Dry Creek Daddy

by Janet Tronstad

  Mark looked at her, his eyes lingering on her mouth. “Come with me.”

  Jeremy must have been listening to Mark because he climbed down from Hannah’s lap, ready to leave.

  Hannah stood, intending to go chop up something for supper. But then she remembered her father and decided she should give him some privacy since the only place in the house with a phone was the kitchen. So she nodded toward Mark and, taking Jeremy’s hand, walked beside Mark through the living room and out the front door into the heat of the afternoon. She noted the sky was clear so the threat of rain had passed.

  “What I’m doing isn’t finished,” Mark cautioned her as they neared the little house.

  Hannah was conscious of all the weeds in the dirt as they walked. The crop might be taken care of with the help of Mark, but the yard around here needed work. This yard used to be covered with cultivated grass and now there was nothing but clumps of the strongest wild grass that blew through and lodged in every nook and cranny in the spring winds. It didn’t look like her father made any effort to keep the property up. She knew Mark was talking about the house, but she already knew the same longtime neglect would be found there.

  “Anything you’ve done to the place will be an improvement,” Hannah answered. Jeremy was walking between the two of them, holding one hand from each of them. He sounded like he’d forgotten his earlier distress. He seemed to enjoy holding both their hands, but Hannah figured he would not be able to keep his balance on this rough terrain without the two of them. The cat, as always, followed in her son’s wake.

  Hannah surveyed the land again, looking at it with a new image in her head.

  “You couldn’t get a wheelchair over this,” she muttered, almost to herself. Everything would tip over and Jeremy would spill out.

  Hannah had barely made a sound, but Mark must have heard her. He stopped in midstride and turned to face her.

  “Is that what you’re expecting?” he asked in a tone just as soft as the one she’d used. “Is that what the doctor said would happen?”

  “Oh.” She wished she’d held her tongue. Mark looked appalled at the thought of a wheelchair. She wasn’t sure how he would feel about Jeremy if her boy ended up in one of those things. Half of the doctors she’d talked to said it might happen that way, especially with the complication of a tumor.

  Hannah looked down and saw her son look up with a curious expression on his face.

  “It’s nothing,” Hannah finally said loud enough for everyone to hear as they started walking again. “Nobody needs to worry. I was thinking of...using it to deliver our groceries.”

  She saw the jaw on Mark’s face tighten, but he didn’t say anything.

  Mark opened the door wide when they got to the house, and Jeremy dropped both of their hands and stepped inside. Mark touched Hannah’s arm before she could enter, too.

  “I’m not worried about me,” Mark said in a low, tense voice. “Don’t treat me like I’m on the other side. I’m not. I want what is best for Jeremy.”

  Hannah looked up. She’d have to be blind not to see that he was sincere.

  “I didn’t want him to know what we were talking about,” she admitted. “He might be scared.”

  Mark grimaced. “We need to learn to speak in code like other parents do.”

  “Oh,” Hannah said. She felt a butterfly flitting around in her stomach. “I’ve never learned how to do that.”

  “We used to speak in code,” he said. “Remember?”

  “But we were spying then.” She grinned at the thought. “The cows were enemy soldiers and we had to get across enemy lines.”

  “That didn’t last very long,” Mark replied. “I can’t remember why.”

  “You had football,” she said. She’d had a fierce wish to be a boy about then. They’d been in the sixth grade. She’d been devastated not to be able to join the team. She was glad they let girls join now. “You said you didn’t have time.”

  “Well, that was a shame,” he said. “We would have gotten good at all those dots and dashes we used. After all, we had the cows fooled.”

  “They weren’t even paying us any attention,” she said.

  Right about then, Hannah heard a whoop coming from inside the house.

  “It’s a hero’s room,” Jeremy exclaimed when Hannah stepped inside. He turned to her with a wide grin on his face. She hadn’t seen him so happy since the last time he’d been able to pet a horse.

  Hannah looked forward, seeing the room through her son’s eyes.

  The bright yellow wall had a sparkling clean window square in the middle and rays of afternoon sun were pouring through, filling the whole room. A strip of ceiling above the wall was painted blue and a series of comic features popped out from the blue. She recognized Davy Crockett and the superhero with the cape. There was even an angel with a sword standing on a cloud and what looked like Cupid in the corner.

  “You won’t have to worry about the darkness anymore,” Hannah said to Jeremy.

  He nodded vigorously. “They won’t let anyone get me.”

  “Who’s going to get you?” Mark squatted down to ask him.

  Jeremy just shrugged.

  When it became apparent Mark wouldn’t receive a response, he stood up.

  Hannah looked over at Mark. “Thank you.”

  Jeremy turned then and added, “Thanks from me, too, Mr. Man.”

  “You’re most welcome,” Mark said, his face losing its serious expression and eventually beaming at both of them.

  “I’m going to go look in the kitchen,” Jeremy announced as he started to walk toward the other room.

  “I haven’t done any work in there yet,” Mark called out a warning as the boy went through the doorway.

  Hannah felt a sense of peace watching her son explore new territory. Then she turned to the other wall.

  “Oh!” she exclaimed with delight.

  A solid-looking double bed, with a curved mahogany headboard and a firm mattress, was lined up with that far wall. A white blanket and several white sheets were folded on top of the mattress. She could see right away that a person, even a little boy, could lie in that bed and look through the window, pretending he was having adventures with his comic book heroes.

  “Where did you get the bed?” Hannah turned to Mark. She knew she and Jeremy would have a good night’s sleep in that bed. There were even new pillows. The air mattress she’d brought with her didn’t stay inflated throughout the night, and when she used it, she had to add air about one o’clock in the morning.

  “The headboard belonged to a bachelor uncle of mine at one point,” Mark said. “It’s been in the attic at our house for as long as I can remember.”

  “It’s an antique!” she exclaimed, her enthusiasm waning. “Oh, I couldn’t use something like that. It’s hard to make sure Jeremy doesn’t jump on the bed and I wouldn’t want to damage it. I couldn’t replace it.”

  “Jeremy can pound away all he wants,” Mark said with a grin. “All of the legs have been replaced at some time or other. And there’s a crack on the back of the headboard. I doubt if it would bring more than ten dollars in an auction.” He lifted his hand. “And the mattress is clean, but it’s old. No antique at all. So, no, you can’t pay me for any of it.”

  Hannah blushed. She had just been going to say she would give him the ten dollars when she collected some more tip money. She’d bought a good mattress some years ago, but she’d never owned a bed frame before and she wouldn’t mind buying it outright. She had always rented furnished apartments and the furniture had never been good. One time she and Jeremy had to share a single bed and the headboard on that had been nothing but heavy cardboard.

  “I only hope you both are comfortable enough sleeping on it tonight,” Mark continued. “I found another mattress, but I’m going to look through some more things in the attic and se
e if I can’t find another bed frame, so you’ll want to use the second mattress then. I’ll bring a table and chairs over tomorrow when I come—”

  Hannah stiffened.

  Mark stopped and studied her. “I thought I’d come over around six o’clock in the morning.”

  She felt foolish for reacting so she only nodded.

  Everything was silent for a few minutes.

  “Will that give us time before we head off for the doctor’s appointment?” Mark said with his face suddenly stoic. “Have you decided if I can go with you? I’m happy to do the driving.”

  “Yes.” She was relieved to share her decision. “Mrs. Hargrove was determined that I get someone to go with me. She said I needed someone.”

  “Well, she’s right,” Mark said as his face relaxed. “I’m glad we have that settled. Nobody should have to go through something like that alone.”

  She was going to nod again when she saw Mark suddenly look stricken. She wondered if he’d changed his mind about going with her to the doctor, or maybe he remembered another commitment he’d made and couldn’t go.

  “I am so sorry,” Mark said, his eyes locking on hers. “I just realized that I don’t even know all of the times you felt alone when you were pregnant with Jeremy. You must have gone to the doctor several times. I hope you didn’t have to go alone. And then when Jeremy was born and you had a baby to take care of—that must have been difficult. I’ve been planning to increase the monthly payments my father sent to you, but that won’t ever make up for not being there during those years.”

  “Your father sent me enough.” Hannah gave him a curt nod. She was suddenly overwhelmed. “Besides, I’m used to being alone.”

  She thought Mark would take comfort from her words, but he seemed even more distressed when he heard them. “I don’t want you to ever feel like you have to face life alone again.”

  She didn’t know what to say. Things would happen in life. “It’s nice to know you want to be there for me.”

  That was about the best she could do, and Mark seemed to accept that because he only nodded.

  “I will be here tomorrow,” Mark finally said. “I can bring my pickup to drive or borrow my sister’s car if you’d rather we use that.”

  “Which one has the biggest back seat?” Hannah asked. “In case we need to stop and take a break for Jeremy. We could pull into a rest stop and he could take a nap if he’s tired. He doesn’t have much stamina these days.”

  “My pickup would be wider,” Mark said. “And I think it’s longer, too. Plenty of room. Are you going to bring those comic books of his? Since he can’t have his cat, he’ll want the comics.”

  “He will, won’t he?” Hannah figured she should have thought of doing that earlier, but it was nice to have someone else looking out for Jeremy. “Thanks for thinking of it.”

  “Jeremy’s the one who thought of them,” Mark confessed. “But we make a good team—you and me. We always have.”

  Hannah couldn’t deny that. They had survived everything together as children and then young teens. She was beginning to hope they could be friends again. She could probably handle being friends with Mark if she didn’t rely on him too much. It was all a matter of balance, she told herself. And then she looked at him.

  Lord, help me, she prayed.

  Chapter Eight

  It was still dark when Mark pulled his pickup into the yard of the Stelling ranch. He could tell by the air that the day was promising to be warm and dry. There were no lights on in the main house, but he saw a dim one in in the window of the small house, which meant Hannah and Jeremy were likely up. He figured they would not have eaten yet, but it didn’t matter because his sister had packed them a bag of pumpkin muffins. She also set him and Hannah up with a thermos of hot coffee and one of cold grape juice for Jeremy.

  Mark dimmed the lights in his pickup and turned the ignition off. Swinging his door wide, he stepped down and began the short walk to Hannah’s door.

  Hannah answered the knock with her hairbrush in her hand and a worried look on her face, and then she whispered, “Do you have gas in your pickup? I should have reminded you that the doctor is not in Miles City, he’s in Billings.”

  She’d opened the door only partially. He supposed that was so their words would not carry inside.

  “I’m good,” Mark assured her softly. She was dressed in denim jeans with a pink sweater over a white cotton blouse. “Have you told Jeremy yet that he’s going to the doctor?”

  She shook her head. “I don’t want to scare him.”

  That’s why she doesn’t want our words overheard, Mark told himself.

  “He probably already suspects.” Mark felt he could say that much without betraying Jeremy’s trust. “He’s a bright boy.”

  “I’ll tell him soon enough,” Hannah said defensively.

  Mark was silent for a moment. Then he remembered suddenly that she had said she’d taken Jeremy to the doctor in northern Montana where she lived and the man had some difficulty in even diagnosing the boy’s leukemia.

  “You moved here for the doctor, didn’t you?” he asked.

  She nodded and then added, “I need to get Jeremy up. I thought I’d let him sleep as long as we could. He’s been tired lately and, if the doctor does any tests today, I want him to make a good showing.”

  With that Hannah opened the door fully and stepped aside so Mark could enter. Most of the room was in shadows, but Mark could see the lump under the covers on the bed.

  “Let me wake him,” he said. “It will save you time.”

  “That would be great,” Hannah said as she turned toward the kitchen. “I need to get my hair up and put a pot of coffee on.” She stopped and looked around her, a little disorientated. “I forgot my coffee maker is still in a box somewhere.”

  “That’s okay,” Mark said. “Allie fixed me a hot thermos full of coffee. We can each have a cup as we drive. She packed us some muffins, too. Pumpkin ones.”

  “Bless her.” Hannah flashed him a smile. “Jeremy loves her pumpkin muffins. He’s always telling me I need to make some, but I don’t have the recipe. I was going to get it from her.”

  “I’ll make sure you have it,” Mark said. He would reach up and pluck down the evening moon if Hannah said she wanted it. A recipe was nothing. But Hannah looked pleased.

  “I also have some grape juice for Jeremy,” Mark added.

  “I’ll bring a sippy cup so he doesn’t spill it,” Hannah said as she stepped into the kitchen. “I need to call my dad, too, before we go and make sure he’s up. He should be out of the danger zone with his concussion, but I need to check anyway.”

  When she was gone, Mark turned toward the bed. Jeremy hadn’t stirred and they hadn’t been that quiet. He wasn’t sure about the boy’s normal habits, but most children of his age would bounce out of bed at the slightest noise.

  Mark sat down on the bed. He noticed Hannah had put a pillowcase covered with pictures of horses on the pillow that their son clutched in his sleep. Next to the pillow were several comic books. Mark reached over and gently shook the boy’s shoulder. Jeremy made a few sleep sounds and then rolled over.

  He was pale, Mark thought as he studied the small face. And he had a blue tinge to his skin. Mark leaned closer and decided maybe the blue was just from the morning shadows. He pulled back, shaking his head. He wondered how anyone managed to be a parent. So many alarming health things could go wrong with a child and there was no real protection against most of it.

  Mark bounced slightly on the mattress and the springs moved with him.

  Jeremy’s eyes opened slightly. The boy rolled over and pulled the blankets over his head. Mark put his hand on the boy’s back.

  “Time to get up, son,” he said and then caught his breath. He’d spoken without thinking. He knew Hannah didn’t want to spring the news on Jeremy thi
s way so he tried to keep his voice even as he said some more. “We need to get going soon. Billings is a long way to go and we don’t want to have to hurry.”

  He was babbling now, Mark knew, so he forced himself to stop. After a few minutes, he realized silence was not a good strategy. Then he looked up and saw that Hannah was standing in the doorway from the kitchen with a look of horror on her face.

  She had obviously heard him call Jeremy his son. Mark shook his head slightly so she wouldn’t speak. Then he tried to think of something to distract the boy just in case he had been listening more carefully than Mark thought he had been.

  “We might drive by some horses on the way to Billings.” He knew at least one ranch on the way that had some fine saddle horses. He looked up at Hannah. “The Clarke ranch. It’s a bit off the freeway, but not impossible. I know one of the wranglers there. He’d show us what they have.”

  Jeremy peeked out from behind the blankets, his eyes lit up with interest.

  “Maybe on the way back,” Hannah said. “I don’t want to be late for—” Her voice faded.

  “Of course not,” Mark agreed. Hannah had too many secrets from their son, but he didn’t want to upset her. He glanced down. Jeremy had pulled the covers back over his head and, if Mark hadn’t caught the look earlier, he’d think the lump in the bed had not moved. He put his hand over Jeremy’s foot. The boy didn’t pull away and Mark took that as a good sign.

  “I have pumpkin muffins in my pickup.” Mark was careful not to mention who had made the muffins just in case Jeremy was able to piece together family relations and make the connection that, if Allie was Mark’s sister and Jeremy’s aunt, the two of them might be father and son.

  Mark’s bribe seemed to be working because Jeremy pulled the blankets down so his face showed.

  “Do they have raisins in them?” the boy asked anxiously. “I like raisins.”

  Mark nodded. “They sure do. Just the way you like them.”

  A slow smile spread across Jeremy’s face. “Can I eat the muffin in my bed?”

  “We need to leave pretty soon,” Mark said. “You can have a muffin in the pickup.”