Maid to Order (8 page)

“Something else that’s none ya business,” she said smartly.

“He’s not going back to that home, Ms. Carlton, so it just
became
my business,” Rusty said angrily.

“You think you can take better care of him then I can? Is that it,
Rusty?
You haven’t seen him in more than twenty years! You wouldn’t last a
week
living with him. He’s stubborn as hell and a serious neat freak amongst other things!” she said angrily. “I’m sorry he has to be there right now and I’m looking to fix that situation as soon as I can but… for now… just butt out!”

“What makes you think I
couldn’t
take care of him? I’m pretty damn sure I can keep track of one adult man for
more
than just a week! I kept track of younger men than him… for a whole lot longer! I may have almost got them killed once but…” he said with a pause. “And for the love of Christ, stop calling me Rusty!” he finished angrily.

The shocked look on her face told him that he had in fact said the part about almost getting them all killed out loud. Even his attempts to cover it by chastising her about using his first name didn’t detract from it.

In the course of three days she had him experiencing everything from laughter, to arousal to anger and once again back to sadness and guilt. He couldn’t seem to control himself in her presence. That inability had just made him spill information she neither wanted nor needed to know.

“Or what,
Rusty?
Are you going to make me drop and give you twenty, Sergeant…
Sir?
” she asked after she processed everything he’d said. Then she looked him over in a way that he could actually feel physically and continued, “Or give you something else?”

“I’m tired and I want to go back to the home now,” Danny said in a sad tone from the doorway of the bakery area making them both jump.

It was time to put an end to all this nonsense before it went any further or he spilled his guts some more. It was also obvious from the look on his face that Danny was uncomfortable with his friend and sister arguing. Rusty couldn’t blame him. Overhearing your own sister’s lack of regard for your predicament couldn’t be a pleasant experience.

“How about you get in bed early tonight, man? Get a good night’s sleep when you get back to the home this evening. Then in the morning, pack some of your things, all your
records,
and come stay with me for a few days?” Rusty asked him.

“My mom’s dead and so is your grandpa. That means it would be just us, right, Rusty?” Danny asked, his smile returning.

That was one of those things about Danny that was unique. He often had no filter when mentioning unpleasant topics. Danny would sometimes blurt out things that made other people uncomfortable. It had never really bothered Rusty but he could see Amy flinch at the matter of fact tone Danny had used when mentioning the deceased.

“Yep… just us,” Rusty said. Then looking directly at Amy he said, “No Les…”

She wouldn’t even look at him but by God she was going to do right by her brother whether she wanted to or not.

“That will be good. I can help you with your chores, Rusty. I can make sandwiches now and I can wash dishes, except for sharps,” Danny replied. Then he turned and headed back out of the bakery, completely sidetracked from the argument Rusty had been having with his gorgeous sister.

“What? No more snappy comebacks there, Ms. Carlton?” Rusty asked, sarcasm dripping no matter how much he tried to rein it in.

“One week… and it’s not for you! It’s for him!” she spat, pointing in Danny’s direction. Then taking a deep breath she calmly said, “I’ll go to the home in the morning and let them know.”

“Fine,”

“
Fine.
You’re welcome,
Sir
,” she huffed, turning her back to him.

“No, Ms. Carlton…
you’re
welcome,” he replied and then walked out of the bakery. After saying goodbye to Danny he left and headed home.

By the time he drove home, Rusty wasn’t nearly as angry. Now he was just confused about why he was even getting involved in all this. In some regards Amy was absolutely right. It wasn’t his business at all and he
hadn’t
seen Danny in more than twenty years.

That wasn’t Danny’s fault though, it was his. Despite him having Down Syndrome, Danny had always seemed to be miles ahead of him on understanding what made people tick. As for Danny’s stubbornness, that was the only indicator that he was in fact related to Amy, the dimpled temptress. She had also inherited the stubborn gene.

Surprisingly, he again slept like a rock, without waking even once throughout the night. That was as new to him as experiencing emotions again after so many years of just existing.

A shell of the person he’d been in his twenties made feeling this way now even harder to acclimate to. Guilt and just a bone deep sadness had been his only emotional companions for so long, having anger, jealousy, humor, and an overwhelming case of lust suddenly make an appearance, left him totally out of sorts.

Rusty noticed he had a missed a call and a voicemail was on his cell phone when he got out of the shower. Listening to the message from Amy had him feeling a little remorseful. She sounded so sad when she’d told him that she’d stopped by the home already and signed a paper stating that Rusty would be providing Danny’s care for the remainder of the week and the upcoming weekend. She went on to explain that Danny was all packed up and ready to be picked up whenever, so if he changed his mind to please call her immediately.

Amy’s hot molten anger and passion he could take, sounding as sad as Rusty often felt, though, was really hard for him to handle. A part of him wanted to go by Amy’s apartment before going to pick up Danny and hand her back the short stick and let her know that it was her turn to jab him now. Instead Rusty headed to the other side of town to pick up her brother from the group home.

As Amy had promised, Danny was all packed and ready to go. A large duffle bag of his clothes and two boxes were waiting by the front door of the home along with the smiling man. Looking around at some of the other occupants of the home, Rusty knew that he couldn’t just rescue Danny, while leaving the others behind to face ‘Les’ by themselves. An older woman approached him and he held out his hand to her.

“Are you Martha, by any chance?” he asked, shaking the woman’s hand.

“Yes…” she replied.

Turning to Danny, he said, “Why don’t you carry your things on out to the car one at a time and put them in the back seat. Your bag should go on the floor behind the front passenger seat. Okay?”

“I can do that all by myself, Rusty,” Danny replied with a proud smile.

When Danny headed out the door carrying one of the boxes, Rusty turned back to the woman and said, “Do you know of an employee named Les?”

“Yes, he’s one of the weekend shift caregivers. Why?” Martha asked.

“That’s unfortunate for the residents here, since most of them probably can’t complain. They’ll be left at his mercy. However, I’ll be damned if Danny Carlton will be anymore. You make sure you let ‘Les’ know that. As a matter of fact, why don’t you give him my business card here and tell him to stop by my house and call my friend a retard in front of
me
,” he said, handing Martha the card he’d fished out of his pocket.

Martha gave him a curious look but took the card from his grasp. They shared a look that spoke of understanding as Danny came back in the door. Rusty handed Danny the other box and picked up the duffle bag himself.

“You take care of yourself this week, Danny,” Martha said, eyeing Rusty again. “There may be some changes around here when you get back.”

Rusty nodded his head at the woman in silent agreement while holding the door open for Danny with his free hand. Then he followed Danny to the car and, soon enough, they were leaving the home behind.

He probably shouldn’t have been so crass about the whole situation with Martha, since she had nothing to do with it, but he was just so angry, it was hard not to be. If Amy was unwilling to say anything about it, then that was on her. However, he’d tell anyone who cared to listen including ‘Les’ that he had issues with anyone talking shit
to
or
about
any of his friends.

The rest of the afternoon was spent helping Danny get unpacked and situated in the spare bedroom that Ian had used for a while before he and Courtney got married. Rusty was impressed with how well… and how much… Danny had managed to pack into a large duffle bag and two boxes.

Some of Danny’s records and even the actual player had made the trip, just as Rusty had suggested. Rusty moved his lazy boy rocking chair into the small bedroom for Danny. With Danny settled in for the evening, Rusty headed out to the living room knowing that his mind would eventually find its way back to Ms. Carlton.

He heard one of Danny’s records start playing not long after and smiled in spite of himself. His nostalgia was interrupted by someone knocking on the front door. Opening it, he found Courtney and Ian on his doorstep. He invited them inside and offered them a drink.

“We can’t stay long. We were actually just heading home when all the sudden she insisted we stop by and see you. I think its hormones… but I’m not sure. Either way, it’s just easier to let her have her way,” Ian said with a goofy smile. “Hope we’re not interrupting.”

“Nope. Got a houseguest, though. Danny’s going to be spending the week with me,” he replied.

Glancing at Courtney, Rusty found himself fidgeting beneath her clinically assessing stare. He often wondered, whenever she was around, if he had something written on his forehead that all shrinks, like her, could see. Perhaps, a sign that read something like ‘Unstable’ or ‘Basket Case.’

She didn’t say anything to indicate what she was thinking but instead simply smiled, placed her hand on Rusty’s arm and then said, “We can go now. I just wanted to stop by and see that you were okay, Rusty. You should come by for some coffee sometime… I’m off work now until the girls are born. Besides, it’s been a while since we’ve seen you. Maybe you can bring some cupcakes with you.”

Her knowing wink made Rusty wonder if she could also read his mind.

Then, as if she was satisfied with his current level of craziness or sanity…
whichever
… Courtney turned and headed right back out the door. Ian simply shrugged his confusion and followed after her, shaking his head as he closed the front door behind himself.

Rusty felt his cell phone buzzing in his pocket. Pulling it out, he noticed the number for AmyCakes showing, so he answered, “He’s enjoying his music right now, Ms. Carlton. I’m afraid it’s too late to talk to him.”

“He’s okay though?” she asked softly.

Sighing he replied. “He’s fine. Give it a day or two for him to settle in and then you can come by and see him… just like at the home. He really is pretty self-reliant so I still don’t see why you can’t just let him stay with you until you find someplace better for him, but you’re welcome to come by here this week to see him.”

“Stop by my apartment sometime this week and I’ll
show
you why, Rusty,” she said in that husky voice of hers. “Then maybe you’ll stop judging me.”

Before he could defend himself and explain that he wasn’t judging, he realized she’d hung up on him.

Chapter Seven

Amy spent all day Monday cleaning. First she worked on finishing what Rusty had started in her kitchen. Not that there was much she could really do in her apartment to clean or organize without throwing out everything she owned. There was simply no room in her tiny little apartment. It was basically just about organizing piles into tighter stacks.

Unfortunately even though rent on the place suited her bank account… the overall size of her apartment didn’t work too well. After doing what she could in the small kitchen, she moved on to the bakery and shop. So by the end of the day she had completely worn herself out and just dropped into bed without even bothering with dinner.

Danny got some disability money from the state now that both his parents were gone, but not enough to house him anywhere but in a state run facility, which Amy would never allow. At least the group home that he hated so much was privately run and offered him day trips to the library, to a local recreation center and various other activities.

It wasn’t cheap though, so it took some additional money on her part, combined with his money, to make that happen. Not that she had a lot of extra money to spare, with still trying to get the shop up and established. Her mother was forever trying to give her money, but Danny was her responsibility, not her mother’s.

Things were quiet at the shop most of the following day as she and Renee cleaned up, until Renee finally said, “Everything okay, Sweetie?”

“I’m fine.” Then deciding to stop lying, especially to her best friend, Amy said, “That’s a lie. Is it wrong to be angry because…” She stopped in an attempt to keep herself from spewing off a string of profanities that might bring about dark clouds, thunder and rain-showers of epic proportions. Losing the battle with her frustration over the situation she continued. “That man spent
two days
here and you would think he’d been a professional pastry chef for the past twenty years, not a military sergeant. Then he spends a
single
afternoon catching up with his
old pal
, Danny, and has my brother eating out of the palm of his hand. One day!
One
. I mean, seriously?”

“He has history with Danny… where you’re just now getting to know him. That’s the only reason things went so smoothly for Mr. Hot and Moody. You will learn to get along with Danny too… it just takes a while. Don’t give up so quickly and try not to let what Rusty said upset you,” Renee soothed. “Besides, it’s not a popularity contest… Danny’s
your brother
… that means you automatically win his affection, regardless.”

“Oh stop… you sound like my mom!” Amy said angrily and then immediately felt bad. Renee was only trying to help, as was her mother. “Besides, I’m not so sure I can win
anything
where Danny is concerned.”

“No.
You
stop. Enough of this… swallow your damn pride and go visit him! It’s Tuesday evening and he’ll be expecting you whether he’s at
Mr. Hawkins’
house or at the home,” Renee admonished. “Go… I’ve got this.”

She allowed Renee to push her out the door of her own business. The drive to Beavercreek was uncomfortable to say the least. Amy kept imagining things like her brother and Rusty not even being there when she did arrive. Perhaps, Rusty had taken him
fishing
again or some other equally fun activity. The library possibly. And maybe she hadn’t even crossed Danny’s mind.

Would her brother even realize that it was Tuesday and time for their visit? Somehow Amy knew that if Danny didn’t remember, it would hurt. Regardless of the fact that it might simply be because of Rusty’s distraction, the idea still set Amy’s nerves on edge.

When she pulled in the driveway of a small but cozy looking ranch style house and caught sight of Danny standing just inside the house with the front door open wide, waiting for her, she felt tears of relief prick her eyes.

“I told you she would remember, Rusty!” Danny yelled excitedly as she got out of the car.

She was surprised that when she made it up the front walk to the door, Danny actually stepped outside and hugged her. It was awkward as she hadn’t been expecting the onslaught of affection from her brother, but it brought back the same prick of tears behind her eyes. He’d missed her too. She found herself hugging him back.

“Don’t worry, Amy. Sometimes people cry when they’re happy. Not just when they’re sad. I won’t be upset if you cry from being happy. I don’t want you to cry if you’re sad though,” Danny said after releasing her.

She was dumbfounded. How had Danny known how close to tears she’d been just now? She took a minute to just look at him. He seemed to be doing the same and even reached out and touched her cheek, smiling sweetly before turning away. His ready smile returned again as he held the door to Rusty’s house open for her.

Danny looked so much like their father sometimes, even despite his unusual facial features. He had many of the classic characteristics of Down Syndrome… upward slanted eyes, a small nose and a thicker tongue than most people.

Amy felt tears of sadness at the reminder of her father that Danny had generated, which mixed in with the relief from him remembering their visit. Once again she realized just how perceptive Danny really was about how she felt.
Much more than most people who knew her.
A small bit of her wondered if that was part of her issues with him… his ability to read her like few people could.

“Rusty owns this house now, Amy. Come and see my room here,” Danny said, grabbing her hand and pulling her down a hallway.

Her quick glance around at the rooms they passed on their hurried route to Danny’s temporary bedroom told her that much like Danny, Rusty Hawkins was also a neat freak.
Great.
It was just one more positive to add to Rusty’s wonderful characteristics that directly contradicted the list of negatives that Amy had to offer Danny.

Stopping in the doorway to the small bedroom she noticed two things immediately. One was that the room was larger than the one at the group home but not nearly as nice. The second thing was that it was organized almost exactly like his old room at Sylvia’s home.

She remembered the setup from when they had moved Danny out of his old house. The bed was in the same position as far from the window as possible, the chest of drawers along the opposite side of the room as the bed. His record player arranged on the top of it with his albums neatly lined up between two bookends.

The biggest difference between this room and his bedroom at the group home was that here the chair was a rocking chair, not a straight back one. Some mental picture or memory went through her mind of a much younger version of Danny. He was sitting in a similarly organized room in a similar style rocking chair while she’d stood in the doorway. She must have been about four, maybe.

Danny quickly went over, pulled out a vinyl record and gently put it on the player before turning it on. She watched as he then went and sat in the chair. Looking at where she stood, he smiled.

“You’re too big and too old to sit on my lap now, Amy. You’ll have to sit on the bed or the floor this time,” he said. “I’m not sixteen anymore. Rusty says we’re old men now.”

She found herself holding on to the doorframe for support as she again realized that Danny was remembering the same thing that had flickered through her mind. The song she’d heard in Rusty’s car the first night of the festival played through the small speakers on top of the chest of drawers where the record player resided.
Hippie music.

“Hippie music,” she said quietly. Danny’s smile grew bigger at that.

“He’s done this for as long as I can remember,” Rusty said quietly from right behind her.

“I’m not sure how I know that,” she replied. “But I do…”

“My mom should have let me stay at your house sometimes too, Amy,” Danny said. “She let me stay with Rusty. But she told my dad that I wasn’t allowed to stay overnight at your house. She lied. She was a liar sometimes. But I still love her.”

“Oh wow… no way,” she heard Rusty say. Then she felt him walk away, leaving her alone with Danny once more.

Some weird bit of reminiscence that she couldn’t really piece together or understand filled her and she found herself sitting down on his neatly made bed and listening to the entire first side of the record. When Danny stood up to turn the record over she realized how comfortable he was here in this room… even with Rusty nearby. So much so that he put her at ease as well.

This
was why he didn’t belong in the group home. It had nothing to do with it not being a nice enough place or the fact that he was ‘high functioning,’ whatever that meant. This environment was what he knew. Just like he knew where all the libraries were in the Dayton area, what busses ran to Miamisburg and the name of any song that came on the radio along with who sang it.

Rusty Hawkins had known this about her brother where she did not. She hadn’t even known how to ask Danny why he hated the home.

Tears stung her eyes yet again as this man who favored her father so much simply started the other side of the record playing and then sat back down in the rocking chair. He was the most familiar stranger she’d ever known.

It hurt that an extremely nice looking but equally rigid man had been able to step in and fix her brother’s world where she’d struggled just to get through an hour long visit with him three to four times a week.

Standing up she approached her brother and laid her hand on his shoulder gently. He placed his hand over hers briefly. It had been the best visit they’d ever had. No fighting, no arguing. However, the feeling that she was the worst sibling ever was nearly overwhelming now. She quietly left his room and closed the door behind her. She nearly made it to the end of the hallway before the tears blinded her.

Upon seeing Rusty approach her, she managed to skirt around him and was out the door and halfway down the street before the tears finally spilled over onto her cheeks. Why hadn’t Rusty just helped her do that for Danny? Instead he’d come in like some kind of savior for her brother, providing him a private sanctuary that was obviously one of the most important things to him.

Her mother was right that only she could build a relationship with Danny. Yet Rusty Hawkins had effectively taken over and provided everything Danny had needed since Sylvia’s death, leaving nothing for Amy to do. What did Amy have to offer him
now
that Rusty hadn’t already provided for him? What did Danny need her for?

Not wanting to go home and get an additional dose of what she couldn’t provide for her brother, she instead ended up at the bakery. She whipped up a batch of sugar and spice cookies and stuck them in the oven and was starting on a batch of cupcakes when she heard banging on the door to the shop.

Her instincts told her that it was Rusty. She ignored the knocking. The fact that he’d chased her down made her really mad, since he’d already won. What more did he want? He could in fact take better care of her brother than she could… so why wasn’t he at his house doing so right now? Was it really that important to make his point or rub it in? In fact, if he wasn’t at his house taking care of Danny… then who was?

Sighing in equal parts frustration and anxiety, she had just started toward the double doors leading to the shop when she heard knocking at the back bakery door.

“Ms. Carlton… I know you’re in there. Your car’s here. I also know that you can hear me knocking. So stop this and let me in so we can talk like adults,” Rusty’s voice filtered through the door.

She walked over to the back door and stopped. She debated continuing to ignore him but reason won out. Flipping the lock she tugged the door open and said, “Did you drag Danny out with you this late at night?”

“No. Of course not,” he replied with a frown while stepping inside.

“So you just left him
alone
… at night?” she asked incredulously.

“No… a friend of mine’s daughter is at the house until I can get back there,” he replied, closing and relocking the door. “Besides, he doesn’t need a babysitter… he’s a grown man. I just didn’t want to chance him waking up and not know where I went.”

When he turned back to her their gazes locked and neither said anything for several moments until the timer for the cookies dinged. Before she could move, Rusty grabbed one of the big oven mitts off the bakery table and headed over to the oven. She began filling the cupcake pan with liners while watching Rusty take the cookies out of the oven from the corner of her eye. They worked in silence for a few moments.

“He used to tell Greg and I all the time that one day he was going to spend the night at Amy’s house. It never made sense to us and because we were young, we just agreed with him but never really questioned it. Then hearing him say that about his mom… it all made sense,” Rusty said while scooping the cookies off the pan and onto a cooling rack.

“Why are you here, Rusty? Do you feel guilty now for proving your point about being able to take better care of him? Is that it?” she asked. Then, hearing the childishness of her statements ringing in her ears, she took a deep breath. “You were right… he’s happier with you than in the home. I told you before if I’d had any other options, I wouldn’t have made him stay there.”

“Bullshit, Ms. Carlton. You have a two bedroom apartment… that’s just an excuse and you know it,” he replied.

“Let’s get this finished up… you need to see with your eyes why I can’t keep him at the apartment with me,” she said angrily.

She tried not to stew in her anger while they finished up the cookies and cupcakes and stored them away for the following day. Once that was done, she made sure the oven was off, the lights turned down and the doors locked. Then, without so much as looking at Rusty, she got in her car and headed to the apartment. Once he got a look at the second bedroom he’d understand. 

 
***

Rusty didn’t understand Amy at all. It was obvious that something was bothering her with regards to Danny, so why didn’t she just spit it out. He’d learned a long time ago from Lauren not to assume that he understood what was going on in a woman’s mind.