Riverbend Road

by RaeAnne Thayne

  “Do you think that’s a concern this year?”

  He looked up from his thoughts to find the entire Bailey clan gazing at him, waiting for his answer to whatever question Charlene had just posed to him.

  “Sorry. I was thinking about something else.”

  Charlene’s plump features softened. “That’s the same look John used to wear when he was puzzling over a case—the same one I imagine Marshall gets, if he were ever home long enough for me to see it. That rain hasn’t let up out there. I asked if you think flooding might be a concern on the Hell’s Fury this year, like last summer.”

  He forced a smile. “That was a fluke, a combination of several days of heavy rains coupled with the dam break upriver. I’m not worried about it. A few hours of hard rain isn’t going to raise the water level enough to make it a concern.”

  Charlene gave a worried sigh. “I just don’t feel good about Wynnie being in that house by herself. You’ll watch over her, won’t you?”

  He didn’t dare risk a glance in Wyn’s direction. “In the very unlikely event we have more flooding on Riverbend Road, I’ll certainly make sure she stays dry,” he answered.

  “I don’t know what we would do without you here in Haven Point,” Charlene said.

  “I hope we don’t have to find out,” Mike Bailey said.

  “The town could always use another Bailey as police chief. Why not Wynona?” he suggested.

  She looked vaguely horrified at the idea, though he wasn’t quite sure why. Before she could answer, Marshall’s phone rang.

  “I’ve got to take this. Excuse me.”

  “At your own birthday party?” Charlene asked with a harrumph, but she had been married to a police officer for years so didn’t look genuinely annoyed.

  A few moments later, Marsh emerged with the look of a man who already had one foot out the door. He headed to Charlene and kissed the top of her head. “I’ve got to run, Mom. Big accident from the rain outside of town.”

  “Oh, I hope no one was hurt.”

  “Looks like some serious injuries but nothing life-threatening so far. I’ll find out soon enough. Thanks for the birthday party.”

  “You’re welcome, sweetheart. Can you take some cake? And what about your presents?”

  “I’ll stop by tomorrow. Sorry about this.”

  “Happy birthday,” everybody called out to Marsh, who gave a distracted wave as he headed for the door.

  His departure seemed to signal the end of the party. Cade rose, seizing on the excuse.

  “I should probably take off as well,” he said. “I worked a double shift yesterday then ran to Boise and back this afternoon.”

  “Oh, poor dear!” Charlene fussed. “I imagine you’re completely exhausted.”

  Now that she said it, his eyes seemed gritty and tired and fatigue weighed down his shoulders in the too-tight T-shirt. He wanted to use exhaustion to excuse his behavior with Wyn earlier in the laundry room but he knew that was feeble at best.

  He’d kissed her because he’d wanted to, because he hadn’t thought about anything else in a week.

  “Won’t it be a huge relief when you have Wyn back on the rotation?” Katrina said, giving him a pointed look.

  Had Wyn’s sister guessed what they had been doing just minutes before she walked in? he wondered again. He couldn’t tell.

  He forced a casual smile, quite sure he was fooling no one. “Sure,” he answered. “We’ve definitely noticed her absence this week. She’s a good officer and the department needs her.”

  “It’s so nice to be appreciated,” Wyn murmured, a little caustic edge to her tone.

  “Wynnie, didn’t you walk here?” Katrina asked with an innocent look. “It’s still pouring down rain out there. Maybe you should get a ride home with Chief Emmett. That way no one would have to go out of the way to take you home.”

  “I don’t mind walking,” she answered tersely.

  To Cade’s dismay, Charlene picked up the cue from her youngest daughter. “Don’t be ridiculous! You can’t walk in that downpour. Cade wouldn’t mind at all, would you?”

  Cade minded very much, thanks, but he certainly couldn’t say that to Charlene. “Not at all,” he lied. “It’s no trouble.”

  Wynona gave him a cool look that told him quite plainly that while she didn’t want him to give her a ride home, she was also annoyed with him and didn’t mind making him uncomfortable.

  “Thanks. I appreciate that. I just need to grab Young Pete and the dish I brought over.”

  “You all should take some leftovers,” Mike put in. “Shouldn’t they, Char?”

  Charlene gave him a flustered look though Cade couldn’t tell whether that was because he reminded her of her hostess duties or because he called her by an affectionate-sounding nickname.

  “Oh yes. Just give me a minute and I’ll find some containers for you.”

  She headed into the kitchen, which seemed to be the signal for all the women to do the same, which left him alone with Mike.

  They made small talk for a few minutes, and then Mike asked, “How’s your brother these days? Marcus. I really enjoyed the few years he worked for me down at the auto-body shop after school. He was quite a character, always joking, but I remember him being a hard worker.”

  He barely contained his sigh as he pictured Marcus as he had just left him, with his mood shifting between anger, defensiveness and unbearable sadness. The afternoon had been a rough one. Marcus was furious at Cade for refusing to pay his bail and reality was beginning to sink through that he was in real danger of losing his family.

  He decided not to tell Mike his brother was in jail. “He’s been working construction in Boise but got laid off a few months ago. He’s been struggling ever since, if you want the truth.”

  “That’s a real shame. He sure knew his way around a car. I might have an opening in the next few months, if he wants to move back to Haven Point. I’d be happy to have him back.”

  How would that fit into the family’s needs? Cade didn’t know. If Christy ended up going through with her threat to leave him, the whole situation could implode.

  He hated that he couldn’t make everything right for his brother but sometimes a man had to find his own way.

  “He’s got a wife and a couple of kids who are pretty settled in Boise right now. I’m not sure they’d be ready to pick up and move back here, but I’m sure he would appreciate knowing you made the offer.”

  “You got it. Keep me posted.”

  “I’ll do that.”

  Charlene came bustling out of the kitchen with her arms full of bags. Though she had been gone for only five minutes, Mike’s face lit up at the sight of her like the sun had just come up over the Redemptions.

  Yeah, something was definitely going on here.

  “Here you go,” she said, handing Cade one of the bags, which he now saw was filled with disposable food containers.

  “You should have enough there for lunch tomorrow and maybe even dinner. I even added a couple pieces of cake, since I know it’s one of your favorite recipes. You can always use a little more sweetness.”

  Warmth seeped into a cold little corner of his heart at the way she fussed over him, and he didn’t tell her he hadn’t even noticed the flavor of the cake. “Thanks, but I don’t want to take away leftovers that should be going to the birthday boy.”

  “I’ve got plenty,” she assured him. “Marsh said he’ll stop by but I know how busy he is. If I don’t see him by the middle of the week, I’ll just run it up to the sheriff’s office in Shelter Springs.”

  He could just imagine how much Marshall loved having his busybody mother stop by the county jail. He had to smile as he returned her embrace.

  He barely remembered his own mother. The image of her seemed hazy and faint,
like a photograph that had been handled too many times.

  He didn’t remember her being particularly loving or warm. Maybe she had been sick longer than he knew but he mostly remembered her napping on the couch, yelling at him and his brothers for being too loud in the house, leaving for doctor appointments.

  He remembered being totally shocked the first time he came to Marsh’s house to see Charlene laughing with her children, playing ball in the backyard, bringing snacks even before they asked for them.

  He had been fiercely envious of it—and livid whenever Marsh would talk back to his mother, like boys sometimes did.

  If not for John and Charlene, his life would have been so different. They’d given him the precious gift of hope, of possibilities, and shown him by example that he could have something better.

  He was doing a piss-poor job of repaying them.

  “Don’t be a stranger, Cade Emmett.” Charlene hugged him. “I hardly ever see you now that we’re not meeting in John’s room at the nursing home on Sunday evenings.”

  As much as he missed John, he didn’t miss those grim visits to see a man who had become a hollowed-out version of himself.

  “I’ll do my best to stop more often,” he promised, kissing the top of her carefully colored hair.

  When he stepped away, he saw Wynona watching him with an unreadable expression that made his chest ache, for reasons he didn’t want to look at too closely.

  “Ready?”

  She still looked reluctant to ride with him. “Yes. Though, really, I don’t mind walking.”

  “Don’t be ridiculous,” Charlene said. “You practically live next door to each other. Cade doesn’t mind a bit, do you?”

  “Not a bit,” he lied again.

  It was only a mile across town, he told himself as they headed out through the steady rain to his vehicle. What could possibly happen?

  CHAPTER FIFTEEN

  THOUGH IT WOULDN’T be full dark on these long summer days for another hour or so, the rain and thick storm clouds obscured the sunset, making it seem much later as Cade drove down rain-slick streets toward home.

  Cade was intensely aware of Wyn beside him—her quiet breathing, the pale curve of her jawline in the low light, the little smile that played around her mouth as she watched her goofy dog in the cargo area move his head back and forth in time with the steady, almost hypnotic pace of the windshield wipers beating back the rain.

  “You said earlier that you’ve been to Boise and back today,” she said after a moment. “I guess that means you probably went to see Marcus.”

  “I did. I wanted to go earlier in the week but didn’t have time until today. I’m not on his list of favorite people right now.”

  “Why is that?”

  He shrugged, fatigue and frustration weighing down his shoulders in equal measure. “He’s angry that I refuse to bail him out.”

  “I’m sorry. That must have been tough.”

  “Just another lovely day with the Emmetts. He’ll get over it. A little more time to straighten out his priorities and think about what he really wants out of life won’t hurt him. If he wants to keep his family, he’s got work to do. Being in jail at least keeps him off a bar stool.”

  She smiled faintly. “There is that, I guess.”

  “Your uncle Mike offered him a place at the shop.”

  “Did he?” she asked, her smile softening.

  “I told him I’m not sure Marcus is ready to come back to Haven Point. They’re pretty settled in Boise, as far as I can tell, but it was nice of him to offer.”

  She was quiet for a few moments, the only sound in the vehicle Pete’s breathing and his tires humming on the wet road.

  “If I ask you something, will you give me an honest answer?”

  “If I can,” he said, bracing himself for her to ask him why he kissed her. He would have to lie. Plain and simple. He couldn’t possibly tell her all the wild thoughts racing through his mind about her.

  To his relief, she didn’t take the conversation in that direction.

  “You were there tonight,” she said instead. “Tell me the truth. Do you think something weird is going on between my mom and Uncle Mike?”

  He never would have believed it, but he would actually prefer having to lie to Wyn about his too-active imagination if it meant he didn’t have to talk about Charlene’s love life. “Something weird?” he said, stalling. “What do you mean?”

  She shifted in the leather seat to face him. “I don’t know. They were both acting...odd. That’s the only word I can use. Kat was the first one to point it out but after she did, I couldn’t help but notice. Something’s up. I can’t quite put a finger on it but my mom blushed every time she talked to him and they were being almost too careful not to look at each other, you know?”

  Sort of like Cade did with Wyn? Yeah. He was familiar.

  “I don’t know,” she went on. “Maybe I was imagining things.”

  He ought to just keep his big mouth shut here. It wasn’t his business. On the other hand, if his suspicions were right, she was going to have to find out somehow. Maybe a little warning would be appreciated.

  “What are the chances the two of them are...seeing each other?”

  She stared at him, her features mottled by the rain streaking down the window. “As in dating? Dad’s only been gone since January!”

  “Physically, he’s been gone since January,” he pointed out, hating that he had to, as familiar guilt and regret pressed in on him. “In reality, your mom has been alone much longer than that.”

  “But Uncle Mike? That’s crazy!”

  “Why? He’s been a widower for years. They’re both still relatively young, not even sixty. They both have a lot of living to do.”

  “Why do they have to do it together?”

  “I don’t know if they are. It’s just speculation.”

  Speculation that hadn’t been without basis. He had sensed something different between them too, small signs that they were constantly aware of each other, some little shiver vibrating in the air when they were together.

  Sort of like the shiver between him and Wynona. He quickly pushed away the stray thought. The situation wasn’t the same. He and Wyn weren’t dating. They just had this...heat between them.

  “I don’t believe it,” she said, but he heard the threads of doubt woven through her voice. “He’s my dad’s brother! Don’t you think that’s weird?”

  “Why? They’ve been friends for years. Maybe it just developed slowly over those years.”

  He refused to think about any more parallels between her mother and Mike Bailey and him and Wyn.

  “I can’t accept it. Uncle Mike. What is she thinking?”

  “Wyn, your mom was completely devoted to caring for John for more than two years. You know she was. I doubt there was a single day she didn’t spend at least a few hours at the care center with him. He was her life and she cared for him with all the love and concern any man could ask for. But he’s gone now. If she has the chance for happiness again, don’t you think she deserves that, after everything she’s been through?”

  She was silent as they drove down Riverbend Road toward home. He couldn’t see her expression and couldn’t tell if she was angry with him or merely pensive. She didn’t speak again until he pulled into the tree-shaded driveway of her grandmother’s old stone house.

  “I miss him so much,” she said, her voice ragged.

  His heart ached at the pain of her words and the answering echo in his own chest. What a measure of a good, decent man, that he was mourned so completely.

  “I do too,” he murmured. “I still can’t bring myself to take his number out of my cell phone contacts. Somehow, that seems too final, my last connection to him.”

  The rain was beginni
ng to ease, he saw. The dying sun peeked between the clouds to send a last glow across the landscape, brushing her lovely features with light.

  “He loved you and was so proud of the man you’ve become,” she said with that faint smile again. “During your deployments, he read your emails to the whole family. Kat and I used to watch the clock, waiting for the moment when he would have to stop reading and grab a tissue to wipe his eyes.”

  He smiled, though he felt funny to think not only about her father becoming emotional at his stupid emails but about her whole family being party to them.

  “You know, you couldn’t have made him happier when you decided to go into law enforcement after you got out of the Marines,” she went on. “And I seriously thought he would bust through the phone with excitement when he called to tell me you were coming to work for the Haven Point PD.”

  He shifted as that guilt pinched him again. “John always had a warped perspective when it came to me.”

  She shook her head. “No, he didn’t. He always knew you were a good man.”

  “I’m not,” he said, his voice low. “You have no idea.”

  She made a face. “Oh stop. Who’s the guy who goes into the elementary school as often as he can to read to the kids so they don’t see the uniform as scary and will trust the police when they need us? Who responds to every single call at every lonely old lady’s house in town, even when everybody knows it’s bogus, and treats them with the same kindness every time? Who’s the only person I know besides McKenzie who can be polite to Darwin Twitchell when he’s in a mood? Face it, Cade. You’re a good man.”

  He couldn’t let her words seduce him, to work their way to that cold place inside him. It was too dangerous. He wasn’t her father, kind and compassionate and beloved.

  “If I were a good man,” he growled, “would I be sitting here talking about your father and Darwin Twitchell and old ladies on the surface, while underneath it all, I’m stuck wondering how the hell I’m supposed to keep my hands off you?”

  Just like that, the mood changed inside the vehicle, as if the storm had returned and another lightning strike had just arced between them. He could almost hear the sizzle of it.