Heart At Risk

It was three o’clock by the time Kurt finally fell asleep. Scotty’s cries awoke him a short time later. The boy was sitting up in bed crying. Kurt jumped to his feet and ran over to him. Trembling with fright, Scotty clutched at him.

“Hey, buddy, what’s wrong?” Kurt murmured, embracing him.

“Don’t let go of me,” Scotty sobbed.

Kurt tightened his arms around him. “I won’t, pal. Did you have a bad dream?”

“I was in this big pool of black water, and…and I was choking and couldn’t breathe.”

“You were reliving your accident, Scotty. You’re fine, there’s nothing to be afraid of.”

“Will you stay with me, Mr. Bolen?”

“Sure will. I won’t let anything happen to you. And you can call me Kurt. Your mother said it was okay.”

The boy looked up at him, tears streaking his cheeks. “Promise?”

“Promise, buddy. And you never break a promise to a buddy.”

Scotty stopped crying and wiped his eyes with a balled fist. “Am I really your buddy?”

“If you want to be.”

“I sure want to be. I bet you’re the best buddy a fella could have.”

“Hey, I was thinking the same thing about you.”

“Do you have other buddies?”

“Only older ones,” Kurt said. “The guys in my…guys I work with. What about you?”

“I’ve got a couple friends at school, but I don’t have a real buddy.”

“Well, you’ve got one now. Tell you what, tomorrow I have to go into Milwaukee to get my leg checked, then I’ll come back and we’ll pal around together until I have to go back to work. Would you like that?”

“Really! Oh, boy, wait until I tell Mom!”

“Can you swim, Scotty?”

He hung his head. “Not very good. I’m kind of afraid of the water.”

“I bet I could teach you how to swim so good that you’d never be afraid of water again.”

“Could you really?”

“Yeah, I’m a pretty good swimmer.”

Scotty leaned forward. “Do you think you could teach my mom?” he asked in a half whisper. “She’s afraid of water, too.”

“If she’ll let me.” So, like mother, like son. “Now, how about you going back to sleep. Do you want a drink of water?”

Scotty giggled. “No, sir. I drank all the water today I want to.” Scotty slipped his hand into Kurt’s. “Will you stay with me until I fall asleep?”

“I promise, buddy.”

“And a buddy never breaks a promise to a buddy,” Scotty said. Smiling, he lay back and closed his eyes. “It’s sure gonna be nice having a buddy like you.”

Kurt sat on the edge of the bed, holding his son’s hand until Scotty fell asleep.

As soon as she heard Scotty cry out, Maddie bolted from her bed and rushed to his bedroom. She paused in the doorway when she saw him sitting up and clutching Kurt. For some inexplicable reason she chose to remain silent and not intrude on the scene.

As she listened to them, she could see how much Scotty missed and needed to have an adult male in his life. She had concentrated so hard on making a life for him that she had neglected the one thing he needed the most—a father to comfort him, to teach him the things a boy learns from just being around a man—especially around a father.

And it was obvious that he and Kurt had bonded from the beginning. Even just now, no matter how frightened Scotty had been, not once had he cried out for her.

She struggled with the reality that at this stage of his life Scotty needed Kurt more than he did her. She thought her heart would break, and turned away and went back to her room.

Unable to fall back to sleep, Maddie got up and went downstairs to have a cup of tea. To her surprise, Beth had already brewed a pot and filled two mugs.

“I was just coming upstairs to your room. I thought it’s time we had a talk,” Beth said.

“Aunt Beth, it’s almost four o’clock.”

“And neither of us are ready to go to sleep, so this is as good a time as any.”

Maddie was too emotionally drained to put up an argument. She sat down and took a sip of the hot brew.

“Kurt is Scotty’s father, isn’t he?” Beth said.

Maddie took another sip of the tea. She needed something to fortify her for this conversation. “When did you realize it?”

“I suspected it by your bizarre reaction to him at the diner. This morning at the quarry my suspicions were confirmed when I had a better opportunity to see them together. The resemblance is obvious.”

Beth reached over and grasped Maddie’s hand. “Honey, if ever two people belonged together it’s your son and his father. How can you deny it any longer?”

Maddie drew a shuddering breath. “I can’t. I realize that now. Aunt Beth, believe me, I didn’t deliberately keep them apart. I had no idea where to find Kurt when I discovered I was pregnant. But I didn’t try to find him, for which I now must bear the guilt. And then with my folks and Joey getting killed, there was just too much coming at me at the same time, so I gave up any thought of finding Kurt.”

“So why are you trying to drive him away now?”

“Because he’s a threat to me. After all this time, he suddenly appears and threatens the life I’ve worked so hard to achieve.”

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