A Family for Jason

by Virginia McCullough

  Mike abruptly turned his back on the bridge. One day he’d overcome the dread and come here by himself to get it out of his system. Feel the hurt and finally get some closure on the dreams of his past. Twenty years was long enough. Meanwhile, he was still struggling to find his place in his hometown. Even walking down familiar River Street he felt out of place, like a tourist trying to figure out what the town was all about. The diner where all the teenagers had ordered burger plates and BLTs and baskets of fries was still there, but the dry cleaner was gone, along with many other businesses. But here in the park by the bridge, not much had changed.

  He walked closer to the slide, waving to Jason, who sat at the top. Jason waved back, but then his focus seemed to shift and he hesitated for a couple of seconds at the top. When he let go of the handholds and slid to the bottom, he ran toward Mike, but then passed him. Mike spun around and saw a golden retriever straining on the end of a long leash. He smiled to himself. He got it. That dog was much more interesting than Dad.

  His gaze followed Jason coming to an abrupt stop a few feet from the dog. He glanced at the woman holding the leash who was coming through the bridge and smiling at Jason. His stomach flipped as he froze in place.

  Ruby. Ruby was on the other end of the leash. She leaned over to pat the dog’s side. Red-haired, brown-eyed, smiling Ruby.

  Mike’s jaw slackened as the present moment gave way to flashes from the past. Seventeen-year-old Ruby running through the bridge and leaping into his arms, a college acceptance letter in her hand. Ruby in a purple dress lacing her fingers around his neck as they danced under the dim lights at their prom. A vision of them skipping stones at the riverbank flashed and morphed into the two of them in sweatshirts and jeans rowing under a full moon on a warm fall night.

  He stared at Ruby, who stood twenty, maybe thirty feet away. Then she looked away from the dog and Jason, and saw him. Motionless, expressionless, she stared back across the patchy grass. Barely able to breathe, he forced himself to close the distance between them.

  “Ruby... I’m, I don’t seem to...”

  “I know,” she said in a faint voice. “What are you doing here?”

  “I, uh, moved back.” He pointed to the ground. “I live here now.”

  Ruby opened her mouth as if to speak, but no words came out. Instead, he heard a choking sob come from deep in her throat and her mouth disappeared behind her hand. As if by instinct he stretched his arm toward her, but wasn’t close enough to touch her. He glanced at Jason, who was petting the dog but also looking at Ruby with a curious expression.

  Ruby turned halfway around to put her back to Jason. Mike could still see her free hand brushing each cheek. She kept shaking her head, as if in shock.

  Mike spoke the first words that came to him. “Oh, Rubes, don’t cry.” He took a step closer.

  She nodded and held up her hand, as if to both reassure him and keep him at a distance. “It’s okay, Mike.” She took a deep breath and squared her shoulders. “I’ll be fine. Give me a minute. Don’t worry. I won’t upset Jason.” She took a deep breath and released it, and then smoothed flyaway strands of hair blowing in front of her face.

  She knew his son’s name. Of course she did. She’d already talked to Jason, but had no idea who this little boy was.

  Still not looking at him, she turned around and smiled down at Jason. “You and Miss Peach meet again, huh? I know she’s glad to see you.” Her voice was stronger now.

  Mike snickered as an old, familiar feeling came over him. “Miss Peach? You named your dog Miss Peach.” She’d always been so easy to tease.

  She quickly ran her fingertips across her cheeks, wiping away any trace of tears. A faint smile appeared. “Nope. Her original owner gets the blame for that.” She kneeled down and rubbed the dog’s jowls. “I call her Peach for short. Right, Jason?”

  Widening his smile, Jason nodded. Mike’s heart pounded in his chest as he watched Jason with the dog, who sat with her head cocked and tail moving, eating up the attention from a little boy who wanted nothing more than to shower her with affection. “Is your Peach a therapy dog?” Mike asked.

  Ruby seemed confused at first, but then her expression softened.

  “Well, not professionally. It’s more like a hobby with her.”

  He smiled and nodded, thankful for her quickly lightening the mood. Ruby could always be counted on to try to fix things.

  “Peach is great with kids. See how she is with your little boy?” She looked up at Mike with curious eyes.

  He read in her face what she wanted to know. “Long story, Rubes, and for another day.” Mike pointed behind him at the row of benches. “Let’s sit. Catch up. I moved back here for Jason. But what brought you back?”

  Ignoring his question, Ruby said, “So, Jason, would you like to walk Peach around the benches?”

  Jason nodded eagerly.

  “As long as it’s okay with your dad...” She glanced at Mike.

  “Sure.” He had to force himself not to sound impatient, even demanding, but he so wanted to talk to Ruby. The reality of her standing this close left him stunned. Maybe because she was stunning. The really pretty eighteen-year-old girl frozen in his memory had grown into a breathtaking beauty. The easy, tender way she talked with his son showed Mike that the woman Ruby had become was still big-hearted and kind.

  Ruby handed Jason the leash and he trotted off with Peach, who was soon circling the benches. “Look at that. I hadn’t even known the dog was good with kids until just the other day.”

  “Ruby, please, I haven’t seen you in twenty years. Let’s talk about your dog another time.” He heard the edge in his voice. Fear? He wasn’t sure what scared him, couldn’t put it into words. Yet at the same time relief traveled through every cell, as if all along he’d been expecting this and the moment had finally come.

  “You’re the one who asked about the dog,” Ruby teased.

  He’d almost forgotten how easy it was for her to tease him, too. “I’m just glad to see you.” He emptied his lungs and whispered, “To know you’re okay.”

  Ruby’s eyes filled again and she lowered her head.

  “Oh, no, Ruby. I don’t want to upset you. I’m sorry. I just can’t believe you’re here.”

  She held up her hand in a clear signal to stop. “I’m okay, Mike. Really. I don’t want to worry your little boy. I don’t even know what’s brought on the crying.”

  She didn’t? He knew exactly what his jumble of emotions was all about. He’d never loved anyone the way he’d loved her. Now he had to know what had brought her back to Bluestone River. “Uh, do you live here now?”

  She frowned and flicked her hand. “No, no. I never imagined putting one foot in this town ever again.” She spoke through a tight jaw. “I only came back for Emma.”

  “Ah, Emma. It’s strange, but I just learned the other day that Neil died.” How strange. He’d been the best man at Neil and Emma’s wedding, but no one had let Mike know he’d died. But he hadn’t reached out to any of his old friends for years, either.

  Ruby nodded and filled him in about the couple. “They finally decided to split up after years of trying to figure out a way to make it work between them, but then Neil died.” She then explained the surgery happening the next morning at the hospital in Clayton.

  “I’m so sorry to hear that about Emma. I’ll drive over there to see her and say hello.” He hesitated, but finally said, “So, you two are still friends.”

  “Still best friends forever and all that.” She looked behind her at the river and the bridge. “My one connection to this place.”

  “You were free to come here to be with Emma, then? I mean, you could leave your family or take the time off from...whatever.” Man, that was subtle.

  “Actually, it worked out great,” Ruby said in a buoyant upbeat tone he immediately pegged as so false it almost made him
wince. “When Emma called, I’d just left my job in Florida and given up my apartment. The timing couldn’t have been better.”

  She’s never been skilled at pretending, Mike thought, watching her shift her weight and look anywhere but at him. Whoa, something was way off.

  Changing the subject, she nodded toward Jason trotting alongside the dog. “Can you tell me why he doesn’t talk?”

  “Like I said, it’s a long story. Complicated. But it boils down to Jason being in a fire with his mom. She died, and from what was pieced together, he likely saw it happen. We don’t know for sure what he witnessed, but he hasn’t spoken since.” Mike told her about leaving the law firm in Cincinnati to come back to his family’s old house on the lake. “It’s a peaceful spot. Maybe it will help. It can’t hurt.”

  “So, he’s silent because of the trauma of what he witnessed. Maybe his injuries figure in, too.” She spoke as if stating a fact, not asking a question.

  “That’s what they tell me. The therapists, I mean.” Relieved she hadn’t dug deeper, he changed the subject. “He’s in the special-education class at the school because of it. But once he’s talking again, he’ll go into a regular class. That’s what Mrs. Cermak says.”

  Ruby tilted her head and smiled in obvious surprise. “Mrs. Cermak? No kidding. She’s still teaching?”

  Mike laughed. “I was surprised, too. At first she called me Mr. Abbot, but that was too weird.”

  “I’ll bet it was.” Ruby clasped and unclasped her hands. Twice. “I need to get back to Emma. She’s impatient and restless today. If she had her way the surgery would be this afternoon.”

  Was that it? She’d take off and he wouldn’t see her again? They had gone their separate ways so suddenly, no warning, no nothing. She fled in a state of shock and grief, according to Emma. Surely, she wanted to clear the air. Or talk about it...or something. But apparently not now. Mike called to Jason and waved him over.

  “I have to get going now, Jason,” Ruby said, taking the leash from Jason’s hand. “But maybe Peach and I will see you another time.”

  Jason gave the retriever a final pat.

  “So, you’ll tell Emma I said hello?” Mike asked. “I’ll stop in to see her.”

  “Of course.” She gave Jason a warm smile and then took off toward the bridge.

  Just like that. Why was she in such a hurry to leave? She’d left him curious about so many things. “Ruby,” he called.

  She stopped and turned.

  “Tell me, what was your job? I mean, what do you do?”

  Planting one hand on her hip, she cocked her head and stared at some distant point across the park. She glanced back at him for several seconds, then said, “I guess you could say my work is in crisis and trauma.”

  Her words surprised him, leaving him without a ready response. It wasn’t all about what happened to Jason, either. What happened to him and Ruby had changed everything. Talk about crisis and trauma. As a teenager she’d focused like a laser beam on getting a degree in business, emphasis on advertising and marketing. Then a job, preferably in a top corporation. For him it had been about landing a position in a major law firm. And why wouldn’t they have been ambitious? They were the lucky kids in school. The daughter of the principal, fifth in their class, practically engaged to the student-council president, who was also not a half-bad basketball player.

  Crisis. Trauma. The already closed fist in his gut tightened its grip. Before he could respond, Ruby disappeared on the bridge, only to reappear on the other side of the river. She broke into a jog as she turned down the side road and was soon out of sight.

  He looked down at Jason, who was standing by his side. Suddenly too tired to sort out anything more complicated than the grocery list, Mike had no answers to the questions zipping through his brain. “Let’s go, kiddo. We’ve got to get more giant jars of peanut butter and grape jelly.”

  Mike took a last look at the bridge, where a lone biker bumped noisily over the wooden slats. Then he looked at the road where Ruby had disappeared. He wished she’d change her mind and come back. And do what? Fill in the whole twenty years? Hash over the past?

  The last time he saw Ruby was in the emergency room of Bluestone River’s one-floor community hospital, which didn’t even exist anymore. No way could he handle ten minutes in the park as the last time he saw her for another two decades.

  When they got to the supermarket, he hurried down the aisles tossing random items in his cart and keeping up his usual one-sided patter with Jason. Later, when they finally arrived back at the house, Jason took off to the water’s edge. As if taking inventory, Mike scanned where he’d grown up without ever knowing how fleeting good times could be. The tire swing, the rowboat, the lake itself. They had Ruby’s name etched on them just as sure as their names were carved in the bridge.

  Yes, twenty years ago, she’d run away.

  He hadn’t gone after her then, but things had changed. This time they could figure out those answers together.

  CHAPTER THREE

  WITH EMMA AT the hospital, Ruby understood what it meant to rattle around in a big ol’ house, an expression her Grandma Rachel used when she was widowed and still living in the home where she’d raised her large family.

  Ruby knew how to live alone and had done so since the day she’d moved into a tiny studio apartment within walking distance of her first crisis-center job out of college. She’d never lived in a house with eight rooms spread out on one floor, plus a basement with a pool table and a giant-screen TV, though. Neil’s choice, Ruby imagined, remembering him as an all-around sports guy.

  This was her second morning alone in the house, and rain was beating down on the roof, bouncing on the deck and soaking the fading prairie grasses and remnants of wildflowers on Emma’s field. Ruby stared at the dark sky and thought about how much her dad had enjoyed these intense storms. Such a contrast to the warm summer evening when she’d rushed out of the house as a teenager to meet Mike at the bridge.

  Ruby had been the last member of her family to see her dad alive. Until the day he’d died, she hadn’t thought much about death—and knew nothing of betrayal. In the years that followed, she’d relived those last minutes—sweet minutes—with him hundreds of times.

  Her dad had been sitting at the kitchen table reading the newspaper when she’d hurried to the back door.

  “You going to see Mike?” he’d asked, grinning. They both knew the answer.

  She’d been so happy she’d rocked up on the balls of her feet and then back on her heels, as if revving up to launch herself into the air and fly to the bridge. “And Emma and Neil—there’ll be lots of us, Dad.”

  “Don’t be too late. Big day tomorrow.”

  Graduation. It was extra special for her because she would be the only one in her class to have her diploma handed to her by her own father, Timothy Driscoll, the popular principal of Bluestone River High School. “I won’t forget, Dad,” she joked knowingly. Planting a kiss on the top of his head, she added, “It’s going to be the best day ever.”

  “Love you, Rubes.” As always he added a reminder. “Be careful on your bike.”

  Ruby had answered with a quick nod and said, “Love you, too, Dad.” Minutes later she was at the bridge. The way she pieced it together later, Ruby figured her dad had likely left the house about half an hour after her.

  Peach’s low whine grabbed her attention and Ruby suddenly remembered where she was. The dog was looking out to the yard with one paw on the glass, but Ruby had just let her out a few minutes earlier, fed her and filled her water bowl. “Your real walk will have to wait, my friend,” Ruby said, rubbing the dog’s neck.

  Ruby waited a few more minutes for the rain to let up and then put on her purple hooded raincoat and left for the hospital. Knowing Emma, she was probably pestering the nurses about how soon she’d be mobile again.

  She’
d wanted to stay focused on Emma the night before the surgery, so Ruby hadn’t mentioned running into Mike and his son. Emma was groggy after surgery on Monday, barely awake, and yesterday Ruby arrived as Em was being helped to get out of bed to stand upright for the first time. Ruby was just as happy to wait to mention it. Emma would read too much into what was nothing more than a chance meeting, anyway. Ruby almost laughed out loud thinking of Emma claiming it was a sign that she and Mike had shown up back in town at the same time. Ruby could hear her friend’s sage words—“There are no coincidences.”

  Nonsense. Mike’s presence only complicated Ruby’s visit. As for her bout of tears upon seeing him standing a few feet away from her in the park, she wrote that off as nothing more than a physical response to the shock of it.

  Having arrived at the hospital, Ruby pulled up the hood of her raincoat and jumped over deepening puddles of rainwater on her way to the revolving doors. She avoided the habitually slow elevators and took the stairs to the orthopedic and neurology floor. After greeting the now familiar nurse at the desk, she went to the room at the end of the hall and rapped twice before pushing the door open and stepping inside.

  Her head jerked back. What? Mike. Sitting in a chair alongside Emma’s bed. He shot out of the chair as if he’d been caught doing something he shouldn’t.

  “Ruby. Hello. Again.” He flashed a lopsided smile, self-conscious and awkward.

  She glanced at Emma, who held out her hand. Woodenly, Ruby went to Emma’s side and took Em’s offered hand and squeezed it. “Hey, you, looking good today.”

  “That’s what I said,” Mike offered.

  “Pull up the other chair, Ruby. Two visitors. How lucky can I get?” Emma gushed.