“You didn't have a robbery at the restaurant or something?” Fred asked, his small green eyes concerned.
“No. It's a personal situation, actually.” She told him everything she knew, including the incident ten years ago that landed Marco in jail. After she was done, Fred did a search on his computer. His pink face turned white.
“What is it?” asked Drake. “What did you find?”
“Says here he's disappeared. His probation officer doesn't know what happened to him. Just vanished.”
Vanished. Because he's here, she thought. She brought her hand to her mouth, afraid she was going to be sick. “What can we do?”
“Well, I feel for you, Annie.” He sat forward, clasping his hands on the desk. His fingernails were cut close, almost to the point of bleeding. “But there isn't a lot we can do until he makes a move.”
Drake crossed his arms over his chest. “Can you provide protection for her? You know, keep an eye on the restaurant and her home in case he shows up?”
“Let's see here,” he said, slowly, drawing out the sentence. “Not sure I can promise to guard her every minute of the day. You see, it's just me and I have other priorities as well. Other incidents that come up, as you can imagine.”
Annie, despite her fear, stifled a smile. If the weekly reports in the town's police blotter were any indication, the local teens toilet-papering the high school principal's house and the occasional breakup of a kegger down at the river, were the biggest crimes being committed in this town. Although, there were meth makers, not visible in town, but there just the same.
Drake appeared unimpressed. “So you're saying you can't provide any protection?”
Fred scratched behind his ear. “Not saying I won't do my best. But I don't have a lot to go on here.” He stood, walking to the small window behind his desk. “I'll keep an eye on things as much as I possibly can, though. You have my word on that.”
In the car, Drake shook his head, as if disgusted. “I get this is a small town, but that's the poorest excuse for a cop I've ever seen.” He looked over at her. “We're going to have to figure something else out.”
“Like what?”
“Not sure. But leave it to me.” Drake pulled out of the parking lot and headed down the main street of town. “And isn't he a little old to be talking to his mother on the phone in the middle of the day? At work, no less?”
Annie chuckled, tucking a curl behind her ear. “Don't say that. Someday that'll be me, wishing Alder would call me as I sit alone in my house with a half-dozen cats.”
His gaze on the road, he smiled. “You're not going to be a crazy cat lady.”
“Don't be so sure about that. I'm off to a great start.” She traced her finger over the tan leather on the car's seat. “Alder will be gone in eight years and then it'll just be me and the urge to bring home kittens from the animal shelter.”
“No way. A woman like you is not destined to be alone.”
A woman like me? What did that mean?
“You need to put yourself out there. That's all,” he added, picking up speed as they left town.
How did he know this? She didn't say anything, watching his profile for a moment before turning towards the window where cornfields stretched out across valley. The plants were only as high as a toddler but by next month they'd be taller than she. In August the sweet corn would be ready for picking. She had corn and crawfish chowder planned for the menu. Would she be safe by then?
“Not all men are bad, you know,” he said, softly.
“That's the second time in two weeks I've heard that,” she said, keeping her voice light.
“But I get it.”
“What's that?”
“Hiding out so you don't get hurt.”
“I'm not hiding out.”
“So says you.”
“So says I.”
How did he know so much about her when they'd only just met? It was eerie. Something near pleasure but harder to name filled her. To be seen as you are. Wasn't this always our wish? Yes, just this. To be seen.
Later that afternoon, she had just put the last of the frozen meals in the freezer when Drake came into the kitchen. “Listen, I've been thinking. And I have an idea. A way to keep Alder safe. And you.”
She watched him, unsure what to say.
“I think you two should move into one of my guest suites. Just until the police find this guy. I have a high-powered electric fence all the way around this property. There's no way to get in or out. Alder can stay with me while you're at work. I have a guest quarters in the outside building as well, but I'd feel better if you stayed in the house with me.”
She stared at him. What did he mean? Stay here? With him? Why would he do such a generous thing for a stranger?
He brushed a hand through his thick hair. “No agenda on my part or anything. I'm sure a beautiful woman like you has a lot of creeps trying to get in your bed. It's nothing like that, I assure you.”
Again, she could think of nothing to say. He thought she was beautiful? She tugged on a damp curl at the nape of her neck.
“I'll keep a close eye on Alder while you're at work. He'll be safe here.”
“I, I don't know,” she finally managed.
He pulled on his left earlobe, like a tired child. “Anyway, I think you should take me up on my offer. It'll be temporary until they catch this guy. No one in town knows me, so if he starts asking around no one would possibly guess you're here.”
“That's a really good point.”
“Legit,” he said, smiling.
She smiled back. “Yeah, that's pretty legit.” She sobered. “But he's going to find me at the restaurant. There's no way around that.”
“Just make sure you're never alone there.” He paused, shoving his hands in his pockets again. “I can pick you up.”
“I work late most nights.”
“That's okay. I don't sleep much.”
“But why would you do this? I thought you didn't want to ever leave here again.”
His eyes clouded into something more like a murky winter sky than the clear blue of a mountain lake of the moment before. “I have my reasons.”
“How do I explain this to Alder?”
“Does he know about his father?”
“He knows he exists and that I had to leave because he hurt me. But it's never really been a topic of regular conversation. Except for a brief relationship a couple years ago, it's just been the two of us. It's our normal.” She paused, rubbing her hand on the counter. “I'm afraid it will frighten him to know that Marco is out there and coming for us.”
“Do you think he would buy it that I've asked you to be a live-in cook?”
She cocked her head to the side. “Maybe. It's just that he loves our little house and being so close to Ellen. And her dog. I think he'll protest unless I tell him the truth.”
“A child should never have to be afraid.”
“But we can assure him he'll be safe here and that the police are keeping watch for Marco.”
His features soft, he leaned against the counter. “Whatever you want to do, I respect. You're his mother. Mothers always know the best course for their children.”
“No, you're right. I won't tell him. I'll just tell him you need someone here at the house for a while.” She looked at her hands, pink and chapped from always being in water. “I'll tell him now and then I should call my friends. I'll need to get some things and I'm afraid to go home alone.”
He took in a deep breath, resting his hands on the counter like he might do a pushup. “I'll take you,” he said, quietly.
“You don't have to. My friends will come.”
“I'll take you,” he said, with a finality that made her imagine him in the boardroom of his company. Here, yet again, another side of Drake Webber. Twice now, he'd broken his vow to never leave the mountain. For them, no less.
Chapter Seven
ALDER WAS ON THE COUCH reading Huck Finn in the large front room. His eyes fle
w open wide when she told him they were moving into the guest suite.
“But why?”
“Mr. Webber needs a full-time helper for a while. To look after him.”
“But what about Momo? She needs me.”
“She'll have to come visit you here.”
“Mom, what's going on? This doesn't make any sense.” He crossed his arms over his chest. “Tell me the truth. Why did I have to come here today?”
She looked at him for a long moment. He was too smart, she thought. Too old for his age. An old soul, Tommy always said. “Your biological father contacted me today. He's been released from prison.”
“He was in prison?”
“Yes. For hurting me. And drugs.”
“He knows where we live?”
“Yes.”
“Does he know about me?”
“Yes.”
“Do you think he wants to meet me?” His eyes were innocent, almost hopeful.
“Honey, no, he's not…” she trailed off. How could she tell him that his father was a dangerous man and that he had threatened to hurt them? “He hates me, blames me that he had to spend ten years in prison.”
From the corner of her eye, she saw Drake standing in the doorway. They made eye contact as he came into the room and sat on the edge of the coffee table. “Alder, this is hard to understand when you're still a kid but sometimes our parents are not good people,” he said.
Alder nodded, his eyes wise and sad. “I know that. He used to hurt my mom. It's just that I would like to meet him, just to see his face, to know where I came from.”
Annie stared at him, tears in her eyes. She had no idea he felt this way. Why hadn't he ever told her this?
“I understand,” said Drake. “My father left us when I was little. And even though I hated him for abandoning us I still wished he would move back home. It's hard to understand unless you've been there.”
“Right,” said Alder, his eyes sadder than Annie had ever seen them.
“But your mother has reasons to believe he's dangerous to both of you. And for that reason, I want you to stay here with me until the police can sort it out.”
“You have a big fence,” said Alder, nodding solemnly.
“I do. You'll be here with me while your mom's at work.” He gestured towards the wall of books. “I have a lot of reading material.”
Alder looked over at Annie. “But what about swimming with Momo?”
“This is just temporary. The police will take care of it.” But even as she said it, she could hear the doubt creeping into her voice.
“But, Mom, what about when you're at work? You won't be safe then.”
“I'll make sure that people are always with me,” she said. “Lee and Cindi are almost always in the front of the restaurant. And Billy is in the back with me. Plus all the servers. And Linus just next door. They'll all look after me.”
“And we'll take your mother to work and pick her up,” said Drake. He paused, glancing towards the window. “I might like to take you swimming. There's a swimming hole down the road here. Come look.” He and Alder went to the window. “See there, where the river bends?”
“Yeah,” said Alder, as Annie joined them.
“That's a perfect swimming hole, wide and deep. And a little sandy beach and rocks to jump off of. We're the only ones who have access to it. I had a special road built to get to it.”
“Mr. Webber, why would you do this for us?” asked Alder.
“I have my reasons.” He tugged on his earlobe in the way that she now knew was habit when he was thinking something through. “The main thing is no child and their mother should ever have to be afraid of a bad man harming them.”
“And my father's a bad man.” Alder said it resignedly, as a statement of fact.
Annie's heart ached. Why had she ever made the decision to let Marco into her life? Here it was, all these years later, coming back to haunt them both.
“I'm afraid so,” said Drake. “I'm sorry, bud.”
“It's okay.” He stared out the window for a moment. “I'm sorry about your dad too.” Still facing the river view, he looked up at Drake. “Did your father ever come home again?”
Drake shook his head. “No, he never did. He died a long time ago. After he left us, he never reached out to my sister or me. But I had a wonderful mother.”
“Just like me.”
“That's right,” said Drake, with a smile. “Just like you.”
Annie brushed a tear from the corner of her eye, turning away so neither man nor child would see.
“Come on, Alder, let me show you and your mom where you'll be staying,” said Drake. “You'll like it. We had it built for my sister but she won't be visiting anytime soon, so it's all yours.”
We? Again.
They walked down the hallway towards the other end of the house. There were five closed doors. He pointed to the door at the end of the hallway. “There's the master suite, where I sleep,” he said to Alder as they stopped at the first door. He pointed to the room opposite of the guest suite door. “This is a guest room, where you can sleep if you want, or there's a fold-out couch in the guest suite if you would rather sleep closer to your mom.”
Alder glanced at the door and then back at Drake. “Can I think about it?”
“Sure. Good plan.”
“What are the other two doors?” asked Alder.
Drake's face darkened. He looked at the floor. “Please don't ever go in those rooms. They're private.”
Alder nodded, his round face earnest. “Oh, I won't if you say so.”
“I appreciate that.” Drake glanced over at Annie.
She shied away from his gaze, fixing her eyes upon the door instead. There was something about him that was both painful and sad. She'd been wrong about him, she thought. He was a man in pain, not an angry, rude man as she'd first thought.
Drake opened the door to the guest quarters. There was a sitting area with a couch and chair, a full-screen television mounted on the wall, and a gas fireplace made of what looked like river rock.
“Sweet television,” said Alder.
“Don't get too excited,” said Annie. “Same rules as home. One hour max.”
“Mom, really?”
“Really.”
Behind another door was the bedroom, with a four-poster, king-size bed and matching dresser made in walnut. Long white curtains hung over large windows. There were two sitting chairs in a light tan fabric, facing one another, with an ottoman between them. On one wall was another fireplace, this one made with jagged and uneven gray rocks. The bed was made up with white linens, a tan throw blanket, and one blue and white accent pillow.
“This is a beautiful room,” said Annie.
Drake went to the window, pulling back one of the curtains an inch so that it matched its mate hanging on the other side of the window. “This space was designed for my sister. She lives in Los Angeles. But she might not ever come to visit.”
“Why?” asked Alder.
“She's a make-up artist for movie stars. Loves her work. And she has a boyfriend,” he added, with a wry twist of his mouth. He didn't like the boyfriend. That was obvious. But why?
“Oh,” Alder said, nodding his head like he knew all about women and their boyfriends. “That explains it.”
Drake shrugged, a look of disdain on his face. “I can't imagine how anyone could live down there with all those phonies, but she likes it. For now.”
Annie glanced at her watch. It was just after three o'clock. “Should we get going? It might take us an hour to get packed up.”
“Sure thing,” said Drake.
In Drake's car on the way to her home, the air conditioner blew on her face so that her curls tickled her forehead and cheeks. Alder, in the back seat, was quiet. She resisted the urge to ask him if he was all right. He hated it when she hovered over him lately. Motherhood was a constant exercise in letting go, she thought. Every day they grew more independent from their mother. As it should be,
of course. She knew that. But it still hurt.
She told Drake where to turn off the main highway. “Just stay on this road for five or so miles. I'll tell you when to turn onto our road.”
They drove for a mile or two in silence. “Haven't been this way before,” he said.
“A lot of the older homes are out this way.” She told him briefly of her rental arrangement with Lee and of their shared history, both what brought Lee to River Valley and the story of opening the restaurant, leaving out the part about how much danger Lee had been in when she first arrived.
He glanced over at her. “I remember the story from the papers. The high tech community was shocked when her husband committed suicide. Matter of fact, I had my eye on Lee Tucker. She was well respected in my circles.”
“She's a great businesswoman. What she's done with the restaurant is nothing short of amazing.”
“Your food is the biggest part of that.”
“Yeah, Mom,” said Alder from the back.
She smiled. “Well, my point is, she runs the business side of things so I can focus on cooking. I barely know how to turn on a computer and she's a whiz with spreadsheets and all that kind of thing. We're a great team.”
At the curve in the road before her driveway she let him know to turn. He did so, slowing the car as the road turned to gravel.
“Would you like to come in?” she asked, glancing at the house. It was an old farmhouse, freshly painted white with black trim and with a sweeping porch in the front. Nothing like the majestic mountain retreat of Drake Webber's home, but home nonetheless for her and Alder. They'd been happy here, both of them grateful to live in a newly remodeled home, especially compared to the small apartments and trailers of their past.
“I'd better,” said Drake. “Make sure it's all clear.”
They were all getting out of the car when there was the sound of another car coming down the long dirt driveway. She tensed, anticipating the worst. But it was only Tommy's truck, bouncing in the potholes. Lee was sitting beside him, her strawberry blond hair blowing in the breeze from an open window. Ellie-Rose was in a car seat in the backseat.
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