“You two getting going soon?” Annette asked.
“When I’ve gotten enough firewood split, then I’ll—”
“I’ve got a firewood delivery coming. Bud was too cheap to pay for it, but despite him being a tight ass penny pincher, I can afford the luxury. I meant today. You going to stick around for the luncheon?”
“Of course,” I told her. “We were going to stick around for a couple of days more at least.”
“You know, you don’t have to do that,” Annette said. “Like I said, I’m going to miss him, but we saw this coming. For a long time.”
“I know,” I said quietly.
“Plus, I’ve got a confession to make,” Annette said, leaning closer.
“Yeah?” I asked, our voices were barely a whisper, and people were giving us room.
“With you two so close, I can’t sneak my boyfriend in; you’re cramping my style, kid.”
I stepped back, stunned, and then she busted up laughing. After picking my jaw up off the ground and making sure it was seated properly I joined in. People stopped and stared, but we didn’t care. Opus barked loudly, happily, and spun in a circle. I knew he wanted to get up on his back legs and stand up and dance with us, but he was too dignified to do that.
“You ok?” Tina asked.
“We’re cramping her style,” I said, hiccupping the words out.
“What’s that mean?” she asked, bewildered. Owen was now wearing a different onesie shirt, evidence of something nefarious.
“I don’t know what he’s talking about,” Annette said, turning away to wipe her eyes. “You two really should get going though. Don’t worry about me, and for all that’s holy, how about you two get a quick honeymoon in somewhere?”
“Why the sudden change in subject?” I asked her.
“Because I realized this is exactly what Bud would have wanted of us. Heck, you pick someplace nice and warm, maybe I’ll join you two and watch Master Owen some!”
I put my arm around Tina and hugged her close to me. Owen made a frantic sound, and I snatched him out of his mom’s arms.
“What you want?” I asked him.
“Dayee, my barge n fee n oppy?”
“You catch that?” I asked Tina who shook her head no.
“He said he wants his Sarge, Ophelia and Opus,” Annette said, making us both look at each other.
“Yes, doggies,” Owen said promptly, pointing down.
I knelt, and Opus put his nose in Owen’s neck, sniffed, then licked him across the side of the face. He squealed and started giggling, which prompted more giggles. I hated to break it up, but it looked like there was somebody waiting anxiously to talk to Annette and they were looking oddly at the vicious furry missile near devouring a toddler with his tongue.
7
Rick
“Do you really think that she’ll want to come?” Tina asked.
“I don’t know,” I told her, “but if she wants to go on this cruise with us, it’ll be a good time for her. If not… well, they have childcare there.”
“I don’t know how I feel about going without the dogs,” Tina said.
Ophelia let out a low growl that made Tina scrunch up her face. We’d been home for a couple days and Tina had immediately gone to the task of looking places up. She said it was more for her, but we both knew it was a white lie. We’d avoided going on vacation since the wedding and had avoided traveling on our honeymoon. We both had been dealing with the mental and physical scars of our abduction. Now though, the thought of us going somewhere with the dogs and the baby didn’t make my blood run cold.
“You getting lippy with me, Miss Ophelia?” Tina said, adopting the baby voice she did when she was trying to egg on one of the dogs.
Ophelia barked sharply and then sat on her haunches, her tail wagging so hard I thought she was going to leave streaks of fur. Sarge came barreling into the room at her bark, and we both turned to watch as he scrambled across the tile. He was coming to check things out like he always did, but he didn’t stop as swiftly as he ran or cornered. He barreled into me trying to run sideways.
“Oooof,” I said, hitting the floor with my butt.
Both dogs immediately inspected me for damage, and one of them started licking me.
“Stop,” I told them, putting my arms over my head.
“Dayeeeee!” Owen screamed from across the room.
I heard small feet scampering and then thirty pounds of lead launched itself onto my back, laughing and screeching with joy. I heard a big, deep bark and immediately everyone stopped, even Owen.
“It’s ok, Opus, they weren’t hurting Rick. Just playing,” Tina said, walking toward him.
He sniffed her hand but stopped by me, and rubbed his head against my cheek before turning and hopping up on the couch.
“Somebody’s got to be the mature one around here,” I told Tina.
“Yeah, and that’s me,” Tina said, sitting down next to Opus.
“Meeeeeeeee,” Owen repeated and slid off me.
“I kind of want to go,” I told her. “If we can find someplace down there to board the furry kids…?”
“I know… I’ve been searching for pet-friendly things, but so far I’m striking out.”
“So what if we take it slow, drive down to Houston and then pick Annette up from the airport, we hop on a cruise and…”
“Why don’t we all just fly?” Tina asked.
“Dayee go vroom!” Owen said simply.
“Yup, Daddy goes vroom,” I agreed. “Plus,” I said talking over his head, “I always like to be ready for anything, and I can’t pack what I want for everything when I have to check baggage.”
“You can’t take all that stuff on the cruise!” Tina said. “Strict weapons policy, outside food and drink… Hell, they even have a dress code for the casino—”
“I was mostly kidding,” I told her. “But I’d still rather drive. It gives us more options, and I know how wide awake you stay when we drive. Besides, it’ll give us more options.”
“We don’t exactly have a great history of long road trips,” Tina pointed out.
“We had the one incident,” I told her. “Besides, if we don’t drive, we have to keep the dogs boarded longer.”
Tina bit her lip, and Opus rubbed his head against her thigh.
“What could go wrong on a cruise ship?” she asked me.
“Famous last words,” I teased.
She grinned and nodded.
“Dayee up?” Owen asked, his toddler arms straight up in the air.
I snagged him and walked into the office. More and more he was interested in anything and everything that I’d been doing. I’d started letting him come in and sit with me when I wasn’t doing my writing sprints. Otherwise, I’d have to keep half an eye on him and half an eye on Sarge, who liked to chew still. It was the one habit that he’d yet to be broken of.
“Little man, we’re going to look at places for the dogs to get babysat so we can go on a big cruise ship. How’s that sound?”
“High five?” Owen asked, shifting so he was sitting on my left leg, his little chubby hands reaching for my keyboard.
“That sounds good to me too, buddy.”
I woke up my Mac and typed the password in one handed as I held Owen from going over backward with my left. I hadn’t been a huge Opera fan before, but after all the scares I’d had, I’d started using it. It had a built in VPN which made finding your IP address more difficult. On top of that, I’d subscribed to a service and they’d sent me another box to put in between my computer and the router. I’d started losing track of technology the more focused I’d become in my writing.
Owen and I worked on that until Tina walked in, her tablet in one hand and holding a phone to her ear with the other.
“Uh huh. Yeah, three German Shepherds. Two males. Uh huh, both of them are now. No, they’re actually very well trained. Opus, my oldest, and Sarge’s sire, is a working K9 and therapy dog. He’s eight. Oh no worries, none of
them are pet aggressive. Yeah, I think so. We have dates open from…” She looked at me, and I shrugged; we hadn’t really planned a specific date yet. “Looks like we’re open. Do you have any… Yes, that’ll work perfect. Yeah, 48 hours for their Bordetella? I’ll have to ask the vet and get records. Uh huh. Sure!”
Tina dropped me a wink and walked out. Owen wiggled, and I let him slide off my leg. He bumbled his way after her. There was a minor collision in the doorway as Opus and Ophelia came in and Owen bounced off one and into the other. Opus chuffed and sniffed at his head before getting on the futon behind me. Ophelia rubbed her head on Owen and then walked over and sat down next to me, putting her head in my lap. Owen toddled off.
“You two staying out of trouble?” I asked.
Ophelia’s eyes changed a moment, her head turning and then she let out a soft chuff. Opus, of course sneezed, and I turned to point at him.
“You, sir, I expect more out of you,” I admonished, teasing.
He chuffed and then sneezed at me again. Jerk.
“Ok, ok,” I told them, listening to little feet heading toward the bedroom where I could hear Tina giving out her credit card information. “We’ve got to find us a trip. Sounds like Char is willing to make a little extra money. I think she and Detective Stallings are getting hot and heavy. I think she’ll be the next one to go on a cruise,” I teased them.
Opus stretched out and yawned deeply. I didn’t blame him. Despite me getting older, I’d avoided slowing down. For him though, it was sort of painful to see the progression of him aging. He was in his senior years. I didn’t blame him wanting a nap one bit. Heck, there were plenty of days I wanted one too.
“Bingo,” I said, finding something interesting.
“I got a set of dates booked for the furry kids,” Tina said, walking in with Owen on her hip. “They were a little apprehensive at first when I told them they should be kept together, but they remember the news story.”
I cringed. There’s a couple ways for a guy like me to get famous, and I wasn’t comfortable with either. First was from notoriety of the kidnapping, and the second was because I was an author. One fed into another, and I won’t lie, book sales had soared after the events in Wyoming and Utah as the television anchors put together the journey and trip. Hell, I’d turned down 60 Minutes. I’d avoided most of the press, and they’d finally decided to leave me alone. Mostly. That was another component in why we hadn’t left for a vacation or elaborate honeymoon.
“Good, I think I found us a cruise,” I told her, sliding the chair back.
She walked over and sat on my right leg. I put my arms around her as Owen looked across her arm at me and smiled.
“Yes, your mommy is still small enough to sit on my lap,” I told him.
“And if I’m ever not too tiny?” She moved the mouse with her left hand, scrolling.
“I’ll suffer in silence,” I shot back.
“Good call,” she said, then leaned back.
“This looks perfect,” she told me.
Carnival Cruise Lines.
“Look at that,” I said as Owen scrambled off of her lap and did the toddler walk to the futon.
“Owen?”
“No, it’s half the price if we drive to Miami instead of Galveston.”
“Oh yeah, that’s weird. I haven’t been to Florida much, just as a kid to see Mickey Mouse.”
“Meeheee house?” Owen asked as he crawled up next to Opus and then sat back, bouncing off the back cushion of the futon without disturbing the half awake pooch.
“Not this time,” Tina said. “And if we go down to Miami, we can avoid the southwest altogether.”
She voiced the main reason why it had caught my eye. Texas was a long hike from Utah and probably another half a day to drive across it or better to get to Galveston, but it was too close. I was over it, but sometimes…
“That sounds good to me,” I told her. “Four day or seven day?”
“It’s entirely up to you,” she said sweetly, leaning back into me.
“My mommy!” Owen said loudly, making Tina snicker.
“Don’t worry, baby man, I’m not stealing her,” I told him.
“How about a seven day?” I asked her. “I can drive it in a day or two, we’re gone for seven and we can come back slow; maybe even hug the coast for a while?” I asked her.
“My, oh my. You want to get out and see the sights?” she said, turning.
Opus chuffed from his spot behind me, and Ophelia made a whining sound.
“Yep,” I told her simply, “but looks like you better cancel the dog sitter in Houston.” I poked her in the side. “We have to find somebody closer to Florida.”
In a way, packing for the cruise was both easier and harder than just packing for the property up north to go visit War Wagon. For one thing, I usually brought up extra supplies to pack for the bugout up there. I’d made a pretty sizable stash here as well, but I had started keeping stuff in the van. That redundancy made things easier for me, but I worried it’d make me too complacent. Still, I put together a list as Tina coordinated with Annette and got the tickets booked for everybody. I threw it all on my card, despite Annette’s protests. She and Bud had helped me out and had quite literally made me an offer I couldn’t refuse on the land I’d bought. I almost felt guilty, but over time I’d realized that however it happened, they were wanting somebody to love and appreciate the area as much as they did. The solitude and quiet. Bud was a big time introvert like me, but for different reasons. Becoming second family to them was a happy bonus.
Tina got her and Owen’s stuff packed, and I got on Amazon and ordered some new summer wear. In Michigan, October was cold and everything I had didn’t fit. Since it was out of season, nothing local carried it. Tina had teased me, saying she’d gained the weight I’d lost. It was true on my part, I’d thinned out, but it was on purpose and with exercise. Something I’d been neglecting lately.
“Dayee, I wan bubye,” Owen said as I went into the pantry.
“We’re going,” I told him. “When you wake up.”
“Bye?”
“You bet,” I told him. He leaned in close, his forehead brushing against my hip.
It took me a second before I realized that he was rubbing his head on my hip, much like the dogs did. When I picked him up, he did the same thing, only against my head or neck. Who had taught him the hug? The dogs, or was he the one who’d taught the dogs that? I rubbed his head affectionately and pulled out a full bag of dog food and the spare steel dishes. I’d have to fill up a couple of water jugs, but I was ready to go.
8
Tina & Opus
Tina watched through half lidded eyes as Rick drove. He’d gotten her and Owen up at 4 a.m. He claimed that if they left right then they could avoid all the traffic snarls of Detroit, Toledo, and a couple other big cities. Everything, all but themselves, had already been packed. Rick had already let the dogs out, and they were waiting, with Sarge sitting on her seat.
Still, her heart soared in an excitement she hadn’t felt in a couple years. This was a whole new adventure in a different direction. She knew things were going to be good, and she felt like bursting with every new word combination and sentence Owen made. She hadn’t remembered feeling this whole and complete before.
The big van she called Rick’s creeper van was comfortable though. The seats up front were comfortable and the suspension made sitting up front like being in a rocking boat or chair as they went across uneven pavement. Between them, Opus watched from next to Owen, with Ophelia on the other side on the bench seat. Sarge had tried to wedge himself on top of her to get his head out the window, but it was too cold and instead he’d picked the spot between the seats and was also snoring softly. Her eyes were getting heavy, even though she knew the sun was about to break across the horizon.
Opus woke with a start. He’d been having a dream about the squirrels again, and in it they had taken his humans. He was more of a superficial thinker and shrugged it off
. He saw that his human, Rick, had some sort of headphones on. The rest of the van was silent except for the sounds of everyone else sleeping. Opus stood up and stretched. Rick caught the movement from the rearview mirror and put his hand back. Opus sniffed it for a treat, but finding none, he licked the hand. A reminder to make sure to send the sausage bites back next time, but his human felt the need for comfort.
Opus was used to long trips and remembered one he wished he could forget. This trip, though, was different. They weren’t going north into the woods, the sun was on the wrong side, the way it was when they came back from the woods to the mini-storage. Except the smell was wrong. They were going a different way that he’d never gone, at least since he’d adopted this big family. The road blurred by, cars passing them with a burst of air that seemed to make the big van sway. His legs were used to this; he loved going for a ride with his older humans, and it didn’t take him any thinking.
He looked over and saw the human baby, Owen, was asleep. He figured he should warn the humans in the front that he’d done something foul smelling in his sleep, but they didn’t know how to listen to him. That was when he got an idea. He got down on the floor and then spun around in a circle, making a whining sound. Rick looked back in the rearview, and Opus whined again.
“You have to go to the bathroom?” Rick asked, pulling his earbuds off.
Opus scrambled to an excited attention, waking up Ophelia, who heard the word bathroom. She also hopped off the bench seat and was fighting to get in the middle, pushing against Opus’ shoulder, waking Sarge up. The bark didn’t only wake up the dogs. Owen started to cry, and the human Tina yawned and stretched.
“Where are we?” Tina asked.
“Not sure yet, pulling into a rest stop to let the critters out to water the lawns.”
“Sounds good, I’m going to get Owen out, check his diaper, and get a bottle going,” Tina said, still yawning.
Opus Adventure Page 4
