Shattered Bonds (continued)

Lorelei sat with Sean for more than three hours before Trenton finally sent her away. He felt mildly guilty about that, but it was now past time for his dinner and, frankly, he was not quite yet ready to be that gracious with the young woman enough to ask her to stay. His request was polite, but firm. Nonetheless, she hesitated for a long moment, staring down at Sean, before she rose from the chair. She looked exhausted and Trenton wondered how much she had slept since it had happened. He knew that he was running on an ongoing deficit, despite Georgia’s best efforts.

He closed the front door behind Lorelei, watching her until she faded into the shadows of the compound. Suddenly, preparing a meal suddenly felt like too much effort. A cup of tea he thought he could manage, and then he would head off for bed.

Opening the refrigerator to see whether there was any milk remaining, he found a plate with a sandwich prepared on it, along with several slices of fruit. Stuck into one triangular half of the sandwich was a small sign that read: EAT ME. On the other was a similar one, but the lettering on it said: . . . OR ELSE.

Trenton could not hold back the quiet laugh the tiny notes elicited.

Where have I seen that before? Alice in Wonderland?

He had a fleeting memory of a very, very old film done with old-style animation . . .

There was no doubt in his mind who had left the sandwich. He just wondered when she had managed to pull it off without him noticing.

Chuckling softly, and wearing a smile that he did not notice until too late, he removed the platter and placed it on the counter, remembering then why he had gone looking into the refrigerator in the first place. He returned to it, saw that a small amount of milk remained, and made a quick mental note to get some more as he removed the container from its shelf.

The kettle signaled its readiness. He poured the water into his mug and waited for the tea to steep. Picking off a piece from the corner of the sandwich, he chewed it slowly, wondering how Georgia managed to make them taste so much better with the same ingredients.

TLC, his mother had used to say. Tender loving care. That had been her secret ingredient in places other than simply the kitchen. It had been part of the antibiotic ointment when he had suffered scrapes, and even somehow magically added to the adhesives used in his childhood craft projects.

It’s been a long time since I thought of that, Trenton mused as he took another bite from the sandwich. Or her.