Page 50 of Four Calling Birds

Her mouth opened, and she stilled, like a deer on the road. Then her mouth shut as she remembered how to breathe. She was staring at Veder’s green eyes. Holy shit, he still had that effect on women. I had forgotten about that.

“I-I-I…” She looked at me for help.

“Use your words,” Veder said, his eyes darkening into a smolder.

If I was a woman, I probably would have handed him my panties right then and there.

“My car broke down, and I have to get food, because I didn’t get it earlier. And I know everything will be closed for Christmas. My brother is pissed, and I just don’t know what to do.” A tear fell down her cheek. “But now I feel so stupid because I’m interrupting you. God, she must hate me.” Her eyes turned to the now empty front door where Lotte had been standing. “I don’t even know why I bothered to come here, when I don’t even know what we can afford to get. Jesus, I just felt like I had to do something, and now I’m here…”

“Momma Mack doesn’t hate anyone.” Veder’s voice was even and authoritative. The kid was right, of course. Mellie and Lotte met under strained circumstances, but in general, my wife wasn’t the jealous type. Now that our marriage stood on solid ground, Lotte would go back to the kind, loving woman she had always been.

I looked between Veder and Mellie, and a picture started to form in my mind. Sure, Mellie had come to talk tome,but now I felt like I was interrupting something between these two kids.

“I can give you a ride.” Again, Veder wasn’t really offering a suggestion. Just stating fact, and laying down a plan. “Or you can just take my truck.”

He fished the keys from his massive, olive-green jacket. He leaned down and grabbed Mellie’s bare hand. They were pale, but the ends were red against the cold.

“And she’s right,” he said, pulling off his jacket. “You must be freezing.”

Without asking for permission, he put his jacket around her shoulders.

“Momma Mack?” Mellie was absolutely confused.

“My wife.” I finally said, knowing that this would be a weird blow for the girl.

“You have awife?” Her eyes went wide in complete shock, her mouth open like a guppy. “Oh my God… I…”

She looked around like she was caught with her hand in a cookie jar. Like she expected cop cars to pop up at any moment. I almost laughed but bit my lower lip to refrain. She didn’t need me embarrassing her anymore.

“We had a misunderstanding about the state of our marriage,” I explained. “When I told you I was divorced, I meant it. I was just… mistaken.”

Her cheeks went pink, she gasped, as if trying to breathe again. She laughed. It was such a sad sound of disappointment and defeat. “You have a wife.”

“He sure does,” Veder said in that flat tone, even as his eyes cut to me with a slightly annoyed look. “I’ve got some cash in my bag. Let me just go to the barn and get it.”

He trotted away in his t-shirt, disappearing between the open barn doors.

She brought the collar of Veder’s jacket to her nose, taking a deep inhale. I assumed that he had bathedandwashed his things, because she didn’t immediately keel over and turn green. I have no idea when he had time to do it, since he had never come in to do his laundry in the big house. He gave the guest house a pretty wide berth. He also never bathed in the main house, or anywhere else, as far as I knew. Did he bathe in the frigid stream or something? Like a fucking caveman? I should ask him one day.

“That’s Greg, by the way,” I finally said. “Greg Veder.”

Veder came back out with a wad of cash in his hand. Green Benjamins. A lot of them.

“Jesus!” I called out to him, with a laugh. “Have you been stuffing your pension under your mattress or what?”

He didn’t smile. He didn’t do anything, other than keep walking up to us, his head held high. Higher that I had seen it all month, if I was honest. It looked good on him.

And the way Mellie looked at him was like she was staring at an Angel come to save her from the demons that were pounding at her door.

“Is….” Mellie bit down on her lower lip before she tried to speak again. “Is he for real?”

Epilogue

Lotte

ChristmasDay

“I’m happy to have them all here,” I whispered as I lay naked on top of my husband after he gave me what he called a “Happy Christmas”.

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