Читать книгу Holiday Homecoming - Pamela Tracy - Страница 13
ОглавлениеIN THE END, sitting at the table in Ray’s tiny kitchen, Meredith convinced Danny that the wolf dog had probably not been responsible for the disappearance of the calves or the adult cow. A pack of full-blooded wolves maybe, Meredith had allowed, but a lone wolf dog, no.
And not one wearing a collar and leaving no carcass.
Jimmy’d seen wolves in the wild. They were cunning, creative and callous when hungry. He did, however, agree with Meredith that calves were a more likely target. He also was somewhat sure a lone wolf could do the job, too, especially on an old or already wounded bovine.
But this hadn’t been a wolf, not really. It had been a wolf dog, the first one Jimmy’d ever seen.
He’d have to Google them when he got home tonight. Maybe little Gesippi, Arizona, would have a wild-animal story to offer, an assignment that would appease his boss—who was already acting as if Jimmy was on his way out instead of merely taking a break—and give Jimmy something to document, both in words and film.
It worried him that his last two shoots had been less than stellar. It worried him even more that his boss wasn’t phoning and asking him for new ideas.
On the other hand, Briana was actually smiling again. Something she’d not done much of during the year he’d dragged her to exotic locales. No, during their travels she’d been well-behaved but almost eerily silent. Nothing like the happy child she’d been before...
She missed her mother; she missed having a permanent home and friends; she missed having a routine. So, for her sake, Jimmy tried to be glad about being home. And in those moments when she smiled and talked a million miles a minute about her new friends, it was all worth it.
Jimmy thought of his own friends that he rarely talked to, the people that he’d allowed to slip out of his life. He was glad he’d been able to visit Ray twice since he’d been home. The first visit had been for old times’ sake. The second had been because Jimmy had realized that visiting Ray Stone was a now-or-never venture.
But both visits had been slightly off-kilter. Ray had been twitchy, insisting they sit on the porch and rarely taking his eyes from the road, though he claimed not to be expecting company. Jimmy had chalked it up to a by-product of old age.
On his first visit, neither brought up Meredith’s name, as if instinctively knowing she was off-limits. On the second visit, Ray had been a bit more forthcoming, talking about Meredith and how she was faring, and expressing some concern that she still felt she had to stay away from her home.
Gazing at her now across the table, Jimmy had to admit that Meredith was even more beautiful than he remembered.
She’d always filled a room with her personality and passion. That hadn’t changed. Back when they’d been dating during most of his junior and all of his senior year, there were moments when he couldn’t imagine his life without her. But there’d also been times when she’d almost consumed him, made him lose who he was, made him question if he could compete with her.
Which he shouldn’t have cared about because he’d loved her...but he had. His brother had never felt that type of angst. Danny would have followed Meredith anywhere, happily, without question. And he hadn’t questioned her when she’d agreed to marry him. He’d been unable, or maybe unwilling, to believe that Meredith didn’t love him.
“I’m heading home.” Danny pushed himself up from the chair, his face still stoic, his demeanor tired. Younger than Jimmy by just one year, he looked five years older.
“I really appreciate all you guys did,” Meredith said. “Grandpa, well, he’s special.”
Danny nodded even as he exited the kitchen. Jimmy wasn’t sure why he stayed; there was nothing else to say. And sitting in this kitchen with Meredith wasn’t something he should do. For her to move back to town a mere eleven days before Danny’s second attempt at marriage and just as Jimmy’s life was falling apart was a cruel fate.
At some point Meredith would challenge Jimmy about his job. He was highlighting the changing and vanishing habitats of wild animals. He was saving the world for the next generation, as Ray had taught him to do, albeit on a smaller scale. She managed a man-made habitat that put wild animals behind bars and robbed them of freedom.
If there was to be a debate, he wanted to start the round. “So, you work in a zoo?”
“You’ve been keeping track of me,” she accused.
“Someone told me last week.” Though Jimmy had already known.
“It’s a habitat, not a zoo, and a dream job,” she stated, looking him full in the face. She’d always been sure of herself. “I work with all the animals, but the wolves and the birds are my main charges. I have a wolf dog.”
“You own one?”
“No,” she corrected herself. “We have one at the habitat. I named him Yoda, so yes, I’m perfectly capable of handling one.”
“I saw that today.”
She shook her head and gazed out the window. He knew she was wondering where the wolf dog was and that she was bothered by the fact it still wore a too-tight collar.
“You’re going to search for her?”
“Not tonight, but if Grandpa’s better tomorrow, then yes.”
“Do you remember how to get around?”
“It hasn’t been that long,” she said indignantly.
“Ray says you haven’t stayed here for any length of time in ten years.”
She gave him a dirty look. Ten years ago, she’d been putting together a wedding. The I do’s would have been at the Gesippi Church; the reception would have been here at Grandpa’s. They’d not planned on a honeymoon. Neither’d had the money. Meredith must have found some money, though. She’d managed to take off right before the wedding, find an apartment in Tucson and start taking classes at the university.
He’d always been afraid to ask why she’d made the decision to accept Danny’s proposal but then to leave him right before the wedding, but maybe it was time to put the wrongs of the past behind them. Tonight, maybe he’d find that he hadn’t been to blame.
“In all these years,” Jimmy said, “I don’t think anyone, at least in our family, knows why you stood Danny up.”
She gazed at him, eyes hooded, chin jutted out in defiance. Oh, she’d apologized, said she was sorry. Had written Danny a letter explaining that she was too young and scared to get married.
She’d never acted young and scared. She’d always seemed years more mature than her age. As for scared, she’d pick up a snake before he would.
For a moment, she waffled, wanting to change the subject. But she was still the stand-up girl he remembered from his youth. She’d never played games like the other girls. She’d always known exactly what she wanted and how to get it.
“I didn’t love him, not the way you’re supposed to love the man you marry.”
“But you said yes when he proposed, you set the date, people were actually in the church waiting for the wedding to begin.”
She looked tired suddenly. Part of him wanted to reach out, move the stray strand of hair away from her eyes, see if it still felt like lightning when he touched her.
Her cheeks flushed. “When I agreed to marry Danny, I thought maybe love, the happily-ever-after kind, would grow between us, in time. But I had a conversation with someone very wise who made me realize that I was cheating myself and Danny,” she admitted. “It wasn’t fair to him. He deserved more.”
He’d always wondered if she’d gone from loving him to loving his brother. Now, hearing her say that she’d never loved Danny, he should feel a sense of freedom. Instead, he felt loss.
She looked at him expectantly, clearly waiting for a reply.
“I used to believe in happily-ever-after, too,” he admitted.
“Used to?”
Before he could answer, someone in the living room called her name. She almost knocked over the kitchen chair in her haste to exit the room.
He walked to the door and watched as she stood amidst her family, somehow apart from them, as if she believed she didn’t quite belong.
But then, he didn’t belong here, either. Jimmy made his way out the front door and to his truck. No one tried to stop him.
* * *
SUNLIGHT SPLASHED THROUGH the window. Meredith groaned. Really? Christmas was in two weeks. Surely the weather could pretend a chill. She’d slept until almost nine. Unheard of. Back at BAA, she always rolled out of bed at four, knowing she needed to get the animals ready to face the day.
Today it didn’t matter, though. Grandpa was still asleep. Last night had been a lot of excitement for him. Her, too, but some of the excitement she could have lived without.
She let him sleep a while longer, busying herself with returning phone messages; walking the property looking for the yesterday’s wolf dog, and finally by making breakfast. It was ten before she finally woke him up.
“I usually just eat cookies for breakfast,” he confessed.
She always had a big breakfast. She’d learned her first week at BAA that sometimes there was a chance for lunch but sometimes instead there was a grumpy camel to soothe, a depressed black panther to cheer up, a peacock with a injured wing to repair, or enclosure malfunctions to fix.
“A decent breakfast will do you good,” she scolded. “How do you feel?”
“Like I fell off a wagon and then it ran over me.”
“Perfect, then you’re not numb,” Meredith said, loading a plate for him. “How’s your ankle?”
“Doesn’t hurt. And where that fool dog nipped me isn’t sore at all. It’s my back that’s sore.”
“Zack made a two o’clock appointment for you. I figure we can go into town about noon, grab some lunch at the diner, and then head to the doctor to make sure you’re all right.”
Grandpa winced. “I don’t need to go into town. I’m sore. When you’re eighty-two, you get to be sore. It’s called old age.”
“If you’re spry enough to chase after a wolf dog and then fight it off with a stick, you don’t get to use old age as an excuse.” She put two plates on the table and then sat down across from him.
“I didn’t chase after that wolf dog. I heard some noises and...” His voice trailed off and for a moment Meredith wondered if he would continue. Then he added, “I thought...it was Rowdy.”
“Rowdy’s been dead for—”
“For more than a decade. I know.” He slowly folded the paper and put it next to his plate, his face looking pinched and stressed.
“You feel all right, Grandpa?”
He made a face instead of answering. Before he picked up his fork, he put his gnarled hands together and bowed his head. Meredith did the same, trying to remember the last time she’d prayed before a meal. It had been a while. She usually was too busy filling up the hours and days on her calendar to think about taking a moment to thank God for all she had.
After the amen, Grandpa took a bite, forced a smile and swallowed before saying, “I still miss that fool dog. I just knew that I’d heard something. By the time I realized how far I’d gone, there the animal was. You’d have gone looking, too, had you been here. And don’t think I don’t know that you were out there early this morning searching.”
“I got that determination from you.”
Instead of being pleased, Grandpa scolded, “I don’t want you out there wandering alone. It’s not the same kind of place it was when you were a kid.”
“I’m fine.”
“No,” he said. “You need to listen to me—take care.”
She nodded, not understanding or agreeing but knowing she had to appease him. He’d rarely looked so stern when talking with her.
Satisfied, he said, “There were too many people here last night, so I didn’t get the chance to ask. That thing I went after really was a wolf dog, huh, like Yoda?”
“Yes, I’m certain of it. She had the long legs of a wolf and I recognize the snout. I must have walked back and forth across two miles this morning, but I couldn’t find her. She’s skittish. I’ll try again tomorrow.”
“Skittish?” Grandpa asked.
“Yes,” Meredith answered. “Plus leery. You’ve heard me talk about Yoda.”
“The wolf dog you use for public relations back at BAA. Your favorite.”
Meredith always felt a little guilty when people remarked that Yoda was her favorite. She loved all the animals, even BAA’s grumpiest camel who liked to spit on her. But she and Yoda did have a special bond.
“Obviously, you managed to get him to trust you.” Grandpa finished his orange juice, but he’d only eaten a tiny corner of of the hash browns she’d prepared, maybe two bites of one sausage, and he’d scrambled the eggs a bit more so she’d not notice he’d not even tried to eat them.
Hmm...
“He was my first assignment. Somewhere, under all Yoda’s fear, was a dog who wanted to be loved.”
Grandpa pushed his plate away. “You always had a way with animals. Remember Blackie the cow?”
“I remember her following me around.”
“She trailed behind you whenever you were on horseback. Your grandma and I always considered Blackie somewhat of a guardian. We thought if you fell off, she’d drag you home with her teeth. Now, finish telling me about Yoda and wolf dogs.”
“Well, your visitor looks a lot like Yoda, maybe a bit bigger. I figure she’s at least half wolf. If I had to guess, I’d say that she was here searching for her owner.”
That seemed to worry Grandpa. He’d been starting to relax, just a little, but now he went back to the pinched look. Meredith hurriedly added, “She was most likely a pet, one that got a little too hard to handle and so her owners tried to release her into the wild.”
“I don’t think so.” Grandpa sounded sure.
“It happens more than you’d believe.”
“So,” Grandpa said, “ignorant people drop an animal like Yoda off in the forest thinking maybe he’ll find a wolf pack in Arizona? I don’t think I’ve seen wolves in the wild in the last fifty years.”
“And whoever released our wolf dog didn’t take the time to remove her collar. That’s just wrong.”
“Maybe they just didn’t care.”
“I hate to think that,” Meredith said. “I’d rather believe that the wolf dog got loose and couldn’t find her way back. Maybe somebody’s looking for her.”
Grandpa gazed out the window. “I doubt it. That wolf dog’s owner might be sending a message, a warning.”
“What? Grandpa, why would you say that?”
His lips pursed together. “I just know.”
Meredith wasn’t sure about this sudden change in Grandpa’s mood, but pressing would probably just make him more irritable. “Whoever lost the wolf dog had good intentions,” she said. “They just get overwhelmed.”
Meredith could manage a whole animal habitat without getting overwhelmed. And yet she’d not been back in Gesippi but twenty-four hours and she already felt the crush of responsibility. This elderly man sitting across from her was the only one who’d truly understand.
“It was strange having both Jimmy and Danny in the kitchen talking with me.”
“Danny’s moved on,” Grandpa said. “His fiancée’s nice. I’ve talked to her a time or two. Her name’s Holly. She rides her bike up and down Pioneer Road on occasion. She likes my chickens.”
“He deserves happiness.”
“Always,” Grandpa agreed. “You talk to Jimmy about anything special?”
“He asked why I didn’t marry Danny.”
“What did you tell him?”
“The truth. That I didn’t love Danny that way.”
“Did you tell him who you still loved?”
Standing, she gathered up their breakfast dishes and asked, “Do you need help getting to your bedroom and getting dressed?”
“No. And don’t try to change the subject.”
“I’m not trying to change the subject. I am changing the subject.”
No way was she going to talk about Jimmy Murphy. Ten years put a lot of dirt over the casket of unreturned love.
Grandpa waited a moment, then nodded. In the time it took Grandpa to stand, walk to his bedroom and shut the door, she finished clearing the table, washing the dishes and putting everything away.
The phone rang just as she set the towel on the edge of the sink. Her first impulse was to answer it, but this was Grandpa’s place, and she needed to remember that. After a moment, she heard him answer.
“This is Ray Stone... What? I can’t hear you. Speak a little louder.” She was about to knock on his bedroom door and offer to help, when apparently whoever was on the other end must have made himself heard.
“No,” said Grandpa, “I’ve not lost a wallet or any money. Really? That’s interesting, but my wallet’s on top of my dresser. I’ve no idea why my phone number would be in a wallet containing that much money.”
The conversation ended, and when Grandpa didn’t call for her, she decided it wasn’t her place to pry. She headed for the small hallway bathroom and brushed her teeth, redid her ponytail and then went outside to sit in Grandma’s rocking chair and call Luke Rittenhouse. Next to her, he understood Yoda the wolf dog most and would be able to help her with this new animal.
“We can’t take another wolf dog,” he said, surprising her. Used to be, he’d open BAA’s doors to any animal. “Yoda’s struggling to find his place, and he’s been at BAA for years. Technically, wolf dogs are not wild animals. They’re pets.”
“So’s your beloved iguana.”
“My iguana is a not-so-wild wild animal that someone attempted to turn into a pet. Your new wolf dog is a hybrid, so it clearly falls under the pet category. I know there are rescue—”
Meredith protested, “You know as well as I do that there are more wolf dogs than there are people and places that will take them. We’ve already done the legwork with Yoda. And this new one will be harder. She’s been in the wild. Yoda never was.”
“First you have to find her,” Luke said calmly. “Then we’ll worry about what to do with her.”
“Easy for you to say,” Meredith muttered, frustrated.
Luke laughed before asking her a few questions about the birds and giving her an update on Ollie the orangutan who, like Meredith’s grandfather, was losing the battle of aging.
The moment she hung up she realized that Luke hadn’t told her how Yoda was faring. Which meant there was something Luke didn’t want her to know.
She started to redial, but Grandpa shuffled out from his bedroom. He’d lost weight. She could do something about that, like make him eat a second helping of her hash browns and three bites of sausage. He had less hair. She didn’t care; he was still handsome. His hands shook. After a moment, The Price is Right blared on the television. Grandpa’s favorite show.
“I don’t need to go see Doc Thomas,” he stated. “He’s just going to tell me to take a pill if my back hurts and to baby the foot and try to stay off of it. Use my walker more.”
“You should use your walker more,” she scolded. She’d said she wouldn’t pry, but her curiosity got the better of her. “Who was that on the phone?”
For a moment, she thought Grandpa wasn’t going to answer, but then he said, “The sheriff. Someone turned in a wallet. My number was written on a piece of paper inside.”
“Who’d you give your number to?”
“Nobody I remember.”
She let him watch television while she cared for the chickens. It wasn’t all that different from taking care of Crisco the bear or Ollie the orangutan. She fed, watered and cleaned their bedding. The only thing she did that she couldn’t do with Ollie or Crisco was gather eggs. The five chickens ignored her, not even appreciating the fact that she was making sure they had plenty of shavings.
After doing a few more odds and ends, she took an hour, put on clean clothes and woke Grandpa up.
“I wasn’t sleeping,” he insisted.
“Maybe not,” Meredith appeased, “but you do need to get up and out, eat something besides cookies and make the family happy.”
“I always make the family happy.”
“Not true.”
“You’re one to talk,” he grumped.
“I’m the one most like you.”
That earned a smile and got him out the door, into her car and agreeable.
About halfway to town, he asked, “So, why were you in Gesippi last night? And why are you the one driving me around today?”
It took Meredith a good three blocks to answer. She didn’t want to give him room to argue. “I’m here to stay with you during the week. Zack will stay with you on weekends.”
“Because I fell! That’s silly. I fall all the time.”
“Yes, Grandpa. You fall all the time. And we want to be there to make sure you always stand up. What if I hadn’t shown up last night and realized you were missing? Would you have eventually gotten up? Or would you have spent the night out in the cold? And maybe still be there now?”
“It’s December in Arizona. Doesn’t get really cold.”
“You didn’t use to lie,” she accused.
“And you used to listen.”
“I’m staying.”
“No, you—” he started to protest.
“I’m staying because I love you.”
“And because I love you, I want you to go on with your life.”
“You are my life.”
He didn’t respond; he stared out the window as tears pooled in his eyes. She didn’t know if he were happy because he was loved or miserable because he needed to rely on other. What she wished was that he’d reach over and pat her knee, give her some sign that he appreciated what she was doing and recognized the need.
Gesippi hadn’t changed much in the ten years since Meredith had stopped calling it home. Sure, she’d been back a time or two. But she’d mastered sneaking into town for a few hours and then hightailing it back to Scorpion Ridge. Today her trip into town would take much longer.
Downtown Gesippi was three long blocks. Tyler’s Antique store was the biggest. Old-time Christmas decorations graced its window. A combination drugstore and restaurant was next to it. Someone was out front ringing a bell hoping for donations. A Native American trading post, the Crooked Feather, had opened when Meredith entered high school. It had a wooden plaque in the front window advertising Victor Lucas as proprietor. He’d obviously not found a moment to decorate for the season. His daughter, Kristi Lucas, had been in Meredith’s grade but had dropped out of high school. A tiny movie theater, which played movies months after their release, offered a film Meredith had meant to see. Already a giant Christmas tree was in the tiny park by the school. A big sign notified the public that Santa would be visiting on Christmas Eve.
“You want anything from the drugstore?” Meredith asked.
“Cookies.”
She laughed. “Anything besides cookies.”
She parked in front of the drugstore and hurried around to help Grandpa out. The wind added a bit of red to his cheeks. Impulsively she reached up to pat one. He caught her hand with his and smiled.
“I’m glad you’re here, Merry.”
She’d not been called that in years.
Unfortunately, he added, “But you needn’t put your life on hold to take care of me.”
She didn’t bother to respond as she followed him into the Drug and Dine.
“Hey, Ray.”
“Keith, good to see you. Thought we’d stop and get something to eat.” Grandpa didn’t mention that Meredith had had to nudge him out the door to get here. “Not that I’m hungry. The granddaughter, here, thinks I should eat more.”
Keith, wearing a Santa hat, came around the counter. “I heard you had an adventure last evening. So, Meredith, you say we have a wild wolf dog running loose?” He led them to a table and held Grandpa’s chair out. Once Grandpa settled, Keith handed them menus and asked, “Is this something we should call the county sheriff about? Could someone get hurt?”
“The wolf dog was more interested in playing with Grandpa than eating him,” Meredith said. “The odds of someone getting hurt are slim.”
“Jimmy Murphy’s sure taken an interest in what happened last night. He came in this morning and wanted to know if anyone had dropped off any Have You Seen This Dog posters.”
“What for?” Why was Jimmy asking questions? He’d not even been overly concerned about the too-tight collar.
“He said something about recognizing a good story when one dropped in his lap.”
Now Meredith knew exactly what she’d say to Jimmy if he ever challenged her commitment to Bridget’s Animal Adventure. She might be working with animals that would be happier in their natural habitat, but to her they were more than stories.
“What did you tell him? Has anyone been looking for a lost dog?”
“I sent him over to the library. If anyone had been asking around, Agatha Fitzsimmons would have heard about it.”
“The library’s still open?”
“Every day but Sunday from ten to three. What’ll you have?”
Meredith ordered while Grandpa said, “The usual,” before shuffling off to the bathroom, looking as if he could topple at any minute. Keith stayed close behind.
Looking around the Drug and Dine, Meredith noted that not much had changed. Keith stocked a little bit of dry goods and a whole lot of tourist paraphernalia. The only things completely new were all the cell-phone displays.
She wondered how much the Gesippi library had changed. It was housed in three rooms under the courthouse. It had half windows that started at the ceiling and that teased with just a little natural light. But Agatha Fitzsimmons, who’d once managed a library in Washington, D.C., had made it something special. During her teens, Meredith had spent a lot of time perusing the young-adult section. Agatha had also made sure a good number of animal books were on hand for a questing Meredith.
Agatha had to be about the same age as Grandpa, if not older.
Unfortunately, while Meredith had been a favorite hometown girl, Jimmy had been a favorite hometown boy. Agatha, who’d not had any children of her own, had attended the high school’s Friday-night football games just to cheer for Jimmy.
When Jimmy left and Meredith came in to show off her engagement ring from Danny, Agatha had called her a stupid girl.
That was the last time Meredith had traipsed down the stairs to the Gesippi library. It wasn’t until many years later that Meredith realized Agatha had been right.
Grandpa returned. “Food not here yet?”
“No.”
“Penny for your thoughts.”
She couldn’t tell him the truth, couldn’t tell him that Jimmy’s presence in town was making her uncomfortable and bringing forth memories she’d tried to bury for so long.
Memories of a love that wouldn’t stay buried.
