The Journal: Raging Tide: (The Journal Book 4) (24 page)

Eric had followed me in.

“Mom, thank you,” he gave me another hug.
“Please don’t move into town unless it’s really what you want to
do.” He hesitated before continuing, “I want you to know that I
really love my brother and Amanda, but living with family in such
tight quarters was getting on everyone’s nerves. We’ve gotten along
so much better in the last month with us here and them over
there.”

I was wondering if that was the tension I
felt from them.

“Yes, Eric, this is what I want to do,” I
assured him. “We’ll discuss the details another time. Right now all
I want to do is get a hot shower and into some clean clothes. It’s
been a rough couple of days.” I kissed his cheek and went back
outside.

With assurances that we would all get
together tomorrow in the afternoon at the lake house in town, Jim
and I drove into Moose Creek.

“Pull over,” Jim demanded. After I stopped,
he reached across the console and pulled me into a quick kiss.
“Couldn’t you have given me some warning?”

“No, I couldn’t, Jim, I didn’t know until
that moment. Remember when I said we needed to let the issue of
us
play out on its own? It just did.” I put the Hummer back
in gear and said, “Let’s go home.”

*

I drove down the long sweeping driveway
slowly and carefully, parking nose in next to Tom’s dark blue
sedan. Jim would have to back the trailer up later.

Tom came out on the small cement stoop,
shotgun in hand until he saw us emerge.

“I’ll be damned! I figured if you two ever
came back at all it wouldn’t be for a couple more months!” Tom
said, giving me a hug tight enough to crack another rib, and then
shaking Jim’s hand repeatedly. He gave up on that and delivered a
quick, one-armed hug to Jim. I think he missed us.

“Hey, what did you do to your hand?” Tom
asked with true concern when he noticed the bandages.

“Trailer slipped while I was changing a
tire. No biggie,” Jim said. “If you don’t mind, I’m going to back
the trailer into the barn and get it out of sight. Then we can
empty the Hummer. Give me a hand?” Tom walked up to the barn and
opened the big doors while Jim expertly backed the Hummer up and
they disconnected the trailer from the vehicle. They unloaded the
chainsaw and the camping gear into the barn to be dealt with
later.

When we began removing our personal stuff
from the Hummer, Tom noticed the cases of wine.

“Wow, what did you do, find a liquor
store?”

“We’ll tell you all about it when we’re
done, Tom, and
after
I get a shower and some clean clothes.”
I said.

*

I stuffed my soiled clothes into the washing
machine and headed to the basement with what I brought from my
house to shower and change. After days hunkered down in the cold,
damp mine, hot water never felt so good. I had to stop myself from
using it all and saved some for Jim.

I emerged from the lower level wearing a
long sleeved ankle length dress of deep red. I ran my fingers
through my short wet hair with a sigh. “Oh that felt good!” Both
men were staring at me. For the last month, Jim had seen me only in
jeans or BDUs, and I suddenly felt very feminine.

“Jim was telling me that you’re moving in
with us, Allex,” Tom said. “I think that’s a great idea.” He handed
me a drink, the ice cubes floating around in the amber rum.

I glanced at Jim. “Yes, I thought I would
take that second bedroom downstairs. I know you use this spare room
as an office, and besides, I’ve always preferred the lower
level.”

“Excellent! Jim was also telling me you got
the EOC in the Soo up and running in only a few days. You’ll have
to tell me all about that.”

“All in good time, Tom. Right now I’m sure
Jim wants his shower, and I should put together some dinner for
us.” I stood. “Oh, and we’re having a small get-together here
tomorrow afternoon, just family.”

*

Dinner was a simple pasta dish. I certainly
did not feel like being inventive just to satisfy our hunger and
the three of us were more anxious to discuss the road trip. We were
all sitting on the upper deck enjoying the mild breezes off Lake
Meade and the rest of the second bottle of wine we opened for
dinner.

“First, tell me what’s in that trailer,” Tom
said, his curiosity bubbling over. “It looks full.”

“It
is
full,” Jim answered. “Over
half of it is booze and wine, which by the way, we’re keeping.”

“Jim, I’ve been mulling over what you said
about that, how we’ve earned it,” I said cautiously.

“We have, Allex, especially
you
,” Jim
stated emphatically.

“Oh, I don’t disagree, quite the opposite,
actually.” I paused, trying to form my thoughts. “I think we should
keep
all
of it. I know that sounds selfish of me, however
we
are the ones who risked our lives, literally, to get
those supplies. Besides, that food will keep us from needing to tap
into the town food pantry, which will mean more for everyone else.”
I turned to Tom. “How are the supplies holding up, Tom? I know it’s
only been six weeks, but I was pretty much out of touch long before
we left.”

“Marsha has done some deep rationing, so
it’s still okay. Plus, with fewer people to feed it will go
further.” Tom stopped himself from saying more, knowing my husband
was one of those fewer mouths. “How much is out there?”

“We filled six tubs with loose cans and
there were several cases of things like tomatoes and vegetables
that were still shrink-wrapped,” Jim said. “There’s a lot of food
out there.”

“My rough estimate is that what we brought
back would feed the three of us for six months,” I said.

“Wow,” Tom said.

“Much of it is gourmet stuff, which is
logical considering where we found it. There are cans of white meat
chicken, albacore tuna, clams, olives, capers and artichoke hearts,
things of that nature,” I added. “Some of it I would like to share
with my family and maybe our clergy. For the most part though, it’s
ours, and I think we should be the ones who decide who gets it,
rather than turn it over.”

“I think Allex has a good point, Tom, and as
she pointed out, we won’t be taking anything from the community
this way.” Jim leaned back, took a sip of wine while leveling his
gaze at me.

“Okay you two, what went on out there?” Tom
burst out. “How is it you risked your lives?”

Jim and I exchanged glances.

“I don’t even know where to start…” I
said.

“I know you didn’t want it discussed, Allex,
however, I think Tom should know,” Jim said softly.

“Perhaps,” I said, turning to Tom, our close
friend, “on the condition you never say a word to anyone. My sons
must never know.”

“What happened?” he asked gravely, concern
etched deeply on his face.

“Promise me first, Tom,” I said.

“Of course I promise, Allex.” He looked from
me to Jim and back to me. I looked at Jim and gave the slightest
nod for him to start.

“To keep it as brief as possible, the second
week out Allex was abducted by a gang of escaped cons and I was
left for dead,” Jim began.

“When they told me Jim was dead, I felt a
grief second only to what I did when Mark died. After that, I
didn’t care what they did to me,” I said.

“After I came to, I followed their trail
only to find I was outnumbered twenty to one. I hated leaving her
there.” Jim stood. “I need something stronger than wine for this.”
He came back out with a tray, three glasses filled with ice, and
our preferred liquor.

“Jim had traveled half the night with a
severe concussion to bring back a troop of soldiers from the Soo,”
I continued the story.

“During that one day, though, she was beaten
and tortured. Her toes were broken and dislocated, the soles of her
feet were beaten with a belt buckle, and she suffered a cracked
rib. She couldn’t even walk,” Jim said angrily.

“I still think that cracked rib came from
hitting the tree,” I said to Jim.

Tom was listening intently, stunned, looking
from me to Jim as we spoke.

“When Jim showed up to rescue me, I felt
more than relief. I feel that’s when things changed for me. I was
completely liberated from my past.”

“Wait, back up. What tree?”

“I fell in the new river and almost drowned.
The current, and something else, slammed me into a fallen tree
where I held on until Jim pulled me out.”

“She bounced off rocks, slammed her chest
into a tree, and suffered severe hypothermia. This is one tough
lady we have here, Tom,” Jim said, smiling warmly at me.

“This was before the kidnapping?” Tom asked,
still stunned.

“Yes, so she suffered bruises on her
bruises.” Jim took another swallow.

Tom turned to me. “Allex, were you…?”

“No, I was not sexually assaulted, but the
rest of it was just as bad.”

Tom leaned back in his chair. It rocked on
the heavy duty springs as he thought. “You two certainly have been
to hell and back. My vote – if I get one – would be for keeping
what you’ve found. You’ve more than earned that right.”

Jim and I silently nodded.

“What happened to those convicts?” Tom
asked.

Jim snickered. “That is my favorite part!
When I handed Allex her gun back, she walked up to the guy without
a word, put the barrel to his forehead, and pulled the trigger.
Then I had my next in command execute the rest of them.”

Tom stared at me for a long moment. “I
understand why you don’t want the family to know about this.”

“I’m exhausted, and we have a lot to do
tomorrow. I’m going to bed,” I said, standing.

“Can I ask one last question?” Tom stood
also. “Are you two …?”

“Yes,” I said and went inside.

JOURNAL ENTRY: May 18

I slept late. I
guess I needed the rest. I got up at nine and took another shower.
I need to discuss filling the hot tub with my roommates. Once
heated, the small spa wouldn’t take much electricity to stay warm,
but the startup drew a lot of power.

~~~

“Good morning,” Jim said when I came up the
stairs. “Coffee?”

“Does a fish swim?”

“Sleep well?”

“I did. I was exhausted. How did you
sleep?”

“A real bed felt good, but lonely.” He
looked at me through the steam off his coffee. “I’m surprised you
admitted to our new relationship so quickly, Allex.”

“Why? Is it something to be hidden like
we’re ashamed of it?”

“No, of course not. I thought you might want
to ease in to it though.”

“Jim, if a relationship needs to be hidden,
it’s neither a good nor healthy relationship and should be
dissolved. I’m certainly not going to be broadcasting the news, as
there are some, like my sons, who would think it was too soon for
me to be moving on. Not that I really care what others think as
long as
we
are happy between us. The only ones that matter
to me are my family, and some of them might not be completely
understanding. Tom, on the other hand, needed to know. Since we all
will be living together it would be difficult to hide and I wanted
to be up front with him.”

“Do
you
feel it’s too soon for you to
move on?” Jim asked cautiously.

“In another time, another life, perhaps it
would be. This is a brutal world we now live in, and relationships
are forged quickly. Look at Eric and Rayn. When someone is fighting
for their very survival, it’s a common,
normal
thing to seek
out the comfort and companionship they need. To find that in
someone I already know and care for is a wonderful, reassuring
thing,” I said honestly, reaching for his hand. “So, no, it isn’t
too soon for me to move on. If it weren’t, I wouldn’t have.”

“Could it be that you’re grateful to me for
rescuing you?” he sadly.

“I’m certainly grateful that you did rescue
me, although that whole situation merely brought the feelings into
the light for me.”

“That’s very logical, Allex.” He smiled and
squeezed my hand, and then stood to refill our cups. “So what is on
the agenda for today? Tom went in early to take care of some
lingering paperwork so he could take the afternoon off for this
shindig you’re planning.”

“The first thing we need to do is tackle the
trailer and start bringing some of the wine and liquor inside. We
can restock Tom’s bar up here, and the bar downstairs, and most of
the wine can be left in the barn until we have help that can use
the dolly.” I made some notes on the pad of paper he slid over to
me. “Which reminds me, how is your hand feeling? Perhaps you should
have Dr. James check it over.”

“I’ll do that. You do know that word is
going to spread like wildfire that we’re back, right?” Jim raised
his dark eyebrows at me.

“Yes. I’m wondering if we should hold
something like a press conference,” I laughed. “Then again, I doubt
the town would find our adventures very interesting, and I’m
certainly not going to share our
mis
adventures.”

“I think we should invite the clergy to this
party today,” Jim suggested offhandedly.

“Great idea, that way some of the stories we
can
share will have another outlet,” I agreed. “I think we
need to decide what is kept between us, though. Like the kidnapping
and the pretend proposal.”

“Why not share the proposal? It was one of
the more amusing things on the trip and it will keep people
distracted from what we’re leaving out. I think we should keep it
as honest as possible, Allex. We’ll leave out the kidnapping and
Point B, and especially Point C, how’s that?” he said with a
mischievous grin.

“Okay, I can live with that.” I leaned
across the island and gave him a quick kiss. “Time to get busy,
Colonel.”