Twenty

 

 

 

 

 

Sixteen years spent in the Army had given Colt ample time to hone the Apache instincts he’d been born with. Those instincts kicked in as soon as he woke to little Maddie patting his cheeks again.

“Good morning, Little Bit,” Colt mumbled, sitting up on one elbow. “What’s up?”

“Tibby’s gone.”

“What?”

From the other side of the bed, Naomi crawled out from under the covers, grabbing her robe. “How long has she been gone, Maddie?”

The little girl lifted her shoulders. “Her bed was empty when I went into her room.”

“Come with me,” Naomi instructed, taking Maddie’s hand and steering her into the hallway. “Let’s go see if we can find her. Where are the dogs?”

Colt pulled on his jeans and a pullover, slipped his feet into his Nikes. “Want me to call Brent?”

Taking out his cell phone, ready to punch in the number, he saw Naomi shake her head.

“The dogs are gone, too. Maybe she just took them out for a walk.”

“We can hope,” Colt said, snatching up his keys and moving out the front door.

Under cloudy skies, he could smell rain. Glancing up and down the street, he was dismayed when there was no sign of Tibby.

After starting up the truck, he drove through the few streets that were left. Naomi’s neighborhood, such as it was, had been abandoned decades earlier when most of the development stymied during an economic downturn. Homebuilding never recovered. Few houses were left in the area. Those that remained were vacant, boarded-up eyesores. There were a few exceptions, but to find a house that anyone lived in, one had to go three blocks to the south.

Colt started there and spotted her almost immediately. Tibby had Deke and Ginger on their leashes, both dogs pulling her along. She looked like she was struggling to maintain control.

He pulled up to the curb. “Need some help?”

“What are you doing here?”

“That was my second question to you.”

“You were worried about me?”

“Um, yes. Maddie said you were gone.”

“Jeez, I just took the dogs for a walk and got carried away.” Tibby looked over her shoulder and realized she’d gone blocks past where she intended to stop.

“Maybe leave a note next time. Get in and I’ll drive you back.”

The dogs hopped into the truck, tongues lolling, tails wagging. “What did you do, wear them out?”

“Ginger woke me up licking my face. I thought she needed to go out so I found Deke’s leash and we headed outside. I thought I was doing a good thing.”

“Next time don’t go so far. There’s a reason for that. Until we get the lawsuit finished, the entire thing, we all need to have each other’s backs. We can’t do that if we don’t know where everyone is. Try to be patient with us, Tibby. Naomi and I don’t mean to overreact. We’re new at this and a little…overly cautious.”

Tibby smiled. “Okay. I get it. I’ll stay closer to home.”

“Not possible starting Monday when you enroll in school. We’ll talk about afterschool care later.”

“I’m too old for a babysitter.”

“No, you’re not. Maybe when this is done, we’ll talk about other arrangements. But until you’ve left Idaho completely in your rearview mirror, there are precautions to take. Naomi and I have an idea about that. And we’re working on a team effort here. In the meantime, could you just…”

“Not make waves. Not screw up,” Tibby supplied.

“That’s very perceptive of you. So, yeah, try to stay out of trouble.”

When they returned to the house, Naomi met them at the door. She sized up the moods of both parties and deemed them friendly. Making that determination, she simply said, “I made coffee.”

Colt leaned over to Naomi and whispered, “I thought you locked our bedroom door last night.”

“I thought I did, too.”

“Then how does Maddie keep getting in?”

“Determination? Persistence?”

“That’s not funny. I’ll go check the lock, make sure it works.”

Tibby felt she needed to set the record straight. “I just took the dogs out. I wasn’t running off. But Colt explained how I should stay close to home and not worry you guys.”

“Surely you can understand why we’re playing it safe,” Naomi said as she made her way into the kitchen. “I’m sure everyone’s hungry. I’ll make omelets for breakfast.”

After the meal was done and they cleaned up the dishes, Naomi got everyone around the table.

“Colt and I talked it over. While he hangs the Christmas lights on the house today, the three of us are going shopping. You both need clothes for school. Tibby’s been wearing the same jeans since she got here. We can’t keep washing them every day. And Maddie barely has enough outfits to last for three days, let alone five.”

“I can pay,” Tibby exclaimed. “I have some money left over from my bus trip.”

Colt’s brow furrowed. “You should probably think about sending the entire amount you stole back to wherever it came from after this is all over. I don’t want you making contact with anyone in Idaho now.”

“Good call. I like that idea,” Naomi said. “Let’s get dressed then and head to the mall. After Thanksgiving it’s always packed with people hunting down a bargain and the slew of Christmas shoppers.”

Colt waited for the troops to traipse off on their quest before he left for his own. In order to make the lighting design happen that Naomi wanted, he had to plan on spending at least an hour in Ferguson’s Hardware picking up additional lights and the right kind of supplies. After filling his cart with boxes of red and green lights, extension cords, universal clips, and several packages of netting lights, he rolled his cart to checkout and spotted a couple of other items he could use—a giant-sized sleigh for the roof and candy cane lights for the walkway leading up to the porch.

The cashier took his credit card and bagged his order. As he walked to the truck, he saw Brent in the parking lot.

Brent ambled over to inspect Colt’s choice of supplies. “Looks like you got roped into putting up lights, too.”

“Looks like.”

“I have a proposition for you. If I help you, you help me. We cut the time in half and go get a beer afterward.”

“That’s the best offer I’ve heard all day. You got a deal.”

They finished Naomi’s house first and moved on to Brent’s place. By two o’clock, they were sitting at The Shipwreck nursing their beers and scarfing down burgers. They bonded over retelling their war tales about hanging the lights to anyone who would listen, proudly showing off their cuts and scrapes and bruises. They followed that up with photos from their phones proving what a great job they’d done.

 

 

The parking lot at the mall was crowded, annoyingly so. Naomi ushered the girls into a jam-packed department store anchored at the very end of the promenade, running a massive sale on everything.

In the girls’ section, they began to sort through racks of clothing. Naomi selected a stack for Maddie to try on and directed Tibby to grab her choices and head into the dressing room.

She was in the middle of helping Maddie get into a pair of jeans when a woman tapped her on the shoulder. She wheeled around to see a fortyish female standing in the open doorway trying to do her best to get a better look inside the dressing room. “Were you using this before we got here?” Naomi asked politely.

“The dressing room? Goodness no. You go ahead. But I’m so glad I ran into you like this. You’re the one who works at the bank, aren’t you? In Pelican Pointe?”

To be able to shield Maddie and protect her privacy from a stranger, Naomi took a step forward. “That’s where I work, yes. What is it you want?”

“You’ll save me a trip to the bank. My name’s Ruth Brownlee. Good thing I brought my mortgage payment with me today to Christmas shop.” The determined woman dug into her huge bag and brought out an envelope. “It’s due Monday and I didn’t want to drive all the way out to the B&B to give it to Nick. That’s out of my way, you see. I can just give it to you now instead.”

Naomi shook her head. “No, really I can’t take that. I’m not allowed…”

The woman tried to shove the payment into Naomi’s hand anyway.

“You’re not listening to me, Ms. Brownlee. It would be better if you take it to the bank on Monday yourself.”

The woman scrunched up her nose and propelled herself forward, jostling further into little Maddie’s dressing room. “But you’re standing right in front of me now. And Nick’s taken it before.”

“That might be fine for Nick. It’s his rules. But I’m not really allowed to accept payments like that, outside the bank. The mall, you see, is in another town, therefore it is definitely outside the bank. Taking money from a customer outside the bank violates bank policy.”

“Nonsense,” Ms. Brownlee spat out, moving in closer and trapping Naomi and Maddie into the corner.

Naomi leaned forward, reclaiming her space. She backed the woman out of the dressing room and into the hallway. “Look, I’m sorry, but you’ll have to either mail your payment or drive by the bank and use the twenty-four-hour drop slot like everyone else. It’s located by the front door. You can’t miss it.”

“That just sounds like some phony, made-up policy you created right here on the spot. But leave it to you and Nick to screw people over. I hear your boyfriend is going to work as a cop. He better watch out. The way things are nowadays, cops are getting killed out there right and left. He could be one of them.”

Naomi watched the woman storm off. Relieved the incident was over, she turned to catch a glimpse of terror on Tibby’s face. Behind her, Maddie had also heard every nasty word. The five-year-old had tears streaming down her face.

“Is Colt gonna get killed? Is he gonna die?” Maddie screamed.

“No, honey, no. That was just a mean woman saying bad stupid things.”

Tibby chewed on a thumbnail and muttered, “Why do nasty people have to ruin everything?”

“That’s a good question,” Naomi commiserated, knowing the confrontation had put a damper on their shopping trip.

 

 

As soon as Naomi turned the corner, Maddie and Tibby could see the house lit up in red and green, glittering in the darkness. Naomi got out and stared up at the roof. “I’m convinced Santa should have no problem seeing our house from outer space.”

“I’ve never seen so many lights before,” Tibby remarked. “Even the bushes light up.”

Wide-eyed, Maddie dashed up to where Colt sat on the porch with the dogs at his feet.

“Hey there, punkin, did you buy new clothes?”

In her awkward way, Maddie sidled up to him and put him in a hug. “Santa’s on the roof.”

“I know. But that’s not the real Santa.”

“Just a picture?”

“More like a cardboard cutout.”

“Oh.” She crawled up on his lap. “Can I ask Santa for anything?”

“Pretty much, within reason.”

“Can Santa keep people from dying?”

“No, honey, I’m sorry. Santa can’t do that.”

Maddie laid her head on Colt’s chest. “I didn’t think so.”

The girls got such a kick out of the new lawn ornaments and decorations that Naomi didn’t bother to mention the incident at the mall to Colt. Believing she’d alleviated their worries, she started dinner.

But Colt noticed Maddie had gotten clingy. The girl didn’t seem to want to let him out of her sight for even five minutes.

After a supper of turkey leftovers, they decided to take the girls to Phillips Park for the annual lighting of the Christmas tree.

“If I remember correctly from the mayor’s email, we’re supposed to bring a homemade ornament that’s suitable for weathering the outdoors,” Naomi said, rummaging through the leftover box of decorations.

“What about this tin Christmas tree with sequins for ornaments?” Tibby asked. “It looks homemade.”

“That’ll do. Now we just have to find something for Maddie to hang.”

“What about this blue and white plastic angel that looks like stained glass?”

“Perfect.”

Maddie wasn’t interested in going through ornaments. Not when she was busy watching Colt try to get another one of Naomi’s window decorations, a shimmering Santa, illuminated by a string of ten clear mini lights, to work again. He’d taken it apart and was now attempting to reassemble it using new bulbs on the inside. When he plugged it in and it lit up, Maddie clapped her hands.

“You’re amazing.”

“I am?”

“Yep. You fix things and make them pretty again.”

Colt winked at Naomi. “I think I have a fan.”

“You have three, but if we plan to make the tree lighting ceremony, we need to leave now.”

Phillips Park was crammed with people. Turns out, the event also kicked off the Second Annual Christmas Festival. Vendors had set up booths along the sidewalk. They were selling everything from food items like fudge and cookies to handmade items like jewelry, ceramics, knitted scarves, and mittens.

But the girls seemed mesmerized by the huge California balsam Christmas tree that stood in the center of the promenade, twinkling with thousands of white lights. There was music and carolers. A couple dressed up as Santa and Mrs. Claus had taken up residence in the gazebo. The line was long, but Colt figured he might as well get it over with.

That’s where Simon spotted Colt, standing at the end of the line with a little girl on his hip. He walked over with Jayden. “Fancy meeting you in line to see the jolly man. Who would’ve thought, huh?”

Colt scowled at his longtime friend. “You think I’m not scared of this lifestyle, think again.”

“Yeah. I know. Me too. Look, man, I’m sorry what I said about…everything the other night. I didn’t mean any of it. I was tired and cranky from the long flight.”

“You’ve said worse,” Colt grumbled.

“That’s the truth of it. But so have you.”

“Another time, another place.”

Simon glanced over at the little girl, drilled a finger in her belly. “What’s your name?”

Instead of answering, Maddie put her head on Colt’s shoulder.

Simon didn’t take offense. “She’s shy? Jeez, I wish mine were. They’ll talk to a lamp post.”

“She talks when she has something to say, don’t you, Maddie?”

Maddie nodded.

“Where’s Gilly?”

“She’s browsing through the vendors spending money. Where’s Naomi?”

“Same place. With Tibby. They’re looking for earrings. I think. She’ll probably spend twice as much money as Gilly.”

“What are you worried about? You’ve got it.”

“Thanks to the financial planner you set me up with.”

“Will you bring out your other cars to California?”

“I’m thinking of selling them, getting something more practical that a dad would drive.”

Simon grinned at the same sentiment he’d once spouted himself. But he stared back at his friend in wonder. “What have you done with the real Colt Del Rio?”

“Those cars are things I bought when I was single and carefree. Now…they seem out of place. They don’t fit with my life now. How’s the adoption thing going with Jayden?”

“Well, for us it’s a dual thing. Gilly’s also adopting Delaney. It consists of four interviews, two of which we’ve done already. Two months in and we’re looking at probably March for the complete process to be over. Patience is required.”

“How do you get along with Carla?”

“Not a fan at first, Carla’s all business. With her, it’s all about what’s best for the kids, though. You’re just starting the process, right?”

“We’re a few days in. Kinsey tells us we should have no problem with this one.” He bounced Maddie on his hip. “No luck yet finding relatives in China. And Idaho must relinquish Tibby before anything can proceed, so it’s basically at the starting gate. Literally. I barely have my new driver’s license and now it seems the state could be giving me kids next spring. Talk about surreal.”

“You forget I haven’t been here that long either. Gilly’s the only one of us who’s a native Californian. Like I said, patience.”

The two men finally reached the front of the line and Maddie balked, refusing to budge out of Colt’s arms. Jayden took Maddie’s lead and followed suit, going into a shy routine.  After spending forty-five minutes in line, neither man could get the kids to sit on Santa’s lap or go near Mrs. Claus.

“Can you believe this?” Simon groused. “He’s never shy. Jayden must’ve caught it from Maddie.”

“Yeah, you just keep telling yourself that,” Colt fired back. “Your kid set a bad example for mine. Maddie, honey, if you go tell Santa what you want for Christmas, we’ll get some ice cream.”

“Chocolate?”

“You bet.”

“Two scoops?”

“Sure.”

“And sprinkles?”

“Sprinkles it is.”

“Will you go up there with me to see Santa?”

“Absolutely.” Colt proceeded up the steps with Maddie, leaving Simon and Jayden to figure things out for themselves. Over his shoulder, Colt heard Simon making the same bargaining pitch to Jayden. “Come on, buddy. If Maddie can do it, so can you.”

 

 

While they ate their ice cream, the vendors began packing up, and Naomi suggested they see a movie. “The Driftwood is showing A Christmas Story.”

At first, the girls seemed excited but ended up bickering about everything once they got into the theater.

“Just give me the bag,” Tibby yelled at Maddie.

“No!”

“Shh,” Naomi cautioned. “Keep your voices down.”

“Maddie’s being a brat. She’s touching all the gummy bears just so she can pick out all the purple ones,” Tibby complained.

“Maddie, give me the bag,” Naomi instructed.

“No! I got to get all the purple ones out. They taste the best.”

“Honey, they all taste the same no matter what color they are,” Naomi said wearily.

Colt put an end to the argument by tapping Tibby on the shoulder and motioning her toward the lobby. “Let’s get your own bag.”

While they stood in line at the candy counter, Tibby looked bored. Out of the blue, she wanted to know, “Why do you want to be a cop anyway?”

Surprised by the question, Colt’s mind sputtered for an answer. “It’s almost like what I was trained to do in the Army. Almost.”

“So you’ll carry a gun?”

“Sure.” He paid for the extra bag of gummy bears and didn’t notice Tibby biting her nails again.