Finding Home (Montana Born Homecoming Book 2) (17 page)

There it was. He grabbed the well-worn denim button-down he’d put over his t-shirt this morning. His cell phone was right there, in the breast pocket. Two missed messages from an unknown number. He cussed under his breath and hit the button to retrieve his voicemail.

The mover blew out a loud, exasperated breath. “We made a special trip to get the trailer off the broken-down rig. You’d think people would be happy, but no, it’s confusion and annoyance all around.”

Logan didn’t appreciate the way the man’s attitude, and his barroom holler made hearing his messages impossible.

“When did you last speak to her?”

Ball-cap grimaced. “I don’t talk direct to clients. I do what A-1 tells me. And I never talk to the same girl twice there. Last one I got sounded like she was ready to drop this truckload in the lake.”

A second man, younger and athletic, stepped out of the truck, rubbing his hand over his eyes as if he’d been sleeping. “What’s the plan, Walt?”

“Unless we hear from this Sam in ten minutes, we’re unloading.” He glanced at his watch. “We’ve got to be back on the road by three.”

It was almost 2 pm now.

“Hold up there, cowboys,” said Logan, putting a hand on the roll-up door at the back of the truck. “Until I say otherwise, you’re sitting tight. Got it?”

Ball-cap Walt glowered, then fumbled a pack of cigarettes out of his pocket. “One smoke, then we start.”

“You’ll start when I tell you to start.”

Logan turned his back, making shut-up motions. He hit the replay button and listened.

The messages were from Sam. She was at the hospital with Mabel again and her furniture was arriving early.

As he already knew.

She must be going out of her mind.

At the hospital again, alone. But at least this time, she didn’t have to worry about Jade.

His chest constricted as he recalled her unintentional revelation about the circumstances surrounding her husband’s death. No wonder she didn’t like hospitals. No wonder she panicked so easily when it came to Jade.

But in fact, her messages hadn’t sounded panicky. She and Jade were waiting, which meant they must both be okay.

But her request for storage had been given with a note of fatalism, as if she wasn’t surprised that it had come to this.

That calm acceptance had been the last straw for him. She’d grown so much stronger since he’d known and loved her before, but her chronic expectation that people would let her down had only gotten worse, it seemed.

Thus far, he hadn’t exactly helped, either. But that was about to change.

He clapped his hands, gathering the attention of the crowd of kids in front of him.

“Okay, guys,” he said. “We’ve got a lot of work to do and not much time to do it in. You ready?”

Taking an entire class out for a job like this and calling it a field trip stretched the boundaries of acceptable teacher behavior, but if Principal Stern didn’t like it, he could lump it.

A cheer erupted from the group in front of him. They were great kids.

“I’ve told the gentlemen from A-1 they’ll be back on the road by four,” he continued.

The conversation had been slightly less civil than that, but his students didn’t need to know that. He gestured to the sky above, where ominously thick clouds were gathering. “Think we can get Ms. Davis’s possessions safely inside before the rain hits?”

Whoop-whoop
chorused the students.

“Let’s go, then! Burgers and fries once the truck’s empty,” he added, to renewed shouts of joy.

It wouldn’t be the staged perfection he’d hoped to present her with, but Sam would get her house. She would see that people cared, and that not everything ended in disaster.

And that she could count on him, after all.

His students hovered around the back of the truck, their arms open to receive boxes and smaller items. Walt and his tough-guy assistant began moving the heavier things inside – couch, table and chairs, Sam’s disassembled king-size sleigh bed, Jade’s twin princess bed, and the associated dressers and night tables.

Gradually, the truck emptied and the house filled. The echo disappeared and in its place was the sound of boisterous enthusiasm and teamwork.

Finally, with a honk and a wave, Walt pulled the A-1 moving van away from the curb and it was over. Samara’s things were all inside, jumbled and disorganized, but there, safe and sound.

And, just in time. Logan stood at the door, watching the truck drive away. Just as they turned out of sight, a crack of thunder sounded and the skies opened above them. The soft golds of evening disappeared like a blown-out candle and the air grew cold. Lightning made the sheets of rain show up like a matrix against the shadowy neighborhood.

Logan checked his phone. No new messages. He tried her cell phone again but she didn’t pick up. No service at Bramble House. Eliza’s cell went to voice mail as well.

Were they all at the hospital? Still?

Then a thumping, bumping noise sounded from inside the house, followed almost immediately by shouts.

“Mr. S!” yelled Gabi. “Come quick. Josh just fell down the stairs!”

*

Jade had spent
the ever-darkening afternoon playing with her cards, sorting them into different piles – terriers, hounds, white dogs, brown dogs, long tails, short tails – but her time limit was about to run out.

Sam checked the window for the millionth time, watching the rain beat sideways on the glass. She couldn’t have ordered up a worse moving day if she’d tried.

It turned out that a clot had formed deep in Mabel’s arm. They suspected she may have suffered a transient ischemic attack – a mild stroke – as well. The nurses had been great about bringing Sam any news. Mabel was still undergoing diagnostic tests, a lengthy process requiring permission and signatures at every turn, but even without that, Sam didn’t want to leave. Other than Eliza, still missing in action, and Sage, who Mabel wouldn’t let her contact, she didn’t seem to have anyone else.

Sam couldn’t help but feel disappointed that Logan hadn’t shown up to check on them. He knew they were here.

Then again, she’d left her furniture debacle in his hands. And now with the storm, who knows what sort of disaster he was dealing with. He had more than enough trouble without having to worry about her. And it was her own fault for not charging her phone.

She just wanted to talk to him.

“Mama, I’m hungry. I want junk food.”

They’d already been to the cafeteria twice but Jade needed more than fruit, cheese and yogurt. Jade had made her desires crystal clear: saturated fat and white death, i.e.: mac and cheese, followed by dye and sugar, i.e.: Jell-O.

“We’re going home soon, honey,” she responded. “We’ll eat then.”

But Jade had that unerring ability to recognize when she was being fed a line.

“You said that two times before, Mama.” One hand began slapping lightly at her side. “I’m hungry now. Where’s Auntie M? I don’t want to be at the hospital anymore. I miss Bob.”

Before Sam could respond, the doors into the ER whooshed open and a group of kids burst in. In the middle of the group was a red-faced boy who appeared to be arguing with the rest of them. Sam recognized them, at the same time they saw her.

“Hey Ms. D,” called Gabi. “Here you are! Mr. S has been trying to find you.”

“We were working at your place and Josh fell down the stairs,” added Robbie.

“And I’m fine!” snapped Josh.

“Mr. S?” said Jade, perking up at the name. “Where is he?”

“He’s parking the car, chipmunk.” Gabi grinned at her.

The triage nurse called the kids into a room then and they followed her, all seeming to talk at once.

The door whooshed again and this time, it was Logan. When he saw Sam, his eyes widened. He ran to her and caught her up in his arms.

“Are you okay? How’s Mabel? Oh Sam, I’m so sorry I couldn’t get here sooner. It’s been chaos but your things are safe and dry.”

He’d come. He’d taken care of everything. Just like she knew he would. She should never have doubted him.

Jade threw herself at his legs. He caught her and swooped her up onto his back. “Hey, chipmunk, what a day, huh?”

“They think Mabel threw a clot in her arm,” said Sam. Tears filled her eyes. “Is Josh going to be okay?”

“He’s fine,” said Logan, touching her shoulder. “I have to take all precautions for school insurance purposes, that’s all.”

“Excuse me?” A clerk stuck her head out of the little window by the triage desk. “Are you with Josh Peterson? We need to do his paperwork.”

Logan’s face told her that all he wanted was to gather her into his arms. Instead, he hiked Jade up farther onto his back.

“Don’t disappear, okay?”

“I won’t.”

“Good.” For a moment he stood as if memorizing her, his warm blue-green gaze washing over her like a soft autumn sky. “That’s good.”

*

Thank goodness he’d
brought Principal Stern on side, thought Logan while he filled out the necessary forms, as Josh’s teacher.

Jade clung silently to his shoulders and he patted her knee absently. They hadn’t located Josh’s parents yet, likely due to a power outage because of the weather.

Had there been a single telecommunication that had gone right today?

Was it Friday the 13
^th
?

No. It was Thursday. The 18
^th
.

September 18
^th
.

Something twigged.

“I’ll take that paperwork, if you’re finished.” The clerk paused. “Mr. S, is that you?”

He recognized her as a Marietta High grad from several years ago. Her name tag said Andi.

“Bad timing for Livingston, just before the big game,” she said, running the end of her pen over the questions he’d answered. “Good for us though, am I right?”

A Livingston team member injured while working on a school project in Marietta… the optics weren’t great. But hopefully it was nothing serious.

Outside, the electrical portion of the storm had played itself out, but the rain continued to fall. As soon as he reached Sam, he peeled Jade off his back.

“Mr. S, I’m hungry,” said Jade, jumping from foot to foot. “I want macaroni and cheese and Jell-O.”

Sam’s expression was a painful sight. “I’ll make you some proper food at Bramble House.”

“I want macaroni and cheese and Jell-O!”

“Jade, that’s enough.” She tried to hold onto her daughter’s arm, but the kid wriggled out of her grasp.

“Macaroni! Cheese! Jell-O!”

Logan recognized the escalation, the wild eyes, the tell-tale tics and repetition.

He caught her just as she was about to run, wrapped her up tightly in his arms and braced himself. She struggled and screamed, gathering the attention of anyone within earshot. Sam sat hunched, her face crimson, but she didn’t object.

Within a minute or so, the episode ebbed, leaving Jade trembling and damp with sweat.

“Macaroni? Cheese?” she said in a hitching voice. “Jell-O?”

He stroked the child’s ebony hair, smooth like her mother’s. His heart broke for her.

“Make you a deal, chipmunk.” He laid his cheek against the top of her head. Then he covered her ears.

“Is frozen yogurt okay?” he whispered to Sam.

She nodded gratefully.

“Turkey sandwich, carrot sticks, frozen yogurt.” Jade’s stiff limbs eased.

“Will you sit beside me?” she asked.

“Sure. Do we have a deal?”

Jade sighed as if exhausted. “Okay.”

She tucked her thumb into her mouth.

“Sit with your mom for a minute, okay, chipmunk?” He transferred Jade to Sam’s lap. “Give me your keys. We need Bob.”

As she handed over the fob, Sam grabbed his hand and kissed it.

*