Running Northwest Read Free Page B

get dressed and I’ll go get your breakfast started. Its gunna rain today,” he said as he rubbed the top of Daniel’s head and started walking out of the room.
    “Dad…seriously…I know it’s going to rain. It rains a lot; we live on the Coast. Sometimes it rains every day. My teacher says it rains over half the year here,” he said sarcastically then adding, “at least we don’t live in Seattle”
    “Don’t get smart with me, I haven’t had coffee yet; and it’s not always raining, sometimes it’s a mist or fog. There’s a difference…what do they tell you in school anyway?” Tom asked as he walked down the hallway to the kitchen, turning on the small counter top television when he got there to catch the morning news and starting a pot of coffee.
    It had not always been like this. For the first year, that he lived in the cottage with his best friend Derrick Pazinkski. Derrick was a little more than two years younger than Thomas was . There were never kids running about, breakfast rarely was made this early and often not at all. They both were consummate bachelors. Nevertheless, sometimes things change no matter how hard you try.
    About a year or so, after he moved back to Oregon from the Midwest he started dating a woman named Sarah Bellows. She was a single mom who was at that point 28. Sarah was tall about 5’10”, but still shorter than Thomas’ 6’4”. She was beautiful and vivacious, completely random and exciting. Sarah breathed a bit of fresh life into Thomas, who had left Michigan with a broken heart and what seemed a broken soul because of another woman. Those were good times back then.
    Thomas, who always swore he would never date a woman with a child, took a chance. Especially since Sarah was very persistent and convincing. The two became good friends at first before they actually started dating. Thomas loved the fact the she pursued him instead of the opposite. He was very cautious and careful when Sarah finally introduced her son Daniel to him. It took some time for both of them to be comfortable with it, because all three of them had been hurt and let down before. Daniel was about 3½ or so when Thomas first met the boy who would become his son. That was a long time ago. A lifetime ago Thomas sometimes thought.
    About 10 minutes later the father and son sat at their kitchen table eating breakfast. This consisted of two different types of cereal mixed together and orange juice for Daniel and just coffee for Thomas. Thomas rarely ever ate breakfast during the week. He usually ate at the coffee shop. Breakfasts were usually quiet affairs, neither one awake enough to have decent morning conversation. Thomas was never really a morning person, and it seemed Daniel was not either. That personality trait made Thomas laugh sometimes because, Sarah, Daniel’s mother was never much of a morning person either.
    “Hey Dad?” Daniel said nervously.
    Thomas sat back in his chair and squinted his eyes, a worried look on his face. He recognized the tone his son had used.
    “Yeah?” he replied cautiously as he sipped his overly strong coffee.
    “When I get home from school, do you think that maybe we could call Grandma in Florida?” the boy asked gingerly.
    Thomas raised his eyebrows in concern…his mother damn it he thought to himself .
    “We can do that if you want. Is everything okay?” he asked smoothly.
    “Oh yeah, everything is fine I guess. I just miss her. It’s been a while since I talked to her and she sent me a postcard in the mail. I got it on Saturday, so I just wanted to call her and tell her thanks that’s all,” Daniel replied.
    To that Thomas got a curious little smirk on his face and said, “Well…that’s very thoughtful of you Daniel, I’m sure Grandma would appreciate that very much. Can I see the postcard buddy? I’m kind of jealous. She never sends me postcards anymore, she must like you better.”
    The last remark made the boy smile. Daniel reached into his