Safe and Sound

by Fern Michaels

  “Drive around and see if you can find a park or something where we can wait, till it’s time to meet up with Jonathan,” Rita said.

  Eleanor continued to cry in the backseat.

  A full half hour later, Irene veered to the right onto a dirt road. A sign stuck in the ground read BEST FISHING IN MISSISSIPPI.

  “There might be a picnic area or something,” Irene said as she reduced her speed over the bumpy road.

  “I’m thinking that sign must be a lie. I don’t see anyone fishing,” Rita groused. “I do, however, see a fire pit and a picnic table.”

  “That’s good enough for me. Park. I need to breathe some fresh air,” Ellie said as she gave her eyes a final swipe before climbing out of the car.

  “Not a soul in sight,” Irene said.

  “Right now, I see that as a good thing. We won’t have to socialize,” Ellie said, sitting down at the picnic table, which was warped and worm-ridden. She didn’t care as she let her finger poke at a nickel-size knothole.

  Overhead, a flock of birds took wing from their perches in the scraggly trees. The sky was still blue, but twilight was fast approaching. The few leaves left on the trees rustled in the wind, which seemed to be picking up.

  “Do you think Jonathan will come back with us when we leave, which I assume will be tomorrow?” Rita asked.

  “No, I don’t,” Ellie said. “He can’t just leave all these people in the lurch. He will make provisions, possibly call in a few doctor friends who might or might not owe him a favor to take over his practice. He’ll make sure he leaves everything in good hands. He knows that Ben is safe and sound, so a few more days aren’t going to change anything. He’ll do everything right. I think we all just saw that side of him, which just makes what I did so much worse.” She held up her hands, palms outward. “I’m over that. At least for now. Also, I appreciate you two more than you will ever know. Having said that, please don’t minimize what I did. I need the misery and the guilt to remind me what a fool I was and . . . and . . . other things.”

  “We hear you, Ellie,” both old friends said at the same time, compassion ringing in their voices.

  “How do you see this playing out, Ellie? Like how and when will you introduce Ben to his father? You know the boy better than anyone, so how do you think he’ll take having a brand-new father sprung on him out of the blue.”

  Ellie bit down on her lower lip as she shook her head from side to side. “If you had asked me that four years ago, I would have said just fine. But he’s been with the Ryans these last four years, so I’m not sure how living through that has affected him. He’s older now, wiser.

  “I hate saying this, but I can’t call it right now. I want to believe Ben will accept him with open arms, but as I’ve found out over the years, wanting something doesn’t necessarily mean you’re going to get it. Whatever he does, I will just have to accept it. I don’t see any other options.”

  “I think Ben comes out the winner here. He gets a real father, and he’ll still have you, Ellie, along with Aunt Rita and Aunt Irene,” Rita said. “To my way of thinking, that’s win-win.”

  “From your lips to God’s ears,” Ellie said as she continued to pick at the knothole on the picnic table.

  “This is a very lonely place,” Irene said, looking around. “I guess that sign is some sort of local joke about this being the best fishing place in the state of Mississippi. Or else the fish have decided to go somewhere else, where they will not be caught.”

  “It’s peaceful here, and that’s all that matters right now,” Rita said.

  “It’s too quiet,” Ellie said. “I like background noise. When it’s this quiet, my mind goes into overdrive.”

  “We could pick a fight with each other and scream and yell, but to what end?” Irene said. “Let’s just go with it’s peaceful and quiet here. We can commune with nature and think secret thoughts, make wishes in our heads and try to imagine what will go down days from now,” Irene said.

  “Sounds like a plan to me,” Ellie said, her gaze dropping to the watch on her wrist. So many minutes until it was time to go. Her mind drifted to different scenarios of how it would go with Jonathan. She couldn’t help but wonder what life would be like now if Diana had married Jonathan Philbran. The only thing she was reasonably certain of was that she would probably still be alive. The urge to cry was so strong, she bit down on her lower lip till she tasted her own blood. Serves you right, you crazy old woman. Start thinking positive, start thinking that your grandson is going to be united with his real father. Start thinking how happy they will both be after they get to know each other. Think positive. There is no room now for negative thinking.

  Time passed turtle-slow until Irene said, “Okay, let’s hit the road. If I drive slowly, we’ll get there right on time.” She looked over at Ellie. “Are you done with the crying now? Do you want to stay longer so you can make that knothole bigger?”

  “Smart aleck.” Ellie grinned. “I’m done crying. And no, this hole does not need to get bigger. But I think I got a splinter in my finger.”

  “Serves you right,” Rita said callously. “If you can’t pull it out on your own, we are going to meet up with a doctor, so maybe he can help you. If not, he can always amputate your finger.”

  “Just drive, Irene. I want to get this all settled so we can head home where we belong. I for one can’t wait to sleep in my own bed and take a bathroom in my very own bathroom.”

  Irene shifted gears and gingerly drove down the deeply rutted road.

  Chapter 11

  On any other day, at this time Jonathan Philbran’s thoughts would be on the long list of patients he’d ministered to earlier. He’d recall every single patient, go over in his mind the diagnosis and the treatment and what if anything still had to be done. Whatever decisions he came up with depended on how many more days he would spend at his makeshift clinic in whatever town he was in at the time. He never left the area until he was 100 percent sure he was leaving all his patients in better health. He made mental notes about the patients he had to do a follow-up on and later entered them into his computer. It was not unusual for him to backtrack to check on one of the patients. He did it all because he cared and was dedicated to his profession.

  Today, though, his thoughts weren’t on his patients but on a gap-toothed, curly-haired little boy with chipmunk cheeks and deep dimples who looked just like him. He had a son! That had to be right up there in the miracle department. His stomach felt like an active beehive as he climbed behind the wheel of an old Ford Bronco that had seen way too many miles but whose engine purred like a contented cat.

  A son! Just knowing that changed the whole dynamic of his life. From this point on, he was going to have to make life-altering decisions. Not just for himself but for his son as well. His thoughts were all over the map as he drove down the lonely road, his eyes peeled for the little café where he would find out everything there was to find out about his new son, so he could make all the right decisions.

  What surprised him most about his current situation was that he held no rancor for Eleanor Lymen. She had had her own crosses to bear all her life. That she finally found the courage to right her wrongs was all that was important. And because she was Diana’s mother and his son’s grandmother, he could not deny her anything.

  Jonathan’s heart leaped in his chest when he saw the café five hundred feet ahead of him, along with the copper-colored Range Rover. He slowed and turned on his signal light even though no one was behind him. Rules were rules, and Jonathan always obeyed the rules.

  As he got out of the car, he wished he’d taken the time to shower in the camper before leaving the site of the clinic. A shave would have gone a long way, too. Too late now, he thought as he loped ahead to the door that would lead him to the mysteries of his newfound son. His heart was beating so fast that he stopped in his tracks and took slow, deep breaths until he felt in control of himself. He could not remember ever being so nervous.

  The three
women were waiting for him, smiles on their tired faces. Eleanor’s eyes were puffy and red, but her smile was the widest. He grinned back as he sat down. A young waitress, probably the owner’s daughter, came over to the table. Jonathan pointed to the glasses of sweet tea already on the table. “I’ll have the same.”

  “Dinner is either meat loaf, string beans, mashed potatoes, and gravy with biscuits, or stuffed pork chops with pan gravy, garlic pecan carrots, baked potato, and biscuits. Coffee comes with the meal along with seven-layer chocolate cake. Doesn’t matter which dinner you get. I’ll get your tea and return to take your orders.”

  When the waitress returned, Rita said, “All three ladies are having the meat loaf.”

  “Make that four,” Jonathan said to the waitress as she set his frosty glass of tea in front of him.

  Eleanor opened her photos on her smart phone and handed it over to Jonathan. “There are hundreds of pictures of Ben, for the first four years. And some of Diana, too. I don’t know how to transfer them to your phone. If you can do it, please do so.”

  Jonathan reached for the phone with shaking hands. The women spoke softly of the weather, the café, their upcoming meal, and the trip back home as they risked glances from time to time at Jonathan, whose eyes were misty as he stared at his newfound flesh-and-blood son.

  When he finished uploading the photo gallery to his phone, he handed Eleanor her phone and grinned from ear to ear. “ ‘Thank you’ seems inadequate.”

  “So you forgive me, Jonathan?” Eleanor whispered.

  “Of course. The past is prologue. Let’s all agree not to look back, only forward.”

  He watched as the three women’s heads bobbed up and down. Having said that, he added, “What’s our next move?”

  “I think that pretty much depends on you, Jonathan,” Irene said. “We’re leaving in the morning to drive home. It’s a two- or three-day trip for us. When do you think you can leave? There’s no rush now because Ben is in safe hands.”

  Jonathan’s mind raced as he thought of everything he would have to do before he could leave. “A week, maybe five days if everything goes well. I’ll fly back and pick up a car when I get there. I know where to find you, but I’ll call when I get there, so we can . . . so we can figure out the best way to . . . to introduce me to my son. Does that work for all of you?”

  “It does,” Eleanor said, just as their food arrived. After the first two bites, the foursome proclaimed the meat loaf the best they’d ever eaten. They made small talk, mostly about Jonathan’s career and how much it meant to him.

  Rita, a nurse when she was younger, asked the most questions.

  “We all volunteer at two of our local hospitals and donate one day a week to the Red Cross,” Irene said.

  By the time the seven-layer chocolate cake and coffee arrived, the foursome said they were stuffed to the gills but somehow they would force down the delectable chocolate delight. Which they did.

  And then it was time to say goodbye. The women openly cried when Jonathan thanked them for making him the happiest man on the planet. He ended with, “I know it isn’t going to be easy for me to suddenly appear in Ben’s life and to think things will be wonderful right off the bat. Just know that I am prepared for anything and everything because, from this day forward, my son is the most important thing in my life. I’ll turn myself inside out if that’s what I have to do.”

  “We’ll help in any way we can, Jonathan,” Eleanor said as she fought her surprise when Jonathan hugged her. She was so overcome with emotion she almost blacked out, but strong arms kept her steady on her feet.

  It was full dark when Jonathan climbed into the old Bronco. The women watched until the red taillights were just pinpoints of light.

  “Guess we should head on down the road to our digs for the night. Let me be the first to say that went much better than we had any right to expect. It’s true, that old saying, to forgive is divine. There’s more to that old saying, but I forget what it is,” Irene said.

  “To err is human, to forgive is divine,” Rita said.

  “We’re forgiven, that’s all that matters,” Eleanor said as she took her turn at the wheel. “Tomorrow is another day, so let’s get on with it.”

  * * *

  Maggie crept quietly down the back staircase leading into Myra’s kitchen. She thought she was the first one up, so was shocked to see Kathryn already seated at the table, coffee cup in hand. “What? No breakfast?”

  Kathryn laughed. “You know I am the world’s worst cook. I’ve been waiting for someone who knows how to cook to get it going. Ah, here she comes, Isabelle to the rescue. What’s for breakfast?”

  “How about whatever you come up with?” Isabelle quipped right back.

  Maggie groaned. “Okay, okay, scrambled eggs and bacon. Let’s nuke the bacon, it takes too long to fry it the way everyone likes it.”

  “Works for me,” Kathryn said cheerfully. “I’ll do the juice and the toast. Izz, the coffeepot is on you this morning.”

  Ten minutes later, all the sisters were assembled in the kitchen.

  “I just peeked in on Ben, and he’s still sound asleep, with all five dogs on the bed with him. They have him surrounded and are loving every minute of it. It’s been a long time since there have been kids here,” Myra said wistfully.

  “I got a text from Eleanor this morning. She said they are on their way home. They left at sunrise. Jonathan will arrive in about a week. We need to decide what we’re going to do here, ladies,” Isabelle said.

  “I think my plan is the best,” Maggie said as she whipped the eggs in the bowl into a frenzy. “We go in teams and stake out the house for a day or so to get a feel for their movements. Then we make our move. We do not have a phone number for either Connor or Natalie, and Ben said he didn’t know their cell phone numbers because he never had a reason to call them. Also, he didn’t have a cell phone. We might have to get that from the Institute, which means Isabelle will need to get in touch with Mrs. Lymen, so she can call the Institute to tell them to give us what we need. Like ASAP.” The frothy eggs went into the oversize frying pan.

  “On it,” Isabelle said, already tapping out a text to Eleanor Lymen.

  “Bacon’s ready,” Nikki called out.

  “Toast is being buttered,” Alexis announced.

  “Juice is poured,” Kathryn added.

  “Table set,” Annie proclaimed.

  “Another minute, and the coffee is ready, and Yoko’s tea is brewing,” Myra added.

  “Here come the eggs,” Maggie said as she slid the scrambled eggs onto a huge platter. “Have at it!” she said gleefully.

  Forty-five minutes later, the kitchen was spick-and-span, and Ben’s breakfast was ready for him in the warming oven.

  The time was twenty after eight.

  “Looks like today is going to be one of those splash-and-dash kind of days, so make sure you all take the appropriate gear,” Myra said as she gathered up her rain slicker and umbrella. “Let’s go over our assignments one more time before we split up.”

  “I’m staying here with Ben,” Isabelle said.

  “Yoko and I are going to stake out the house,” Kathryn said. “We’ll do our best to get the numbers of their license plates off their vehicles and follow them if they venture out.”

  “Alexis and I are going to go into town and see if we can find the places that Natalie patronizes. If we’re lucky, we might find a few friends willing to talk,” Nikki said.

  “I’m going to the Post and dig into the archives and figure out how best to approach the couple later today,” Maggie said.

  “Myra and I are going to pretend to be real-estate agents canvassing the neighborhood to see if anyone is interested in selling their property for a quick sale,” Annie said.

  “When Ben gets up, I’ll quiz him. He might know some things he’s forgotten to mention. I do recall his saying earlier there is a landline but that neither Natalie nor Connor answer it because it’s usually a bill coll
ector,” Isabelle said.

  “Let’s do it!” Nikki said.

  The sisters high-fived each other, even Isabelle, who was staying behind.

  Outside, before getting in their respective vehicles, Myra said, “Let’s agree to meet up at the café Isabelle suggested. I think she said it’s called Sara’s View. She said it’s just two doors from her office, so it should be easy to find. One o’clock okay with everyone?” Everyone said it was.

  Isabelle watched until the last car whizzed through the open gate. She sighed when she saw the monster gates glide back to their home base. Safe and sound for now.

  With nothing to do but stare at the four walls, Isabelle poured herself more coffee that she didn’t want or need. What to do? Nothing, her mind shrieked. She stared off into space as her thoughts took her everywhere and nowhere. What seemed like a long time later, she turned when she heard the dogs thundering down the steps as they beelined for the back door. They barreled through like they were shot from cannons the moment she opened the door. They were good for a full ten minutes. She turned in time to see Ben, fully dressed, his curly hair still wet from the shower.

  “Well, hello there, sleepyhead,” she said, hugging him. “How did you sleep?”

  “Great, even though the dogs took up most of the bed. They sure do keep a person warm. I hardly needed covers. I hope someday I can get a dog. Do you think that will ever happen, Izzy?”

  “I absolutely do, Ben. I’ll take that one step further and say I bet you get two or three. Dogs need dog company, not just human company. A human can’t play with them twenty-four hours a day.”

  “That makes sense,” Ben said seriously. “Okay, I’m marking down on my mental list to get three dogs. Maybe four, so I can name them Spring, Summer, Fall, and Winter,” he added, and giggled.