A Dusty Dreams Wedding

by Kat Carrington

  Looking excited beyond belief, Jacob nodded and said, "I will, Miss Gloria. I promise."

  It was warm inside, and Gloria led them to the cozy pen where the dogs were. The little squeals of the puppies made Jacob giggle, and when he peeked into the pen, he clapped both hands over his mouth to keep from calling out in his excitement. The puppies squirmed against their mother and Jacob was instantly charmed. "Look how little they are," he said in a soft, awed voice. "Are they drinking their milk?"

  Gloria nodded and said, "They sure are. This mama's been feeding them really well. She's a good mama."

  One of the puppies squirmed away from the crowd and Jacob squatted down to watch him, enchanted. "His eyes are closed. What if he goes too far from his mama?"

  Gloria explained, "All their eyes are closed. They'll open them in a few days. And his mama won't let him get too far away. See? There she goes, pushing him back towards her."

  "Aw, she's kissing him!" The dog was licking the wandering pup protectively.

  Jessie and Devon glanced at each other at the same moment and both of them wore the same big smiles. They both looked quickly back at Jacob, but there was a little moment of bonding there, nonetheless. They stayed for nearly a half hour and Gloria patiently answered all of Jacob's questions and then promised him that if they came back the following weekend, she would let him pet the little pups. Finally, Gloria signaled to Devon that it was time to go and the four of them left the kennel. Once they were outside, Jacob turned his shining smile on Gloria and said, "Thank you, Miss Gloria. I love those puppies!"

  Gloria chuckled at him and ruffled his hair. "You're welcome, Jacob, and you did really good about keeping your voice down. You're going to take good care of your puppy; I know you are."

  Jacob threw his arms around her legs and hugged her hard. Jessie couldn't stop smiling at him and Devon was the same. The four of them walked toward the driveway and they said goodbye to Gloria, thanking her again. Jessie walked along with Devon and Jacob to the truck and Jessie laid a hand on Devon's arm. "Thank you for inviting me, Devon. It was a special thing, to see his reaction."

  "I'm glad you were here. And we'd love to have you come next weekend too, if you can."

  Jessie hesitated for just a split second and then nodded. "I wouldn't miss it, thank you. Jacob, I'll see you back here next weekend, okay?"

  "Okay, Miss Jessie." He held his arms up for a hug and Jessie bent down to hug him tight.

  They said their goodbyes, and Jessie climbed into her truck, her heart full. She prayed all the way home for a speedy answer to the test they were all waiting for.

  Devon was having similar thoughts on her way home, though Jacob chattered happily all the way. She listened to him with half an ear while she thought about Jessie. She had been surprised when Jessie had shown up to see the puppies. She knew that if she were in Jessie's shoes, she wouldn't have. She hoped it meant that she held a grudge much better than Jessie did. And maybe the thought stemmed from the fact that knowing everything she knew now, she was appalled at what she had done. She could have found out more about Jake as soon as she knew she was pregnant. She just hadn't wanted to. She'd had enough information that she could have. She just preferred to believe that Jake was the dad and gone from her life, so she didn't have to worry about him. Grant was out of her life and she was free to raise her child on her own without interference from another soul. Granted, she hadn't known much about Jake, and if she had, maybe she would have… She forced herself to stop thinking. It wasn't making sense anymore; there were too many what-ifs.

  "Can we, Mom? Can we?"

  Devon shook her head and said, "What, Jacob? Can we what?"

  "Can we invite Brady to come see the puppies? I asked you three times."

  "I'm sorry. I was concentrating. I guess we can. I'll ask Jessie later in the week."

  "Yay!" Jacob sat back, satisfied, and a minute later, they pulled into their driveway.

  The two of them went into the house and Jacob ran up to his room to draw pictures of the puppies. Devon walked into the kitchen and stood at the sink, gazing blindly out the window at the backyard. Her head was full of way too many thoughts, and too many of them were pointed at herself. She felt thoroughly ashamed of what she'd done, and now she was beginning to feel really regretful of what she had lost by her selfishness. Jacob had lived nearly five years of his life with no family but her, when he could have had more. And if Jake was his father, he could still have a big, happy extended family. But she had screwed up everything so badly that she didn't know if Jessie was ever going to be able to forgive her. If she didn't, there wouldn't be an extended family.

  Not the least of all of it, was the fact that even if Jake's death couldn't have been prevented, she might have had his sister to support her and she could have helped Jessie through the blinding grief of her brother's death. Watching Jacob grow would have been something they could have shared, and when her father died, she would have had Jessie's support. Finally, Devon broke down and cried until she was exhausted. She sat on the couch and cried her eyes out, not stopping until she was drained of tears. She pulled her feet up and lay down to rest her burning eyes a little.

  Some time later, Jacob came down the stairs and saw his mom sleeping on the couch. He whispered out loud, "Mom's tired from going to see the puppies. I'm big; I can get my own snack." He went softly into the kitchen and got himself a couple of cookies and an apple then decided to go out to the backyard and sit on the swing while he ate his snack. He pulled on the jacket he'd dropped on a chair and quietly let himself out the back door.

  Chapter 23

  Devon woke slowly, her head aching and her eyes burning. The house was quiet, and she was sure she had only drifted off for a few minutes. She sat up slowly, trying to get her bearings. The heaviness of her feelings was still weighing on her and she tried hard to push it all aside. She was surprised that her son with the hollow leg hadn't been down to pester her for a snack. Rubbing the back of her neck, she walked over to the stairs and called up to him. When there was no answer, it occurred to her that he had probably been as tired as she was once the excitement of seeing the puppies had worn off. With a little smile, she started up the stairs, expecting to find him sleeping in his newly finished bedroom.

  Devon was quiet as she stepped up to her son's door and peeked inside. The room was empty, and for a moment, she didn't quite comprehend that he wasn't in there. She walked in and looked around, checking the floor on the far side of his bed. Then her face cleared, and she went to the hallway and down to the dream bathroom she had built. But it, too, was empty. With her stomach clenched into knots, Devon hurried down the stairs, calling to her son as she went. It took only moments to check the rest of the house, and then she saw that the back door wasn't completely closed. She yanked the door open and rushed out into the backyard. She saw a half-eaten apple lying near the swing set, but no Jacob. She rushed around, looking frantically, and shouting for him, but there was no response. Completely panicked, she ran back into the house.

  Devon's hands shook as she dialed Jessie's number. "Jessie, I can't find Jacob!" She was nearly sobbing as she spoke. "I fell asleep on the couch; he was upstairs drawing, and now he's gone! I can't find him anywhere! Oh, God, please, I can't find my son!"

  "Devon!" Jessie spoke sharply to her. "Calm down, right now. It's going to be all right; we'll find him. Take a deep breath. Come on, breathe with me. In…out…in…out. Now, I'm going to come over to your house, and while I'm on my way, I'm going to call my contacts. While you wait for me, I want you to call yours too. Okay? This is important; you need to do it. Okay?"

  Devon nodded shakily and then said, "Okay. Okay, I'll start calling right away. Jessie, can you hurry?"

  "Absolutely. I'll be there before you know it." Jessie clicked off the phone and called Brady while she pulled out her coat and gathered her first aid kit and some bottled water and cookies. Brady promised to meet her at Devon's and Jessie quickly set the emergency network int
o action. By the time she got into her truck, the phone lines were beginning to buzz all around town.

  Devon looked like death warmed over as she yanked open the front door. "Thank you, thank you. Jessie, what do we do? Oh my God, how do we find him?" She was babbling and she realized it as Jessie took her hand and squeezed hard.

  "Come on, Devon, breathe. You need to help me. Tell me exactly what happened." The sheriff showed up in the middle of Devon's explanation of the chain of events after they'd gotten home and he got her to start over.

  "Okay, what about his friends? Is there anybody he'd go see or meet up with? Is there a place near here where he spends time?" The sheriff's voice was strong and calm as he asked his questions.

  "No, there really isn't. He's not even five yet; his friends are all at preschool. He doesn't go anyplace unless I take him."

  "All right. What about adults? Who does he know? Who does he like?"

  "Just…just Jessie and Brady. And Gloria, we're getting a puppy from her. But we were there today, and he's looking forward to going back next week. Gloria said he could pet the puppies then. And he could never find his way to her house; besides, it's too far." Devon was getting distraught again.

  "Hold on, kids don't see things the same way that adults do. He might think it was perfectly easy to go back to see the puppies." Sheriff Bret was calm. "Is there anyone else you know who he might be comfortable with?"

  Jessie said, "Devon, you need to tell him about Grant."

  The sheriff looked questioningly at her. "Grant? Who's that?"

  Devon looked horrified. "H-he thinks that he's Jacob's father. He's waiting for the results of a paternity test."

  Jessie spoke up. "And he said that he intends to have custody of Jacob. He also just had a lawyer send Devon a letter trying to pressure her into letting him have visitation with Jacob. Right?"

  Devon's voice shook. "Yes. My lawyer sent a letter in response that turned him down flat. He said Grant has no legal grounds to be granted visitation at this point."

  "Okay, we need to find this guy right now. I'm letting the townsfolk know to gather out here to start searching, in the meantime. My deputy is on the way, should be here any minute. He'll get everyone organized and started, and I'll go find this Grant. You need to tell me everything you can about him. Come on; I want you to sit down here and talk to me."

  Jessie opened Devon's refrigerator and got her a bottle of water. The eyes they turned on each other were full of naked fear. Jessie saw Brady's truck pull up outside and went to greet him. It was less than five minutes, when other people started arriving. They were dressed warmly and wearing boots or sturdy shoes. The neighbors were ready to search. Finished with his questions, the sheriff gave a few directions to his deputy and motioned to Brady to go with him.

  "I'd appreciate it if you'd come along with me, Brady. They'll have the search started within a few minutes. We need to go find this Grant and get some answers."

  "Do you think Grant took him?" Brady asked.

  The sheriff shook his head. "There's no way to say that right now, but we need to find out."

  "Okay, I'm with you. I brought our dog; she knows Jacob and he loves her. How about if I turn her over to Jessie and she can take her out with the search party."

  "That's fine; a dog can be invaluable."

  Brady went to his truck and put Indy on her leash, then he led her to Jessie. With a quick word of explanation, he squeezed Jessie's hand and gave Devon a level look. "You keep your chin up. We'll have him back here before you know it."

  Devon gave him a watery attempt at a smile and nodded. "Thank you, thank you both."

  "Don't be silly," Jessie said briskly. "That's what neighbors and friends are for. Let's go; they're getting organized out there."

  The sheriff's deputy had a table set up with a large map and a couple of cases of bottled water. Each searcher got instructions on where to go, a flashlight, and a bottle or two of water. They all made sure they had the cell phone numbers they needed to stay in touch, and soon they were starting out. It was going to be dark in no more than two hours and they needed to be thorough but work fast. Bret and Brady headed into town. They went first to the motel where Grant had a room, but there was no sign of him. He hadn't checked out, but he definitely wasn't there. The sheriff said, "Okay, now we need to check out places where he might be. That would mean a place to eat or maybe shop. We don't have much to go on. Maybe it'd be a good idea to check out Gloria's place, where the puppies are. If he was trying to get close to Jacob, that would be a place he might try."

  Brady agreed, and they went directly to Gloria's place. When they told her why they were there, she was dismayed. "Oh, no, he's such a sweet little boy! I haven't had any visitors that I don't know."

  Bret asked, "So you haven't had any strangers approach you? Even in the past few days; it wouldn't have to be today."

  Slowly, Gloria said, "There was a man who came up to me in the farm store. He said he overheard me talking about having a litter of puppies and he asked me some questions about them. He said he wasn't ready for one yet, he still lived in the city and wouldn't try to raise a large dog there."

  Brady and the sheriff exchanged looks. The sheriff showed Gloria his phone. "Was this the guy?"

  "Yes! That's him. He seemed nice enough, and he only asked about the dogs."

  "Can you remember what day that was?"

  Gloria thought for a minute and then brightened. "Sure, I can tell you exactly. I've got my receipt from the farm store that day. Just give me a minute, I'll have it for you."

  Gloria hurried off and returned quickly with the store receipt. "Here you go. This is exactly when it was. You can keep that, Sheriff. I don't need it."

  The sheriff thanked her and the two went on their way. They headed to the farm store next, where they asked the two people who were still working if they had seen Grant. The rest of the staff had gone to join the search and the ones who were left had never seen Grant. Bret decided to stop at the two gas stations in town next. The owner of one of them said he recognized Grant, but it had been a couple of days since he'd seen him. Next, they headed to the Rusty Spur. Walking in, Mitch's assistant bartender shook his head when they asked for Mitch. "He went out to help search for that little kid. He told me to close early if he didn't get back before nine."

  There were only three customers in the bar, and they weren't regulars. When Bret and Brady walked back out into the parking lot, Bret said, "I don't know. I guess we should go out and join the search."

  "Yeah, we can look for him some more later if we need to," Brady agreed. "I just hope by the time we get out there, they'll have him."

  But there was no such luck. The search groups were combing the area with no results. Some of the parents in town who couldn't join the search because they had kids at home had started putting together trays of sandwiches and vats of hot coffee. Gina Martz had baked several batches of cookies and dropped them off, thanking the Lord once again that her son had been found safe and her little girl was safely at her side, helping to make cookies. Kayla Wagner, Jessie's best friend, had left Caleb with her mom and rushed to join the search as soon as she heard. It was deeply dark when they all gathered at Devon's place and the sheriff addressed them. They considered the conditions carefully and concluded that it was simply too dark to be able to continue the search safely. They asked everyone who could to reconvene before dawn, to start again. Devon was trembling uncontrollably and looked like she was ready to collapse at any moment. Jessie took her arm, and after a concerned look, Kayla flanked her other side and the three of them moved slowly toward the house. Suddenly, Devon stopped and gasped in shock.

  "Grant! What are you doing here? What the hell are you doing here, you son of a bitch?" Her voice was near hysteria.

  The man she was shouting at turned, his face shocked. "I'm looking for the kid. What do you think I'm doing?"

  Devon launched herself at him, swinging blindly and shouting incoherently. Grant trie
d to catch her arms and stop her attack, and in a moment, there was mass confusion. Shocked, Jessie and Kayla tried to stop Devon, but she was like a madwoman, striking and clawing at Grant. Finally, Brady got his arms around her from behind and held her all the way off the ground, trying his best to restrain and calm her. Kayla's shocked gaze fell on Mitch and her confusion grew.

  The sheriff muscled his way through the crowd and let out a roar that quieted them all, "Now what the hell is going on here?" he demanded.

  "That's him!" Devon snapped. "That's the son of a bitch who took my son!"

  Every eye turned to Grant, who shook his head and held up a hand in protest. "Now, just hold on a minute. I didn't take him; for Christ's sake, I came to look for him."

  The sheriff gave him a hard look. "We spent a couple of valuable hours looking for you. You need to tell me exactly what you've been up to."

  Grant shrugged in bewilderment. "I told you. I came out to look for the kid."

  Devon burst out, "You bastard! You took him. You've been trying to get to him. You went to his school, you tried to bully me into thinking you had a right to see him."

  "Well, Christ, I do have a right to see him! He might…no, he's probably my kid. Come on, Devon, that doesn't make me a goddamn kidnapper. All I wanted was to get a good look at him. I still haven't ever laid eyes on him. Why would I just take him? If he's not mine, what the hell would I do with him?"

  The whole crowd looked at him in silent disgust.

  "Oh, come on. I came out to help find him, didn't I?" Grant stared defiantly at them all.

  "Just how did you come to be out here in the first place?" asked the sheriff.

  "I was at the Rusty Spur when the phone calls started going out that he was missing. I came out here with Mitch so I could help."