by Patricia Fry
“So that’s how you keep from being sad, Dad?” Adam asked.
“That’s the big and the small of it, Son,” Michael said.
With renewed energy, Adam asked, “When are you guys leaving?”
Keith looked at his watch. “In about an hour.”
“Great!” Adam said. He jumped up from his chair and hugged Holly, then Keith. “Cassie,” he said, pulling on her arm, “want to go feed Peaches and Gypsy some carrots? We have a whole hour to play.”
“Can I, Mommy?” Cassie asked. “I’m not hungry anymore.”
Holly smiled at the child. “Sure, go have some good cousin fun while you can.” When Keith looked at her inquisitively, she said, “She ate almost a whole bowl of cereal. I still have some granola bars and fruit left for our trip home. She’ll be fine.”
Keith smiled. “I know she will.” He stood up. “Beth-Beth, how would you and Lily like to play horsie with Daddy?” He lifted Teddy from his high chair and gave him an airplane ride into the living room.
Everyone laughed when Teddy squealed with delight.
“Come on, guys,” Keith called, “let’s make a pig pile.”
By then Michael had joined them, and Holly and Savannah began to giggle uncontrollably. They each pulled out their cell phone and took pictures of the two men and the small children rolling around on the floor and laughing.
Gladys chuckled with delight. “Well, someone knows how to make the most of their time together.”
“Yes they do.” Holly looked at Savannah with a glint in her eye and they both got down on the floor and joined in on the fun.
****
An hour later the two families exchanged hugs and promises and tears. Soon the Iveys and Gladys were left standing quietly in the driveway watching the Pettits’ car disappear onto the highway. Michael put his arm around Savannah and she rested her head on his shoulder, saying, “Gads, I love those people.”
“I know you do,” he said, holding her. “So do I. So do I.” When he saw Adam standing off to one side, still staring after the car, he edged toward the boy and tackled him, lifting him up and spinning around with him.
Adam yelled out in playful protest.
“No, Daddy!” Lily cried. “No do that to Adam, Daddy.”
Michael chuckled. He lowered his son to the ground and lifted Lily up into the air. “Want to ride on Daddy’s shoulders?”
She pointed. “No. On Adam’s shoulder.”
“Oh, how sweet,” Savannah said. “You do love your brother, don’t you?”
Lily nodded and reached for Adam.
Michael placed the three-year-old on Adam’s shoulders and supported her weight while Adam held onto her legs. The boy walked around slowly, bouncing a little to make her giggle.
When Savannah moved closer with Teddy in her arms, the baby reached out to Adam. “Someone else wants a turn,” Michael said. “Ready to get down, punkin?”
Lily whined, “No. My Adam.”
“He’s Teddy’s Adam too,” Savannah said. She nudged the boy, smiling, “You’re popular there, young man.”
“I guess he is,” Michael said. He lifted Lily to the ground, took the baby from Savannah, and held him as he rode around on Adam’s shoulders.
Meanwhile, Savannah picked up Lily and began dancing with her until she saw someone walking up their driveway. She smiled and greeted, “Hi, Auntie. Hi, Max.”
“Did we miss them?” Margaret asked, breathlessly.
“Holly and Keith? Yes. They just left. You didn’t see them drive past your place?”
Max shook his head. “Darn. I’d hoped to finish that conversation Keith and I were having a few weeks ago about the latest studies on cat food. I thought his preliminary findings were fascinating.”
Margaret patted his arm. “He said he’d email you some information.”
“Yeah,” Max complained, “but I like talking with the guy.” He looked at Michael. “Like you, he’s an interesting fellow with lots to say.” He winced. “Dang; sorry we missed them.”
“They’ll be back,” Michael said, taking Teddy into his arms.
“When?” Adam asked excitedly.
“Someday.” When Teddy began squirming, Michael placed him on the grass and tossed a colorful ball to him. He smiled, watching Teddy crawl lickety-split after the red-and-yellow ball. He then squeezed one of Adam’s shoulders. “Hey, we’d better get you ready. Your mom and other dad will be here in just a little while.”
“Already?” Adam whined. He looked down at his feet. “Dad I don’t like good-byes.”
“I know you don’t, Son.” He choked up a little. “Neither do I.” He took a breath and said more cheerfully, “Hey, we could come up with a different way to…um…part company. How about this: we’ll say ‘hello’ instead of ‘good-bye’.”
“Dad, I don’t think that would work. We’d still be leaving each other, and I really do miss you guys.”
“Yeah, I know. We love having you with us, but so do your mom and Eric. You have friends and school and activities…”
“And pets,” Savannah added.
Adam nodded. “Yeah, Tiger probably misses me.”
“That’s right.”
“And Rose.” Adam looked up at them and said, “I miss all of them, too when I come here.”
“And then you start having so much fun that you aren’t sad anymore, right?” Michael asked. “That’s what will happen when you get back home. It’s awfully hard to leave one another, and it’s okay to miss each other, but once you’re at the other place and start having fun with the other people you love, you won’t feel quite so lonely and sad.”
“I guess so, Dad.”
“Well come on, let’s go pack your stuff.”
When Savannah saw Michael put his arm around Adam and the boy put his arm around his dad, she snapped a picture of them walking away together.
“Nice shot,” Max said, picking up Teddy.
Margaret nudged Savannah with her elbow. “So I hear you’re opening a horse-boarding stable.”
Savannah nodded. “Yeah, I guess we are.” She frowned. “Such a shame about the fire. I’m just thankful that none of the animals were hurt.”
“Yes, it was a near miracle,” Max said while showing Teddy a dandelion flower he’d picked. “That could have become ugly. I wonder how long it’ll take to rebuild.”
“Shouldn’t take long,” Margaret said. “As I understand it, they’re bringing in relatives from Fiji to help.”
“They have family in Fiji?” Savannah asked.
“Yeah, I guess Bonnie does,” Margaret said. “Brothers and cousins, and maybe some aunts and uncles. You didn’t know that?”
Savannah shook her head. “No.”
“Hey,” Michael called from the porch, “coffee’s still hot; want a cup?”
Lily grabbed Margaret’s hand and began leading her toward the house. “Come, come, Auntie. Come see my new jumpy Jack.”
“Jumpy Jack?” Margaret questioned.
Savannah took Lily’s other hand and explained to her aunt, “A nice lady up at the village near Craig’s cabin had a Jack-in-the-box and she let Lily and Bethany play with it. Lily was fascinated with that thing. So on the way home we stopped at a small mall just to stretch our legs, and the girls spotted one in the window of a gift shop. Of course they both had to have it.”
Lily looked up at Margaret, “There’s only one.”
“There was only one jumpy Jack?” Margaret asked.
Lily nodded.
Savannah chuckled. “Oh yes, and did that cause a problem. You should have seen the drama, the tears, the tantrums…”
By then they had caught up with Michael, who said, “And that was just Savannah and Holly.”
“Yeah, right,” Savannah snarked.
“So tell me, Miss Lily,” Margaret urged, “how did you end up with the jumpy Jack?”
The child looked down at her shoes and lamented, �
��Beth-Beth got a baby bed with a pillow.”
“And that started a whole new feud between the loving cousins,” Savannah said dramatically.
By then Margaret and Max were both laughing. He said to Lily, “Watch out what you ask for, Princess; you just might get it.”
“Right,” Savannah agreed.
Margaret asked the child, “Don’t you have a dolly bed?”
Lily shook her head. “And no pillow.”
Margaret smiled at Savannah. “Cool. Now I know what to get her for Christmas or her birthday.” She paused. “Or heck, maybe just for no occasion at all. Yes, I’ll go shopping tomorrow.”
Savannah and Michael exchanged looks as they ushered Margaret and Max into the house.
Once the adults were seated in the living room, each with a cup of coffee, and Lily had demonstrated her Jack-in-the-box, Max gazed across the room at Rags. “Looks like you wore him out this trip.” He grinned. “Do you have any interesting Rags stories?”
Margaret laughed. “Yeah, aside from the fact that he secretly stowed away in your trailer so he wouldn’t be left behind. What else did he do, pray tell?”
Michael looked at his watch and asked, “Do you have a couple of hours?”
Max frowned. “That bad, huh?”
“Oh, he wasn’t so bad,” Gladys defended. When the others looked at her, she said, “He was actually quite helpful.”
“Helpful?” Michael challenged.
“Well, yes. He’s responsible for all those nice people getting generous gifts. If he hadn’t found that list, the show probably would have been cancelled.”
“Gifts?” Margaret questioned.
Max also waited for a response.
Savannah glanced at the others, then began to explain, “Well, a rich woman named Lois Lancaster decided to share her wealth with people she thought were deserving.”
“People with dreams,” Adam said.
Savannah nodded. “Yes. She wanted to help people live their dreams, such as becoming a chef, opening a museum, protecting wild animals…”
“…making teddy bears for sick kids…” Adam added.
“Wow!” Margaret said.
“Wow is right,” Michael carped. “You should have seen the chaos up there because of that woman’s over-the-top generosity.”
Before Margaret could respond, Adam said, “He rode a boat over to be with us at the church.”
Max burst out laughing. “Rags did that? By himself?”
Adam nodded. He glanced at Savannah. “Well, he got in a boat by himself and Thad brought him to the church where we were.” His eyes grew big. “He almost got stabbed, but the crazy guy stabbed himself.” Adam spoke more softly, adding, “He died.”
“What?” Margaret said, enticing Teddy to her with a toy. She picked him up and snuggled, then focused on Adam. “Someone tried to cut Rags and he cut himself instead?”
Adam nodded. “Huh, Dad?”
“I’m afraid so,” Michael said. “He started a fire.”
“The bad guy?” Max asked.
Michael shook his head. “No, Rags.”
Savannah looked at her husband. “Actually, he kept that guy from lighting a bigger fire.”
Max looked from one to the other of them. “Now this sounds juicy.”
Michael agreed. “Yeah, well, a guy was threatening to burn Craig’s cabin down if we didn’t give him a key.”
“A key to the cabin?” Margaret asked.
He shook his head. “No. The keys were given to the people who were supposed to get the gifts from the wealthy woman.”
Margaret swooned. “My head is spinning.”
Michael tried to explain, “We found a key in Craig’s cabin.”
“Ahem,” Savannah said. When the others looked at her, she said, “Rags found it. Rags and Lexie.”
“Yeah,” Michael said, “and this greedy man knew about it and he threatened to burn down Craig’s cabin.”
“But Rags attacked the guy,” Adam said.
Margaret smirked. “Of course he did.”
Adam continued, “Yeah, and he dropped the lantern and it started a fire.”
“How’d you get the fire department up there in time?” Margaret asked. “It’s pretty remote, as I recall.”
Adam jumped in, saying, “We put it out. We did a bucket…um, what was it called, Dad?”
“Brigade,” Savannah said.
“Yes, brigade.” When Adam saw that the Sheridans were waiting to hear more, he explained, “We filled buckets and pots and things with water in the kitchen, then everybody stood in a line and we passed them to Dad and Craig and they put out the fire. It was rad.”
“Sounds rad,” Margaret said, “…not!”
Adam insisted, “Well it worked.”
“That’s the important thing,” Max agreed. He shook his head. “Wow! That must have been quite an experience.” When he saw Rags walking toward him, he held out his hand as an enticement and Rags did a head-butt. Max scratched him around the neck. “Good job, Rags.”
“Good job? He started a fire,” Michael insisted.
“But only a little fire, Dad,” Adam said. “Uncle Keith said it could have been a lot worse if Rags hadn’t made that man drop the lantern the way he did.”
Savannah smiled at the boy, then asked her aunt and uncle, “What have you guys been doing—anything exciting?”
Margaret glanced at Max before saying, “Compared to your life, no. But we have had a fairly successful kitten season so far.”
“Yes, we’ve befriended a young photographer—a gal,” Max said. “She takes some of the most amazing pictures of the cats and kittens and posts them in stores downtown and online. We’re actually getting more attention, more visitors, and more adoptions from the shelter.”
“It’s really rather astounding, the success we’re having,” Margaret said. “I guess advertising is a worthwhile pursuit, especially since MariLee writes little stories about each kitty—you know, giving some insight into their little purr-sonalities and all.”
“Well, that’s good to hear,” Michael said.
Margaret chuckled. “I’ve actually felt sorry for Max a time or two when he grew attached to a cat or a kitten, thinking it wouldn’t be adopted. Then, lo and behold, someone comes along and falls in love with it.”
Michael laughed. “So your private collection of cats isn’t growing much this year, huh, Max?”
“No,” he said. “We’re holding at seven.”
“Seven?” Gladys questioned. “Why is it I only see three or four cats in your house when I come over?”
“Some of them are hidey cats,” Max admitted, “which is partly why they didn’t get adopted.”
“Well, you’ll have to share your secrets to your success at the next cat alliance meeting. When is it—this week, right?”
Margaret nodded, then complained, “Give our secrets away?”
“Of course,” Savannah said. “That’s what the alliance is all about—helping cats, right?”
“I guess so,” Margaret groused, “but there are only so many potential homes for cats and kittens in this area, and we’re enjoying such wonderful success right now. I kinda hate to spoil it.”
Michael grinned at Margaret. “Oh, come on. Think of the homeless cats that you’re not reaching—that aren’t finding their way to you. They need help, too. We’re here to help them all, right?”
“Sure,” Margaret said, squirming a little in her chair. When Rags walked up to her, she reached out and petted him, saying, “You’re certainly one lucky son-of-a-cat, finding a home with someone who has a blind eye.”
“What?” Savannah asked.
“Tell me, Vannie,” Margaret insisted, “do you know another soul in the world who would put up with the likes of him?”
Savannah flashed an impish smile at her aunt. “Have you seen his bank account lately? You should hope to find a cat like Rags someday.” She jumped up. �
��Speaking of that, I promised to return Rob’s call; it sounded urgent. I’ll be back in a minute.” She called over her shoulder, “Help yourself to more coffee.”
“Good morning, Rob,” she said into the phone. “What’s up? You said we need to talk.”
“Yeah, thanks for returning my call. Have your guests left?”
“Yes.” A melancholy tone to her voice, she added, “It was a sad goodbye. We’ll miss them a lot.”
“I’m sure you will. I enjoyed meeting them when you were all at the beach house. Nice people—like you and Michael.” He hesitated. “A lot like you and Michael.” He took a breath. “Listen, I heard something through a weird grapevine and I thought you should know.”
“What? Is it about Rags’s books? They’re still doing well, aren’t they? People up at the mountain resort were sure eager to get their hands on them, and the feedback for Rags’s meowmoirs has been great.”
“Yeah, I know. No, it’s not about the books.”
“The documentary?” she asked. “Are they going to take it off the air?”
“No. It’s still showing and still bringing in royalties. No, Savannah, it’s about horses. You know, I have a friend who lives in your area, and he knows people with horses. Evidently there’s someone going around trying to hurt horses. A boarding stable was torched over the weekend and some gal is being hassled. I know that you have horses, and I wanted to tell you to be careful.”
“What?” Savannah said.
“You don’t know about it?” Rob asked.
“Well, our friends Bonnie’s and Barney’s stables burned, but I haven’t heard anything about it being arson. No, Rob, I don’t think that’s the case, or Bonnie would have said something. In fact…”
“In fact, what?”
“Well, we’re going to board some of the displaced horses here until they can rebuild the stables.” After a few seconds, Savannah asked, “Rob, are you still there?”
“Yeah, I’m here. I just don’t know what to say. Are you sure you want to do that? What if…?”
Savannah interrupted with a question of her own. “Why would anyone want to hurt horses?”
