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“Burgers and fries. Two sweet teas. Don’t tell me you don’t want it. Charlie’s gonna need two healthy parents when he goes home.”
Betty burst into tears.
Ray stood and hugged him, then opened the sacks and began passing out food to Betty.
“Here, sugar. Aaron’s right.”
Aaron sat with them as they began to eat. “Have you heard any news from Sheriff Woodley?” he asked.
Ray shook his head as he was chewing his first bite.
“That’s par for the course,” Aaron said. “Don’t lose heart. Cops don’t talk about leads, or lack thereof. But rest assured, the local police and the county are both on this. Have you been allowed to see Charlie yet?”
Betty took a sip of her drink before she could talk, and even then, her voice was trembling.
“Yes,” she said, and explained the extent of Charlie’s injuries. “And I have to say, seeing him in that hospital bed hooked up to God knows how many machines is far less frightening than finding him in the woods all covered in blood. I have never been so scared in my life. I thought he was dead.”
“Charlie’s come this far. I have to think there’s a reason he’s still with us,” Aaron said. “Anyway…I just wanted you to know we’re here for you. If you need anything. Anything at all…just call.”
“Your mother and Sean have already stepped up to help. They’re tending to our animals until we can get home,” Ray said. “We are so grateful, and thank you for the food.”
“Absolutely,” Aaron said. “I’m going to leave you to eat in peace. Try to sleep when you can. I’ll be back on duty tomorrow. I’ll try to stop by to see you before I leave town.”
And then he was gone.
Ray watched him walking away and then glanced at Betty.
“He looks like a younger version of Cameron, doesn’t he?”
She nodded. “Yes, and Charlie has that same build and look. All that black hair and he’s growing so tall.” Then she took a bite of her burger and leaned back to chew. “I didn’t think I could eat, but this does taste good. I wonder how he knew?”
Ray shrugged. “Shirley and her boys have been through their own seven levels of hell. I think they’ve learned the hard way what really matters in life.”
Unaware he was the topic of conversation, Aaron was already leaving Jubilee and headed up the mountain. The road was dark and winding, but he was getting used to the dips and curves. He now knew to watch out for random deer leaping out of the woods and freezing in the headlights, and to slow down for the occasional raccoon waddling across the road.
He was a little surprised at how easily they’d slipped into the footsteps of their people, and how quickly his grandmother’s house had become their home. Without the constant reminders of his father’s crimes, the memories from Conway were beginning to fade.
He was pulling up to the house when he thought of Dani Owens, and the shocked look on her face when she heard his name. But it wasn’t the look of hate or disgust that had come with their connection to Clyde Wallace. It had been a look of disbelief that he was connected to the man from the journal she’d found.
She was pretty, but there was something fragile about her. She appeared to be a little leery of the mess she’d unintentionally become involved in, but that wasfair. And since she was moving to Jubilee, odds were that he would see her again.
He heard a hound baying somewhere on the mountain as he got out of the car, and paused, letting the sound roll through him. The hound was hunting, likely chasing, and whatever it was chasing was running for its life. Being alive in the world was hard when there was always something or someone who could bring you to an end.
Then he shrugged off the melancholy and went inside to the welcome sound of laughter, and the voices of the people he loved.
Dani was in her hotel room, fresh from a shower and curled up on the bed in her pajamas, watching TV. She kept thinking about her day and how convoluted her life had become just because of what she’d witnessed. She thought of the boy who’d been shot, and how frightened his parents must be.
If the man she’d seen was truly the shooter, she was glad she’d seen him and found the journal. Hopefully they would catch him and put him away for good.
It had been hours since her early supper, and she was thinking about raiding the mini-fridge for a snack when her cell phone rang. She muted the TV, then rolled over and grabbed her cell phone.
“Hello, this is Dani.”
“Miss Owens. This is Amber Collins from Jubilee Realty. Your application has been approved, and if you’re still interested in the little two-bedroom, bath-and-a-half cottage on Glass Avenue, it’s yours.”
Dani stifled a squeal. “Wonderful!” she said. “Yes, I am. I want it.”
“Great,” Amber said. “If you’ll come by the office anytime tomorrow, we’ll do the paperwork, and you can pick up your keys.”
