Reed shook his head, resisted the desire to hang up. “You’re forgetting, Frank. I’m partial to a couple of two-legged creatures, as well—my sons, and if you believe for one second that I’m going to entrust them to your care...”
“All right, Reed. Calm down. I didn’t broach this topic the way I’d planned to. I wanted to first say that Candace and I are both willing and able to take the kids. We both love them. They would have a caring and supportive home with us.”
Reed couldn’t stop the next words. “Frank, your second wife is two years younger than Helen. I would think you’d have enough of a playmate in her, and you wouldn’t need my sons.”
After a moment of uncomfortable silence, Frank said, “You’re going to regret saying that.”
“I already do. I apologize. That remark was uncalled for, especially since I don’t spend much time thinking about your personal life at all.”
“You remember Judge Olson, don’t you, Reed? He was elected to the Georgia circuit court system. He and I play golf at least once a week. I’ve explained this situation to him, and he has considerable influence...”
“Frank, I’m busy, and this conversation is over. If you’d like to see the boys, plan on no more than an hour or so and call first.” Reed disconnected the call. His hand was shaking so badly he thought he might break his cell phone. This wasn’t the first time Frank had hinted that he wanted custody of Phillip and Justin, but it was certainly the most blatant.
The threat from Helen’s father was one of the reasons Reed had moved from Bucks County. Maybe he hadn’t been the greatest dad in the world before now, but he was certainly trying to do the right thing since moving to Bufflehead Creek. No matter what cost or frustration he was experiencing with his sons, no matter the weight of responsibility on his shoulders, there was no way he was going to relinquish his flesh and blood to Frank Holbrook.
It would never happen. Anticipating Frank’s power and influence, Reed had consulted his own attorney and was assured that as long as the boys were well cared for, there was no court in the country that would take them from a rightful parent. Still, Frank’s call had been upsetting. And Reed didn’t need upsetting in his life right now.
He jammed his phone into his pocket and went back to the easy job of merely supervising the construction of a future with his sons.
* * *
FROM A DISTANCE Cam watched the activity at the Bolden property. She had planned to pick Esther up at school and run errands afterward. Her thinking was that if Essie wasn’t home, she wouldn’t ask about the horse. But she changed her mind and waited for the school bus as usual, her own curiosity having gotten the better of her.
All day the workers put finishing touches on Reed’s house. In a little more than a week, the lot had been prepared and the house erected on the flattest part of the property. Reed came to the barn to feed and care for his horses in the morning but didn’t stay and didn’t come to the house to see Camryn. Just as well, she thought. She’d embarrassed herself enough the day before. She didn’t want to discuss the pony incident again.
When Esther got home, she didn’t ask to ride the pony again. Even she could tell that other matters were priorities at the Bolden house. Shortly after the bus dropped the kids off, Reed and his boys climbed in the SUV and left for a while. They arrived home in time to see more building materials delivered. Camryn assumed the huge metal panels were for the structures that would make up Reed’s clinics.
On Thursday workers arrived to make sense of the piles of construction materials, and a pair of small but sturdy buildings began to take shape. This time when Reed came to see to his horses, he wandered up to the house and knocked on the door.
Camryn couldn’t deny that his appearance through her door window made her heart skip a couple of beats. Though the erratic rhythm didn’t signal a panic attack. No, this was something much more pleasant. Drying her hands on a dish towel, she opened the door.
Reed grinned at her, said a friendly hello. “How are you feeling?” he asked. “No more incidents like that dizzy spell you had before?”
She didn’t correct him. If he thought she suffered from dizzy spells that was better than him knowing she had panic attacks.
“No. I’m fine. I know I overreacted on Tuesday. Sorry if I worried anyone.”
“Don’t apologize. You were right. I had no business allowing your daughter on that pony without having checked with you first—” the smile stayed in place “—even if she was perfectly safe.”
She smiled back. “Okay, you’ve made your point.”
“Anyway, I’ve left you alone for a couple of days just in case you were still angry.”
“I’m not angry. I’m over it. Still I wonder when our children are ever ‘perfectly safe’?”
He leaned against her doorframe. Cam wondered if should she invite him in? Should she step outside? He settled the issue by peeking around her and staring into her kitchen. “What’s that smell?” he asked. “Delicious.”
“Nothing fancy. Just beef stew.” She opened the door wider. “Would you like a lemonade?” She laid her palm over her still flat tummy. “I don’t have anything stronger in the house.”
“That would be great.” He stepped inside. “I like this kitchen. It looks like many great meals have come from this room.”
“Unfortunately from people other than me,” she said. She looked around the space, trying to see her kitchen from his point of view. Yes, it was cozy with its old wooden cabinets, tiled countertops, practically ancient appliances and ruffled curtains at the windows. The kitchen had been Cam’s favorite room when the Realtor had shown her the house. She felt strangely gratified that Reed appreciated it as well.
She gave him a drink, and he pulled out a chair and sat. “I can only stay a minute. Got a whole lot going on over at my place, including delivery of furniture in about an hour. Took my boys out yesterday to a store in Bluffton and we picked out a houseful.”
She sat across from him. “You certainly work fast,” she said. “A house, buildings and now furniture.”
“Too fast according to my mother, who didn’t have a say in picking the furnishings. I don’t know if she’ll ever forgive me. I’m thinking I may never invite her over. She’s probably going to find fault with everything we men picked out.” He chuckled. “Although probably not, because furniture of any kind means we’re getting out of her motor home.”
“I’m sure you’re anxious to get settled, too,” Cam said.
“I am. I made sure I got each of the boys a desk to do his homework. Hope the power of suggestion works.” He leaned back in his chair. “But anyway, here’s why I stopped at your house. Tomorrow is Friday night, the opening of the Bufflehead Fall Festival. I’m hoping you’ve decided to say yes to my invitation. Since we’re both relative newcomers to the area, we should be there and show our support for the town’s namesake.”
“Nothing like supporting the local ducks,” Camryn said. “Until you gave me a lesson on buffleheads, I wasn’t even sure what they were.”
“But now that you know...”
She paused. Why not? She wanted to say yes. She wanted to prove to her daughter that she could be fun. So she smiled and said, “Now that I know, how can I say no?”
He slapped the top of her table. “Great. The Bolden men will pick up the Montgomery ladies at six tomorrow night. Don’t eat supper first. Dinner of corn dogs and funnel cakes is on me.”
She walked him to the door. “See you tomorrow.”
He gave her a crooked grin. “Right. This is a dream come true. I’ve always wanted to go to a bufflehead festival.”
She watched him through the screen door. Camryn had formed casual relationships with a few people in town—store clerks, Esther’s teacher, the local doctor, the nice waitress at the diner—but she’d never before felt excited about going to a festival. Maybe Reed Bolden was
the reason.
* * *
CAMRYN AND ESTHER climbed into Reed’s SUV when he arrived a bit before six in the evening on Friday. The kids sat in back and Camryn settled in next to the driver. She was instantly aware of her close proximity to Reed.
“We can’t stay out too late,” she said. “My hens are arriving around ten in the morning, and I have to make a run to the feedstore before they get here. A dozen of my new chickens are brown egg layers and two are Ameraucanas. All my new residents need special nutrients added to their diet to produce the best eggs.”
Phillip leaned forward from the back seat. “What are American chickens?”
“It’s Ameraucanas,” Cam said. “They lay pastel eggs the color of Easter eggs. Blue, pink, green.”
“Can you eat them?”
“You bet. Because the hens cost more to raise, some people consider their eggs a delicacy. I’m hoping to get five dollars a dozen for them.”
Phillip snickered. “I wouldn’t give you five dollars for eggs.”
“That’s probably because you don’t have to pay for eggs at all,” Reed said.
Cam looked over her shoulder into the back seat. She was pleased to see that both boys had taken some care with their appearance tonight. Their dark hair was neatly combed, though Justin’s curls had begun to spring into a halo around his head. They had on clean jeans and brightly colored T-shirts. Each boy had a jacket bunched on his lap.
Esther had insisted on wearing her best jeans and a ruffled blouse. She twisted her single braid, which ended in a pink ribbon in an almost flirtatious flip. Another way Es was more like her auntie Brooke.
Camryn had chosen slimming jeans knowing she might as well wear them when she had a chance. In a few weeks she wouldn’t be able to close the button. She completed her outfit with a formfitting white T and a denim jacket.
“So who’s hungry for corn dogs?” Reed asked.
“And French fries,” Justin chimed in.
“And Cokes, extra large,” Phillip said.
“I’ve never had a corn dog,” Esther said.
Camryn cleared her throat. “Surely you have, Essie.” She paused. “You must have had a corn dog. Maybe when you were with your dad.”
“Nope. He always said you wouldn’t want me to eat one of those. He said they were unhealthy.”
Camryn looked out her window to avoid looking at Reed’s smile. Another embarrassing moment she had to live through.
They arrived at the Bufflehead Creek athletic field, which had been transformed into a magical land of neon and noise. Reed parked and they all piled out of the car. At the entrance gate a man in a bufflehead hat sold them tickets.
“So that’s what a bufflehead looks like,” Camryn said, staring at the volunteer’s headgear.
“Well, yeah,” Reed said. “If the bottom half of the duck were human. They all have black feathers with a distinctive white spot. Although the ducks wear the colors better than a man whose head is too big for his hat.”
They passed a stage where a band was playing country music. Older folks sat around in lawn chairs. Teens danced on the makeshift wooden platform. The littlest kids rolled around in the grass. They were surrounded by bufflehead mementoes, even T-shirts that said, “I’m a Bufflehead, are you?” and “Buffleheads know how to duck.”
Every volunteer had on the traditional bufflehead hat.
“Anybody want to hear the music?” Reed asked.
“Heck, no.” Phillip pointed up the midway, past a few white canvas tents that protected the crafts fair. “There’s the food trucks. Let’s go there.”
“Maybe we should do the rides first,” Camryn said. “I don’t know if it’s such a good idea to eat and then go on rides.”
Both Bolden boys stared at her as if she’d spoken a foreign language. “Why?” Phillip asked. “In case we puke or something?”
“Well, yes, exactly,” she said.
“No one’s gonna puke,” he said. “Unless it’s old lady...”
“Phillip...”
His father’s controlled voice cut him off.
“What would you like to do, Essie?” Camryn asked her daughter. “Would you like to eat or maybe ride the carousel first?”
Justin hooted. “The carousel? That’s for babies. We want the real rides.”
“Yeah, Mom,” Esther said. “Let’s eat first and then find the real rides.” She gave Justin a look that was a combination of accord and admiration. “Carousels are for babies.”
“Okay, then.” Camryn consented because eating would buy her some time before having to argue with Esther about the rides that might be too thrilling for her nine-year-old. She hoped that the height limits would prohibit Esther from going aboard. Essie had never been on a thrill ride before.
Reed deposited everyone at a picnic table with strict orders not to move. Then he went in search of corn dogs and fries. When he returned, he not only had the desired food, but he’d bought three kid-size bufflehead hats. Esther and Justin put theirs on right away. Phillip insisted that the hats were lame, but he finally slapped his on top of his head.
Esther cautiously picked up the stick of her corn dog. Camryn wondered why she didn’t dig into the strange treat, but then she figured out why. Her gaze on Justin, Esther waited until he’d decided whether to dunk his dog into ketchup or mustard. Ketchup won out. After Justin had covered the tip of his corn dog with ketchup, Esther did the same. Between corn dogs and French fries, ketchup was the popular condiment of the evening.
When they’d all finished their dinner, the boys squirmed in their seats, anxious to get to the adult ride area on the midway.
Camryn took a pamphlet from her purse. “I picked this up when we came into the festival,” she said. “There are rides you’ve always liked, Essie. They have the pirate ship, the teacups, a new Star Wars plane ride...”
“Those aren’t rides,” Phillip said. “Every one is like a baby’s tricycle. They don’t go fast and they barely leave the ground.”
“Yeah, we don’t like those,” Justin added.
“Well, maybe Esther does,” Reed said. “Can’t you go on a couple of the tamer rides first? Then you can use tickets for the faster ones.”
“Do we have to?” Phillip groaned.
Esther looked up at her mother. “I want to go on the fast rides, too, Mom. Can I?”
Camryn glanced at Reed. He shrugged his shoulder, leaving the decision up to her.
“I suppose we could check them out,” she said. “I’m not promising anything. I doubt you’ll meet the height requirements, Es.”
I hope you don’t anyway, Camryn thought.
They stopped at a ticket booth where Reed purchased twenty dollars’ worth of ride tickets. Then they headed to the most colorful and exciting part of the midway, the area where music was loud and screams were prevalent. These rides should have been classified as fast and furious.
“I want to go on the Flying Chair,” Phillip said.
Camryn studied that ride a moment. Each chair held only one occupant. A giant wheel lifted the riders higher and higher and spun them out and away from the center. “Let’s not start with that one,” she said.
“How about the Octopus?” Justin suggested.
Each car zoomed in a circle at the end of a long octopus arm while spinning on its axle at the same time. “No,” Camryn said. “Pick another.”
“Mom, those are both neat rides,” Esther said.
Reed pointed toward a pendulum ride called the Hummer. “That one doesn’t look too bad,” he said. “It just goes back and forth, and Esther can be between the boys. What do you think?”
“Yeah, Mom, the Hummer! I want to go.”
The pendulum was swinging at a relatively slow pace. Of all the choices, Camryn decided this seemed the tamest. “Okay,” she said, reading a sign about the ride
. “If you meet the height requirement of forty-eight inches, you can try that one.”
“Oh, she will,” Justin said, standing in front of a growth chart. He was at least fifty-two inches, and Esther was nearly as tall. “See?”
Camryn sighed.
“Are you going on, Mom?” Esther asked her.
“No, I think not. But you go. And have fun.”
Reed gave each child ride tickets and they ran to get in line. “We’ll be right here on this bench,” he hollered at them. “Come over here when you get off.”
Reed took Camryn’s elbow and they walked to the bench. After sitting down, Cam had a good long look at the Hummer. Its pendulum motion had increased to daredevil heights.
“I don’t know about this,” she said to Reed.
“Your decision, Cam. If you want me to, I’ll go get her out of the line.” He started to rise.
“No, don’t do that. She’d never forgive me.”
Reed took her hand. “She’ll be fine, I promise.” He smiled. “Besides, this gives me the chance to be alone with her mother. As alone as any two people can be in the middle of a crowd of five hundred bufflehead enthusiasts.”
She looked down at their joined hands. Once again, the warmth of Reed’s palm was soothing. “I can’t watch, so if anything happens you’re in charge.”
“Nothing’s going to happen. By the way, they’re getting on now.”
He let a moment pass before turning the conversation in a different direction. “Oh, did you see the work done on my property today? One metal building, the one I’ll use for my clinic, is up. Just need to install air and heat and good electric lighting. Of course, before I can open, I’ll need an operating room, exam tables, cabinets for storage and about a ton of medical supplies. But the shell is there, and the rest will come.”
The calm tenor of his voice comforted her. She only glanced once at the Hummer, and concluded no one had fallen out. “When do you think you’ll be operational?”
“Maybe a couple of weeks. The other metal building, the one I’ll use for rehab, should be done the first of the week. Then I just need some rehabilitative outdoor areas—fences, a pond, some cages, that sort of thing.”
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