Garden of Dreams

by Patricia Rice

  Jackie grinned and didn’t argue more. Looking at the boy, JD tried finding a piece of himself in that mop of long hair, the long nose and sulky mouth, but he couldn’t. He could barely remember Nancy, but he supposed the kid resembled her.

  Still, he couldn’t help feeling some kind of pride that the kid claimed him. He’d been all of sixteen when he and Nancy had run away from their respective homes to start what they thought would be a new and better life. Hell, they’d made a new life, apparently, but not the kind they’d had in mind. He hadn’t even thought Nancy might be pregnant when her old man had dragged her home. He’d just felt relief that he didn’t have to figure out how to put food on the table any longer. He’d hit the road the next day and never looked back.

  He’d been an immature jerk. Lord, the kid was almost as old as he was when he’d fathered him. JD would damn well make certain the boy knew how to take care of himself and any partner he picked up. There was no point in passing on the Marshall legacy of incompetence with women.

  As he and Jackie rode the Harley toward the lakes, the sheriff stepped out of the Piggly Wiggly and flagged them down. JD had the sudden sense of falling into some old Western movie where the town sheriff knew everything and everybody. He rolled the bike to a halt and winced as he forgot his sore foot and set it down as a brake.

  The sheriff looked properly sympathetic. “Sorry about that. Shouldn’t you be resting that foot?”

  Now that the man wasn’t looking all dopey-eyed at Nina, JD could tolerate him. And Jackie should learn respect for the law. Age certainly had a way of catching up with a man. Once upon a time JD would have just given the man the finger and ridden off in a cloud of dust.

  “Promised the kid I’d take him fishing. The accident kind of wrecked our vacation plans, so I’m looking for some way of making it up to him.”

  “This is a great place for a vacation,” the sheriff informed him proudly. “It’s a shame it’s not hunting season. I could take him down some trails and show him some deer. If you want to rent a boat, there’s a marina just off on the right as you reach the lake. They’ll take good care of you.”

  “I’m obliged to you.” JD nodded, hoping he’d picked up the local lingo. “Gary Thomas just told us where to find the best fishing holes. Reckon we’ll take some fish back for Miss Toon this evening.”

  That clouded the man’s expression quick enough. Sheriff Hoyt definitely had intentions in that area, JD decided.

  “Bob said he didn’t find your billfold in the truck anywhere. Have you found it yet? I’ve still got to fill out that report.”

  Double damn shit. Here he was driving the Harley through town without a license as far as this backwoods sheriff knew. He should know better than to expect the law to be on his side. Grinding his teeth, JD summoned a polite reply. “Damn, I’m sorry, Sheriff. I’m so used to having the thing in my pocket, I’d forgotten it went missing.” It didn’t take much of an act to look crestfallen. “What do you reckon I should do? I hate burdening Miss Toon with driving us around until I get a new one. I’m not even sure I can replace it since I’m not at home. It’s kind of like being in a foreign country and losing a passport. Where’s the nearest embassy?”

  That almost brought a grin to the sheriff’s face. “Well, if you carried your birth certificate around with you, you could go over to the courthouse and take the driver’s test and get a Kentucky license. Just give me your social security number, and I’ll use that on the report. Try staying away from any more stolen vans while you’re around here, and I’ll pretend I don’t know you haven’t got a license on you.”

  JD gave him a number with a wrong digit that would throw off any search the sheriff might make. Anyone could mess up a number. Hoyt would never know if it was his own fault or JD’s. He’d done the same at the bank. If they stayed only a few weeks, it wouldn’t hurt. It would just slow down anyone tracing him.

  “I’d offer to take you out for a beer, Sheriff, but Miss Toon tells me I can’t do that around here, so I guess we’ll just bring you a mess of fish when we catch some. Appreciate your understanding.”

  “Bring the boy over to church on Sunday so he’ll meet a few of the other kids. You might find this is a good place to live.” Tipping his hat, Hoyt sauntered back in the direction of his car.

  Behind him, Jackie gave a whistle of relief. “Wow, you played that one close. He can’t find Mom that way, can he?”

  “Quit worrying about your mom. She’ll be okay now that she knows you’re safe. We’re here to have a good time, remember?”

  The boy accepted that, but Jackie didn’t know about Harry. As he gunned the bike down the road, JD tried not to let that minor matter get to him.

  Jimmy’s return e-mail had said that Harry and his “partners” had left in search of JD.

  Chapter 7

  JD wondered if he could have tried harder to shake DiFrancesco. Maybe he should have found somewhere safer for Jackie. Hell, maybe he should just have his head examined. What had ever given him the idea that he could become a corporate businessman? His credentials leaned more toward backwoods mechanic.

  With Jackie chattering excitedly beside him about the fish they’d caught, the ones now simmering in the frying pan, JD wondered if his life would have been better if he’d stayed married to Nancy, found a mechanic’s job, and settled somewhere. Jackie’s life might have been better for it. Guilt churned his guts every time he looked at the boy.

  “Hey, Dad! Look at the eyeballs! They’re rolling around—”

  JD made a hushing motion as he pointed toward the front room. He didn’t need their pixie landlady recognizing his relationship to Jackie. He’d told her about Nancy, but he preferred erring on the side of caution otherwise. As the Smith brothers, they weren’t so easily identified if someone came looking for them.

  Jackie popped a hand over his mouth and nodded.

  Lord, it hurt just looking at the boy. Well, he might be totally incompetent at relationship building, but he had a few other talents he could rely on. With a smirk, he winked at Jackie, and still carrying the greasy spatula, JD wandered toward the front room.

  “Miss Toon? Would you care to join us? We’re about to partake of the biggest, fattest catfish these lakes have ever given up. There’s plenty enough for you.”

  The house had only the one ancient TV. His addlepated landlady sat cross-legged in front of it, watching the evening news with a pencil between her teeth as she worked her way through several gardening catalogs, apparently comparing prices. He’d have blown a gasket by now concentrating on both activities at once.

  She waved her fingers, indicating she’d heard him, popped the pencil from between her teeth to mark notes on a legal pad, then finally replied, “That’s okay. You two enjoy yourselves. I’ll catch something later.”

  “Catch something? As in flies? Like a spider? If you go down to the lake right now, all you’ll catch is mosquitoes. Come on. It won’t take ten minutes to eat. I still owe you for saving my life, remember?”

  She gave a mighty sigh and shoved her fingers through her hair, making it stand on end more than before. “Okay, you’ll know my guilty secret. I hate fish. I particularly hate catfish. They’re full of nasty little bones that aren’t worth the trouble to pull out. I’ll just have some cheese and crackers later.”

  JD leaned against the door frame and admired the delicate tilt of her chin. For some insane reason, he felt the same protective instincts for this little bit of fluff and bone that he felt for his son. She lived in this huge gloomy house all alone, drove a rickety car that shouldn’t be trusted ten feet from safety, and she’d developed some decided peculiarities that would worsen unless someone pulled her out of the empty shell she’d buried herself in. He had the urge to tug her into his arms and teach her what she was missing. Stupid inclination given his own paranoid tendencies.

  “Then come and eat your cheese and crackers with us. Tell us about the local flora and fauna. Or better yet, tell us how we can get ou
t of church on Sunday. So far, you’re the only person who hasn’t invited us.”

  Nina threw another look at the TV where the local newscaster expounded upon the latest protest over the TVA’s mishandling of the lake properties. With a shrug, she switched it off. She didn’t know what made anyone think large corporations would do anything else but mishandle property when the bottom line was all that mattered to them, and people couldn’t be calculated in dollars.

  She despised eating alone, and besides Jackie had been awfully proud of his fish. She should congratulate him on his catch at least.

  He grinned at her as she entered, and she saw a flash of family resemblance between the brothers. They both had that wicked grin that could turn a woman’s heart upside down. Returning the smile, she accepted the chair JD pulled out for her.

  “If you’re going to catch this many fish, you’ll have to start a fish market,” she teased. She tried ignoring the male in blue jeans rummaging through her refrigerator. He’d taken off his denim shirt in deference to the heat in the kitchen and was back to a T-shirt again.

  “Could I make money at it?” the kid asked seriously.

  She should have known better. She didn’t know if the enormous check JD had presented her earlier was any good. She was afraid to find out. If their clothes were any evidence, they didn’t look as if they had enough to live on. Of course the boy’s thoughts would go to money.

  “Well, you’d have some pretty stiff competition,” she pointed out. “Everyone out here fishes.”

  He shrugged without looking too deflated. ‘Then I’ll find something else. I want to own my own business like Dad.”

  A guilty look darted over his face as JD dropped the cheese and crackers on the table. Nina pretended she didn’t notice. She wouldn’t delve into family history. She suspected the two must share the same father but different mothers. She found it surprising that Jackie would admire a man who beat him, but children always adored their parents, right or wrong. Or had JD said it was Jackie’s stepfather?

  “Owning your own business is pretty risky,” she said as JD took his seat. “Most small businesses go under in the first few years. You’d better make sure you have a good sound education in business management, then learn your trade from an expert before venturing out on your own.”

  JD raised a quizzical eyebrow as he passed the bowl of cole slaw. “Shall I guess what subject you teach?”

  She grinned at his satirical tone. “Economics, accounting, and math at the high school, bookkeeping and typing at the vo-tech school in the evening. I’ve also subbed in biology when desperation calls, which it frequently does. I keep telling them my minor is in botany and they should change it to a botany course if they keep putting me in there.”

  Nina didn’t know if she liked the look of amazement she saw in JD’s eyes. Did he think her a total idiot? Of course he did, after that performance this morning. Coloring, she returned her attention to her food.

  “I suppose I shouldn’t ask, but with that kind of background, why didn’t you get another degree and teach at the college?”

  “Stupid question,” she replied more curtly than she’d intended. “The nearest college is on the other side of the lakes. I made that drive for five years through ice and rain and fog. There’s no way I’ll drive it for the rest of my life.”

  “You could move to the other side of the lakes,” he pointed out reasonably.

  “Aunt Hattie lived here.” She didn’t embellish the topic. Aunt Hattie had raised her since she was a lonely child of nine. Her great-aunt had taken on a responsibility that had belonged to Nina’s irresponsible parents. And Hattie had started losing her mental faculties shortly after Nina finished her master’s degree.

  “She doesn’t live here anymore,” he prodded. “Have you ever lived anywhere else?”

  “No. This is my home, and I’m quite happy with it. I wasn’t cut out for an ivory-tower environment.”

  JD’s eyes narrowed. “You’re afraid of the unknown. You’re staying where it’s safe.”

  “What in hell difference does it make to you?” She bit her lip, and her eyes widened as she realized she’d sworn in front of Jackie. Glaring crossly at JD, she turned her attention back to the teenager who had instantly retreated within himself as soon as she’d raised her voice. “How does your fish taste, Jackie? My first fish tasted like heaven. I never thought I’d eaten anything so good.”

  He regarded her warily and poked at the remains. “All right, I guess. How come you don’t eat fish now?”

  Nina wrinkled her nose. “A steady diet of fish when I was growing up, I guess. Sometimes, too much of a good thing ruins it.”

  He regarded her solemnly, absorbing that piece of information without comment. It suddenly struck Nina that behind that long hair and earring was a mind of significant intelligence... like his brother’s.

  Teenage boys disliked girls who earned straight As, and she’d easily dismissed the boys she’d grown up with by garnering every academic honor available. She had the uneasy notion that she couldn’t get away with that kind of arrogance with her new boarders.

  That night, Nina returned to her childhood bedroom and lay sleepless, staring at the ceiling. Come daylight, she would see the crack that she had decided as a child resembled a stairway to heaven. She had lain awake nights wondering if her parents had climbed that stairway and looked down on her from above, watching out for her in death as they hadn’t in life.

  She didn’t grapple with that image these days. She couldn’t precisely remember when she’d figured out that her so-called parents hadn’t actually died. They’d just left. She remembered struggling with their desertion, wondering if they might have stayed if she’d been a better student, if she hadn’t outgrown her clothes so fast, if she’d been prettier. She’d never voiced her doubts aloud. She’d simply tried to be as good as any angel so Aunt Hattie wouldn’t abandon her, too.

  Somewhere along the line, she’d grown tired of explaining where her parents had gone, and she’d started telling people they were dead. She’d tried creating fiery spectacular deaths for them one year, but Hattie had put an end to those tales. After that, she’d just quit expecting cards at Christmas or surprises on her birthday.

  At some point she’d heard Hattie say they’d married too young. Knowing people as she did, Nina imagined her father had left first, her stepfather actually. Her mother didn’t know who her real father was, Hattie had said.

  Nina had vague memories of screaming arguments in the little house at the far end of Hattie’s farm where they’d lived at the time. Her stepfather had come home drunk once and broken a window when he discovered her mother had locked him out. He’d disappeared from her life sometime after that.

  Her mother had left her with Hattie not much later. There’d been talk of returning to school, finding a job, and she’d even come home once or twice that first year. But obviously Nina hadn’t been important enough to remember after a while.

  Hattie had given Nina a home, but her great-aunt hadn’t known how to play with a child. She’d just been another student for Hattie to teach.

  Nina had the desperate feeling she would turn out just like her aunt if she didn’t make some changes, but she didn’t know where to begin. The prospect of finding a job and a home in another city terrified her. Besides, she had her dream of a botanical garden.

  Listening to the television playing in the room below, hearing JD or Jackie turning on the water in the kitchen, Nina wondered if she couldn’t stay and still make changes. Maybe she should take Hoyt up on the offer of a ride in his new boat.

  She might as well go to the bars in Paducah and pick up strangers for all the good that would do, she decided. She’d surely fall asleep listening to Hoyt recount his football days.

  With a sigh, Nina threw back the stifling sheet and listened to the clickety-clack of JD’s keyboard in the room below.

  Chapter 8

  Not since her teenage years of primping and preening had
Nina regretted the farmhouse’s limited amenities. She regretted it now as she entered the upper story’s one bathroom to find alien male shaving razors and accoutrements cluttering the counter. The small bathroom they’d added downstairs had little space and no mirror.

  Nina felt a moment’s guilt as she locked the bathroom door so she might shower in peace. She disliked inconveniencing guests, but it wasn’t as if she’d invited them, she reminded herself. They would just have to adapt. As she would.

  After years of scattering her underthings where she pleased, dropping towels until she got back to them, leisurely soaking for as long as she liked, it seemed odd to consider anyone else in her private den. For a thousand a month, she’d live with it. She’d take JD’s check to the bank this morning.

  The low roar of Jackie’s boom box filtered through the wall from his room down the hall. For a thousand a month, she couldn’t ask the two of them to share a room. She was grateful they didn’t need entertaining. She wanted to visit Hattie and attend the garden show this afternoon.

  Nina heard the phone ring as she stepped out of the shower. Dripping wet, her hair sticking out in unruly spikes, she could only shrug and towel herself off. Whoever it was could call back. Even when living alone she had little inclination for streaking naked through the house to answer a phone. Answering machines and cordless phones were for people with fast-lane lives, not her.

  She was in the process of blow-drying her hair when the knock rapped at the door.

  “Nina? The landscape designer from the university just called. He said he could come out this afternoon if that’s all right with you. What do you want me to tell him?”

  She almost dropped the dryer at the warm rumble of a male voice not two feet from where she stood, stark naked. Inexplicably shy, she considered pretending she had evaporated.