Blue Ridge Hideaway

by Cynthia Thomason

  “And Bret didn’t have a say in the purchase?”

  Julie smirked. “Oh, he had plenty to say. He and Miranda fought, but when that shiny thing appeared in the driveway, Bret knew he’d lost the argument. For a long time he blamed himself for not sticking to his guns on this one. Now it seems no one can get him to give an inch on any issue. It’s like he’s become this moral vigilante for the world.”

  Julie sighed. “I think that’s why he moved up here, just to get away from people who screw up, like the guy who shot him, his own father and Miranda’s father, who constantly tries to get his hooks into Luke.”

  “I can imagine that Bret doesn’t want Luke too influenced by Miranda’s family.”

  “That’s right. In fact, I think sometimes Bret goes too far the other way in ensuring that Luke isn’t spoiled.” She returned to the sink and continued with lunch preparations. “At first I tried to reason with Bret,” she said. “I told him that we live in an imperfect world. If you’re not out there dealing with the screw-ups, they’ll eventually find you, anyway.”

  Just like I found Bret, Dorie thought. He was content making his plans and fixing up his isolated world, and then I showed up proving again how his father cheated somebody else. “I can’t believe Bret is as normal as he seems to be,” she said. “He’s had to deal with a lot.”

  “Yeah, he’s keeping it together now. For Luke’s sake, especially. Though the kid is lonely, and Bret doesn’t seem to know what to do about it. We come up from Atlanta to see them whenever we can.”

  “I’m sure that helps.” Dorie couldn’t count the times she’d wished she’d had a supportive family around her.

  “They’ll be okay, though,” Julie said. “They’ve got each other, and it’s a strong bond between them. Bret’s a bit overprotective, but I suppose I can’t blame him.”

  Dorie recalled the uncomfortable questions and hidden accusations Bret had made this morning. All at once, his actions didn’t seem so outrageous. Of course he would check out a suspicious person who came to his camp. And he would question her motives and background. He had his son to think about. She hoped he trusted her now. She was glad that the facts were out in the open and he knew the truth. She even wondered if he might reveal more of his own past to her.

  “Do you want a glass of water?” Julie said, drawing Dorie away from her thoughts.

  “No, I’m okay. I was wondering about Bret’s mother. Was she any help when Miranda died?”

  “Maisie was as much help as she could be from her cabin in Nettles Canyon, California. I know her heart ached for him, and she wanted to comfort him. But she’s a spiritual person, and her way of reaching out to Bret was to try to convince him that Miranda is part of the greater spirit world now.”

  “That made him feel better?”

  “You’ve met Bret. Not so much. But at least Maisie tried. Her yard is filled with wind chimes and bird feeders. She’s happy in her canyon and never leaves, didn’t even come here for Miranda’s funeral. Bret was really bummed about that.”

  “So how often do you get to see her?”

  “More than you’d think. Bret doesn’t want to deprive Luke of his grandmother, so he and I take the boys at least once a year. We all sleep in bedrolls on Maisie’s living room floor. The boys run like wild wolves around the canyon and Bret and I help Mom prepare the homeopathic oils she sends around the country to people who have everything from bunions to anxiety.”

  Dorie couldn’t prevent a sputter of laughter. “Somehow I can’t imagine your brother brewing bunion cures.”

  Julie smiled. “I know, right? My husband always gets a good laugh out of that. He won’t go near the place.”

  “And I’m sorry Clancy and Maisie didn’t make a go of their marriage,” Dorie said. “Just from the little you’ve told me, they both seem a bit unconventional.”

  Julie sighed. “Every time we visit her, Maisie asks about Pop. I don’t think she ever really got over him. She just kind of gave up trying to turn him into someone responsible.” She sat down at the table with Dorie. “Now you know nearly all the quirks about us. I probably said too much, but you seem like a nice person, another victim of Pop’s who’s just trying to get what’s due her.” Julie laughed. “I guess that’s the difference between me and Bret. I tend to trust everybody, even if they’re the wrong people, like you did by trusting Pop.”

  Dorie felt better, stronger for knowing the truth. “I’m glad you told me. I’m only going to be here a couple more days and then these three guys can get back to life as usual.”

  “Whatever that is.” Julie pushed back from the table. “We’d better get this food ready. I’ve got to be back in Atlanta before dark.”

  They set platters on the counter, but before calling the men in, Dorie asked, “How do you think Bret will react to hikers coming to The Crooked Spruce? He can’t check out each and every guest.”

  “No, but I think his visitors will just trickle in at first. And he’s got a guy lined up from his days at the police academy, an ex-cop like himself who’s coming to stay and help with security. That’s my little brother. Covering all the bases.”

  All but one, Dorie thought. Has he figured out how to deal with his own heartbreak?

  * * *

  FOR DORIE, WHO couldn’t remember a leisurely meal with family in...well...maybe ever, lunch was over much too soon. Besides the food being great, it was a true family gathering that included Dorie almost as a member. No one broached any of the unpleasant topics that had been discussed lately. Bret kept the boys involved in conversations. Clancy teased all his grandsons equally, and they responded as if he were Santa Claus, a superhero and a comedian all in one.

  Julie mentioned all the places she’d taken the boys the past week and gently reminded her brother that “civilized society” offered numerous advantages. She admitted, though, that she’d always liked the mountains and asked Dorie if she was from the area. When Dorie said she was from coastal North Carolina, Julie, a true diplomat, said she liked that part of the state, as well.

  “Okay, you two,” she said to her boys when lunch was over. “We’ve got to roll. Tell your cousin goodbye and warn him that I’m not going to leave without getting a huge monkey hug from him.” She smiled at Bret. “I’ll take a hug from you and Pop, too, but you probably won’t give me one when I tell you that I’m leaving you with the dishes.”

  “Clean-up is my job,” Dorie said. “It’s the least I can do after sharing this feast.”

  “Okay, then,” Julie said. “It was nice meeting you, Dorie. I hope everything works out like you want it to.” She passed a quick glance at her father. He looked away.

  Bret walked his sister and nephews to the van. Clancy stayed in the kitchen with Dorie and carried plates to the sink. “I appreciate your not telling the boys and Julie about our little problem,” he said.

  “Our little five-thousand-dollar problem, you mean?” she said.

  “Yeah, that one. I’ve got good kids. Better than I deserve. Neither Bret nor Julie has ever told the boys that I have my faults. I don’t think they’ve figured out yet that I have any.”

  She filled the sink with water. “I don’t see any reason to burden a kid with details he can’t do anything about, anyway. Or things that he’ll probably discover for himself in time.”

  “You’re right, I suppose. I’m just borrowing time. But thanks, anyway.”

  “You’re welcome, Clancy. You’ve got a really great family. You’re lucky.”

  “No thanks to their mother and me, I guess.”

  He picked up a dish towel and began drying the plates she stacked in the drainer.

  Bret walked in when the last dish had been put away. “My timing is perfect, I see.” He looked at Dorie and his father and apparently sensed renewed tension between them. “What did I miss? Something else goin
g on between you two?”

  “Nope,” Clancy said. “Dorie just has a way of pointing out the things I’m too dense to see for myself. And on that note, if you don’t need me for an hour, I think I’ll take a nap.” He walked out of the kitchen.

  “Thanks for handling kitchen duty,” Bret said to Dorie.

  “No problem. If I’m going to be here until Monday, I might as well help out.”

  “Still, under the circumstances...”

  “Forget it. Like you said, my problem with Clancy shouldn’t be your problem. But you got stuck with it. And me. In fact, if there are any chores that need doing this afternoon, just point me in the right direction.”

  He looked surprised. What did he think, that she was a freeloader sleeping in one of his beds and eating his food without offering some sort of payback? Dorinda Howe had worked for everything she’d ever owned, and she always paid her fair share, one way or the other.

  “What’s the matter, Bret?” she said. “You don’t think I can handle a few simple jobs around here?”

  “No, ma’am. I don’t think that at all. I’ve seen you with a screwdriver. I was just wondering how you are with a paintbrush.”

  “I’m not exactly an artist, but I think I can stay in the lines. So tell me what needs painting and I’ll get started.”

  “I’ll do that.”

  “One more thing...”

  “Yeah?”

  “Where’s the nearest Walmart?”

  “Not far. About two miles to the highway and then it’s off the first exit going north. You planning a trip?”

  “Thought I’d go tonight. If I’m sticking around until Monday, I need to pick up some things.”

  “Walmart?”

  They both turned as Luke came in the kitchen.

  “Can I go with you, Dorie?”

  “Sure, if you want to.” Remembering her place, she looked at Bret. “If it’s okay with your dad.”

  “It’s okay, isn’t it, Dad? I can go with Dorie.”

  His brows came together in a scowl. “No, Luke. It most certainly isn’t okay.”

  CHAPTER EIGHT

  HIS MOUTH OPEN, Luke stared as if Bret had just slapped him. “Why can’t I go?” he said.

  Bret paused a few seconds to come up with a reasonable explanation, one that wouldn’t insult Dorie, and finally resorted to a parental cop-out. “Because I said so.”

  “That’s no answer,” Luke said. “I still have money left from what you gave me to spend in Atlanta. I want to go to Walmart and get one of their video games on sale.”

  “Sorry,” Bret said, purposefully avoiding eye contact with Dorie. “And if you have so much money left, you can give it back to me.”

  “That’s not fair!”

  Bret took a breath. Why did kids always seem to use that one-liner about fairness? Whenever one kid got to do something another couldn’t—not fair. Doing homework before video games—not fair. Being denied permission to go away from the camp with someone the parent hardly knew—not fair.

  He sensed Dorie’s gaze on him and felt the hairs on his neck prickle. He didn’t want to get into this discussion with her, not after they’d all shared such a companionable meal. Thankfully, after a few moments, she said, “I’ll just go out to the porch where you left the paint cans. You want me to start painting the trim?”

  “That would be good.”

  Once she’d left the room, Bret told Luke the trip to the store was not up for further discussion.

  “I want to know why I can’t go.”

  Bret sighed. Apparently the discussion was going to happen whether he wanted it to or not. His kid had been home less than two hours and they were already getting into an argument.

  “I like Dorie,” Luke said. “Aunt Julie told me she likes her, too. Don’t you like her? Is that why you won’t let me go?”

  “I like her well enough.”

  “She’s not a safe driver? I’ll wear my seat belt.”

  “I don’t know how she drives.” Bret sat down at the table and folded his hands on top. “The fact is, I don’t know much about her at all. That’s why you can’t jump in her truck and take off.”

  “Then what’s she doing here, anyway? You’re always talking about strangers and stuff, so I figure she can’t be a stranger or you wouldn’t let her stay, especially before the camp opens.”

  “No, she’s not really a stranger.” How to explain this to a ten-year-old kid? “Grandpa knows her. She’s a friend of his, sort of.”

  “What kind of friend? She’s not his girlfriend, is she?”

  “Of course not. Why would you get that idea?”

  “Because Grandpa doesn’t have a lot of friends. That’s what you always told me. And Grandma Maisie left him a long time ago, so I figure maybe he likes Dorie.”

  This conversation was going way off track. “She’s just someone he knows, okay? She used to work for him.”

  “So he trusts her, right?”

  “I guess.”

  “Then I’ll go ask Grandpa if I can go to Walmart with Dorie. He’ll let me.”

  Was this his little boy who was suddenly working angles like a streetwise teenager? “No, you won’t. I’m your father, and I said you couldn’t go. That’s the end of it. Besides, you just got back from a week away. Maybe I want to spend time with you.”

  “Then spend time with me at Walmart and go with us.”

  “Luke...”

  Dorie popped her head in the kitchen. “Sorry, boss, but your paintbrushes are all dried out. I think someone forgot to wash them the last time they were used.”

  Pop! “Great. I don’t have any others. I guess I’ll have to buy some new ones.”

  “I can pick them up for you when I go to the store later,” Dorie offered.

  Bret couldn’t ignore Luke’s pointed stare. “That’s okay,” he said. “How about if we all go together? I’ll drive us in my truck.”

  “Works for me,” Dorie said.

  “Works for me,” Luke said. “As long as I get to spend the rest of my Atlanta money on a new game.”

  * * *

  BRET’S SELF-CONFIDENCE plunged even as his admiration for Dorie grew. He’d never before felt so jealous. He’d been envious of guys who’d advanced ahead of him in the police department, but jealous? No, not him. Still he had no other way to explain what he was feeling now.

  During the ten-mile trip to Walmart, Dorie and Luke, sitting next to each other in the cab with Bret, had challenged each other to name the products advertised in television jingles. Dorie had proved that she knew more about video games than just the titles. At the burger place next to the superstore, where Bret had offered to buy dinner, she’d showed her knowledge of milk shake flavors and all the varieties of cookies available at the supermarket.

  When they got to the store, Bret said he’d stay with Luke, and Dorie should go off and do her own shopping. Before she left them, they passed a shelf of puzzles near the games department, and somehow Dorie talked Bret into buying a three-hundred-piece one of the X-Men, saying it would be a fun family activity.

  A jigsaw puzzle? She had to be kidding. Bret had a camp opening in a few weeks. He had cabins to fix, a bathhouse to modernize. He didn’t have time to put puzzles together. But, giving in to her gentle prodding, he bought it, anyway.

  And then, when they passed the store salon, Dorie talked Luke into getting a haircut, saying that things like that were important for guys in the fifth grade. While waiting for his turn in the chair, Luke spotted a friend from school. He enthusiastically introduced Dorie to the kid while Bret waited on the sidelines, paintbrushes in hand. They’d chatted a few minutes and then Dorie had gone off to buy something else while Bret waited for the haircut to be completed.

  In the checko
ut line, Dorie went first. She was careful to hide a couple of pairs of panties under two T-shirts. But Bret had caught a glimpse of them. He’d forgotten how women’s undergarments came in such pretty colors. He also realized he’d forgotten to show Dorie where the washer and dryer were in the shed outside the lodge building. He resolved to remedy that mistake when they got home.

  On the way back to camp, the spontaneous good humor between Dorie and Luke continued while Bret was reminded that the only times Luke laughed with him were when they were watching a sitcom together or Bret read a joke from a magazine. The natural, uncanned laughter he was hearing now was refreshing. And disturbing.

  Back at The Crooked Spruce, Luke was anxious to start the puzzle, so they sat at the picnic table with a fire crackling nearby and followed Dorie’s advice to find corners and straight-edged pieces. Soon Clancy joined them. Dorie was content to find pieces related to the blue sky while the guys picked out pieces of Wolverine’s costume and adamantium claws. Somehow she just knew that sticking to the hardest part of the puzzle was the thing an adult should do so the ten-year-old could find the exciting pieces.

  Luke went to bed at 10:00 p.m. and Clancy soon followed. After announcing that she would turn in soon, Dorie went onto the porch. Bret refilled two hot-chocolate mugs and followed her out.

  “A night cap?” he said, handing her the mug. “It helps you sleep.”

  “Sure. Thanks.”

  He stood beside her at the porch railing and looked up at the stars visible through the still leafless trees.

  “Nice night,” he said, taking a sip of cocoa.

  “Yeah, it is. I think it’s warmer tonight than last night.”

  “Could be,” he said. “Or maybe you’re just getting used to the weather.”

  She smiled. “I doubt that. I’ve never been too keen on cold temperatures. I like the beach.”