Black Creek Burning (The Black Creek Series, Book 1)

by R. T. Wolfe

  * * *

  Sandy Finley sat in a small room with nothing but a metal table and four chairs. Dave sat with Tanner and watched her sweat through the one-way mirror. Her hand shook as she sucked deeply on her cigarette, trying to sit straight and poised.

  Dave walked in and turned his chair to sit in it backward. He pulled out a manila file folder and glanced in, not opening it fully. "Thank you for coming in, Ms. Finley. We just have a few questions. Is there anything I can get you?"

  "Out of here. What more do you need to know? I already told the officers everything on the day of the lockdown and look what that got me." She took a long drag and tapped her ashes in a battered, metal ash tray.

  Dave looked up at her, judging. "Where have you been for the past several weeks?"

  "What does that matter? Why is that anyone's business? Can't a woman take some time off to be by herself?"

  "Where have you been for the last several weeks?" he repeated.

  "Looking for a job."

  "I'd like a list of the potential employers you visited. When did you get back in town?"

  She looked down. "I haven't been keeping track of time. I'm unemployed. Sometime this week, I suppose."

  "Do you own a four-wheeler, Ms. Finley?"

  She lifted her eyes to meet Dave's. "Do I need my attorney?"

  "That's your right, but I'll tell you cooperation would make things look better for you. Do you own a four-wheeler, Ms. Finley?" he repeated, allowing his eyelids to droop half way closed.

  "No, I don't. And I don't own a rifle if you're going to ask me that next. You can search my house if you want. I have nothing to hide. I got back Tuesday night. I wanted to be here for the results of the board meeting. Is that what you wanted to hear? Who wouldn't? She breaks lockdown protocol and gets her job back with nothing more than a slap on the wrist. I make one accidental slip and lose my job. How would you feel, officer?" She sat back in her chair, looking him square in the eyes.

  The questioning continued until he felt satisfied he'd shaken her and gotten all he was going to squeeze from Sandy Finley. She was annoyingly consistent with her story. "Don't leave town again without letting us know where you're going. We'll be in touch."

  * * *

  "I'll agree to taking one more day off work, but that's it." Brie sat in the guest chair, trying to look poised in her hospital gown. She knew she was acting like a spoiled child and didn't care.

  She also knew Nathan kept his chair close to her. He was slick the way he was never more than a few feet away, yet looked to be casually hanging out. Why did she think that was sweet?

  He sighed. "You'll have to take that up with the doctors."

  "You need a break. You should go home and check on my brothers. I'm tired from the lunch time crowd and should get some sleep so I look rested when Duncan and Andy come." She stood up slowly, but steady and walked back to her crumpled white bed. She stopped to try and smell the flowers Lucy and Molly had sent her. Not yet. She looked over at Nathan. "Can't hurt to try."

  Amanda flew in with a duffle bag in her arm. "I have come to save you."

  "You're getting me out?"

  "Shit. Not that kind of save you. I brought girl stuff." Amanda pulled out some of her waffle pants and an NYU sweatshirt. "I think we can talk the doctors into letting you wear this stuff since it's just your head they need to work with mostly."

  "I could kiss you." Brie looked in the bag. "Makeup and real toothpaste? This is like Christmas."

  "So, now that I've offered you gifts, you'd better sit back."

  She leaned back on her inclined bed. "Okay. Hit me. What's up?"

  "Your brothers are unpacking boxes," Amanda said.

  Brie saw Nathan's eyebrows lift.

  "I met with the Petersons and gave them your sketches and estimate. Lucy is checking on your house. Liz is taking care of the dogs. Nathan's mom and dad—"

  "Go back."

  "Go back where?"

  "Go back to you meeting with my client. Who did you say you were? What did you say about the estimate? Which sketches did you give them?" She felt wide awake now. "Who did you say you were?" she repeated, flustered at the thought.

  "I said I work for you and that you were in the hospital and that it's nothing too serious... because it's not, and I guess now is a bad time to tell you I have all of Nathan's plants, shrubs, and trees set to be delivered in the morning."

  Her face turned red.

  "Fresh coffee anyone?" They ignored Nathan as he slipped out.

  "You know my brothers are calling you bossy-Mandy again? It's like grade school all over. I was thinking of telling the Petersons to get someone else to do their property. How am I going to get Nathan's one-hundred-thirty-six trees, shrubs, and plants in the ground when all I do is sleep? I was going to postpone his planting to fall. I have my other customers to consider. I'll be lucky to work full days with my teaching job. And what sketches did you show the Petersons?"

  "A monkey could figure out your binder. It's more detailed than a Red Cross relief report. I gave them the sketches you had labeled Peterson and the price you had ready for them, and I'm planting for you. Let me do this, Brie. It's been months since I've been on assignment. This temp job can go straight to hell."

  Brie sat for a long time, carrying on a debate with herself. Why did she always feel the need to do everything herself? Because she could. Why did she push people away whenever they tried to step into her life? Because it was safer. Why did her friends and family continue to love her when she was a bitch like this?

  "You'll dig the holes twice as big as the pots?"

  "I can do that."

  "And you'll use diluted root stimulator?"

  "Okay."

  "You'll mix peat with the soil from the holes you dig?"

  "Your directions are easy to read, Brie."

  "You'll tuck mulch around and keep the plants watered?"

  "A monkey can follow this binder, remember?"

  She closed her eyes and rested her head back on her pillow. "How did I get so lucky as to have such a good friend?"

  "And family. And in-laws," Amanda added.

  Brie could feel her damned lids drooping yet again. Amanda lowered her bed and covered her up.

  Chapter 28

  She was able to nap, shower and eat before Duncan and Andy showed up for their evening visit. Brie felt almost human again other than the dizziness and throbbing in the back of her head. And the not being able to wash her hair. And the can't-stay-awake-for-more-than-a-few-hours-at-a-time syndrome. Oh, yeah, and her inability to smell and taste. She convinced herself she could pull this off and sat in the guest chair, the better to make a good impression. The doctor walked in just as she was getting settled in the cushioned wooden seat.

  "How's the patient?" He looked surprised to see her out of bed.

  His surprise made her feel better. "I'm feeling very well, actually. I'd really like to go home."

  "I'll tell you what. When you can walk across the room without assistance, we'll discharge you," he said with a sincere smile as he checked her stitches. "You should be able to get your head wet tomorrow. We'll give the stitches one more day to seal." He glanced at her chart. "No rubbing the wound just yet, though."

  Duncan and Andy walked in with Sylvester and Mackenzie just as the doctor finished up. Nathan followed him out to the hall.

  Sylvester rested a hand on her shoulder and Mackenzie patted her arm as they exchanged warm greetings and best wishes.

  Duncan offered a polite hello and sat in the chair at the opposite side of the room. Andy absentmindedly walked to her and sat on her leg.

  "The kids in class want to know when you are coming back, and Sean says we have to finish Charlotte's Web. And I miss the dogs and I don't like sharing grandma's guest bed with Duncan." He turned his head to her and smiled. "I miss you. You look tired. Are you tired?"

  "I'm just ready to be out of here. I miss you, too." They pressed the sides of their heads together as Andy
continued to catch her up on classroom happenings, and the boys' plans for their upcoming trip to Colorado with their grandparents. She was relieved when Nathan finally returned.

  "Nathan, would you and Andy please get me a diet soda? I can't drink another glass of apple juice."

  Nathan took Andy's hand. Sylvester and Mackenzie followed.

  "I know, I know." Andy followed. "She wants to talk to Duncan about why he's all pouty."

  Brie waited until they were gone before standing. She made sure she was stable before making her way to the dreaded hospital bed. "Come sit with me," she said to Duncan.

  He obeyed and sat next to her. She pulled him under her arm, and they sat in silence for a few minutes. She felt his shoulders start to shudder and tears fell on her arm.

  "I heard you saw it happen." She tried to be casual by crossing her legs at the ankles.

  Duncan nodded in her arm.

  "Thank you." She stroked his hair.

  "I didn't do anything," he barked.

  "You yelled for Nathan. I could have lost the fingers and toes from my right hand and foot if you hadn't done that."

  "I don't remember yelling."

  "Okay." She sighed, thinking... realizing.

  "You know, I couldn't get my legs to move when I knew my parents' house was on fire. I wanted to yell to them, tell them to get out, but I couldn't. I blamed myself for a long time. I guess I still do, sort of."

  "Oh." He sat silently before he went on. "I didn't know that. I'm sorry I didn't help you." He turned his head and buried it deeper in her shoulder. "Are you going to make me say what I saw again?"

  "No. No, Nathan told me. I just want to make a deal with you. I will stop blaming myself for not helping my parents if you will stop blaming yourself. You are only eight, you know. We never know how we'll handle emergencies. It looks like we are a lot alike, you and I."

  "Will you and dad break up?"

  Whoa... she didn't see that one coming. "I'll be right across the creek from you." It was the best she could do.

  He sighed comfortably and turned to her. "Dad says you'll be in that damned house alone over his dead damned body." He grinned. A little.

  Brie's eyebrows lifted high and she tilted her head back to get a look at Duncan. She was relieved to see him smiling.

  "Just sayin' what he said."

  "Oh, did he?" She pulled him in and mussed his brown hair.

  * * *

  Brie tried threatening to check herself out. The doctor was as casual as ever.

  He must have been between surgeries, because he still had on a hairnet and footies.

  "How about we make a deal? You're still not steady. Mr. Reed, here, talked to me about discharging you if you'll stay in his care at least until our next appointment." He spoke while checking boxes and flipping pages on his chart.

  She squinted at Nathan. She'd only missed half of the work week but already had been gone so long before that. "Where do I sign?"

  Until her strength returned, she would only be able to work half days. Frustration with what she considered slow progress mixed with the worry of how she would handle twenty first-graders.

  They stopped by her house first to get her things. Her plants were alive, and her mail and newspapers were piled neatly on her kitchen table. Macey's braided rug looked lonely. There was no dog hair or small clumps of dirt on it. Her leash and bag of food were missing. She moved to her couch and loveseat and remembered her agreement with Duncan. She would embrace the help from her friends and family, she vowed, and not push them away.

  Pulling up in Nathan's drive took her breath away. It was all just as she had pictured it. Amanda had shoveled river rock gingerly around freshly planted flowers and shrubs. Tall, red cardinal flowers adorned the stairs leading up to the front door, and Amanda had even remembered to cluster larger stones at the corners. The blue salvia was in bloom and the upright junipers at the corners of the house brought everything together. She turned to look at Nathan. It occurred to her that he'd stuck, even still. She could see the dogs as they jumped up and down in the window.

  "Welcome home." He pulled her hand to his lips and kissed her knuckles.

  "I love you. I'd say thank you for this, but you're keeping me prisoner."

  "Yup." He swaggered his way around the car to get her door.

  Luckily, Amanda stopped what she was doing to let the dogs out before they broke something. Brie motioned her hand down, and they sat at her feet with tails wagging madly and high-pitched whining coming through their snouts. She scratched their heads, one with each hand, just as Andy came running around from the back of the house.

  "Miss Chapman, Miss Chapman, you're here! Wait 'til you see the house. It's like a real house now, and the plants are real pretty, and there's a huge bird in the creek with its legs on backward." He pulled mercilessly on her arm before turning his head in Nathan's direction. "I mean... can I help you or somethin'?"

  "The herons are back."

  "The, huh?" Andy already forgot his manners and was pulling her toward the back of the house.

  As she was drug around to the side of the house she yelled playfully to Amanda over her shoulder, "It looks great! You're hired!"

  Turning to Andy, she explained, "The birds with their legs on backward are called Great Blue Herons, and they are huge. Almost as tall as you."

  Amanda was a machine, she decided. The back was spectacular. The shrubs and bushes were spaced, clumped and arrayed nicely. Everything was new. Just as she felt. The trees stood in their burlap-covered root balls and waited over the places they would be buried.

  Indeed, there was a single, three-foot-tall heron jerking its tufted head as it walked in search of a snack. Just as Andy described, its pencil legs bent backward as it walked stealthily in the hunt. The bird froze and slowly leaned its head forward.

  "Watch." Brie squatted down next to Andy and pointed.

  The bird stood perfectly still for several seconds before stabbing its beak lightning quick into the water and coming back up with a thrashing fish the size of its head stuck in its beak. Andy jumped up and down at the sight as the bird seemed to look side-to-side, showing off its silvery catch before shifting it long ways and eating it whole, head first.

  Nathan came from behind and grabbed hold of Andy, tossing him effortlessly up on his shoulders. "Come on, champ. Duncan is waiting to show Brie his surprise."

  Andy rocked back and forth on Nathan's shoulders a few times before tucking his legs underneath his arms and holding onto his chin. Before they turned to head inside, the dogs must have gotten too close to the creek for the bird's comfort. They all watched as it squatted, spread its six-foot wings and took to the air. It flew low along the length of the lake, dipping the tips of its wings in the water as it went.

  When they walked in the front door, Brie looked around at the transformation. The family room was still somewhat empty, but it did have a set of end tables in it that Brie swore looked like what Chase had gone on and on about with Nathan last January. In the center of the dining room stood an exquisite table with massive clawed feet and eight high-backed chairs lined with a spray of what she thought of as square spindles. The walls displayed single, decorative tiles in elaborate frames. Under the table lay a large, complicated rug. The future library to the right was home to a leather wooden-legged recliner along with an enormous desk and some soft lamps on designer tables. Finally, her focus zeroed in on Duncan, who stood under the long arch of the stairs at the back of the massive foyer next to a canvas filled with a pencil and chalk drawing of Niagara Falls.

  Mackenzie stepped forward. "He wasn't sure where you would want it, so we decided to put it here for now. He's worked on it every spare minute since your... accident."

  "It's... stunning." She walked forward and kissed Duncan on the top of his head. "Thank you. Are you sure you're not twenty-two?"

  "Lunch is ready!" a voice interrupted from the kitchen.

  "Molly!"

  Brie recognized her voic
e and headed back toward the kitchen, taking Duncan under her arm, she walked like a first-time home buyer. The kitchen table was big enough to hold twelve, which was nearly how many people were there to eat. She felt thankful and flattered but already weak and would have preferred her bed over a meal.

  Molly wore an apron over her flared khaki slacks and brown patent leather boots. She kissed Brie once on each cheek and ordered her to sit. Lucy and Molly prepared and served glazed Cornish hens, steamed asparagus and red skinned potatoes.

  Brie tried to ignore the uncomfortable looks of worry and pity. "I want to thank each of you for all you've done. I feel better already." She turned to Molly. "It smells wonderful."

  Molly prepared a hot dog for each of the kids, and Nathan leaned over to Brie's ear. "Liar. You can't smell a thing." Her blinks were getting longer. Nathan slipped his arm around the back of her chair.

  "It was a polite, white lie," she whispered back.

  "I'll have to remember you think that way."

  Smoothly, Nathan expressed both thanks for the assistance and apologies for ducking out, then took her hand. She offered no argument.

  Habitually, she ran her hand along the smooth railing of the stairs, then looked in the familiar rooms of Duncan and Andy. Reluctantly, she headed for the mattress on the floor of the room she was beginning to consider hers and then stopped in the doorway.

  There was no bench press. No cork board with note cards and no mattress. Instead, there was a massive bed with a towering headboard framing lines of spindles that reminded her of the backs of the dining room chairs. An ivory, eyelet-laced cover tucked into the arched side rails and was adorned with three, simple, matching pillows. A desk with tall legs and an attached mirror beside a matching dresser completed one side of the room while each side of the bed was crowned with matching nightstands. The lamps on the nightstands were made of copper and thin, stained glass.