by Mia Caldwell
“I overheard one of your relatives gossiping today about whether Leon would go out drinking tonight. It wasn’t hard to guess where I would find you.” He glanced out the windshield. “You should probably slow up. You don’t want to give the guy a heart attack.”
Phae stopped the truck and looked at Kent.
She opened her mouth to speak, then quickly snapped it shut again. She slowly shook her head before finally saying, “You know, I almost told you to get out of the truck, but I realized it would be a waste of time. I must be getting to know you better.”
He smiled. “You’re right. I’m not going anywhere that you don’t go.”
She propped an elbow on the steering wheel and rested her cheek on her elegant, slender hand. “Get on with it. Tell me why you’re here.”
“Your acceptance of this situation is a surprise. Can’t you throw in a little name-calling to put me at ease?”
“Don’t tempt me. I’ve had a long, exhausting day, thanks to you and right when things were looking up, you popped back in and nearly ruined everything. So back off and tell me why you’re here, though I think I can guess why.”
“You do?”
“Yeah. You’re trying to sabotage my operation.”
“No I’m not. I thought about what you said in the shop and decided to give it a try. I’m here to learn how to respect your work.”
She leaned back against her door and crossed her arms over her chest. “Sure you are. And I’m out for a little country drive.”
“I’m telling the truth. I want you to teach me about being Captain Nice Guy.”
He knew she was skeptical, but had he seen a flicker of hope sparkle in the corner of those big brown eyes? Maybe it was wishful thinking on his part.
She looked out the windshield, watching her uncle struggle to catch up. She began slowly backing down the road again.
“So?” Kent asked. “Are you going to teach me about your work or not?”
She divided her attention between her uncle and the road. “No, I’m not. And I have no problem telling you why. You’ve already made your mind up about me and nothing I tell you could change that.”
“You have a point,” he admitted. “That’s why I don’t want you to tell me much, except about what you’re doing with your uncle. I want you to show me what you do as the captain. Maybe if I experience it firsthand, I can understand it better.”
Phae reached into a pocket on her belt, pulled out something pink, then flung it out the window. Kent squinted to make out the small object on the pavement.
“What is that?” he asked.
“Rabbit’s foot.”
“And?”
Phae didn’t answer.
“Why did you pitch a rabbit’s foot into the road?” he tried again.
“Actually, it’s a fake rabbit’s foot. The one on Uncle Leon’s keychain here is real. It’s disgusting. I can’t believe he carries this nasty thing around.” She stopped the truck some distance from the foot.
“So what’s it all about?” Kent asked the lovely lady who had more attention for the road than for him.
“Uncle Leon looked tired and I thought he might give up,” she said. “Now be quiet and watch. That’s what you wanted, wasn’t it? To learn by being shown?”
Kent shrugged. What was it about this woman that made him put up with her no-nonsense, often surly attitude? It drove him wild for some reason he couldn’t explain. She ignited an itch inside him that he couldn’t scratch without her.
Although they were a good distance from Leon, Kent knew that the headlights provided adequate light for Leon to see the rabbit’s foot on the ground. He wasn’t surprised when Leon bent over and picked it up.
Leon waved his fist in the air and began to shout. Kent couldn’t make out the words exactly, but the gist was clear. Uncle Leon didn’t like that foot, and he was downright pissed to find it in the road.
Leon began running.
Phae stomped on the accelerator. Kent barely had time to brace himself to avoid being pitched into the windshield.
“Listen carefully,” Phae said calmly as they sped backwards down the highway. “Shortly, we’ll be on the other side of this rise. There’s a turnout there. I’ll be stopping the truck and leaving a few things behind for Uncle Leon to discover when he finally gets here. I want you to get out of the truck as soon as I stop and head for those trees on the right. You didn’t bring your car out here, did you?”
“No.”
“Good, because we’ll be walking back tonight. Now let me repeat. When I stop the truck, you will get out immediately and head for the woods. Wait for me there.”
She swerved the truck over into a small turnout and stomped on the brakes. “Go—now.”
“Wait a second,” he said, watching her dig in a pouch. “What are you doing?”
She blew out an exasperated breath. “I knew you wouldn’t do what I asked you to do.”
“I can’t help it. I want to watch.”
“Fine,” she said curtly and handed him the end of a weighty string of rabbits’ feet. “Tie this end to the sun visor.”
Kent opened his door so the dome light would come on. He inspected his end of the cord. “What’s this all about?”
Phae tied her end to the visor on the driver’s side. “Please don’t hassle me with questions right now. We’ve got to hurry.”
He shrugged and tied up his end of fake feet.
She pulled a piece of paper and a small roll of tape from her belt. After taping the note to the steering wheel, she turned off the engine and mashed on the emergency flashers button.
“Let’s go,” she told him.
He leaned in to read the note. “What’s it say?”
“You stay and read it if you want. I’m getting out of here.” Phae snatched up a mask on the seat that he hadn’t noticed before, then she hopped out of the truck.
Kent watched in surprise as she flung Leon’s keys into the darkness then ran off and disappeared into the night.
Rapidly, he scanned the note she’d left for her uncle. He smiled as he read: “Your keys are in the ditch. I’d wish you luck in finding them, but all the rabbits’ feet in the world won’t protect you from me. The fates frown on those who drink and drive.”
Kent jumped out of the passenger’s side, leaped over the ditch and headed into the woods. He’d not gone far when Phae appeared from nowhere and grabbed his arm.
“Shh, he’s coming.”
Kent peered through the trees. Sure enough, Leon had cleared the rise and was limping his way to the truck. He warily approached the deserted vehicle, scanning the surroundings before getting into the cab. He ran his fingers over the rabbits’ feet then pulled the note off the steering wheel.
Kent expected Leon to be outraged by the note, but instead it seemed the man shrunk. Even with the distance separating them, Kent watched Leon’s head swivel rapidly left and right, trying to see into the pitch blackness.
Phae whispered, “Hold my hand and walk slowly. All these bugs buzzing out here can only cover so much noise, so be careful. I’ll lead.”
Though he would have liked to stay a while longer to see if Leon could find his keys, he allowed her to pull him deeper into the woods.
Before long, she picked up the pace until they were walking at normal speed. The darkness was nearly complete in the heavily forested area. Kent stumbled.
“Sorry.” Phae grabbed his arm. “I’ll slow down.”
“How can you see out here?”
“Well,” she mumbled, “I have this night-vision thing.”
“You do? Cool. Let me see it.”
She released his hand. “It’s on this mask. Usually I have it on a strap, but tonight I thought it would be safest if I wore a mask. You’ll have to put it on to see through the monocle.”
Finally, he had an explanation for that weird strap she’d been wearing the night he trailed her. “The mask must be what made you sound muffled,” he said as he fumbled with the ha
rd cardboard object Phae had pushed against his chest.
The monocle gave the mask some heft. He figured out which way was up and pulled the mask on and adjusted the elastic band.
“I don’t see anything,” he said, wiggling the monocle over his right eye.
“It’s kind of blinky. Give it a flick or two and it will come on.”
He flicked the side of the plastic casing. Suddenly, the forest around him came into view in shades of green.
He squinted in an attempt to correct the blurriness. “Am I doing something wrong? It’s out of focus.”
He couldn’t make out Phae’s features, but he could see that she had her arms crossed over her chest. Not a good sign. It would be best to tread carefully unless he wanted to find himself stranded in the dark forest.
“Look, it’s not very good, but it serves its purpose well enough,” she said in a defensive tone.
“I can see how it would.”
It was kind of fascinating, he thought as he turned in a slow circle. Details were blurred nearly beyond recognition and because you could only see through one eye, everything was flattened. But other than those two defects, Kent realized such a gadget could come in extremely handy on a night like this.
“Can I have it back now?” Phae asked, extending toward him what Kent decided must be her arm, though the resolution was so poor it might have been a tentacle had he not known better.
He pulled the mask off and managed the handoff without mishap.
Phae must have been using the monocle in his aunt’s garden that night, he thought. No wonder she’d done such a lousy job.
Still, it could have been worse if she hadn’t been using the gadget. But then again, if she hadn’t had the monocle she probably wouldn’t have attempted to plant the garden on such a dark night and Kent wouldn’t have nearly knocked his brains out on that stupid pole.
Further still, if she hadn’t done such terrible work in the garden and felt guilty about mistaking him for a robber, she probably never would have offered to come and fix the mess. And Kent might never have met her.
He grinned. Thinking in circles never helped anything.
“What’s wrong with you?” Phae asked.
“Nothing.” He groped in the dark for her hand.
She began to slowly lead him through the forest again. “We’ll be out of this soon. You’ll be able to see well enough to maneuver on your own once we’re on cleared ground.”
“Does that mean you won’t hold my hand anymore?”
“Yep.”
“You’re a hard woman, Phae Jones.”
“Don’t talk. Just concentrate on walking and not falling.”
They carefully picked their way through the woods. When they came to a clearing, she slid her hand from his grasp.
“Do you think your uncle found his keys yet?” Kent asked, stepping around a clump of rocks.
“I don’t know. Maybe. He had a flashlight.”
“Tell me about what you did tonight, Phae. I swear I won’t pass judgment,” he said with all the sincerity at his command.
“Okay, but one cheap shot and I’m gone. And that means you’ll have to find your own way home. Understand?”
Kent was growing weary of her threats and demands. The things a man had to do to get a woman these days. It was probably better back in the old days when you slung the woman you wanted onto your horse and rode off into the sunset.
He nearly laughed out loud when he thought of Phae, dressed in a frilly western dress, slung over his horse’s rump and cussing up blue streak, threatening to unman him the second they stopped galloping. That was his Phae all right.
And he liked it, dammit. He liked her, in fact. Maybe even more than liked. Probably.
“I won’t break my promise,” he said, “so get on with it.”
“Off to a good start already. But remember that I warned you.”
He didn’t respond.
“Okay. You asked for it. It’s a long story but I’ll try to keep it simple.”
“I think I can handle something complicated. I’m not stupid.”
“I didn’t mean it that way,” she said. “Damn. Touchy. Anyway, this all goes back to last year when we had a big flood.”
“Your uncle drinks because of a flood that happened last year?”
“Sort of,” she said. “Not really. Anyway, there’s a river, not much more than a creek actually, a small tributary, but it’s called a river, and it runs along the edge of Uncle Leon’s property. After the flood, the river changed course, and it moved about ten feet into Leon’s neighbor’s property.”
Kent stepped over a hole.
Phae clucked her tongue. “Be careful. Don’t twist an ankle. I can’t carry you out of here.”
He had another urge to pick her up and carry her off, but resisted it. “Why didn’t you stash your car tonight like last time?”
“I needed the exercise. You not up to a hike? I’m trying to take it easy on you.”
God, she was competitive. He grinned. “I’m fine, thank you very much.”
“So anyway,” Phae continued, “the river moving led to a feud between Leon and his neighbor, George Slinker. According to the original deeds, the property line between the two is determined to be the center of the river bed. It quickly turned into an ugly fight, mostly on George’s side. They’ve been in court multiple times and keep going back for more.”
“Who’s been winning in court?” Kent asked.
“Leon. The last judge told George that maybe he’d get lucky and one day another flood would give him back his ten feet and then some, but until then, he was shit out of luck.”
Kent grinned. “Did he actually say ‘shit out of luck?’”
“Yep.”
“I’d like to meet that judge.”
“Not in his courtroom, I promise you.”
“So what does the river and feuds have to do with Leon drinking?”
“That’s another long part of the story.” Phae sidestepped a large rock with agile grace that made Kent’s lower half clench.
“Well, it’s a long walk.”
“Okay. So Uncle Leon and Aunt Meg have been married like three years. It’s a second marriage for both of them, and they brought baggage with them. Uncle Leon’s first wife was something of a harpy who complained about everything he did, or at least, about everything he did that she didn’t tell him to do. And Aunt Meg’s first husband was a drinker and a cheater who couldn’t hold down a job.”
“Lovely.”
“I know. Oh, and Leon doesn’t have any kids from his first marriage, but now he has three. He adopted Meg’s two daughters and about a year and a half ago, Leon and Meg had a son together.”
“And they lived happily ever after, flood feud not included,” Kent quipped.
“You’d think,” Phae said, “but much as I love them, Leon and Meg are stubborn as anything and they’ve let their pasts get in the way of a good thing.”
“Stubborn people? In the Jones family? That’s weird.”
“Funny.” Her teeth flashed bright white in the faint light. “To make a long story shortish, after the feud started between Uncle Leon and George Slinker, Leon began going out to Trapper’s Tavern once in a while and drinking with the local boys. He said he was there to drum up local support for his court case.”
“Did it work?”
“Yeah, with the boozers who hang out at Trapper’s. But that didn’t matter. My Aunt Meg couldn’t stand it and didn’t want Leon turning into her ex-husband. Because she complained, and loudly, Leon said he wouldn’t be told what to do, and accused Meg of being like his ex. And so they both dug in their heels.”
“Seriously?” Kent asked.
“Seriously. Sometimes people make no sense. Meg is nothing like Leon’s first wife, and he knows it. He knows she has good reason for being afraid, too, with her past. But then, Meg knows Uncle Leon is nothing like her ex, and almost always nurses a single beer when he’s out. Honestly, I don’t t
hink Leon even wants to go to the bar anymore, except he won’t let Meg win.”
“Do they fight about this all the time?”
“That’s the thing. They don’t. Once a week, Leon has to make his stupid point by going to Trapper’s, and once a week, he comes home smelling like beer and he and Aunt Meg have big, loud arguments.”
“Wow. And they have kids …”
“Exactly. The kids seem to know it’s mostly bluster, I think most of the time. It never lasts long because Leon and Meg are really crazy about each other and make up right away. Uncle Leon’s loud even when he’s not in a fight. Still, most of us wish they’d quit it because we can’t be positive it’s not hurting those kids.”
“Couples fight sometimes. I’ve never known one that didn’t,” Kent said.
“Me either. My own parents got into it from time to time, and I remember being scared by it, but they always worked it out. If anything, I learned you can fight with someone and still love them, and you can work out your difficulties eventually.”
“Huh,” Kent said. “It’s like you’re making the point I’ve been trying to make with you.”
“I’m not talking about us.”
“Too bad.” Kent thought about what she’d said. “So that’s why you’re trying to scare your uncle away from drinking at Trapper’s Tavern? For Leon’s and Meg’s kids?”
“Yeah. That’s why.”
“It’s a good reason.”
Her response was warm and gentle. “Thanks.”
They walked in silence for a few moments before Phae said, “But there’s another reason, too.”
“You don’t want him drinking and driving?”
“Sure. But that’s not it. I told you about George Slinker. He’s mad that the court cases aren’t going his way, and he can be a real asshole when he wants to be. So, when Leon and Meg get into these fights, I guess George must be able to hear them. We think he waits for Leon to come home and sneaks around his house to see if they start fighting. We can’t be sure. But however George learns about the arguing, he always calls the sheriff’s office and demands that someone come investigate.”
“Huh.”
“I know. And James has to have his deputies go out there because, well, that’s how it is, family or no. Lately, it isn’t good enough for George to call the cops. Not long ago, George reported Meg and Leon to child services.”