Secondhand Cowboy

by Lacy Williams

  "If you sit quietly and don't get up and don't cause trouble for Miss Helen, we'll stop and get ice cream on the way home."

  All three sets of eyes got big in their small faces.

  Maybe it was wrong to bribe them, but Iris just needed ten minutes with her father.

  Nearing his door, she looked over her shoulder. All three boys watched her.

  She had no idea if her bribe would work or not, but she could trust Helen to keep them from getting into too much trouble.

  She straightened her shoulders and knocked softly before pushing open the door to her father's sanctuary. That's how she always thought of it. After her mother had passed, he'd spent more hours here than at home.

  "Hi, Dad."

  "Iris." He stood and rounded his desk to meet her. His office was an organized mess, piled with stacks of papers and files. It smelled like his cologne. And had a huge window overlooking Main Street. Her father would have had a bird's eye view of the accident when it happened, if he had been in his office.

  When he reached her, he held her hands in his, but they didn't hug. They never did.

  "You look exhausted."

  Her lips thinned, but she barely refrained from dissolving into a full-blown frown. Her father never minced words.

  "I was up late with Jilly. She had a chemo treatment that hit her hard."

  Lines around his eyes tightened. "Send her my love." She knew it had to be hard for him to be around Jilly after losing his wife to the same disease, but Jilly needed him. Couldn't he see that?

  He'd distanced himself from them for years, but it still hurt.

  Iris straightened her back. "I came here today to ask you about the lawsuit against Callum."

  Instantly, her father's eyes went flat and cold. Iris's insides tensed. Whatever had been between her dad and Callum all those years ago hadn't gone away, that much was clear.

  "That cowboy sent you down here?"

  She wondered if her father knew how his lip curled in disgust as he said the words.

  She worked at keeping her expression neutral. "That cowboy told me to stay out of it."

  Surprise flashed in his eyes before he blinked and it disappeared. "Good. Then we agree on something." He moved around the side of his desk and fiddled with a manila folder on top, adjusting it to align with the edge of the desk.

  "I don't understand why you're bringing a suit against him."

  "His negligence caused the wreck that took out the front of my building. Somebody has to pay for the damage."

  "How about the person who actually caused the damage? Callum wasn't negligent—he had the right of way."

  Something behind her father's gaze flickered. Was he hiding something? "Is that what he told you?"

  "That's what I saw."

  Now her father met her gaze squarely. "There was no witness testimony in the report I read."

  She read the truth of his words in his face. "Well, I guess I need to go downstairs and make a formal report."

  Just then there was audible movement from the outer office. The boys.

  She rushed out to find Brandt and Levi chasing each other in a circle around the office while Helen told them repeatedly to stop. Tyler stood on the chair where Iris had left him, his legs slightly bent as if he were about to jump.

  "Stop!" Iris had a flashback to her mom using the exact same tone of voice throughout her childhood, but she kept her face stoic as the boys froze in place.

  "He's saddling you with his brats now?"

  Iris shot a scathing glance over her shoulder, hoping the boys hadn't heard her father's mean-spirited words.

  "We'll talk soon," she said.

  He didn't answer, but she didn't have time to worry about what he thought or what continued to fester between him and Callum five years after Callum disappeared. She gave the boys an evil eye, and they fell into step beside her, subdued.

  "Do you think that you deserve ice cream after that?" she asked.

  The boys looked down at the floor.

  "I'll give you one more chance. I've got to visit a policeman, and if you can sit quietly, without running around and causing disruptions, we'll still go to get ice cream."

  Now Levi and Tyler looked up at her with their eyes wide.

  "Are you goin' to jail, Miss Iris?" Tyler asked in a stage whisper.

  "No." She couldn't contain the giggle behind her words. "I just have to talk to the policeman, all right?"

  Since the front of the building was blocked off because of the wreck and the repairs, she took the boys down a side hallway, and they traipsed to the portion of the building that had been set aside for the four police officers and the police chief, her dad's closest friend.

  It smelled a little like a gym, stale sweat with an overtone of burned coffee and a hint of gunpowder. There were high windows along one wall, sunlight streaming in. It was sterile, no stacks of paperwork here. Two glass-enclosed offices made up one wall, but the rest of the space was filled with cubicles.

  Only one was in use. She found Mike Reynolds just hanging up his desk phone. At least he had paperwork strewn across his desk, half-finished reports.

  "Oh, hi, Iris."

  Was it her imagination, or had his eyes slid to one side as he'd greeted her? Was she reading too much into it, or could that have been her father on the line, letting Mike know she was on her way down to see him?

  She must be reading into things, remembering how she'd been stuck between Callum and her father for those few months they'd dated in public before his disappearance.

  "What can I do for you?"

  "I need to file a statement for the Stewart investigation. I was on the sidewalk, and I saw the black truck run the stoplight and crash into Callum's truck."

  "D'you got a gun, mister?" Tyler interrupted, awe in his voice.

  Brandt tugged on his pant leg, on the opposite side from where Tyler stood. "Do you shoot the bad guys?"

  "Um, no, I try not to shoot anybody."

  Mike was a year older and had been a grade ahead of her in school. Seeing the usually-unflappable man flustered by the triplets had her hiding a smile behind her hand.

  Until he looked at her again, and she saw the seriousness—and something else she couldn't read—behind his gaze.

  "Boys, can you sit down while I talk to Officer Mike?"

  The boys whispered to each other as they sat with legs crisscrossed on the floor just inside the cubicle.

  "I'll take your statement, but..."

  She'd known Mike since they'd been children. And for him to hedge wasn't normal behavior. Something was wrong here.

  "But, what?"

  "If you're involved with the victim, that makes it different. You aren't a neutral party."

  What did that mean?

  "I wasn't involved with him when the accident happened. And technically we're not involved now. I'm just helping a friend until he can get back on his feet."

  He shrugged, almost apologetically.

  She gritted her teeth. Maybe she hadn't been imagining her father's interference. The question was, why? Why would her father strong-arm his police department to turn a blind eye to the real culprit?

  And would a botched investigation affect Callum's insurance claim? Could it affect his standing in the community?

  "Will you take my statement or not?" she asked, aware of little ears listening intently to their conversation.

  "Of course I'll take it. I just don't know how much weight it'll give to the investigation."

  She hitched her chin. "Then maybe I should make a statement to the district attorney instead."

  Mike's jaw worked, and his eyes snapped, but beneath, she saw an undercurrent of something undeterminable. "I said I would take your statement."

  "Then let's do it."

  * * *

  Iris was still fuming as she led the boys the long way around the building—again—back to the parking lot. Keeping them on task and not chasing butterflies and picking up rocks in the parking lot took
all her attention.

  What was her father's angle? Why would he jeopardize an investigation? It was deeper than recouping the costs for the building, maybe as deep as whatever history was between her father and Callum.

  Her mind kept whirling to Jilly's accusations against their dad from years ago, about how he'd paid off her college boyfriend to break up with her. Was Dad doing the same thing now, trying to manipulate this investigation to get Callum out of the picture?

  She was so busy corralling the boys and loading them into the minivan that she didn't see the person approaching.

  She'd snapped the last seatbelt buckle and was rounding the back of the car toward the driver's side when she noticed a woman passing on the sidewalk. The woman seemed unnaturally focused on Iris, which made the hair at her nape stand on end. Until she noticed the woman's sickly pallor and gasping breaths.

  Iris left the minivan with a glance over her shoulder and approached the lady. She was within arms' reach when she recognized Callum's mother-in-law, a woman she'd seen once in the hospital lobby.

  This was the woman Callum said had tried to abduct the boys. Iris didn't know details, but her hands began to shake, and she shot another glance back at the minivan. All was still.

  Was this a trick? Should she scream? Call into the police department? How quickly could Mike get out here?

  Only her paramedic training held her immobile. The other woman's face had gone even whiter, and now she pressed one fist to her chest.

  "Do you need assistance?"

  The woman shook her head. "I'll...be all right...in a minute."

  Iris's training wouldn't let her walk away, but she did look back to the minivan again. It seemed the boys were staying in their car seats, because she didn't see little heads bobbing anywhere.

  Iris stepped forward, closing the distance between herself and the woman.

  "What's your name?" Iris looked directly into her eyes. They were clear, pupils equal and round.

  "Maude," the woman rasped.

  Iris reached out and took the woman's wrist, using two fingers to take her pulse. Her skin was cool and dry—too cool for the warm weather outdoors. "Do you have any medical conditions?"

  Iris multiplied out the heartbeat and found it just above normal.

  "Cardiomyopathy."

  "Do you have medicine?"

  Maude shook her head. "It's already passing. Not a heart attack. I just saw you with the boys and rushed across the street...Moved too fast and got out of breath."

  Maude's breathing had settled some, and color had returned to her face. The danger seemed to have passed, but Iris would feel better if she observed the older woman for a few more moments.

  However, her words pinged concern through Iris. She didn't know the details of what had happened between Callum and this woman, but he had mentioned a restraining order, and she didn't want to be a party to breaking that.

  But the reality was, Maude didn't look like a threat. She looked old, though she had to be around Iris's dad's age. And she looked sad, a deep sadness in her eyes that resonated with Iris.

  "We're out running a few errands," Iris offered, hoping it was vague enough for the situation. Maude's color continued to improve, and Iris knew the woman was out of the woods.

  "I just...wanted to see them for a second. To know that they're all right." Callum's mother-in-law's eyes had filled with tears now as they slid over Iris's shoulder to the minivan.

  Iris could hear the boys chattering, not paying a lick of attention to what was happening outside the car.

  "I didn't realize you were staying in town," Iris said.

  "My husband had to return home, but I wanted to stay, just in case the boys needed someone...In case something changed. Jackson said it was crazy, but...I felt I had to."

  Iris's heart went out to the woman. She wasn't trying to break the rules or do anything illegal. She just missed her grandsons. And she obviously struggled with health issues.

  Sitting in the minivan a few moments later, Iris watched Maude re-cross the street. The older woman walked with her head down and her shoulders stooped. There was something desolate in her posture. Iris remembered losing her mother and the deep-seated fear that she would lose Jilly. She couldn't just let it go.

  "Boys, stay in your seats."

  She jumped out of the minivan, using the key fob to lock the doors behind her, and jogged after Maude.

  Catching up to the other woman as she hit the opposite sidewalk, Iris said, "Why don't we exchange phone numbers? Maybe we could figure out a way for you to talk to the boys on the phone."

  Maude's eyes filled with tears, and she hugged Iris before they exchanged phone numbers.

  As Iris walked back across the street, she caught sight of the video security camera mounted beneath the awning of the bank. There were multiple cameras focused on the parking lot, and the bank was right across the street from the intersection. She should call the bank manager and find out if there was any footage that might help the investigation. But wouldn't the police department have already done that?

  She got back into the car with mixed emotions. Had she done the right thing with Callum's mother-in-law? It felt right, but only time would tell.

  11

  "No baths!" Levi squealed later that night, darting around the couch before Iris could grab him. Rowdy chased him, barking at his heels.

  Tyler and Brandt both jumped on the couch, laughing.

  The sun was setting. It was later than Iris wanted it to be, but when she'd taken off the boys' shoes to wrangle them into their pajamas, she'd noticed how stinky their feet were and remembered it had been two days since the last bath time.

  "I thought you liked baths." She forced a sing-song tone when she really wanted to snap at the boy. After her lack of sleep last night, the confrontation with her father earlier, and her worry for Jilly, who hadn't come out of her room except to grab a late-afternoon snack, she had enough on her plate. She'd spent the day corralling these three ornery boys all day, and Iris was ready for bed herself.

  "No bath night!" Levi darted around the ottoman.

  "What's going on in here?"

  Callum appeared in the hallway, leaning heavily on his crutches. He'd been on the phone when she'd knocked to let him know supper was ready, his voice low and intense. He'd acknowledged her with a nod but hadn't come in for dinner. Lines fanned from the corners of his eyes. Stress? Or pain?

  She caught Levi on his fourth trip around the couch. He giggled as if he hadn't had this much fun in months. He wasn't winded at all, but she was panting like Rowdy after a run.

  "No baths night, Daddy!" the boy squealed.

  "Yes bath night," she argued, wrestling him out of his T-shirt. There was a visible ring of sweat-dried-dirt circling his skin around where the neckline had been. The kid definitely needed a bath.

  "Look at that dirt. I bet you've got bugs crawling behind your ears," Callum said.

  Tyler and Brandt dissolved into giggles on the couch.

  She sat still for too long, and Levi slipped out of her hands, down to his undies now.

  "You three might be a bit too much for Miss Iris to deal with in the tub. Why don't you get started, and I'll meet you upstairs?"

  She started to argue that he didn't need to climb the stairs, but the boys ran up the stairs, stripping as they went, and she shrugged it off. If the stubborn man wanted to haul himself up the stairs, it was his business.

  But she did pick up the clothes they'd left scattered on the stairs.

  With three wriggly bodies in the tub, she was splashed and soaked by the time Callum came into the room, turning sideways to get his crutches through the door. His wide chest heaved and sweat beaded his brow.

  She turned her face toward the boys. He didn't want to hear her say he should be taking better care of himself, so she didn't say it.

  His presence instantly seemed to shrink the room, making her aware of the close confines as he leaned back against the counter. The fluoresc
ent lights backlit him, haloing his head with white light.

  She lathered up her hands with shampoo and reached for Levi, but the little booger evaded her, slipping across the tub like an eel.

  "Nooo," the boy whined.

  "Let's do it real quick," Iris said in her most convincing voice.

  Levi shook his head, his hand whacking the water and splattering her with water droplets. Her temper started to fray.

  "Didn't you guys teach Iris the special bath song?" Callum asked.

  "That's for babies," Levi grumbled.

  "No, it's not," Brandt said.

  "What bath song?" Iris asked.

  Tyler bounced on his seat in the tub and clapped his hands, both actions spraying Iris with more water.

  "Daddy sing it! Daddy sing!" Brandt chanted.

  Iris worked at keeping her focus on the boys, not on the bubbles in her stomach that Callum's proximity caused. Kneeling like she was on the tiled floor, if she leaned to the side at all, her shoulder would brush Callum's knee, and if she leaned backwards, she'd run into his outstretched cast.

  "So hit me with this bath song, maestro."

  Callum cleared his throat and began to warble in a goofy baritone that she'd never imagined he had in him.

  * * *

  "What time is it?

  What time is it?

  Is it time to take our bath?

  Yes, it is! Yes, it is!

  Time to take our bath.

  * * *

  What time is it?

  What time is it?

  Is it time to scrub our hair?

  Yes, it is! Yes, it is!

  Time to scrub our hair."

  * * *

  The song worked to distract the boys—and Iris too. She never could've imagined that Callum would do such a silly thing just to get his sons to take a bath.

  She realized she'd turned her head and was staring at him when he raised his eyebrows at her and mimed scrubbing. She quickly jumped to attack the dirty boys while they were distracted.