Page 11 of Forever Finds Us
Tab giggled. “Or more like how she fits into it.”
“The woman is fine.”
“You really are old, you know that?”
“What? The kids don’t say ‘fine’ anymore?”
“No, old man, they don’t. Speaking of, I hope they find Natalie. I’m so worried she’s hurt. What if they can’t get an ambulance up there when they find her?”
“Depends on where she wandered off to, but they have helicopters. They use them when people get stuck in avalanches during ski season.”
She lifted her hand to her chest. “Oh my.”
“Ha! Who’s old now?”
“It feels right for Bax to be married again,” Merv said later that night as she relaxed into her recliner and grabbed her TV remote.
It still felt weird seeing her lounging on brand-new furniture. My mother had owned one couch for the last twenty years until I built this house for her and bought her all new furniture. She cried when she opened the high-end set of ceramic pots and pans I’d picked up for her after I saw her eyeing them at the home goods store the last time I’d come home.
“They seem happy,” I agreed, leaning against the counter in her kitchen, sipping a beer and admiring my crews’ handiwork. I couldn’t remember the last time I’d enjoyed a beer. Not at a work dinner or a fundraiser, but just because I wanted one and had the time to drink it and taste it.
The three houses we’d built last year for Merv, Abey and Devo, and Rye had turned out really well. Merv seemed happy to be in a house again, as opposed to the beat-up trailer she’d sequestered herself to after my father died. She also loved the picture I’d shown her of the SUV I’d bought for her, and hopefully she’d get to drive the damn thing when the dealership delivered it. The engine had some defect that had triggered a recall, but my standing and name had earned me a brand-new vehicle. I didn’t have to wait for an appointment with the Ford service guys, and someone would register the new truck at the DMV for Merv and deliver it personally, free of charge.
Thankfully, Tab had agreed to drive my truck down when she moved to Wisper so she could use the bed to haul some of her belongings to her new rental cottage in town. She had been planning to go back for the rest of her things, but I’d convinced her to let me hire a moving company to bring down her furniture, bed, and her car. She’d stayed in Abey’s and Devo’s guest room while she waited for it to arrive.
Thinking about her getting stuck in the dark on the side of the road like I had, my thoughts drifted back to Natalie.
Merv mumbled, “Wish I could see you and Dixon married before I die.”
“You alright here, Mama?” I asked, completely ignoring that comment. “I think I’m gonna go out and have another look around for Natalie.”
“You can’t go out there!” she yelped, swiveling in her chair to look at me. “There’s a serial killer on the loose.”
“What? Who said that?”
“Nobody, but it could be. That poor girl.”
“She’s not dead, Mama. She’s just lost.”
Leave it to Merv to draw the most dire conclusion. “You don’t know that.”
“Okay, well if there really were a killer on the loose, wouldn’t you rather it be me who goes up against him and not you or Athena?”
“Don’t even say that.”
“I’m right though. Admit it.”
“Just be careful,” she said. “And don’t forget your bear spray.”
“Yes, ma’am.”
I grabbed my lined flannel from her front closet, swiped the bear spray, a flashlight, and a blue Lee Construction ball cap from the closet shelf, and I left as she clicked on her TV. I’d bought her a new satellite and a sixty-inch flat screen that I mounted on the wall, and you would’ve thought she was thirteen and the TV was a pony. I’d never seen her so damn happy. But what good was money if all it did was sit in a bank? Although, it occurred to me that maybe I had used my good fortune to try to make up for being gone from my family’s lives for so long.
It wasn’t my intention, but they’d never asked me for anything, so outfitting Merv’s new house with nice things and setting up a college fund for Athena and Stu was the least I could do. To know that if Bax needed the money, it would be there for him and the kids filled me with pride. I knew how hard it was to work full time while trying to go to school, and if a small portion of the ridiculous amount I had in my savings would afford my niece and nephew peace of mind, I had no problem parting with it.
My money was also there to support Bax in our new businesses. Farming could be a crapshoot these days. If the ranch business failed or took too long to bring in a profit, I could help. Bax and Rye seemed to have things under control, so it most likely wouldn’t be necessary, but if it ever were, my brother would never have a problem feeding his family. There’d be no fucking bologna and cheese sandwiches for them.
Technically, I’d be helping myself, too, since I was part-owner of both the cabin business and the ranch, but I was more of a silent partner. Lee Construction had always been my main focus and I wasn’t sure that would ever change.
