A Time for Home: A Snowberry Creek Novel

by Alexis Morgan

  Nick headed upstairs, taking the steps two at a time. After stripping off his clothes, he ducked into the shower and cranked it up to full. The stinging blast felt great. He was tempted to linger but kicked it into high gear to make sure there was enough hot water for Leif. At least the downstairs bathroom had a small shower stall in it, forestalling any need for him to climb the stairs.

  After toweling off, Nick put on some cargo shorts and a clean shirt. Slipping on his flip-flops, he headed back down to the living room. Leif was awake and talking to Mooch.

  “Well, dog, you seem to be adjusting to life in the States. I think you’ve even put on a couple of pounds.”

  Nick joined the conversation. “Considering how much chow that mutt packs away every day, I’m surprised he’s not the size of a small horse by now. Probably would be if I didn’t take him running most mornings.”

  As soon as the words slipped out of his mouth, Nick grimaced. There would be no running for Leif for the foreseeable future. The trouble with sharing close quarters with someone for months at a time was that they learned how to read each other’s thoughts.

  “Don’t sweat it, Nick. You can’t watch every word you say around me.”

  Leif lifted his foot down off the ottoman, biting his lip as he did so. “Is there a bathroom down here or do I need to go upstairs?”

  “There’s one in the utility room off the kitchen. Let me bring your duffel over to you. Once you’ve picked out what you need, we’ll get you headed in the right direction.”

  After dragging the duffel over by the chair, Nick perched on the ottoman while Leif rooted through his things for his shaving kit and some clean clothes.

  “Can you get that boot wet?”

  “No, but I’ve gotten good at keeping it dry by covering it with a plastic bag and taping it closed. I brought a couple with me, but I’ll need to pick up some more if I’m going to be here any length of time.”

  “Add whatever you need to my shopping list on the fridge.”

  Once Leif had laid out the stuff he needed for his shower, he scooted to the front edge of the chair and braced himself to stand up. It was damn hard to sit by and watch his friend struggle, but Nick had to trust that Leif would let him know if he needed help. That’s what he would have wanted if the situation were reversed.

  It crossed his mind that there was one thing he could do to help. He hustled to the kitchen to dump the odds and ends he’d brought back from the hardware store out onto the counter. Then he took the empty plastic bag back to the living room and loaded all of Leif’s gear in it.

  “Here, that should make it easier to carry everything.”

  Leif accepted the bag without comment. “Which way?”

  “Through there,” Nick said, pointing toward the kitchen. After his friend got up a good head of steam, Nick followed along behind.

  “Don’t hover, Nick. I’ve been taking showers by myself since I was five.”

  Okay, then. “Promise me you’ll holler if you need me, and I’ll back off.”

  “Yeah, yeah.” Leif kept shuffling forward. “The nurses made the same offer, and they were a lot better looking. I’ll tell you the same thing I told them. Every inch I give is one I won’t get back. So short of falling flat on my ass, let me muddle through on my own.”

  Nick had to laugh. “Okay, so we’ve established the ground rules. If you’re flat on your ass, I’ll scrape you up, but only so I don’t trip over you. Besides, Callie will be coming over. Wouldn’t want to damage her eyes by letting her see your nakedness in all its questionable glory.”

  Leif’s answering laugh sounded more like a wheeze. “Sarge, if my hands weren’t full at the moment, I’d be offering you a one-fingered salute.”

  “Fine, I’ll consider myself well and truly flipped off if that makes you happy.”

  “It does.”

  Satisfied that Leif would eventually make it to the utility room on his own, Nick settled in at the kitchen table and spread out the gazebo plans. Right now, they mostly provided him with an excuse to remain within shouting distance of Leif without being obvious about it.

  As he studied the instructions, he could hear Leif muttering to himself and occasionally cutting loose with a colorful string of curse words. Nick figured any soldier with enough energy to be that creative was a soldier on the mend.

  Feeling better than he had in hours, he grabbed a pencil and started making notes.

  • • •

  Juggling a large pan of lasagna, a tossed salad, a loaf of bread fresh from the bakery, and a double batch of cookies wasn’t easy. Callie made two trips to stash it all safely in her car. She could’ve called Nick to come give her a hand transporting it all through the woods, but it was just as easy to put it in the backseat of the car and drive over.

  She closed the passenger door and then slid into the driver’s seat. It was a matter of being practical and not at all because she was skittish about being alone with Nick right now. She didn’t really want to think of Leif as a chaperone, but he would provide a buffer between the two of them.

  “Yeah, right, Callie,” she muttered as she started the engine. “Let’s not lie about the situation.”

  She had good reason to avoid being alone with Nick. The trouble with being honest about her feelings on the subject was that she’d have to admit he’d scared her last night. Watching him patrol the entire yard, looking for who knows what among the shadows and trees, had left her restless for hours afterward. Partly because her own imagination kept wanting to kick in with images of bad guys lurking in the woods, but also out of worry over the demons that were clearly plaguing the man.

  He hadn’t mentioned getting any help in decompressing from the strain of fighting in the war, not to mention the loss of a friend so close to the end of their deployment. According to everything she’d read, therapy could help. But how could she even suggest such a thing to him without hurting his feelings? If she pushed too hard, he might decide to up and leave. Another bit of truth was that she wasn’t ready for him to go.

  And might never be.

  She pulled out of her parents’ driveway and drove the short distance to Spence’s. No, it was hers now, something she needed to keep repeating over and over until she actually believed it was true. For a minute, the past was superimposed over the present, and she could see Spence with his head under the hood of that old Chevy he’d been restoring back when they were sixteen.

  She slowed to a stop halfway down the driveway, not yet willing to face Nick and Leif, especially when she was lost in the past. Time sped up, and Spence was older and about to leave for his first deployment in Iraq. He’d been so handsome in his uniform, a big smile on his face but with a hint of manic fear in the depths of his pale green eyes. She was probably the only one who knew him well enough to recognize it, but she’d never doubted for a moment what she’d seen.

  The next time she’d seen him, war had carved its mark on her friend. He still laughed, but not as easily. Even in the quietest moments there’d been a thread of tension running through him. It was as if he could never quite relax because maintaining constant vigilance had become second nature for him.

  Her eyes burned, but she refused to give in to tears. She missed Spence so darn much, but somehow meeting his two friends had eased the pain a little. Not only were they a lot like him, but they also carried a big chunk of Spence in their hearts. Between the three of them, their combined memories would keep him alive, at least in their world.

  Maybe. She hoped so, anyway. Right now the wounds were still too fresh for all three of them. Leif’s literally. She’d wanted to ask him about the prognosis on his ankle but sensed the question wouldn’t be appreciated.

  Nick had his own scars that went far beyond that twisted red streak on his upper arm. While that one would heal, there was no way to know if the other ones ever would. She hated what the war had
done to them all.

  Driving slowly as the house came into view, she was struck by how much Nick had accomplished in just a handful of days. Already the grass looked healthier, neatly mowed instead of harvested like a wheat field. The flower beds were edged and weeded. The overall effect on how the place looked was amazing. Imagine what a coat of paint on the house itself would do!

  She couldn’t wait to see how it all turned out, but now wasn’t the time to get lost in her plans for the future. Especially since Nick and Mooch had both stepped out on the front porch. When the dog tried to charge down the steps, Nick grabbed him by the collar to make sure Mooch didn’t run in front of Callie’s car.

  Once she was safely stopped, he released his buddy and followed the dog down the steps.

  She managed to get out of the car without being bowled over by her four-footed fan. Kneeling down, she laughed as Mooch about wiggled himself to pieces in his efforts to deliver enough doggy kisses to last her a lifetime.

  When he finally settled down, she stood up and dusted off the knees of her jeans. “I think he missed me.”

  Nick grinned. “Can you blame him? He hasn’t seen you since lunchtime. In dog hours, that must seem like forever.”

  Callie patted the dog on the head again. “I hadn’t thought about it in those terms. Poor baby!”

  Nick peeked into the backseat of her car. “Let me help you with all of that.”

  She opened the back door and pulled out the salad and the cookies, handing them off to Nick. After retrieving the rest herself, she shut the car door with a quick nudge of her hip.

  Nick was busy sniffing the air. “I’m guessing something Italian with an underlying hint of oatmeal raisin.”

  “Right on both counts. Since this is Leif’s first night here, I thought I should hold off on serving MREs for dinner. Tomorrow, though, all bets are off.”

  He stood back to let her lead the way into the house. “That’s just mean, Callie. Besides, they won’t taste right unless you season them with Afghan dust. Not sure the stores around here will have that in stock.”

  There was something in his voice that made her think he wasn’t kidding about that. She couldn’t imagine a steady diet of gritty food morning, noon, and night.

  “Fine, then. I’ll see what else I can come up with. We could grill something tomorrow night.”

  “That sounds great. Maybe with some roasted corn or a big salad.”

  “You’ve got it.”

  They headed inside the house with Mooch bringing up the rear.

  Chapter 17

  Leif was waiting for them in the kitchen. The two men had set the table with the dishes that had once belonged to Spence’s mom. Another ping from the past. Callie set the lasagna down and peeled back the aluminum foil. Nick added the bowl of salad and then the bread Callie handed him.

  As soon as Leif spied the plastic container of cookies Nick had put on the counter, he hobbled around the table to pop off the lid. His expression turned positively reverent.

  “Tell me those are oatmeal raisin.”

  “They are.”

  Nick slapped Leif’s hand as soon as he started to pick one up. “Down, boy. You can have cookies after you eat a good dinner.”

  Leif tried again. “Come on, Sarge. Just one. Call it an appetizer. You know how long it’s been since I’ve had one of Callie’s cookies.”

  Nick relented. “Fine, but that’s it for now. Got that, Corporal?”

  Callie blinked. Nick was kidding, wasn’t he? Maybe not, considering that Nick made that last part sound like a direct order. What was going on?

  Time to distract them. “They’re just cookies, gentlemen. I can always bake more. But right now I could really use some ice water, and the lasagna is getting cold.”

  Her effort to defuse the situation worked. Nick immediately fixed drinks for all three of them while Leif settled himself at the table. Callie rooted through the drawers to find some serving utensils and a knife to cut the lasagna. Soon all three of them were seated at the table and passing their plates.

  Leif accepted the huge helping of lasagna she gave him with a smile. “This smells delicious. Thanks for cooking for us.”

  Then he shot a sly smile toward the cookie container. “And baking. Spence always shared your cookies whenever he got some, but I swear he made us beg. Believe me, we all got excited whenever he received a package from you. A couple of times we had a long discussion with our fists over how he divided up the goodies.”

  Okay, that was just too much. “Seriously? You actually fought over cookies? Don’t tell me neither of you received packages because I know better. Especially you, Nick. Spence told me about the stuff you got from your mom.”

  Leif looked a bit sheepish. “Well, sure, we all got stuff, but it was from our moms. Spence was the only one who got cookies from someone who wasn’t a blood relative. We wanted some of that for ourselves.”

  She blushed. “But Spence doesn’t have any family. The only relatives he has . . .”

  Had, darn it, had. Callie ignored the fresh stab of pain that idea caused her as she paused to correct herself again. “The only family he had left were his uncle and his cousin. God knows neither one of them would have thought to send Spence a package, not even for Christmas or his birthday.”

  Nick perked up. “Have you talked to either of them since you heard about Spence?”

  “Yes.”

  She turned her attention to serving herself some salad, hoping to avoid elaborating, because that meeting hadn’t been at all pleasant. The army had notified Spence’s uncle as his next of kin. Vince had promptly come snooping around Spence’s house, assuming he was going to inherit. Her father had noticed him hanging around and wandered over to see what was going on.

  That was the first anyone in town had heard about what had happened. She could only imagine how Vince had reacted when he’d learned from the attorney that Callie, and not Vince or even his son, had been named as Spence’s heir.

  “I’m guessing they weren’t happy about you ending up with this place.”

  She set her fork down to answer. “No, they weren’t. Vince took it harder than his son, Austin, but neither one was happy. They threatened to contest the will, but the attorney Spence hired made sure it was ironclad. There was no love lost between Spence and Vince; that’s for sure.”

  It was hard to face Spence’s two friends. “I had no idea he’d left everything to me. I hope you both know I’d rather be Spence’s guest in this house instead of its owner.”

  Nick was seated on her right and Leif on her left. Each of them reached out to take her hand. Leif gave it a quick squeeze.

  “Yeah, we both know that. We’re all having a hard time getting our heads around the fact that Wheels won’t be walking through the door again.”

  “Wheels?”

  The two men exchanged an odd look before Nick answered. “Actually, that’s short for Wheelman. When the three of us were out on patrol, Spence was our driver of choice.”

  The flatness in his tone made it very clear that there was more to the story than that. “Okay, fess up. Which one of you christened him with the nickname, and why did you choose him to drive?”

  Another one of those looks. It appeared that this time Leif drew the short straw because he rolled his eyes and leaned back in his chair. “I’m not admitting anything, but I assume sometime in the past you had the questionable privilege of riding in a car with Spence at the wheel.”

  Okay, now she knew where Leif was heading with all of this. That didn’t mean she was going to make it easy on him. “Yes, often. Did you know the cops around here used to hold him up as an example to the other teenagers whenever they talked about driving safety?”

  Leif looked incredulous as he sputtered, “Seriously? Are we talking about the same Spencer Lang?”

  Nick joined the protest.
“No way. That boy was already crazy the day he enlisted. The army didn’t make him that way.”

  It was hard to decide which of Spence’s two friends had the funnier expression on his face: Nick trying to keep a straight face or Leif looking completely befuddled.

  Nick took pity on Leif and pointed the tip of his knife in her direction. “Corporal, you might note that she didn’t say what kind of example Spence was.”

  Giggles burbled to the surface. “No, I didn’t, did I?”

  Leif finally caught on and joined in the laughter. “They held him up as a crappy example, didn’t they? I swear that man never took a corner with four wheels on the ground if he could manage to take it on two.”

  Nick nodded in agreement. “Pardon the expression, but Wheels took balls-to-the-wall driving to a whole new level.”

  There was no mistaking the admiration in Nick’s voice. Clearly Spence’s driving had made a definite impression on his fellow soldiers.

  Remembering her friend’s wild side had her smiling. “It’s nice to know the army allowed him to hone his personal skill set. ‘Be all you can be’ and all of that.”

  Leif stared off into the distance. “Gee, I don’t remember seeing ‘crazy-assed driver’ as one of the job descriptions when I enlisted. Maybe they do things differently out here on the West Coast.”

  “No, they don’t.” She thought back to when she and Spence were juniors in high school. “After one close call involving a late-night drive through the mountains, my father wouldn’t let me back in the car with Spence for a month. Then Dad had a heartfelt discussion with the dear boy. Neither of them ever shared what was said, but after that Spence never ever exceeded the speed limit when I was in the car with him.”

  She remembered those summer nights when the two of them would take long drives and talk about their dreams. Neither of them expected to end up back in Snowberry Creek, and look how that had turned out. She was thinking of starting her own business here, and Spence . . . well, he was here, too.