The Influence(21)

The message No Signal appeared on his screen.

The TV continued to come in fine—all channels, as far as he could tell after a quick check—and he was able to use the land line and call his parents to wish them a happy New Year’s, so there was probably nothing major wrong, only a temporary glitch. But building on his already gloomy mood, the lack of internet access bothered him, and he felt distracted and unsettled as he played previously loaded games on his computer for the rest of the morning until Lita invited him over to the house for lunch.



****



Ross could tell something was wrong when Lita called around dinnertime. There was a strange hitch in her voice, and when he walked over to their house (the Big House, as he’d started to think of it), both she and Dave were seated on the couch in the living room. Usually, around this hour of the evening, Lita would have been cooking, but there was no smell of food from the kitchen, and neither of them looked as though they had any desire to eat. Indeed, Dave seemed stunned, almost in shock as he stared blankly at the coffee table in front of him, nodding listlessly in response to Ross’ greeting.

Ross stood there awkwardly, unsure of what to do or say, uncertain as to what was going on, and it was Lita who filled him in, taking him into the kitchen, away from Dave. “We got a call about a half hour ago,” she said quietly. “Dave’s parents were killed in a car crash.”

“Oh my God.”

She nodded. “Some drunk conventioner from Des Moines driving a rented SUV. Head-on collision. Neither of them made it to the hospital.”

He didn’t know what to say. What could a person say at a time like this that wasn’t trite and ineffectual?

A bitterness crept into Lita’s voice. “The drunk driver, of course, survived.”

“I’m so sorry,” Ross said. “Is there anything you want…I mean, what can I…?”

“We have to go to Las Vegas. We could be gone for awhile,” she said. “A week, maybe. I don’t know. Do you think—”

“Don’t worry about it,” he assured her. “I’ll take care of everything. I’ll even sell at the market if you need me to.”

“I’m not sure we’ll have enough to sell, based on what you brought in today.” She touched his shoulder, spoke softly. “Thank you, though. I’m glad you’re here. I don’t know what we’d do if you weren’t.”

“When are you leaving?” Ross asked.

“In the morning. I’m driving, but I want him to get some sleep. I’m worried about him.”

Ross nodded.

“I was wondering…” She seemed hesitant.

“What?”

“If we could borrow your car. The truck’s been making some weird noises, and another long trip might—”

Ross cut her off. “Of course,” he said.

She threw her arms around his shoulders, giving him a grateful hug. “Thank you.”

They returned to the living room. Dave seemed slightly more alert, though definitely not his normal self. He looked up at them as they entered. “She told you?”

“Yeah. I’m sorry…” That sounded lame. “For your loss.” That sounded lamer. He stood there awkwardly, not saying anything more, hoping that silence would be more effective at expressing his feelings than his words had been.

Dave looked at Lita. “Is it all right?”

“Yes,” she assured him. “He’ll take care of everything.”

“We’re sorry to do this to you,” Dave apologized.

Ross waved him away. “You have more important things to deal with right now. In fact, I’m going to leave you two alone, so you can…do…whatever you need to do.” Stupid! He glanced over at Lita. “Unless you need me for something.”

“No, you go on.” She tried to smile, but just looked sad and tired.

“Okay, then. I’m there if you need me, though. Just…give me a call.” He left before he embarrassed himself, and after making a sandwich for dinner, he watched the national news, turned off the TV, checked his email, turned on the TV, tried to play a video game, walked restlessly onto the porch, then settled down to watch a Doctor Who DVD. The lights went off in the Big House around nine, and he waited a half-hour to make sure he wasn’t needed before going to bed himself.

Exhausted by the stress of the day, he fell asleep instantly.

In the morning he awoke early, while it was still dark, hoping to see them off, but they’d already gone. Lita had left a note taped to his screen door, telling Ross that he could use their house while they were gone and to help himself to anything in the kitchen. She said there were instructions for him on the kitchen table, and when he went over to the Big House, he found that Dave had provided a feeding schedule for the horse and the goat, as well as detailed directions for monitoring the bees, and watering the garden and the fruit trees.