe under the morning sun.
Toby sat on the wooden bench wearing an apron two sizes too big, a plastic bowl on his lap, carefully dropping blackberries into the bowl one by one.
"Dad?"
"Yeah, buddy?" I called from the patio, wiping sawdust from my hands as I set down the cordless drill.
"Are we putting sugar on them this time?"
"As much sugar as you want," I laughed, walking over and sitting beside him on the bench.
His cheeks were full and rosy again. The IV bruises on his arms had completely vanished, and for the first time in fourteen days, he hadn't had a single nightmare about the dark veins.
Across the lawn, a moving truck was parked in the driveway. Three men were loading the last of the furniture from the house into the back of the forty-foot trailer.
We weren't staying here.
The house held too many ghosts, too many secrets buried behind drywall and pantry cameras.
In my pocket rested two plane tickets to Maine, a deed to a small house near the coast, and a bank statement with numbers I would never need to worry about for the rest of my life.
Toby picked up a particularly large, perfect blackberry and held it out to me.
"For you, Dad."
I took the berry, looked at it, and smiled.
"Thanks, buddy."
I ate the berry. It was sweet, cold, and clean.
"Dad?"
"Yeah, Em—Toby?"
"Can we build a treehouse at the new house? A really tall one?"
I pulled him into my lap, wrapping my arms around him, resting my chin on top of his head as the breeze rustled through the pine trees.
"We can build whatever you want, Toby," I said. "As tall as you want. With a rope ladder, a secret trapdoor, and a lock on the front."
"A big lock?" he asked, looking up at me with bright, clear blue eyes.
May you like
"The biggest lock in the world," I smiled, kissing his temple. "Just for us."
The next chapters are on the left side of your screen. If you enjoyed the story, bookmark my site: https://vibe.treeiq.biz New stories are posted daily, so check back for updates.
