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Kent skidded to a halt. “You’re joking.”
“I’m not.”
“Did they investigate?”
“Yep. Sent out a social worker and everything. But they didn’t pursue anything. With what those people see all the time, they aren’t going to spend their limited resources pursuing a couple with well-cared-for kids and a penchant for the occasional loud argument.”
“That must be a relief,” Kent said, walking on.
“Yeah, except George wasn’t finished. He has a sister-in-law who works in family services. And even though no one there wants to pursue anything against Leon and Meg, George’s sister-in-law won’t let it go, and she’s pretty high up in the food chain. She made it clear that if Meg and Leon don’t quit fighting, she’ll take action against them.”
“That’s not fair. Surely Meg and Leon wouldn’t push it to that point.”
“Yeah, that’s what you’d think. But like I said, they’re stubborn, and they don’t think they’re doing anything wrong. They don’t take the threats seriously, Kent. They think that because they’re Joneses living in Zeke’s Bend they’re untouchable.”
“Are they right?”
“Maybe about some things, but not this. This is state level action. They could be in serious trouble, and those kids would be the ones to pay the price.”
Kent was disgusted. “Someone needs to talk sense into them. Meg, Leon, George, the social services woman, all of them.”
“Believe me, we’ve tried over and over.”
“Is George serious? He’d actually have their children taken away because of a feud over ten feet of land? He must be a piece of work.”
“He can be a hothead,” Phae answered, “But this is above and beyond. His wife, Amy, is a sweet woman, and she’s tried to get him to realize that he’s pushed it too far. It’s a mess, Kent, and there’s not a Jones in Zeke’s Bend who can figure out how to fix it.”
“Except you,” he said, experiencing a strange sense of pride that she was brave enough to step up and try to do something to fix the seemingly unfixable. “You’re doing something.”
“I’m trying. Do you know how to climb a barbed wire fence?”
“I hope that question is rhetorical.”
“Nope,” she answered. “There’s one right up here. And there will be another one before we hit the city limits. Can you handle it?”
He bristled. “Of course.”
A few moments later, Kent wished he hadn’t spoken so soon. He poked his finger through the big hole in his blue jeans. If he didn’t quit tromping all over the countryside, he was going to run out of pants.
“You did pretty good,” she said pleasantly as they continued their trek, “for a city boy.”
“I did spend my summers here, you know.”
“Apparently James didn’t teach you about barbed wire fences.”
“Most of the time, Aunt Eugenia wouldn’t let me leave her yard.”
Phae laughed, a silvery, bell-like sound that made Kent happy.
When he couldn’t think of anything to make her laugh again, he said, “Back to Meg and Leon. Do you really think their kids aren’t affected by those fights?”
“All I know for sure is that whenever anyone asks the girls about it, they shrug and say they’ve gotten used to it. After their former lives with an out-of-control alcoholic, it probably doesn’t seem too terrible. Besides, those girls are loud themselves. In fact, lots of the Joneses are loud, even the adopted ones.”
“And fiery. You Joneses are a fiery lot.” Didn’t he know it?
“Can’t argue with you. And some of us are crazy superstitious, Uncle Leon being one of the worst. Black cats, walking under ladders, spilled salt, full moons, on and on. You saw how he was with that rabbit’s foot. He believes that nasty thing brings him luck.”
“Do you think he’ll believe that it actually was ‘Fate’ who stole his truck tonight? He can’t be that gullible. Fate left him a note? I don’t know.”
“He looked pretty scared to me,” Phae said, “but I’m not certain, either.”
“If he’s still looking for those keys, I bet he’s anything but scared right now.”
“You’re probably right. But it’s all I’ve got. I’m pretty sure he won’t call Meg to bring him a spare set.”
“Yeah. Doubt that would go over well the way things are.”
“I figured it would be a lot easier to scare Uncle Leon out of visiting that bar than it would be to try something with Aunt Meg. I couldn’t fool her for a moment, about anything.”
Kent laughed, recalling something at the bar. “I just realized why you meowed at your uncle back there. Black cat?”
“Yep. It lives at a farm up the road. Let’s say I borrowed him for an adventure. Uncle Leon hates black cats. And that note you read? I wrote it in disappearing ink.”
“He’s got to realize it’s a put on.”
“Maybe,” she said. “But all I want to put in his head is that whenever he goes out drinking, he’s going to be unlucky. He can attribute that bad luck to anything he wants, cats, fate, kids pulling a prank, whatever. As long as he knows he’ll have bad luck, I’m counting on that to do the trick.”
“And the trick is …”
“I think he’d love to have an excuse to quit going out, but he can’t give in because of what happened with his first wife. I’m giving him the excuse he needs, so he can do what Meg wants without doing it because she demands it. He’ll do it because of other reasons.”
Kent admired her way of thinking. “That’s very wise.”
She mumbled a modest thanks.
They tramped over the hilly countryside in companionable silence for a while. Kent took deep breaths of the heavy, muggy air. He was becoming accustomed to the humidity, though he doubted he’d ever come to like it.
He made a better show of climbing over the second barbed wire fence, taking more time and making it to the other side unscathed in person and pants.
Phae rewarded him with a friendly smack on his back and a, “I’ll make a country boy out of you yet.”
Not much farther and he realized they were close to town.
“That was fast,” he said, looking at the glow of a familiar convenience store which sat on the edge of the city limits.
Phae stood close to him, the bulky mask dangling from her fingertips. “It’s my shortcut.” She glanced around the area. “We should split up now so we won’t attract notice. You know where we are, don’t you?”
“Yes, but I was hoping we could go back to your place and you could start my lessons. Why don’t we split up here and rendezvous back at your house?”
Phae shook her head. In the shadowy light, he could make out her expression. She actually looked tender. “It’s not a good idea. I do what I do because I care about these people. I know who they are. I can’t teach you about that.”
“I care about people.”
“I’m sure you do. But you can’t know what all of this means to me and I can’t explain it in ten easy lessons. I can’t show it to you either. You’d have to find it out for yourself. Besides, we have more problems than this one. You could be taking that job in Phoenix and I’m not leaving Zeke’s Bend, Kent. This is my home, and I love it. We should cut our losses and part as friends.”
Kent knew she was right about the Phoenix part, though he didn’t want to admit it. He’d have to make a decision about the future of his company soon.
“If you won’t help me learn how to be Captain Nice Guy,” he said, “then I guess I’ll have to teach myself.”
“You won’t listen to reason, will you? Well, whatever. You do love a good spectacle, if this past week and a half is anything to judge by. But don’t expect me to change my mind about us.”
“Come on, Phae. You can’t fool me. A part of you loved everything today. And if we hadn’t been interrupted by your cousins, we wouldn’t even be having this conversation. We’d still be in bed, which is where we should have been all alon
g.”
She gave an un-ladylike snort. “I won’t fight with you. You do what you’re going to do and I’ll do what I’m going to do. One word of advice, though. If you’re serious about helping people, then you’d better learn how to get around without making so much noise. I don’t want to feel guilty because you wound up getting chewed on by a dog or shot by an overzealous homeowner.”
He desperately wanted to say, “That’s exactly what I worry about happening to you,” but he kept his big mouth shut for once. Instead, he said, “Thanks for the vote of confidence. And I have a word of advice for you, also. This is the second time you’ve refused my truce offers. If you thought it’s been bad so far, wait until Monday. My advice is that you shouldn’t refuse my third offer. I’m not giving up.”
Phae smiled. “Fine, then may the best woman win.”
“That’s ‘man,’” Kent called out to her as she jogged away. “May the best man win!”
She responded with the same little wave she’d used at the park on Independence Day. He watched her lope away, her long legs stretching gracefully. Even in baggy pants, she had the best pair of legs he’d ever seen.
He vowed that he would make her come around. She was softening toward him, though he couldn’t say precisely how he knew that. Perhaps it was that she sensed he truly was sorry for over-reacting the other day, and he truly did want to know why she had to be a secret do-gooder ninja.
