Pumpkins, Cowboys & Guitars

by Patti Ann Colt

  Robin’s hands flew to her breast. “Lord, Chad…”

  “Sorry, didn’t mean to scare you.”

  “Not your fault. I was just lost in thought.”

  “Tom’s here and needs to talk to you.” Before she could ask any questions, Chad turned and went back down the hall.

  Robin followed at a slower pace. When she entered the kitchen, Tom explained what he wanted to know and she shook her head.

  “I haven’t been out of the house except to feed the animals. I haven’t seen anyone.”

  “I knew it was a long shot, but I had to check.”

  He finished off his coffee and rose to his feet.

  Chad shrugged into his jacket. “I’ll take your advice and check things out.”

  Robin studied the two men: one dark and one light, but both handsome, solid and dependable. The door had already slammed behind Chad when Tom turned to Robin.

  “I checked out your house today before I went on duty. It’s still locked up tight. Nothing’s been disturbed.”

  Robin nodded. “We’re going home tomorrow.”

  He stared at her for a moment, not condemning, but looking tired and a little bit sad. “He’s got his feet firmly planted on this farm. He isn’t going anywhere. If you need anything, he’ll come running. So will I.”

  Another round of tears clogged the back of her throat. “Thank you.”

  “Kiss the girls for me.” Tom gave her a salute with two fingers to his forehead.

  Robin nodded, words jammed behind the tears.

  He stared at her for a moment longer and then quietly closed the door behind him.

  Chad pulled up into the driveway and turned off the ignition. Leaving the flashlight in the truck, he got out. Tiredness tightened every muscle and he stretched for a moment. The lights were still on in the kitchen. Was it too much to hope that Robin had waited up for him? It had taken an hour to do a thorough check of all the sheds and storage areas. That hour had given him considerable time to think.

  He’d come to one conclusion. If Robin thought she was walking away from him, she was in for a little dose of his reality. She wanted to move back to her house? Then he was going with her. Late fall and early winter were his easy times when he did preparation, planning and machine maintenance. He could be her shadow and run this farm. Before he finished, she’d understand he meant what he said. He’d prove he wasn’t going anywhere.

  He slipped into the house, laid his coat across the dryer and stepped out of his boots. Moving through the kitchen he hit the light and then walked down the hall to check on the girls. They slept soundly. Robin was beside them, wrapped in a blanket. Taking a deep breath, he forced himself not to get angry.

  Time and patience.

  His grandmother was right. Going to his room, he shed his clothes and crawled under the covers, trying to ignore the scent of Robin and sex in his bed.

  ~~CHAPTER ELEVEN~~

  Robin woke with a stiff neck and Boo’s feet plopped across her face. The room was dark, but the smell of rich, dark coffee permeated the air. Unable to sleep anymore, she craved a cup of the strong brew.

  Stuffing Boo’s feet under the covers, Robin sat up. Pushing aside the remorse, doubts and heartache, she shoved the blanket aside and got out of bed. Her time here had resulted in hurting Chad, hurting herself and giving the girls false hope. She’d known from the beginning that she shouldn’t get involved.

  Restless, she walked to the kitchen, finding the room dark and empty. Getting a cup from the cupboard, she poured herself a cup of coffee and went to the table.

  “Good morning.” Chad’s voice reached out to her in the darkness.

  Hot coffee sloshed over her hand and burned the tender skin. “Ouch.”

  “Sorry, I didn’t mean to startle you.” He half rose from the chair, but Robin went to the sink before he could try to help her. Keeping her distance was the only way to maintain control. The cold water stung on the burn, but that pain was better than the ache in her heart. She felt Chad’s eyes on her and wished she’d detoured to the bathroom for her robe.

  “Is it all right?”

  “Yes.” She shook off the extra water and wrapped her hand in a towel. Back at the table, she wiped up the mess and then sat. The first sip of caffeine jolted through her body and bolstered her nerves. “I’m going home today after Mr. Slade comes.”

  “So I heard.”

  Robin stared through the darkness at Chad. His silhouette on the other side of the table was all she saw. She sensed bare skin and wanted to reach and confirm, but forced her hand back in her lap before she could. “Everything is arranged. I’ll need to work for a few more weeks to clean the rest out. How about three days a week for four hours?”

  “Fine.”

  He didn’t sound mad. He didn’t sound upset.

  She’d thought he would be. At the least, he should have begun another argument about why she should stay and give them a chance. Maybe he’d had time to think and realized he didn’t really love her.

  Robin squinted through the darkness and tried to get a better sense of what was going on. She heard him take a loud sip of his coffee, but he didn’t utter another word.

  Robin pursed her lips, taking a calming breath. He never did what she expected. How was she supposed to figure him out? She squirmed in her chair. “We’ll need a ride home.”

  “I’ve got pumpkins to deliver to the florist this morning, but I should be back before Mr. Slade leaves. I’ll take you.” Chad rose and put his cup by the sink.

  Not able to get any words past the dam of anxiety stuck in her chest, Robin nodded. He couldn’t have seen it in the dark, didn’t seem to need the answer. A light flashed, then his bedroom door closed and the shower turned on.

  Robin sagged at the counter and buried her face in her hands.

  The kitchen clock ticked loudly in the darkness.

  Time moved on.

  Belief was highly overrated.

  She needed to leave. Maybe he wanted her to.

  The girls woke crabby and restless. They didn’t want to brush their teeth. They didn’t want breakfast without Mr. Chad. They wanted to stay. If Robin said black, they said white. Frustrated, Robin shoved the final pile of items into the suitcase and set it on the floor with the girls’ books and Barbies. It was almost noon and Mr. Slade would be here soon.

  Forcing herself not to question the decision to leave again, Robin went to the kitchen and made sandwiches. Chad wasn’t back. Frowning, she smeared jelly over the peanut butter, found some potato chips and sliced an apple. She called to them and set their plates on the table, pouring them each a glass of milk.

  The girls crawled out from under the tent they’d made out of blankets in the living room.

  They dragged into the kitchen, mutinous expressions on their faces.

  “I know you usually have lunch with Mr. Chad, but he’s not back. He is out delivering pumpkins. Sit and eat.” Robin made a sandwich for herself.

  The doorbell rang at the front of the house. Pointing to the chairs, Robin watched until her daughters settled in at the table, began to munch and went to open the door.

  “Hello, Robin.” Mr. Slade voice boomed through the house. His barrel chest was covered in a Texas Christian University purple sweatshirt, his gray hair brushing the collar.

  “Hello, Mr. Slade. Everything is ready.”

  “Good. The truck’s backed up on the carport. If you’ll just walk me through where you’ve put everything.”

  Robin checked to make sure the girls were behaving themselves and then took him down the hall to the bedrooms.

  “What are we going to do?” Boo tossed a piece of bread crust at Lindy. “As soon as Mommy’s done with that man, we’re going back to the other house.”

  “I know.” Lindy pitched a potato chip Boo’s way.

  “I don’t want to go away from Mr. Chad and I don’t want to leave Bessie and Rover or the puppies or Tic and Tac.”

  “I don’t want to go eith
er. I don’t get it. The magic was working so well. Then it messed up.” Lindy crunched down on an apple slice and frowned across the table.

  Boo slid off her chair and took her empty plate to the sink. On her way back, she checked down the hall for their mom. She heard their muted conversation about the furniture.

  “It’s time to give up on that old spell and do something ourselves.”

  “Yeah, but what?”

  “Run away.”

  Lindy’s mouth dropped in shock. “We can’t do that. Mommy will get real mad.”

  Tears flooded Boo’s eyes. “I don’t care. I’m not leaving Mr. Chad. I’m taking a blanket and going out to make a fort in the pumpkin patch.”

  “It’s cold outside, Boo.”

  “We’ll wear lots of shirts and socks and a coat and take a blanket. Let’s go!”

  “Oh, Boo! We’re not supposed to go past the gate without Mr. Chad or Mommy.”

  “Do you want to stay on the farm with Mr. Chad?”

  “Yes.”

  “Do you think Mommy will go home without us?”

  Lindy wrinkled her nose, thinking over what Boo was saying. “Nope.”

  “We need some food and some blankets. And we’ll take the wagon. But we gotta go while Mommy is busy and Mr. Chad isn’t here, because if anybody sees us, it won’t work.”

  Opening the refrigerator, Boo took two apples, some cheese and some juice boxes from the shelves.

  “Go put on a couple more shirts, Lindy, and some socks.”

  Running to the family room, Boo shoved the extra food under the tents and started out to find some extra clothes for herself.

  “Are you girls done with lunch?”

  Boo froze, her eyes widening with terror. Throwing Lindy’s blankie over the pile of food, she peeked out the opening on the tent.

  “Yes, Mommy. We’re getting ready for a nap. Can we sleep under here?”

  Her mom wiped the table with a sponge. “As long as you settle down and sleep. No talking.”

  “Okay.”

  Relieved when her mom went back down the hall, she pulled another shirt from the laundry pile on the sofa and threw it to Lindy.

  “Boy, she almost caught us.” Lindy crawled in the tent, Boo behind her. She sat and pulled on another pair of socks.

  “We’ll lie down and wait until Mommy checks. We’ll pretend we’re asleep. Then we’ll sneak out to the wagon and go.”

  “Go where?” Lindy gave in to the need to put her thumb in her mouth.

  “I don’t know exactly where, but we’ll find a place.”

  “This had better work or we won’t be watching TV ever again.”

  Boo lay down, tugged Lindy beside her and covered up. A short time later, she heard her mother’s footsteps and whispered to Lindy to close her eyes. Pretending to be sound asleep was harder than Boo thought. Nerves and excitement made it hard to lay still. Mommy had to believe, though.

  For a moment, she felt really bad for lying, but then she remembered how much worse it would be to leave Mr. Chad. He was supposed to be their daddy and nothing was going to stop that. Not even Mommy.

  Lindy tugged on the handle of the pretty red wagon Mr. Chad bought them. It wouldn’t roll well on the moist, packed dirt in the pumpkin field. Plus all the stuff kept falling off the top. At the last minute, they’d added books, coloring books, crayons and their toothbrushes and a hairbrush, plus a flashlight, some cookies and Captain Crunch.

  “Stop, Lindy. The blankets fell off again,” Boo said.

  Lindy stopped, dragging her thumb into her mouth with a satisfying suck. She’d never been out this far by herself. A scary feeling rolled in her tummy like the night all the popping sounds happened at home and the police and Mr. Chad came. She wished Mr. Chad would come in his nice, warm red truck and rescue them. The wind was blowing hard. She shivered and pulled her coat tighter.

  “We’ve come an awfully long ways already.” Lindy watched Boo rearrange the blankets on the wagon. Sneaking out of the house had been easier than she thought. With Mr. Slade moving furniture in and out of the front door, no one paid any attention to Boo getting the wagon or the three trips from the family room to load up. Thankfully mommy stayed in the back, telling the man who helped Mr. Slade what to do. Their big truck blocked the carport. Boo couldn’t get the gate open until she used the wagon to make herself taller. With no one at the open market, and Mr. Chad’s truck gone, it had been easy to head down the ruts into the pumpkin field.

  Bessie had spotted them, though, and streaked to join them. Lindy tried to make her go back, but she wouldn’t.

  “How far are we going?” Lindy patted Bessie’s head, more to comfort herself than the dog.

  “We’re going to those trees. Then we’ll find a good place to make a tent.” Boo patted the top of the load and took the wagon handle from Lindy.

  “Boo, I’m cold.” Lindy sniffled, her nose running.

  Taking the edges of her sister’s bright pink coat, Boo zipped it tighter to her chin.

  “We’re almost there. Then we’ll get wrapped in a blanket with Bessie and we’ll have some cookies.”

  “What are we going to do when it gets dark?”

  Lindy wavered for a minute and thought of turning around. She didn’t like the dark. Plus, it seemed different out here without Mr. Chad.

  Boo looked at Lindy. “We have Bessie. The pumpkin magic will protect us. We’ll find a dry spot. Cover up with our blankets. It’ll be scary, but we can’t go back.”

  Pulling on the wagon handle, Boo started forward again. Lindy looked back, but couldn’t see the house or the market. She hadn’t been able to see them for a long time. Lindy tried to control the shivers, aiming to be just as brave as Boo. If this didn’t work, there’d be no TV and no Mr. Chad either. They just couldn’t let that happen.

  Boo pulled harder on the wagon to get it over a rock.

  Finally, they reached the trees.

  Boo found a spot in a small hollow surrounded by lots of bushes, the ground was covered in pine needles.

  “What do you think?”

  “It’s all right.”

  Boo took a blanket from the top of the pile and spread it out on the ground.

  Unloading another blanket, she made a sloppy roll for a pillow. Throwing two more blankets off the pile, she took their food and put it on the corner of the blanket close to the bushes. Pushing the wagon to the other side to hold it down, she left their books and crayons in the wagon and took the flashlight.

  “Come here, Bessie.” Boo slapped her thigh. Bessie trotted over, whined, but lay down in the center of the blanket. Lindy followed. Boo sat down and covered them all with the remaining blankets. Lying back, they stared at the gray sky.

  “It’s going to rain.” Lindy sucked her thumb back into her mouth, drawing on the calming rhythm to settle down.

  “No it’s not. It’s always gray like this in the afternoon.” Boo sounded so sure.

  Boo and Lindy snuggled closer to Bessie to warm up. Before long they’d both fallen asleep, their long trek and lack of a nap catching up with them.

  Robin searched the house again tearing the tent city completely apart.

  “Lindy! Boo! Where are you?”

  They weren’t anywhere.

  After Mr. Slade left, Robin had moved the sacks for the rummage sale to one room and cleaned the other bedrooms. The tasks went faster with the girls were sleeping. An hour later, she glanced at the clock and was surprised how long the girls had slept. A check of the tent, the bathroom and their bedroom didn’t find them. She made another frantic circuit through the house, ending in Chad’s bathroom and bedroom.

  “Belinda and Bonnie, if you’re playing hide and seek, you come out this instant!”

  The silence made chills run down Robin’s spine. “Oh my God, where are they?”

  Looking out the window, she checked the yard.

  The gate was open. Chad’s truck sat at the market. That’s it. He’d come up while she’d bee
n busy and they’d gone with him.

  Pulling a jacket from the hook by the door, she tore down the road. Chad stood at the market talking to Hank, one foot on the running board of the delivery truck. Out of breath, she stumbled next to Chad and grabbed the front of his jacket.

  “Where are they?” Robin panted, out of breath.

  “Where are who?” Chad frowned at her.

  “The girls. Where are they? They came down here, didn’t they?”

  Chad shook his head. “No. I just got back. I haven’t seen them.”

  Robin clenched her teeth, swiped her hair from her eyes and turned a circle to look around her. “You have to have seen them. They aren’t in the house. They must have seen you drive up and come down here. Where are they?”

  Chad grasped Robin’s arms, shaking her. “Back up.”

  It took all her effort not to scream at him. “Mr. Slade came. The girls had lunch. They used blankets to make a tent in the family room. They asked if they could sleep in it. I checked on them. They were asleep! Then I got busy with Mr. Slade and cleaning. I just checked and they aren’t there. They aren’t anywhere in the house.”

  “Robbie, I swear I haven’t seen them. I just drove in. We had a flat on the truck and we were stuck at the tire place for two hours.”

  Robin stared, horror flooding through her. “Where could they be?”

  She frantically turned circles again to search the immediate area. With both hands she trapped her hair at the sides of her head, as if that action alone would hold her together. Panic splintered through her.

  Chad gripped her elbow. “Let’s go check the house again.”

  Hank stepped to the ground. “I’ll check around out here, Chad.”

  “Thanks, Hank.”

  Twenty minutes later, they had checked every room, every closet, every cupboard and corner.

  Robin sat at the kitchen table barely able to breath. Her babies. Where had they gone?

  Chad knelt at her feet and rubbed her icy hands. “Let’s think this through logically.”