Apatheia Chap 3: "Distraction"

(Friends- I've been away...sorry this has taken so long to post. I'm writing chapter 4 now. The story should be finished soon- thank you for all your words of encouragement as I've worked on this! Hugs to you!)
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"Distraction"

On Saturday the kids had a play date with their Grandmother from 10 am to 5 pm.
William needed to cut the grass and Clara wanted to run errands.

The serpent slithered into the further most corner of the crawl-space, towards the front of the house, on the opposite side of the garage.
Saturday was the only day of the week that she might be found by William and she wanted to be in the darkest corner under the house.

William mowed the grass, it wasn't his favorite job, but he didn't mind doing it. He recalled that when he and Clara were first married she'd plant flowers while he cut the grass, but those days were long gone. Life was busy and they were often on different paths.
As he pushed the mower along the side of the house he spotted something unusual. One of the vents in the foundation was open- which was fine for ventilation in the summer, but the screen behind it was broken. It crossed his mind that the screen is what kept "critters" like mice and rats and other rodents out of the crawl space. As he thought about it though- he realized he'd never seen a mouse, or even a mole, in his yard.
He shrugged his shoulders and pushed on, deciding that the broken screen could wait.

The serpent hugged herself tightly and lifted her head. With eyes like 2 shiny beads in the cool darkness, she flicked her tongue- knowing she was quite safe.

However, William did see one bothersome thing as he made the turn to mow the back yard-
A patch of poison ivy near the swing set.
Without much thought he pulled the plants up and tossed them over the fence into the wooded area behind his house, and kept mowing the grass.

Meanwhile Clara was at the drug store picking up Tylenol, allergy meds, and trying to find a lipstick to replace the one she thought she'd lost. While she was shopping she noticed a different pharmacist behind the counter. She recognised him as being the parent of a new boy on Billy's little league team. From what she'd heard he was going through a rough divorce and had moved to the area less than 6 months before. He seemed to be a devoted father and was good with the other children on the team. He was also quite handsome.

Clara had not introduced herself, but Billy had spoken often about the new boy, Jacob Douglas, and wanted him to come over and play. Clara looked up from her shopping basket to see Jacob's dad coming towards her.
"Mrs. Thomas?", he asked.
"Yes", said Clara smiling, "And you are Jacob's dad, right? "
"Please call me Ryan", he said. "I've wanted to say hello for a few weeks now, but I just haven't been able to. My son Jacob really likes your son, and Billy has been a good friend to him as the newest member of the team. It's meant alot to him, and to me. I wanted to say thank you."
And he reached out to shake her hand. Clara was touched.
"Oh, what a nice thing for you to say!" Clara exclaimed warmly, as she took his hand.
"Billy has mentioned your son to me several times. We would love to have Jacob over ...maybe you and Jacob could come over for a cook out with our family one night?"

They chatted for a few more minutes and exchanged phone numbers. Ryan Douglas went back to work, and Clara finished shopping- feeling sorry for little Jacob, and touched by Ryans kind remarks. He was seemed to be so nice and she wondered, "What woman in her right mind would let that ONE go? Smart, a loving dad, and so good looking! She must be an idiot!"

By the time Clara finished all of her errands and got home- William had finished the yard work and was itching like mad. A red rash with tiny blisters covered most of his left hand and part of his right arm. Clara took one look at the rash and said, "That is from poison ivy! How did that happen?"
William said, "I saw a small patch of it next to the swing set, so I pulled it up and got rid of it."
"Were you wearing your gloves?" Clara asked pointedly.
" I couldn't find my damn gloves!" He retorted.

Clara gave instructions for him to soak his hands and arm in cool water.
She didn't have any Poison Ivy lotions or cremes in the house and she would have to go back to the drug store, and get William some cotton gloves to keep the rash from spreading.

William filled the deep kitchen sink with cool water, and removed his watch and wedding ring.

Clara stepped into her bathroom and fluffed her hair and put on her lipstick before heading out to the drug store for the 2nd time that day.

The serpent yawned and stretched out a little. She wondered when the kids would be back...