The Way Back to You

by Sharon Sala

  “They definitely used the empty property as their access,” Treat said. “I think now we need to question the daughter, Rhonda Bailey, to see if she’s rented out this property to anyone.”

  “The Talbots said she worked ER in the Blessings hospital. Why don’t you call and see if she’s still on duty, and if she’s not, get her personal phone number.”

  “Will do, Butler said, and was already on the phone as Treat backed up and then left the property.

  * * *

  Rhonda Bailey was just coming out of an exam room in ER when one of the nurses at the desk waved her down.

  “Phone call for you on line three.”

  Rhonda slipped behind the nurses’ station to take the call, pressed Line Three, and then answered.

  “This is Rhonda.”

  “Miss Bailey, this is Deputy Butler with the County Sheriff’s office. We need to ask you a couple of questions about your father’s property.”

  Rhonda was immediately apprehensive. With her father no longer capable of making his own decisions, she and her brothers were responsible for it.

  “Oh no! Has something happened?”

  “No, nothing like that. Have you rented it to anyone, or given anyone permission to be on the property?”

  “No. Absolutely not. What’s wrong? Has property been damaged?”

  “No, ma’am, but it appears some cattle rustlers used it as access to get to the backside of the Talbot property and made off with a half-dozen head of their cattle.”

  Rhonda gasped. “I am so sorry! That’s terrible! I didn’t know people were still doing things like that.”

  “Yes, ma’am, unfortunately, thievery is a healthy business, and for people who raise cattle, rustling is a real threat.”

  “There aren’t any other neighbors close by Daddy’s house, so that made it easy for them to come and go without being seen,” she said.

  “Yes, ma’am. That’s what we noticed. Okay, sorry to have bothered you at work, but you’ve cleared up some questions we had. Thank you for your time.”

  “Yes, of course,” Rhonda said, and then hung up.

  The other two nurses couldn’t help but overhear Rhonda’s side of the conversation, but before they could question her, Hope Talbot walked up. One look at their faces and she knew something had happened.

  “What’s going on?” Hope asked.

  Rhonda sighed. “Have you talked to Jack this afternoon?”

  “No, but I saw Duke earlier in the day when he dropped Cathy Terry off for treatment.”

  “Sorry to be the one to break the bad news, but that was a deputy from the Sheriff’s department on the phone. Someone used Dad’s old place as access to get to the back side of the Talbot property. They stole some of your cattle. They wanted to know if I’d rented it out to anyone, and of course we had not, so there’s no way of telling who did it.”

  Hope groaned.

  “Oh my God! I need to call home,” she said, and headed for the break room.

  She already knew they were going to be upset, and she was just sick about the loss. As soon as she found a quiet place, she called her husband.

  “Hello, honey. I was just about to call you,” Jack said. “We’ve had some trouble out here today.”

  “I just heard,” Hope said. “Some deputies from county called Rhonda Bailey to ask her about her dad’s property. She said the people who stole the cattle gained access through her dad’s place.”

  “So, they’ve already confirmed what we thought. Duke thought that might be the case,” he said.

  “I’m so sorry,” Hope said. “Do you think we have any chance of getting them back?”

  “I’d say slim to none. If they took them straight to an auction, they’re probably already gone.”

  “But we had them all ear-tagged,” Hope said.

  “Yes, but those tags can be removed. What’s done is done. We can’t change it. But we did move all of the cattle that were in that pasture up closer to the house. They’d have to go through gates and be really gutsy to come this close to the house now and try for more. What I am surprised about is how they even knew cattle were in that back pasture, and how they knew they could get to it through the Bailey property.”

  “Sounds like someone local, doesn’t it?” Hope said.

  “Yes, it does, but I can’t imagine who it might be. Hopefully they’ll figure it out and that will be that,” Jack said.

  “Are there any clues at all?” Hope asked.

  “Not really… oh, we did find an interesting boot print they’d left behind. The heel on a left boot has a long slash on it. It was deep enough that it showed up in the dirt that way.”

  “Did you get pictures?” Hope asked.

  “Yes, and so did the deputies. What time do you get off this evening?”

  “Not until 6:00. I won’t be home until sometime after 6:30, maybe closer to 7:00, and if something happens in ER and they need the extra help, you know I’ll have to stay. If I’m going to be delayed, I’ll let you know,” she said.

  “We’ll keep supper warm for you. Love you, honey.”

  “Love you, too,” Hope said, and disconnected, then put her phone back in her pocket and went back out onto the floor.

  * * *

  It was the distant rumble of thunder, and the sound of rain on the roof that woke Cathy up, and then for a second she looked around in sudden confusion before she figured out where she was.

  The ice pack on her ankle was warm, the house was dark, and the streetlights were shining in through her front windows. She turned on the lamp beside her chair, then turned on the TV and got up to pull the drapes, grateful for the walker.

  Once she felt safe behind the curtains, she turned on the lights, and made her way to the bathroom. When she came out, she headed for the kitchen. It was almost eight p.m. and she was grateful for the cold fried chicken and potatoes and gravy Lovey sent. She got the containers out of the refrigerator and took them to the counter, put some food on a plate, and popped it in the microwave, then used her walker to get it into the living room to eat.

  The television was on Mute, so the rain hammering the roof was easily audible, and the rising wind was evident from the rain being blown against the windows.

  She turned up the volume as she took a bite of the chicken, and as she ate, thought about how grateful she was for the food and shelter. She’d spent several stormy nights out on the road with nothing but her waterproof tent for shelter, and she was glad to put that behind her.

  She looked around at the little house, at the simple furnishings and the less than elegant ambiance, remembering the opulent lifestyle she’d had, all of the jewelry and designer clothing, a mansion full of servants. But when she took another bite of chicken, she knew in her heart that she fit the simplicity of this place better.

  Later, after she’d cleaned up in the kitchen and gone to bed, she kept thinking of how quickly she’d gone from solitude to a houseful of new friends today, and all because of a fall.

  She’d taken a hard fall from grace in Vegas and been ostracized for it. But here in Blessings, one stumble and people she didn’t even know had come to her rescue.

  Blessings had possibilities. It might just become her forever home, instead of a stopping off point.

  She sighed, then shifted her foot to a more comfortable position and fell asleep to the sound of rain on the roof.

  Chapter 4

  Cathy woke up stiff and sore. The effects of her fall were setting in, and she ached all over. She got to the kitchen and started coffee, then went back to her room to shower and wash her hair before she put the ankle wrap back on. She was letting her hair air dry as she put on pants and a t-shirt, then rewrapped her ankle before going to the kitchen.

  After a few sips of coffee, she heated up the last of the biscuits and sausage gravy and thought
of Duke Talbot with every bite. She couldn’t imagine why someone that good looking was single, but her spidey senses hadn’t set off any warnings that he was bad news. Still, she reminded herself she’d just met him. There could be any number of reasons he was unattached, none of which were her business.

  She took a couple of pain pills after she ate, then grabbed an ice pack and went into the living room, covered herself over with a blanket and settled into the recliner with the cold pack on her ankle, waiting for the pain pills to kick in.

  * * *

  Duke woke just after daybreak, but when he heard rain on the roof, he knew morning chores were going to be messy. He rolled over on his back and began mentally going over the tasks for the day.

  He’d still been up when Hope came home last night, and he knew today was her day off, so she was likely sleeping in a bit.

  Jack tried to be protective of Hope, but she was just as strong-willed and independent as her sister Mercy, and somehow that became what was most special about her. Lord knows Jack was forever smitten.

  Duke sighed. He really didn’t want to grow old alone. He wanted to be smitten, too, but for whatever reason, he’d never found that certain someone. And the very next thought that went through his mind was of Cathy Terry.

  He wondered if she’d been able to sleep much last night and if she needed help with anything. He’d left his number with her, but he knew she wouldn’t call, which left the next move up to him, so he got up, showered, shaved and dressed, then made up his bed before he went downstairs to start breakfast. Because of Hope’s work schedule, he and Jack did most of the cooking and cleaning, and Hope kept up with most of the grocery shopping, because she was in Blessings almost every day.

  He began by starting coffee to brewing, then stirred up a batch of drop biscuits and put them in to bake before browning some sausage patties. When they were done, he took the meat out of the skillet and made gravy in the drippings.

  By then, the biscuits and coffee were done, and he could hear Jack moving around upstairs. Likely, the aromas of frying sausage and fresh coffee were hard to ignore. He cracked a half-dozen eggs into a bowl to scramble, and then poured them in a skillet to cook. He was taking them up into a bowl when Jack and Hope came into the kitchen.

  “Morning, you two,” Duke said, and then winked at Hope. “I thought you might sleep in a little this morning.”

  “I planned to until I smelled breakfast,” she said, and poked him on the arm as she went to pour herself a cup of coffee.

  They filled their plates from the bowls and pans on the stove, then sat down to eat in companionable silence. After a couple of minutes, Hope got up to get some jelly from the refrigerator.

  “Has anyone heard anything from the Sheriff’s office about the stolen cattle?” she asked.

  Jack shook his head. “I think they’ll call if they have news. Otherwise, we go on about our business.”

  “I am going to put up game cameras today. We have three that I know of, but I’ll need to replace batteries. I can’t remember the last time we used them,” Duke said.

  Jack reached for another biscuit to finish off the gravy on his plate. “I do,” he said. “About three years ago, when there was that cougar sighting up by Grey Goose Lake. Remember?”

  “Oh, I remember that,” Hope said. “I was leery of going into outbuildings for a long time—afraid I’d walk up on one waiting to pounce.”

  “That’s not exactly their natural behavior,” Jack said. “They don’t like to be around people any more than people like being around them.”

  She shrugged. “I know, but we have chickens, and at the time, we had three small calves that we were bottle feeding in the barn, remember?”

  Duke nodded. “You’re right. If an animal like that is hurt or injured in some way and unable to hunt, they will come to the easy prey. Only this time I’ll be on the lookout for rustlers, not cougars, and I’m pretty sure we don’t have near enough batteries to replenish 3 game cameras. I’ll feed the chickens before I go check on the cows, then I’ll head into Blessings for batteries. If anyone needs anything, make a list.”

  “You cooked. I’ll clean up,” Jack said. “And call if you need help. Don’t do something stupid on your own.”

  Duke gave Jack a look. “I don’t do stupid things.”

  Hope laughed out loud as Duke grabbed a rain poncho from a peg in the utility room and pulled up the hood before going out the back door.

  The rain was really coming down and already forming puddles as he headed for the chicken house first. He ducked into the feed room just off the hen house for an egg basket and a bucket of feed, then walked across the covered breezeway and into the hen house.

  The chickens that weren’t in the nests were either perched on the roosts or milling down on the ground. But when he came in and began pouring chicken feed into the feeders, they greeted him with gentle little clucks.

  “And a good morning to you,” he said, then grabbed an egg basket from a peg on the wall and gathered over two dozen eggs from the nests. He set the basket out in the breezeway, then went to fill up their water. He scattered some grit and crushed oyster shells as supplements, then picked up the eggs and headed back to the house, left all his rain gear on the porch, then headed inside with the eggs.

  “Wow, we’re getting quite a few eggs now every day, aren’t we?” Hope said, as he set the basket on the counter.

  “A little over two dozen this morning. I’m going to change clothes and get my raincoat,” Duke said.

  “Are you going to see Cathy Terry?” Hope asked.

  “I might, why?” Duke asked.

  “I thought I’d send a dozen fresh eggs if you were,” Hope said.

  “Okay, sure. Get them ready. I’ll take them by,” Duke said, and left the kitchen.

  A short while later, Duke was clean and dry, wearing his good raincoat and the waterproof cover over his Stetson, when he picked up the eggs and the grocery list.

  Jack and Hope were nowhere to be seen, and Duke guessed they were going to take advantage of having the house all to themselves while he was gone. Hope was really good natured about the Talbot brothers’ living arrangements, but Duke knew the day might come that they wanted a house of their own.

  He settled the eggs into the floorboard of the pickup and then headed out of the drive, glad for the heavy layer of gravel all the way to the blacktop that would take him to the highway into Blessings.

  * * *

  Mercy Pittman was up to her elbows in flour at Granny’s Country Kitchen, turning out her famous biscuits as fast as the oven could bake them. On a normal day, Granny’s was the place for locals to congregate at breakfast time, even if they’d already eaten at home first. They could always drink another cup or two of coffee and have some biscuits and jelly. But when rain interfered with all of the people who normally worked outdoors, they came to Granny’s.

  Mercy was just putting two more huge sheet pans of biscuits in the oven when the power flickered.

  Everyone in the kitchen gasped. The ovens and the flattop grill were gas, but they needed power for everything else. But before they could panic, Lovey’s son, Sully Raines, who had begun helping her run the cafe, came flying into the kitchen.

  “It’s all good! I had that generator wired into the power here last week, remember? If the power goes out, the generator will kick in.”

  Mercy sighed with relief. “Oh that’s right! Thank goodness.”

  He gave her a thumbs up and then headed back to tend to business.

  While Granny’s was safe from power outages, the same could not be said down at The Curl Up and Dye.

  Ruby Butterman, who owned the hair salon, was a little nervous. Vesta was already in the middle of coloring her first client’s hair, and her twin sister, Vera was rolling perm rods into her client’s hair. Ruby’s first customer was due in at any moment
, and there would be a hair disaster of tragic proportions if the power went out.

  When the power flickered there, Vesta gasped. “Oh Lord, Lord! Please don’t let us lose power!”

  Mabel Jean, the manicurist, was doing a mani-pedi on Clara, the Baptist preacher’s wife, and when Vesta called on the Lord, the preacher’s wife took it upon herself to beseech Him some more.

  “Let us pray!” Clara said.

  Mabel Jean was right in the middle of a down stroke on one of Clara’s fingernails and froze.

  Vera’s client immediately jerked and lowered her head, causing Vera to lose hold of the paper and the curl she was rolling up. The little white perm rod went flying one way, and the paper the other.

  Vera sighed. She had no option but to follow along.

  Ruby sat down in the chair at her station and bowed her head, too. She’d been to luncheons when the preacher’s wife said the blessing and knew this was going to take some time. Clara had a tendency toward sermon-length prayers.

  Fortunately for everyone, Clara hadn’t been praying more than a couple of minutes when the bell jingled over the front door. Ruby’s customer had arrived, and as fate would have it, Clara was right in the middle of taking a breath when Ruby jumped out of her chair and said.

  “Amen, and thank you for that, Clara. Ladies, proceed.”

  Vera rolled her eyes at Ruby and reached for another perm paper and a fresh perm rod, and Vesta returned to dabbing color on her client’s roots.

  Rachel Goodhope, who ran the Blessings Bed and Breakfast, was standing by the front counter, looking a bit confused.

  “Did I interrupt something?” she whispered, as Ruby came up to greet her.

  “Clara felt called to pray to the Lord not to let the power go off here,” Ruby said.

  Rachel grinned.

  Ruby didn’t have the luxury of agreeing, so she changed the subject.