Oakley: Marshall’s Shadow – Jaguar Shapeshifter Romance (Marshall's Shadow Book 3)

by Kathi S. Barton

  “It was better for the company, I’m thinking.” They sat there in the dark night and listened to the forest close up for the night. “Your momma was right, you know. Her saying that the kids would be able to see her. I was remembering when I was a tyke, and my grandma would come see me at night. She would read me stories. I had to turn the pages, I remember, but I loved having her around. Then, my mom and dad, they kept telling me she was gone and that I was just looking for attention, so she faded away from seeing me.”

  “I’m not ever going to tell my children they’re too old for things like that. I know I can say things now, and when I’m an actual father, things might be different. But I won’t take their grandparents or anyone else that comes to see them away from them.” Grandda told him he was a good boy. “Thanks, Grandda. You know I love you, don’t you? That I just don’t know what I’d do without you being around for me to talk to?”

  “I’m not gonna be here forever, you know.” Oakley asked him if he’d come to visit him. “I will. I didn’t know I could. It has made thinking about passing on a good deal easier. Not that I’m pining away for leaving you boys, but I’m getting up there. I feel it more and more every day how old I am.”

  “I wasn’t going to tell you this until the babies were born, but we’re naming our daughter Alma Grace, after Grandma.” Grandda looked at him, and he could see the tears filling in his eyes. “If you start bawling right now, we’re going to be a sloppy mess out here in the dark.”

  “I love you, son. I surely do. You couldn’t have given me a better gift than knowing you’re going to honor my other half like this.” The handkerchief came out again, and he blew his nose. “Let’s not talk about sad things right now. I don’t think my poor heart can take it.”

  They spoke about the upcoming fundraiser that was going to support the renovation of the gazebo. Grandda had donated to the upkeep too and said he wanted flowers planted around it that would grow up and over it.

  “Wisteria? I think that is what Grandma had in your home that grew up over the deck.” Grandda said it had been. “If no one else will plant and care for them, then I will. I don’t remember it when it looked good. We used to go there when we were boys to eat ice cream or something we’d gotten from the dairy place.”

  “I don’t know if I ever told you this or not, but that’s where I met your grandma. She was sitting there in one of the many benches that used to be around it, looking at the flowers. I think that’s why I love that flower so much. It was blooming all round her, and it made her even prettier. Whatcha doing there, boy?” He told his grandda what he was planning to do. “A memories book? Well, if that don’t beat all. That’ll be something. Are you adding any pictures to it? I have a whole horde of them at Shep’s house. I was thinking on bringing them here so I could take a gander at them once in a while.”

  “That’s a wonderful idea, Grandda. I’d love to put pictures in it that the rest of us might not have.” Oakley thought his grandda was the greatest. He proved it time and time again. “I was also thinking about putting in some town pictures. I don’t suppose you have any of those from when you were younger.”

  “I do, as a matter of fact. Your grandma, she sure knew what to keep. It ain’t a bit like today, where a person takes a picture of everything they eat and passes it around to other folks. You just had to think about what you might be taking a picture of, so you’d not waste your pictures on silly things when you really needed to take a picture.” Grandda laughed. “I’m betting right now Dean is in his bed looking over the pictures he took of me and Dru tonight. And that Bella is missing that boy so much she’s gonna go in there and pick him up and bring him back to bed with them. Darndest thing, having a little baby around. Sure can make a person think about life.”

  “I know I do. I’m also a little afraid for my kids to be born. Not of them, but what the world might be like when they’re ready to go out into it. I know they’re not born yet, but it still makes you think.” Grandda agreed with him. “Then there is all the things going on with us helping the dead. I love helping, but I’m so afraid I’m going to make the wrong decision about them.”

  “You’re not going to. If they thought you might, they’d never have come to you in the first place. Whatever you’re doing for them is a darn sight better than anyone had been doing. Lach, she told me about the other person that was helping them. Sorriest bunch of idiots I’ve ever heard of.” Grandda had always been able to tell it like it was. Oakley loved him for that. “You get yourself on back to your own warm bed. I’m going to be heading up to mine now too. Talking to you, it’s been nice. Took my mind off being an old worthless man tonight.”

  “Grandda, I hope you really don’t feel that way. You’re about as worthless as my love for Lach is. I need you, and I’m positive the rest of us do as well. You’re our connection to those that have gone on. The backbone of this family.” He grinned at his grandda. “I don’t have to tell you how much you’re going to be in our children’s lives, do I? They’re going to be so happy to see you every day that it’ll be difficult for us to spend any time with them. But I already know what I’m going to do. I’m going to barge into whatever you have going on with them, so I too will have good solid memories of you and them together.”

  “You’re all right, Oakley. I needed that tonight. Seeing your momma, it brought on memories and aches of losing her both at the same time.” He stood up and hugged his grandda, and knew that from now on, he was going to be with him every chance he could. The man was a wonder. “I love you too. Now, do what I said. Get yourself home, and I’ll be seeing you in the morning. We’ve got that appointment to go to with your missus. I’m going to see my next grandbabies, and I’m about as excited as a cat is in a room full of old people just wanting to hold her.”

  As soon as he got back to the house, he wrote down his grandda’s comment. There were plenty more of those that he’d been thinking about. They were going to be an entire chapter in his book. Grandda Quotes. That was going to be the header for it.

  “Everything all right.” He pulled Lach to him and hugged her tightly. “I guess it is. I saw you out there talking to Grandda. Is he doing all right too?”

  “He is. Feeling his age, I think. He actually told me he was feeling worthless tonight. I fixed it for him. I think seeing Mom was just a little too emotional for him. Got him to thinking about his own age.” Lach asked him if she should go out and knock him around a little. “I think he’s all right now. He suggested I put pictures in my book. I’ve never written one before, but this is going to be epic. Even if it is just for the family.”

  “Why?” He asked Lach what she meant. “You were saying you wanted to incorporate the town and its growth in the book. Grandda has pictures too, I’m betting. Why does it just have to be for the family? I might well enjoy just looking at the memories of someone that has been here his whole life, even if I wasn’t family. You shouldn’t settle on just for us, Oakley. I can see this thing as a keepsake for other people you might mention in the book. Storefronts that might have a family name on them.”

  “Will you help me?” She only had to smile at him, and he had his answer. “I’m betting with this thing we can do that we can call up others, just for their memories about a certain picture Grandda has. I like that idea.”

  “I do, as well. It’ll be something people who have been here as a visitor will enjoy too. I think you should put pictures of the gazebo as it progresses to looking good again. The Christmas lights along the street now and back then. Yes, I can see this book having sequels too.” He told her he’d not written the first one yet, to wait a little while. “Oakley, you’re going to have so many people coming to you about their stories and their families that you’re going to be busier than a one legged man in a potato sack race. I heard Grandda say that the other day.”

  He wrote it down. “Grandda and I are going to go over the plans for the gazebo in the morning. I
guess someone in the courthouse found the original plans for it, as well as pictures of it while it was being built.” She asked him as they headed up to bed if there might be people in the pictures. “I never thought of asking. But when you say that, it makes me think you’re right about others maybe wanting to see the book. If my relatives were mentioned in it, I’d want to get a copy of it too. How did I not know you were brilliant?”

  “I hide it well, I guess.” She got into bed, and he could see how exhausted she was. “Today wore me out. I don’t know what I was thinking when I brought your wonderful mother here.”

  “Because, my dear wife, you’re more brilliant than I first thought.” He kissed her, then her growing belly. “Good night, my babies. Remember that Daddy loves you already more than I thought possible.”

  Lach fell asleep quickly. Oakley couldn’t get enough of just watching her. At four months, she was beginning to show more and had started wearing his shirts around the house, and he loved it. Lying back on his side of the bed, he thought about the book.

  He knew he’d do it. Just getting started was something that he was having difficulty with. Did he put the pictures he was planning to use all in one place or everywhere in the book? A title was also giving him fits. Each time he thought he had a good name for his book, he’d think of something else. The one that he’d thought of while sitting with his grandda had been one he thought was the best. But he had not run it by Lach to see if she liked it too. Marshall’s Shadow might be the one he picked.

  As he settled down in the bed after putting his notebook away, he rolled over and pulled Lach closer to him. Tomorrow he had a busy morning, and then in the afternoon, he was going to talk to the woman Harris had suggested in getting ideas for his book. Like a kid at Christmas, he couldn’t wait to see what she thought of his idea. If she thought it was stupid, then he’d just go back to his original plan and make it for his family. They’d enjoy it if no one else ever saw it.

  Falling to sleep, he knew that once he woke, he’d be a day closer to holding his children. A day closer to getting projects finished. And more than anything, he’d get to fall in love with his wife again and again.

  Chapter 11

  Rodney tossed the ball he was using as a stress reliever against the wall. Not that he was stressed, not really, but he was bored out of his mind. He looked at his calendar again to make sure there wasn’t anything that popped up while he’d been sitting there.

  “You keep that up, and I’m going to come in there and beat you with that ball.” He grinned when Adaline yelled at him from the front office. “I told you that you’re going to have to get yourself a hobby before we even got this place open. People have to find you before they’ll come to let you see their bits and pieces. How you doing on finding the books I told you about?”

  “They’re going to be here tomorrow.” She said that was good. “I know you said I could have them right away if I loaded them on a reader, but I need to touch the words I’m reading in a book. I love the smell of them too.”

  “You’re weird. Anyone ever tell you that before?” She came into the office with him, and he smiled at her. “I have a big favor to ask of you. Now, I want you to think on it before you just say yes. I know you will because you feel you owe me something. You don’t, so let’s just leave it at that, all right?”

  “All right. You seem serious all of a sudden. What’s happened?” He loved Adaline. She was his rock since he’d done his residence at the local hospital. “Are you ill? You don’t smell like it.”

  “What a way to tell someone that. Like I smell or something. It’s a small wonder some nice woman hasn’t taken you to task the way you talk to the fairer sex. No, I’m not ill, and I don’t stink either.” He said he didn’t mean that. “Yes, you did. You always mean what you say. Now listen to me good before I hit you upside the head like your momma used to do. The school is having some trouble there. Not with the teachers, but with the health staff they have. I’ve heard from Mrs. Briggs, the principle, that the woman won’t treat the kids that are poor. Nurses are supposed to be above how much their patients make. But this one, Nurse Lannie Jackson, is a pain in the ass. Those poor kids get just as sick as the rich ones do, don’t they?”

  “They do. Sometimes more than the rich kids because they don’t usually get a good meal before they go out to wait on the bus. Tell me what it is you need me to take care of.” She left him there and returned a few seconds later with a box. “Please tell me you didn’t steal all the school records, Adaline.”

  “I didn’t. Mrs. Briggs handed them over to me when I said I’d have you look at them.” He pulled the first file out of the box and looked at the record. “That’s Mrs. Handle’s boy, Ronny. You know him. He’s the one that lost his daddy a few months back when the wall he was working on collapsed.”

  “It says he’s faking being ill so he can be in the nurse’s office when they’re having tests. From what I’m reading here, they must have more tests at school than when I was going there. Like every day.” Adaline told him he was just a drop in the bucket for being ignored. He took another file out, laying Ronny’s to the side. “Alice Sharp has bruises all over her arms and back. She actually wrote in her file that ‘Alice is a fat, clumsy fuck.’ Who makes those sorts of comments about a child? Not to mention, writing it in their permanent file?”

  “That sounds like something she’d do. The other day I was over at the school when my grandson called me because he’d lost his lunch money. I heard her talking to one of the kids in her office. She didn’t even close the door while she spoke to him. Lannie told that little boy he needed a bath, that he should be going to the river to clean up. Maybe he’d slip and fall in while he was at it. I was so shocked I went right in there and grabbed him right up. Why would she tell him to fall into the river when it’s so cold outside? I have to tell you, Rodney, she’s going to hurt one of them kids sooner or later.”

  He stood up and pulled on his jacket. Adaline asked him where he was going. “To the school. This shit is going to stop right now. Even if I have to fire her and work there myself.” She told him she thought that was a better idea. “You didn’t come in here to ask me to work there?”

  “No. I wanted you to go and treat the kids she’s not. But this is so much better. I’ll come with you. We might have to have a coming to Jesus meeting with her, and I want to be your back up.”

  Rodney laughed all the way to the school. It wasn’t that far from his office, so the two of them walked over. He noticed that Adaline had his bag.

  As soon as he was buzzed into the school office, Mrs. Briggs came around the corner and thanked him for coming. He didn’t know what she meant right away, but apparently, they’d been expecting him. When he asked where the nurse was, he was told she’d not shown up today.

  “I was under the impression she was supposed to be here every day.” Mrs. Briggs told him she was supposed to. But she only came in once a week now. “What if someone is hurt or sick? How does she expect to treat them from wherever she is?”

  “She said there isn’t enough going on here for her to have to sit around all day and be bored. Also, I was told she was to help out in the office if there wasn’t much going on. Lannie told me that if she wanted a desk job, she’d have taken one. That girl is going to be in trouble next year if her contract is renewed as a nurse to this area. I’m hoping that Lannie isn’t renewed, but I don’t get a say in matters such as that.” Rodney asked her to call the woman and tell her that he said to get her ass in there. “I can do that. But she’s not going to like it.”

  “She’s going to like it even less when I fire her.” Mrs. Briggs asked if he could do that. “I can. I was asked to oversee the school nursing programs here in the event there was a breakout. I was also told if there were problems with any of the nurses here, I was their report to, and I had full authority to fire them.”

  “Well, why didn’t we ca
ll you sooner?” Mrs. Briggs asked one of the staff if they could make the call. “If she gives you any crap, I’ll speak to her.”

  “If she gives you any crap, I’ll speak to her. Might save her a trip here if I fire her over the phone, don’t you think?” While they were looking up the phone number, he was calling the one person on the board he knew might back him up. After telling Harris what he was doing, he asked her to come there. “I’m at the elementary school now. Can you meet me here?”

  “I can. But I’m bringing Bella with me. She and I are both on the board. I was going to ask Lach to join us. We need to whip this place into shape before our own children go there.” He agreed with her. “I’m picking up Bella and Lach now. We’ll stick around if you need help in the office.”

  Good. He would have a nurse should he need one, and help in the form of talking to the kids. While he was waiting for someone to hand him the phone for Lannie, Mrs. Briggs brought out several large, heavy boxes on a cart. He asked her what this was.

  “This past summer, all these things were donated by your family to hand out to the kids. Not a single one of them got the hair and toothbrushes, nor did she hand out any of the things that had been donated. I have baggies filled for each and every student here ready to be given out on the first day of school. There is also a printed up list of things a child might still need that was put along with the other things in there. Like pencils and such, the family might not be able to afford.”

  He called Shep. “I need you to go by the department store in town and pick up some items for the school.” Shep said he’d be happy to. “Take Grandda with you. He might well enjoy this.”

  Rodney read off every item on the list and told him to buy out whatever they had in the form of a donation to the school. Shep laughed and asked him if he was going to be in charge of all this stuff. He didn’t know, but it had been lying around too long, waiting for someone to figure it out.