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Maggie handed the plaque to Lexi and tucked a lock of dark brown hair behind her ear. Tugging Lexi into her arms, Maggie hugged the living, breathing memento of Matt and whispered in her ear.
“Be especially nice to your grandpa today.”
Lexi gave her a puzzled look, but the important thing was that she hugged back.
Chapter 12
“You want to tell me what that was all about?”
Once Jack got Maggie in his truck, he turned to her. The tension in the room had been palpable, and he’d had to bite his tongue not to intervene.
Maggie latched her seatbelt. “They had the missing boxes all along.”
“On purpose?”
This had to be Richard’s doing, but although the man was a bully, Jack wouldn’t have pegged him for a thief.
“Richard kept them from me when we moved out. He was trying to hold on to something of Matt’s, and he’d already lost his bid for Lexi.”
“You’re not mad.” She seemed calm, at peace, but if it were him, he’d be show-me-the-punching-bag angry.
“I was for about five minutes. Now I’m sadder more than anything else. Richard is such a lost person. He has to live with the fact that he didn’t love his son the way he should have, while he had the chance. None of us are promised tomorrow.”
Those words hit him in the gut like he hadn’t expected. His thoughts ran immediately to Robert.
“It sounds like he has regrets, but that has nothing to do with you.”
“Maybe not, but I had my own regrets. I looked back and wondered if I could have done anything to affect the outcome. If I might have talked Matt out of taking that drive. Even so, I believe that all things work together for the good of those who love God. And I know Matt loved God. It’s just that the story isn’t over yet.”
There was only one event he relived over and over in his mind.What if?He changed the subject, because he wasn’t here to burden Maggie but to keep her busy.
“Do you mind if I take you on a drive?”
“I do have the day off.”
“Then I’ve got something I want to show you.”
Jack figured Chief would be OK at home for a couple of hours since he’d already proved himself. The dog obviously belonged to someone. Jack wondered who would have been careless enough to lose such a great dog.
He turned left on to Highway 129 and started the drive toward Pinecrest, the location of the ski lodge and a fifteen-mile drive from Harte’s Peak. Though comfortably situated at a three thousand foot elevation, the altitude increased with every mile toward Pinecrest, at five thousand feet.
Small patches of snow still remained on the sides of the highway and in small melting dollops that clung to the trees even though the snow had already melted in their town.
Just before Pinecrest, he turned on to a side road. Empty land lay on both sides, part of the county’s protected land. His secret place.
“This is it.” He turned off the truck. “It’s just a short walk.”
They hiked a small distance into the woods, approaching the cavernous forest valley of trees that lay below. He saw the rock immediately, a large boulder completely out of place in thesewoods. It stood about four feet tall and far enough from the cliff to be safe.
Jack climbed on to the rock and offered Maggie his hand. The top of this rock offered a unique view of the wide expanse below them, and trees glistened in the sunlight as small bits of snow melted away, the only remnants of winter.
He wanted Maggie to see the beauty of the landscape, something they took for granted every day. This was the only place in which he almost felt the presence of God.If God is anywhere at all, He has to be here. And He must be proud of His creation.
“Wow.” Maggie seemed to drink it in and smiled.
“How did you find this place?”
“I was called to help a stranded motorist who neglected to bring chains. I saw the rock in the distance, and I came back here a few weeks ago. Quite a view, isn’t it?”
