Kelly took another drink of coffee. “I figured Dan should know.”
“You figured right, Kelly.”
“Who knows? Maybe Nancy’s father waited in his car for Neil Smith to leave the bar then ran him down that night. If he started drinking again, maybe he can’t even remember.”
Burt looked at her sadly. “Who knows, Kelly.”
Eleven
Light raindrops sprinkled on Kelly as she quick-stepped across the driveway from her cottage. A couple of hours ago when she and Steve were taking their early morning run, the skies had been clear and sunny. But it was summer, which meant dark clouds could suddenly roll across the mountains and bring a summer rain shower, complete with rumbles of thunder and a flash of lightning or two. Then just as quickly as they’d come, the clouds would blow away to the east and out of town. And bright sunshine would blaze in the sky once more. Summer storms.
A car horn beeped as Kelly reached the sidewalk bordering the café patio garden, and she turned to see Megan pull into a parking spot. Several couples still sat outside under the large café table umbrellas enjoying breakfast. Kelly paused on the sidewalk and waited for her friend.
“Hey there,” Kelly greeted her as Megan scooted around the car. “Are you taking a break from clients?”
“Sort of. I also wanted to check on some yarn I’d ordered. A special order from Chile. Mimi said it might be in this week.”
“Oooo, that sounds interesting,” Kelly said as she turned toward the shop entrance. “Where’s Molly?”
“She’s with a new sitter. I’m trying out a nursing student who also babysits. Cassie has been a lifesaver this summer, but she’ll go back to school next week. Hey, why don’t we grab one of those tables out here?” Megan suggested, pointing toward the garden patio. “This little shower won’t last long. You know they never do in the summer. Besides, I love the smell of the rain.”
“Sure,” Kelly said, following Megan as she sped down one of the stone pathways leading into the garden. “I love that smell, too. Especially if it hasn’t rained in a while.” She sniffed the damp air. “Wet plants.”
Megan headed toward a table that had recently been vacated by more timid customers, who probably weren’t as comfortable sitting outside as light rain sprinkled around them. Kelly had watched them scurry inside the café earlier. Now she could barely feel the raindrops.
“Have you heard from Lisa this morning?” Megan asked as she pulled out a chair.
Kelly settled into a wrought iron chair across from Megan and set her sturdy briefcase bag beneath the table. Laptops didn’t like rain in any form, showers or storms. “I got a brief call from her saying that Greg was looking a lot more alert. He likes the physical therapist and doesn’t mind the occupational therapist, even though he can’t manage those activities yet.”
“That’s good news. I wonder when we can go over and visit. We’ve sent a bunch of flowers, but Greg’s not a big flower guy.”
Kelly laughed softly. “That’s true, but even Greg will appreciate the thoughts behind the flowers. We all care about him, and that’s the only way we can show it now.”
“Marty’s dying to give Greg a book he found at an antique store. You know how Greg loves history. Well, Marty found a book with original engravings in it from the eighteen hundreds.”
“Greg will love that,” Kelly said, gesturing to Jennifer, who was walking their way.
“What are you two silly things doing sitting here in the rain?” Jennifer said, grinning at them.
“It’s barely sprinkling,” Megan said. “I was going to see if Cassie wanted to go practice at the tennis courts with me then I remembered she’s going down to Denver, isn’t she?”
“Yes, she left with Pete just a little while ago. Tanya is meeting them at the shopping center which is down the street from her apartment.”
“Well, at least she was able to finish up the final softball season with her teammates. I know that meant a lot to her,” Kelly said, noticing the light sprinkle had picked up slightly. More raindrops splashed down on the broad-leafed plants beside their table.
Jennifer nodded. “Yes, she also didn’t want to leave until she heard that Greg was doing better. So Lisa called last night and told Cassie that Greg was settling in at the rehab center and actually starting his physical therapy exercises. That helped.”
Kelly could see the slightly worried expression on Jennifer’s face. “I bet we’ll be able to visit Greg at the rehab center soon. So that will be something for Cassie to look forward to when she returns.”
“We’ll all look forward to that,” Megan added. “Is Tanya bringing Cassie back or Pete?”
“Pete will get her. In fact, we’ll probably both go down to Denver Sunday afternoon and poke around in LoDo and some of the shops. Maybe try a new café. Then we’ll get Cassie.”
“Why don’t you and Pete come out to the game tomorrow night,” Megan suggested. “Otherwise you two will be rattling around in the house by yourselves and you’re not used to that.”
“That’s a good idea. I’m missing Cassie already, and I know Pete is.” Jennifer glanced around. “You know, it’s not really a light sprinkle anymore. So I’m putting up this umbrella.” She pushed the fabric umbrella open with a practiced hand. “And I’ll return with the coffeepot.” With that, Jennifer scurried off through the glistening wet plants, leaving her slightly damp friends laughing.
• • •
Kelly tabbed through the columns of client Don Warner’s accounting spreadsheet, entering revenues and expenses, watching the totals change at the bottoms of the columns. Her eye caught the red-colored type appearing in one column, indicating a negative amount. Kelly zeroed in on it like a hawk spotting a field mouse.
The light rain sprinkle had turned into a light shower. And Kelly actually enjoyed working outside beneath the umbrella in the sweet-smelling rain. Especially now that she had a full mug of hot coffee. She took a deep sip, enjoying the heat on her throat while she eyed the disobedient numbers in that one column.
“Hey there, Kelly girl!” Jayleen Swinson’s voice called out behind her.
Kelly swiveled around in the chair and spied Jayleen waving at her from the parking lot. “Hey, Jayleen. Come and join me. It’s nice underneath the umbrella here in the rain.”
“I reckon I will,” Jayleen said as she walked into the garden patio. Colorado cowgirl Jayleen always had a Stetson over her graying blondish curls, so clearly a rain shower didn’t bother her. She still didn’t look her sixtyish years.
“I bet Julie will be out with her coffeepot as soon as she spots you,” Kelly said, pushing her laptop aside. Spreadsheets could wait.
“Well, now, that will really hit the spot,” Jayleen said, settling into a wrought iron chair across the table from Kelly. Glancing above at the umbrella and around the garden, she smiled. “You’ve got yourself a nice little nest here, Kelly. Perfect for your kind of work. Staring at columns of numbers and all that.”
Kelly chuckled. “Well, I confess I do a lot of staring and thinking, before I try to make those numbers behave.”
“Has Greg been transferred to that rehab center yet? Mimi’s been keeping me updated every couple of days. Then I tell Curt. We’ve both been worried about that boy.” Her normally cheerful countenance clouded.
“He was transferred yesterday, and Lisa says he’s settling in and has started with his physical therapy.”
Jayleen found her smile again. “Well, now, that sounds more like the Greg we know. I predict that boy will make a quick recovery. Any idea when he’ll be allowed visitors?”
Kelly shook her head. “Nope. Lisa hasn’t gotten the word yet. We’ll probably go over in shifts because there’s a lot of us.”
“You can make up a schedule on one of those spreadsheets. Put all those columns to good use.” Jayleen’s expression changed and a worried loo
k appeared. “By the way, I was wondering if Burt’s told you how the police hunt for that hit-and-run driver who ran into Greg is going?”
“I actually talked to Burt earlier today, and the cops haven’t found anyone who was around on the streets to provide information. So they have no clues as to who it could be. I thought maybe someone in town would come out of the woodwork when the newspaper story came out. Whoever hit Greg is probably the very same person who ran into and killed that graduate student farther up that street.”
“I reckon you’re right.” Jayleen nodded. “Lord a mercy, who in the world could run their car into one person and then drive just a little ways down the street and hit someone else?” She shook her head, clearly amazed.
“Since that street is just outside Old Town, I’m still hoping that someone who was walking back from the bars in that area of Old Town will call the cops with information. Or maybe someone driving by.”
Jayleen stared toward the wet garden, raindrops plopping on the varieties of foliage plants and annuals scattered around the edges of the garden along the fence. “I was really hoping the police would have found someone by now. Or that person would have turned himself in. Mainly because I’m feeling guilty about something I heard from a fellow AA member the other night.”
That comment immediately caught Kelly’s attention. “Did one of your AA friends know something about the hit-and-run? Or did one of your members say something in the group sharing time?”
Jayleen shook her head. “No. But one of the members I’ve known for years told me something a while ago that’s stayed with me ever since. It’s been tugging at me.”
“What was it?”
Jayleen released a long sigh. “This fellow straightened himself up five years ago. I was his AA mentor, and I was real proud of him. He stopped drinking and has been clean and sober ever since. Did it for his daughter, he said. Well, at one of the meetings, I noticed him acting different. Preoccupied. So I came up to him afterwards and asked if something was going on in his life. He motioned me over to the side and said he was worried about his daughter. She’d been dating this guy and had gotten real serious. She thought he was serious about her, too. The guy talked about their being a couple and even making plans for the future. When the girl became pregnant, she told the guy. And that no-good so-and-so rejected her right in front of all these guys in a bar! Accused her of sleeping around and all that trash. My friend Felix said his daughter came running home in tears.” Jayleen’s face screwed up.
“Oh, brother,” was all Kelly said, even though her instinct was buzzing like mad.
“Anyway, I could tell how upset Felix was, watching him tell me about it. Thunderclouds were storming across his face. And that was the last time I saw him at our AA meetings. He hasn’t been back since. I confess, I’m worried that he started drinking again. And . . . and he might have done something when he was drunk that he can’t live with.” Jayleen looked over at Kelly. “I’m afraid that he might have gone over to those bars when he was all liquored up, and . . . I don’t know. Maybe he saw that lowlife come out of the bar and deliberately ran him down.” She wagged her head sadly. “Lordy, Lordy.”
Kelly took a deep drink of coffee and savored the burn at the back of her throat. Meanwhile, she pondered whether she should reveal what she had learned from Nancy Marsted. Clearly, Jayleen’s friend Felix from the local Alcoholics Anonymous had to be the same person. Nancy’s father.
“You know, Jayleen. I’m going to share something Lisa and I both learned from one of Lisa’s graduate student friends. Her name is Nancy and she, too, has a father who is a counselor at Alcoholics Anonymous. But I’m going to ask that you keep this information to yourself.”
Jayleen’s big blue eyes popped wide. “Lord have mercy, girl! You’ve got my word on it. I won’t tell anyone, even Curt.”
“Apparently Nancy’s father told her that he did find her boyfriend, Neil Smith, at the bar one night, and he threatened him.”
“Oh, Lord.”
“Nancy doesn’t know what happened after that, but she was worried because she smelled liquor on her father’s breath and she knew he’d started drinking again.”
Jayleen closed her eyes. “Oh, no,” she said, her voice revealing her sorrow.
“And now that her boyfriend is dead, Nancy told Lisa and me she’s worried her father may be the driver that ran Smith down the other night. Apparently Felix had been frequenting the bars again and was out that night.”
“Lord, Lord,” Jayleen said softly, shaking her head. “No wonder we haven’t seen Felix lately.”
Kelly watched Jayleen as the sadness of losing a brave survivor to addiction’s strong pull once again registered on her friend’s face. “It’s sad.”
Jayleen released a long, heavy sigh. “That it is, Kelly girl. And so is what I have to do next. I’ve gotta tell Burt.”
“You won’t have to, Jayleen. I’ve already shared Nancy’s story with Burt, and he’s alerting his former partner at the Fort Connor Police Department. No doubt they will visit Nancy’s father, Felix, pretty soon.”
Jayleen shook her head again. “Lordy, Lordy.”
Kelly decided to change the subject so Jayleen wouldn’t dwell on what happened to Felix. “By the way, you and Curt should come out to the ball field on Saturday evening. Our team is playing in the finals against Greeley West, our main rival. So we could use some more cheering for our side.”
Jayleen’s smile returned. “I’m sure I can talk Curt into it. Besides, I think Eric’s team may be playing his last game. Cassie’s team is already finished.” Then Jayleen looked at Kelly directly, straight into her eyes. “Mimi told me Cassie is spending the weekend with her mom down in Denver. I understand why. Sounds like Tanya’s finally trying to be a mother.”
Kelly glanced out into the garden. The rain spattered rhythmically on the broad plant leaves. Deep forest green, with gently curving dips, like a widespread hand. Her umbrella-shaded table was one of two that were still occupied. “I guess so. Both Pete and Jennifer think Tanya suddenly took a good look at Cassie and realized how fast she was growing up. Before we all know it, she’ll be in high school, then gone off to college.”
“Lord, don’t we know it,” Jayleen said.
“So if Tanya is going to try to develop a relationship with her daughter, now’s the time.” Kelly leaned back in the chair and took a deep drink of coffee.
Jayleen grinned at her. “Pretty good advice coming from someone who’s never had kids.”
Kelly shrugged. “I’ve been coaching kids in softball for years now, and that’s given me a bird’s-eye view of a lot of parents and how they act around their kids. Some parents are relaxed and comfortable with their kids and other kids. Other parents are kind of standoffish and don’t really interact. They’re more like chauffeurs. They come right at the time the kids are finished, pick up their kids, and drive off. Other parents come earlier and watch the kids practice. Some stay for the entire session. Now, I have no idea if any of that gives a clue as to the parents’ relationship with their kids or not, but it’s always made me curious.”
“You know, it’s interesting to hear you say that. I’ve watched parents and their kids and wondered the same thing. Of course, I totally screwed up any chance of having a relationship with my kids years ago. So I certainly have no right to pass judgment on others.” She stared out into the garden.
Kelly watched her older friend’s face, saw the trace of sadness flash across her features briefly. Jayleen had confessed that her years of being an alcoholic had totally ruined any chance she had of having a relationship with her son and daughter. Jayleen’s second husband had legally adopted both kids when they were elementary age, and they grew up thinking of him as their real parent. Their mother was never there. Bars and liquor provided a much stronger hold on Jayleen than family ties ever could.
By the time Jayleen join
ed Alcoholics Anonymous and totally rebuilt her life, her attempts at reconnecting with her children failed miserably. Both her son and her daughter were in college by then and wanted nothing to do with her. She wasn’t there when they needed her, and there was no place in their lives for her now. She was a stranger. Neither of them had any good memories of their mother. Only drunken scenes. When Jayleen recounted those stories to her, Kelly’s heart had given a little squeeze of pain for her friend.
“I think you’ve done a lot to redeem yourself, Jayleen,” Kelly said. “You’re great around kids. You’ve given riding and alpaca care lessons to 4-H groups for years. And you’re an excellent grandmother to Curt’s grandkids, and Cassie adores you.”
“I do love those kids,” Jayleen said with a smile. “And I confess that I think of Cassie as the granddaughter I never had.”
“I kind of sensed that, Jayleen. Both you and Mimi had tragic events occur in your lives that took away the chances to have grandchildren. Mimi’s only child, her son, died while still in college. And yours, well, your ex-husband became their parent, it sounds like.”
“Ralph was a good man. Is a good man, I’ll say that. And he took over when I dropped all my responsibilities in his lap.” She wagged her head again. “He’s a jewel in my eyes. I’ve told him that, too. Actually wrote him a letter apologizing for everything I’d put him through years ago. And my kids. I wrote them letters, too, but I’m not sure they ever read them.”
Kelly stared at her friend. “Wow, Jayleen. That was a big step. Huge.”
Jayleen gave her a wry smile. “It’s all part of Alcoholics Anonymous. The twelve steps. One of the biggest steps is Forgiveness. Forgiving other people. And then, forgiving yourself. That’s even harder.”
Kelly had nothing to say that could possibly add to that profound concept. So she simply raised her mug of coffee to her friend in salute. Jayleen simply smiled.
Twelve
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