The Love Trap by Nicole French

Interlude III

1990

“What do you think, lovey?”

Heather turned to look at her son, who was perched on the counter of their wide marble sink. Eric re-crossed his little legs and turned toward his mother. Tonight was a fancy night. Rosa was downstairs making his dinner, which would be tacos, one of his favorites. He was looking forward to it. Fancy nights meant Eric could stay up a little later than normal. He and Rosa could watch a movie on the VCR. Tonight was supposed to be The Wizard of Oz.

“I like it,” he told her. “You sparkle, Mama. Like Dorothy’s shoes.”

Heather looked down at the red sequined dress. “Well, aren’t you a smart thing? It is like Dorothy’s shoes, isn’t it?”

She rubbed noses with Eric. He smiled. Mama smelled like roses tonight.

“Say it with me,” she said. “There’s no place like home. There’s no place like home.”

“What are you teaching him this time, sunshine?”

Eric’s father bounded into the bathroom to check his own reflection, shimmering almost as brightly as his wife. Mama always said he looked like the sun, the way the light seemed to shine off his yellow hair. Eric smiled. He’d missed his dad while he was gone this time.

“Look at us,” Jacob said. “That’s a damn fine-looking family right there, don’t you think?”

“Jake! You have to watch your mouth in front of Eric.”

Eric chuckled. Mama was always telling Daddy to watch his mouth, though Eric didn’t know how exactly you could watch your own mouth. He’d tried plenty of times, but couldn’t manage it without a mirror.

Jacob just darted around Eric and gathered his wife close. “How about I watch your mouth instead?” he asked in that low voice that Eric knew his mother loved. The little boy grinned while his daddy ruined his mother’s lipstick.

“Jake.” She still protested, but now she was out of breath.

“My turn!” Eric shouted after Jacob finally let Heather go.

Jacob turned from Heather triumphantly. “What’s that, buddy? You want a snuggle too?”

“Yes!” Eric cried.

“Well, you asked for it.” Jacob swung Eric up from the counter into a giant bear hug.

“Aahhh!” Eric squealed as his father whirled him around the big bathroom, his voice bouncing off the rock walls.

“Jake, you’ll wrinkle your jacket!” Heather couldn’t stay serious when she was laughing this hard.

“Oh, let the old buzzards see my wrinkles,” Jake said as he set his son back on the counter. “They’re worth every damn squeeze of this monkey.” He pulled Heather next to his son, then wrapped his arms over both their shoulders, tucking his chin between them.

“Can you stay home tonight?” Eric asked. “Please?” Dorothy could wait. He’d rather have more of this.

“Ah, buddy, I promised your mom that when I came back from Korea, we’d have our own New Year’s Eve since I missed it,” Jacob said. “Plus, she needs me to protect her from all those stuffed-up penguins at these galas. There’s always a few of them after her, you know.”

He was joking, but there was something in his voice that made Eric frown. “Like who?” he asked.

“No one,” Heather said, standing up to fix her hair. “Your daddy is just being silly.”

But Jacob remained crouched around Eric. The two men, one young, one older, gazed at each other solemnly under the lights.

“Little man,” Jacob murmured as he stroked his son’s hair. “One day, we won’t be around anymore, you know.”

Eric’s eyes widened. “What?”

“Jake!”

Jacob waved away his wife’s complaint. “This is important, hen.” He squeezed his son. “I hope it’s not for a long, long time, bud. But you never know.” He blinked, like he had just seen something terrible in the mirror.

Eric stilled. He didn’t like this conversation. Now he really wanted his parents to stay.

“But one thing I learned once my dad was gone,” Jacob continued, “was that we’ll always have moments like these. They’ll sit in your mind like a picture if you just try hard enough to keep them.”

“How do I keep them?” Eric asked immediately. This was a good one. He didn’t want to lose it.

Jacob grabbed Heather by the waist so that she faced the mirror again with them.

“You look at everything for a second, just like this,” Jacob told them. “And later, you close your eyes and imagine it all over again. When you’re older, you can write it down. Then you can take these memories and look at them like photos in an album. And remember that home’s not a place, kid. It’s the people you love. And no one, not even death, can take that from you.”

Eric gazed into the mirror, memorizing the sleek, shining figures of his parents. Their gleaming hair, their sparkling clothes. Their warm smiles. Their loving eyes.

“I’ll always remember this moment,” he told them both solemnly. “Will you?”

“I promise,” his father assured him. “No matter what. Even after I’m gone.”