Russell's Return (4 page)

“I have another question.”

“Yes.” He didn’t turn back.

“How long has Miranda been like this?”

Russell didn’t even hesitate, this was
something he didn’t have to think about. “As long as I can remember.  She
was two weeks old when she had her first night terror and cried for six hours
straight. She isn’t a spoiled child, Miss Zane.” He still had his back to her.

“I never said she was, Mr. Harper.”

Russell nodded and walked out of the
office. The one hundred percent pure Wyoming view in front of him actually
calmed him instantly. He imagined being up on that mountain, on one of the
trails he’d frequented as a kid, enjoying the late summer air. If he didn’t
have to take over the job from his mom today, that is exactly where he would be
headed. Russell climbed into his SUV and went to his first day of work feeling
somehow refreshed.

**********

“Mary,” Emily spoke to the principal’s
secretary.

“Yes Emily?”

“Please see if we can have Miranda
Harper’s records from her previous school expressed to us.  I need to be
the first to see them when they arrive.”

“Sure thing,” Mary replied.

*********

“Daddy, Daddy, you were right, school
was great. My teacher Mrs.
Platski
is so nice. And guess
what, I got to see Miss Zane again. Only I call her Miss Emily now.  She
wants me to go to her office once a week and learn how to be friends with other
kids. Can I?  Can I please? I have the permission slip in my backpack.”

“Okay whoa, calm down Miranda. You’re
talking way too fast. I can barely understand you.” He wasn’t reprimanding
though, he was actually smiling and saying a prayer of thanks at the same time.
He’d worried all day about her and cringed every time the phone rang.

“I’m
so
glad you had a good day
darling. We’ll have to celebrate with some donuts from Uncle Logan’s store for
breakfast tomorrow. But for now, why don’t you head home with Grandma and help
her with dinner and do your homework.  I’ll be home in a couple of hours.”
Russell could not believe his luck, just when he finally stopped thinking about
the intriguing Miss Zane, Miranda brought her up again. So much for getting
some work done before the end of the work day.

“Okay Daddy, but we’re stopping to get
my library card first,” she squealed, skipping out of the room.

Evelyn had been standing by quietly
smiling at her son and granddaughter.

“Thanks for bringing her by Ma. I feel
so much better.”

“Not a problem, son. I know you worried
about her all day. I saw you jump every time a phone call came in.”

Russell smiled sheepishly and shooed her
out the door with a motion of his hand. He was back to work by the time his mom
closed the door behind herself. But his mind wandered occasionally to a pair of
calming, sad green eyes.

*********

One good thing about being back in
Wyoming was definitely the good old-fashioned home cooking. His restaurants
were good, but not quite that good.  His mom had to be the best cook on
the planet. For dinner he had two plates packed full of roast, mashed potatoes
and green beans, fresh from the garden.

“Anyone want dessert?” Evelyn asked.

“Not yet Ma, I’m stuffed,” was Russell’s
groaned reply.

“I’m ready Grandma,” Miranda piped up.

“Well, then, we need two pieces of warm
apple pie a la mode, and your daddy can have his when he’s ready.”

“Yay!” was Miranda’s enthusiastic
response. Russell laughed, his daughter sure did like her desserts. Sometimes
it was almost like she obsessed over them.

“I think I’ll leave you two
young
ladies
to dessert, and I’ll take a walk and check out the old homestead.” He stood and
stretched. “I really missed your cooking, Ma. Thanks for dinner.” He was
definitely going to have to increase his workouts now.

“Yeah, Grandma, Daddy’s cooking can get
kinda
icky.”

Russell laughed. “Yeah, it’s a good
thing I own three restaurants or we would have starved. Right, Kiddo?”

Miranda giggled. “Yep.”

“Well, I’ll be back in a while ladies.
Be good for Grandma, silly girl,” he said patting her on the head.  He couldn’t
wait to get some of that prime Wyoming fresh air in his lungs. It would clear
his head and aid in digestion.

Russell was almost out the door when his
mother called him back. “Could you take this apple pie over to our renter at
the old bunk house?” He stood there blinking, a million thoughts running
through his head. “Uh Ma, since when do we have someone renting the old bunk
house? And
why
is there someone renting the old bunk house?” Russell
went from anticipation to worry in a split second.

Evelyn let out a sharp laugh at her
son’s harsh tone. “Since I figured one old lady living on a one-hundred-fifty
acre ranch was kind of ridiculous. We have all of these great buildings and all
of this land. I figured I might as well make some money off of it. The bunk
house, foreman’s house and the guest house are all rented and your brother
Logan has plans to build a place here on the ranch. Your brother Dylan is even
living in the lake cabin. I figured maybe someday you might want to do the
same. You know, when you settle down and marry again.”

“First, don’t go there Ma, and second,
is the business doing okay? If you need money…”  His tone was even more
worried now.

“The business is doing just fine son.
You need to relax, the city has you all uptight. I just hate to see good land
and buildings go to waste.” She smiled up at him. “Now take this pie to the
bunk house. Please.” It was more of a demand than a request this time.

Russell was reeling from what his mother
had just told him. He didn’t know if he liked the idea of strangers living on
Harper Land. But if he thought about it, why should it bother him.  It
isn’t like he had ever wanted anything to do with this land. He left at
eighteen and never missed it one bit. Wow, these new feelings of protectiveness
for the homestead were more puzzling to him than the concept of his mother
renting out the ranch. If he didn’t have to deliver the stupid pie to the
renters he would take off toward the river and give himself some thinking time.
Just like when he was a kid.

Russell walked around the large, white
two story farmhouse to pick up the trail that ran between the main house and
the out buildings. This was one of his favorite parts of the ranch. Views of
the mountains that would soon be snow packed on one side, and open ranch land
with stands of pines and cottonwoods scattered along the way on the other side.
Wyoming summers were fantastic on this type of terrain. Rolling hills to run
on, trees to climb,
gulleys
to hide in, and meadows
to race across. His heart battled, torn between the life he built for himself
in the city and the beauty of his home state. If only his ambitions hadn’t made
him feel stifled in this beautiful place. If only he could have both worlds. He
knew it wasn’t possible though, and the thoughts just depressed him so he tried
very hard to put it out of his mind.

The closer Russell got to his
destination, the more he wondered what kind of person would want to live in a
broken-down old bunk house. It was basically a very long wooden shack that
consisted of a main room, a kitchen, and a bathroom. It had been in bad shape
eight years ago when he’d last been there giving his ex-wife a tour of the
ranch. That day had been a huge mistake, she wasn’t so fond of old broken-down
buildings.  She was high-class all the way, at least when it came to
places. She wasn’t so high-class when it came to treating people with dignity
though.

When Russell arrived at the end of the
lane that led to the bunk house, it was no longer there.  Oh, the building
was still there, but it was transformed into a little blue cottage with a white
picket fence. There were flowers growing outside and in flower boxes beneath
the newly shuttered windows. And a vegetable garden grew off to one side. Low
and behold, the old bunkhouse had been transformed into a home. Russell had
visions of cartoon characters singing and dancing around outside the cottage.
He obviously watched way too much children’s TV, but it was unavoidable with a
nine-year-old girl in the house.

Russell walked through the front picket
gate and up the brick walk that wasn’t original to the building. He rang the
doorbell that was also new.  There were no signs left of the ramshackle
home the ranch hands once made for themselves. Someone was moving around inside
and he shifted from foot to foot wishing he was anywhere but there. Although he
was
curious as to what it looked like on the inside.

“Yes… oh hello again.” He’d been looking
at the ground but he would recognize that lyrical voice anywhere.

“Emily Zane, so we meet again.” 
God! He sounded like someone from an old movie. How utterly embarrassing. His
face grew hot but he just smiled brightly and looked down at the apple pie he
was holding.

Russell suddenly remembered his sole
reason for being there. “Oh yeah, my mom asked me to bring this to you, only
she didn’t tell me it was you.  Anyway, I think she and Miranda baked it
this afternoon.” He still needed to have that talk with his mom about
matchmaking. It was evident to him that the whole apple pie for the renter
thing was a set up.

“Oh yum, your mom bakes the best pies.”
She took the tin from him and held it near her nose. “Smells so good, would you
care to join me for a piece?” She stepped aside so he could walk
in.      

“Oh, I don’t know…” He knew he should just
take off running right then and there. It would be best for everyone. But of
course that would be rude and he hadn’t been raised to be rude.

“Come on. I insist. Some of it is bound
to go to waste if I don’t share it.”

Russell
was
actually getting hungry
for dessert.  Maybe one piece wouldn’t hurt. At least he hoped it
wouldn’t. He’d occasionally had to fight down small feelings of doom since he’d
first run into Miss Emily Zane.

“Well, good company and my mom’s apple
pie,” he winked.  “How can I say no to that?” He knew he was flirting but
just couldn’t stop himself. Flirting hadn’t been enjoyable for a long, long
time. Surprisingly right now, it felt pretty good.

Russell followed Emily inside and
couldn’t believe that this was the old bunk house he used to hang out in as a
little boy. “I can’t see any cowboys ever having made this place their home. It
was always so messy when the ranch hands lived here. You’ve done an amazing
job.”

“Tell your mom that, she did it all.
It’s a two bedroom one bath now. All I did was move in and add some personal
touches...” She paused for a moment. “Wait, you were here when this place was a
working ranch?” she asked curiously.

Russell chuckled. “Yeah, my dad started
and ran the theater and my uncle took over the ranch before I was born. 
We had both for many years until Uncle Jim died and we couldn’t keep up the
ranch anymore.”

Emily nodded in understanding. “Okay now
I get it.  There for a while I thought maybe you were older than I
believed you to be. I was going to ask if you had flunked a few grades before I
moved here in middle school.”  They just stood there smiling at each other
like a couple of crushing teenagers.

Emily finally showed him into the dining
room where he sat down at her small oak dining table as she went about cutting
the pie and pouring coffee. “Did you hear about Miranda?” he asked although he
was pretty sure he knew the answer. She’d said she would keep an eye on his
daughter and he felt she would be true to her word.

“I hear she did great today in school.”
Emily set a piece of pie and some coffee in front of Russell and returned to
the dark blue granite counter to get hers.

“Yes, she did thank goodness and she is
sure fond of you.”

“Well, I’m becoming quite fond of her
too. She is one of the sweetest people I’ve ever met. And you know, she is
brilliant.  Her test scores are through the roof.” She joined him at the
table.

Russell couldn’t help but smile.
“Miranda’s always been a very bright girl. Well beyond her years in many ways.”
He didn’t mention the ways in which she was still like a toddler.

It was hard for him to concentrate on
their conversation with Emily so close, even if talk centered on his favorite
person in the whole world and that just seemed so wrong. “Can you believe I
show up on your doorstep unannounced and I come into your home and make you
talk about work?  Kind of rude I think,” he smiled at her.

“Happens in my line of work all the
time, don’t worry.” That laugh again. That smile again. All of a sudden the pie
seemed to stick in Russell’s throat. It took a few sips of coffee to relieve
the swollen feeling.

“Okay, let’s change the subject. What
exactly brought you back to Harper’s Rock? I understand it was hard giving up
the life you’d made for yourself and Miranda, but what exactly happened to make
you do something that drastic? If you don’t mind my asking that is.”