A Soldier's Journey

by Patricia Potter

  The phone rang and somehow she knew it was Nate. “I heard you’re queen of the world,” he said.

  “More like the footman,” she said.

  He laughed. “What’s happening there?”

  “I’m being flooded with volunteers, most of whom are would-be actors and actresses. I’m trying to steer them to other committees.”

  “I can probably tell you exactly who they are,” he replied and she heard the amusement in his voice.

  “But I’m impressed how eager they are to do almost anything after I dash their hopes of stardom.”

  “Covenant Falls does that.”

  She changed the subject. “But I get failing marks on the copy for the brochure,” she said. “I’ve been saturated with ‘the event,’ which everyone is calling it now.”

  “I have faith,” he said. “I’m going to quit tonight around seven and try to make it to poker night. Will you be there?”

  “Thought I would. I’m low on money.”

  She heard him chuckle. “Can I pick you up?” he asked.

  “I’m just around the corner,” she said before thinking, “and I expect both Joseph and I will need a walk after being inside all day.”

  “Okay,” he replied. “It’s just as well. I’m not sure when I can get there. If I’m running late, I probably won’t have time to go home and change. I might be sweaty and uncouth.”

  “Already been there and done that, and I didn’t even faint,” she said. “I’m sure you’ve seen a group of rangers returning from three or four days in the field. I don’t expect you’ll be quite that uncouth.”

  “I’ll try not to be.” He hung up before she could reply, but her heart started humming. She suddenly realized that his offer to pick her up might have been an invitation, or a date, or something. She hadn’t even thought of that until it was too late.

  Would he expect to come to the cabin after the meeting? Should she ask him? Would they begin where they had left off before? Did she want to? Yes! She still ached inside whenever she thought of Saturday night. But did she really wish to start something that probably had no hope of a satisfactory ending?

  She added up the reasons why she shouldn’t. Her stay here was temporary. He was obviously wary of marriage. She was still too raw to make any kind of emotional commitment, and she had never just slept around.

  A woman and toddler came in the door and headed straight for her. The woman introduced herself as Gail Simmons and said she’d had the lead in her senior play. Her son was a born ham, she added. She’d heard that they were looking for actors.

  Mary was dark haired and slender and, if she could act, would probably be a good wife to Angus. Andy took the name and contact number. “I’ll call you about the auditions,” she said, then added, “You know it’s all volunteer?”

  “Oh, yes,” she said. “I just think it will be a great thing to bring more people to Covenant Falls. It’s impossible to find a job here now.” After she left, Andy looked into the top drawer of the desk. Maybe she would have a little time to cast a fresh look at the brochure copy. She took the several pages she’d written and photocopied them, then sat back down and tried to concentrate.

  The front door opened and Stephanie stepped inside, a big dog with her. A pit bull, Andy thought.

  “Hi,” Stephanie said. “I came to see whether there was anything I could do and thought you might like to meet Braveheart. He’s Clint’s dog, formerly Eve’s. We didn’t bring him that first Saturday night you were here, but he’s one of Eve’s rescues and for some reason he really took to Clint, and Clint to him.”

  Joseph’s tail wagged frantically when he saw Stephanie, but he looked more suspiciously at Stephanie’s companion until he apparently decided the pit bull was on the approved list. Then he approached Braveheart, who trembled at first, but then let Joseph sniff him, and they sat down together.

  Stephanie grinned. “You can’t believe what Braveheart was like ten months ago. He was afraid of his shadow, and no wonder. He’d been used for dogfighting and thrown away when he didn’t win. When Eve brought him to me, I didn’t know if we could save him. Clint adopted him, and he’s been staying with me while Clint has been taking the law enforcement program.”

  Andy leaned down and gently rubbed his ears. Braveheart’s tail wagged.

  “You’re a friend now,” Stephanie said approvingly. “I knew the dogs would get along. I came in to see whether there’s anything I can do.”

  “I’m just a flunky here,” Andy said.

  “I don’t think so. I hear you’re rocking the world of Covenant Falls. Every place I go, I hear your name. No one else could have talked the Monroes into cooperating with this...”

  “It didn’t take much convincing. I think Sara Monroe was just waiting for an opportunity.”

  “But no one else recognized it.”

  Andy had no reply.

  “Seriously,” Stephanie said. “I really would like to help.”

  “Well,” Andy said, “we might need Wallace, a dog,” she said. “He seemed to be very important to Angus. And,” she added with the slightest of smiles, “I think a camel or two has been mentioned.”

  “They spit,” Stephanie said.

  “I know. It’s why the city passed a no-spitting ordinance.”

  “I remember,” Stephanie said drily.

  “Nick suggested it.”

  “Yes, he did,” Stephanie said. Then she peered at Andy. “You’re serious?”

  “I really don’t know if I am or not,” she said. “Depends on the script and how far into Angus’s life they want to go. But in the meantime, why don’t you check on the availability of camels?”

  “Okay,” Stephanie said with a deadpan expression.

  “But I’m leaving the final decision up to the scriptwriting committee. I’ve taken myself out of that activity. My job is to keep track of the committees and plain old pamphlet copy. Nate needs that soon.”

  “How is it coming?”

  “The committees are great. They pretty much run themselves. But the brochure, not so well,” Andy said. “A few paragraphs I’ve pretty much discarded. Volunteers for the pageant keep coming by, so I haven’t been able to focus. I didn’t know Covenant Falls was full of would-be actors and actresses.”

  “I could have warned you, but I’ve been told you’re very diplomatic. I’m not good in that department.”

  “Everything does get around in Covenant Falls, doesn’t it?”

  Stephanie nodded. “Bothered the hell out of me in the beginning, but you get used to it. I had a problem last fall, an ex-husband from hell. You can’t believe how protective this town was. Let me take care of it myself, but they had my back.”

  “That’s good to know. But I don’t have an ex-husband, and I don’t plan to stay long. Just through the pageant. I don’t want to take advantage of Josh’s cabin.”

  “And then what?”

  “I don’t know.”

  “Have you thought about staying?”

  “As I’ve learned, there’s not many jobs around here, and I need one. I also should go home and see my family. I won’t stay in West Virginia, though. Nothing there for a one-handed nurse.”

  “I don’t know. You seem to do pretty well.”

  “The whole point of coming here was to get my act together,” Andy said. “Thanks to all of you, I’m beginning to realize there is life after Afghanistan, but this is a bubble right now. I have to leave it sometime.”

  “You think?”

  “You don’t?” Andy retorted.

  “I make a point of not giving advice,” Stephanie said. “I’m too bad at taking it. So I’ll shove off. I have some appointments this afternoon. Let me know if you need anything in addition to a dog and camels.”

  All the energy in the room
seemed to leave with Stephanie.

  At four, Andy realized she hadn’t had lunch. She called Maude’s and ordered a cheeseburger for herself and a hamburger, hold the bun, for Joseph. She would pick the order up. She really didn’t want to run into anyone else and spend the rest of the afternoon answering questions. She just wanted to get away from everyone, eat in private, work on the brochure and get ready for the poker game.

  When she reached Maude’s, the order was ready.

  Maude smiled, took her money and gave her a sack, then asked, “Say, you wouldn’t have a cook in that play you’re writing, would you?”

  Andy groaned inwardly. “I’m not writing it,” she said, “but why not? You might ask Eve.”

  A little bit of payback for Eve. She still didn’t know how she had become so involved in the Covenant Falls, in the brochure, in the play. She suspected, though, that Eve was behind a lot of it.

  * * *

  ANDY LOOKED AT the clock. Ten to seven. Time to go.

  She’d returned from Maude’s, fed Joseph and herself and taken a long hot shower. She’d then listened to the news on a Denver television station. It was the first time she had consciously turned on the news since she’d arrived back in the United States.

  After the shower, she dressed in blue jeans and her favorite shirt. Her heart pounded as she ran a brush through her short hair and added a touch of color to her lips.

  “Come,” she told Joseph, and he barked. Would she ever get used to the way he seemed to understand every word she said? He fetched his leash and waited patiently while she fastened it. He really didn’t need one, but she was aware that other people might not know that. She walked at a fast pace to the community center and joined several of the guys who were also arriving.

  “The card shark,” said one of them, but there was no rancor or resentment behind the words. Good-natured teasing followed, and she relaxed. She was one of them. Rightfully here.

  Josh was already there, along with Bill and Clint. The latter was getting his share of ribbing. “Out of school now?” someone asked.

  “You bet, and you’d better watch your speeding in my town,” Clint shot back with a big grin. “I’m going to be looking for you and that yellow pickup.”

  “Liked you better when you were a computer geek,” said another.

  They all made their way to the wastepaper basket full of ice and beer and grabbed one.

  “Where’s Nate?” Clint asked.

  “He’s finishing up at our work site,” Josh said. “He and Craig said they would be a little late.”

  “No need to wait,” Clint said. “I hear we have a ringer here. I want to see for myself.”

  All the guys looked at Andy and she gave them a mock salute.

  “Always ready,” she said.

  Because Clint had missed a lot of meetings, he was given the honor of selecting the game. They were thirty minutes into the fourth hand when Nate and Craig arrived. Contrary to his warning, he’d obviously cleaned up. His hair was still damp and his jeans and T-shirt fresh. It was stretched against a very manly chest. Andy looked away.

  It would have been a fine evening if she were not so aware of Nate sitting across from her, his gaze catching hers, his mouth laughing with hers at some terrible joke. The room seemed a lot warmer than it was when she’d first entered.

  Her concentration was not the best, and although she won her share of hands, Craig was the big winner when the session broke up. Only then did she realize that the others were looking from Nate to her and back again.

  Had she been so obvious? She was sure then that she was flushed.

  As they gathered their nickels and cleared the table, an older vet looked at her. “What’s all this talk about an outdoor show?”

  She had no idea of what she should or should not say, so she reverted to the cliché that popped into her head. “If I told you, I would have to kill you.”

  Clint laughed and addressed the group. “What she’s trying to say is no one in town, including those of us on the committee, knows exactly what we’re doing. Right now, we’re talking about an outdoor pageant based on Angus Monroe’s founding of Covenant Falls. We’re all operating on blind faith now, hoping everything will fall into place. Craig is asking for volunteers to build a stage and I want to talk to anyone who can play an instrument or sing. If any of your wives or kids or friends or neighbors are interested, there will be auditions next Saturday.”

  “It’s really going to happen, then?”

  “We hope,” Clint said.

  “Well, count me in,” one of the vets said, and the others nodded their heads. They all piled their remaining nickels in their individual cans, packed them in a box and put it at the bottom of the bar. Covenant Falls was certainly the most trusting place she’d ever lived.

  Several vets left and others stayed and helped clean up. Bill said he had to leave and asked Andy to lock up. She’d been given a key that morning, another case of blind faith. Covenant Falls seemed to thrive on it.

  One by one the vets drifted out. Andy put the last chair to the side. She turned around. Nate was putting the remaining beers into the fridge. She realized she and Nate were the only two left. Well, two and a dog. Maybe that was what she’d wanted.

  “Are we through?” she asked.

  “Yeah, think so.”

  “Isn’t the women’s club going to be horrified to find beer in the fridge?”

  “I think they are quite aware of the nefarious activities here on Monday nights,” he said. “Would you and Joseph like a lift home?”

  She should say no. She’d known what would happen if she lingered, but she’d lingered anyway.

  “Just a ride,” he said.

  She nodded. “I think Joseph would approve of that.”

  He nodded. They left the room together and locked up. The park was empty tonight, the swings swaying slightly with the breeze coming from the lake.

  The moon was almost full and the sky was filled with stars above the mountain peaks. Andy took a deep breath. The air was so clean, so fresh.

  She closed her eyes with just the pure pleasure of it.

  “This is one reason I came back,” he said, and she knew he had read her thoughts. “I understand why Al wants to keep it this way. If it were possible, I would, as well. But we can’t. We stay still, and we die.”

  “My town did,” she said. “All that’s left are people like my mother, who was born there and nearly everyone she loves is buried there. But unlike Covenant Falls, it has no chance of reviving. The mines ruined the beauty of the mountains. It won’t come back.”

  “I’m sorry.”

  “Me, too. Not for my sake. But for the people trapped there.” They walked to his pickup. Joseph jumped up and Nate held the door open while she stepped up into the passenger seat. Then he was next to her, and they were riding down Lake Road to the cabin.

  CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN

  ANDY HAD LEFT a light on in the cabin, and now it looked like a welcoming beacon. How quickly the cabin had become home.

  She swallowed hard. Everything was happening so fast, and perhaps nothing as quickly as her feelings for Nate Rowland. She looked at him as he parked the car. Everything about him was relaxed. Easy. Comfortable.

  Except...

  Except for the way he made her feel inside. She was not comfortable at all with the way he made her blood warm and her heart beat faster.

  Had Angus felt that way about Chiweta?

  The thought was fleeting as Nate opened the passenger door and took her good hand to help her down.

  He put his arm around her waist just as Jared had done when they were alone. She had relished the feeling she’d had when he did that, as if they belonged to each other...

  “What is it?” he asked as she realized she�
��d come to a sudden halt.

  “Nothing,” she lied. But she fumbled with the cabin key. He took it from her and turned it in the lock.

  Then he stood there in the doorway, and she recalled his comment. Just a ride. She didn’t want him to go and yet she felt guilt at that admission. Jared was still in her mind and heart. But so was Nate. New to it, but his presence was just as strong.

  “Do you think Angus loved Chiweta?” she asked suddenly.

  “Yes,” he said. “He didn’t have to marry her legally. According to lore, there was a Ute ceremony, and then three years later a traveling minister married them again legally. They had two daughters then. Isn’t that in the journal?”

  “I haven’t read that part yet,” she said. “I did read about the first wedding.”

  “The settlement was growing then,” he said. “Chiweta was with child and I expect the newcomers had difficulty accepting a Ute woman whom they considered unmarried. A marriage was protection for them and their children. It still must have been difficult for both of them.”

  “I like him more and more,” Andy said.

  “From all the rumors over the years, he had a ruthless side,” Nate said, “but I think almost anyone who succeeded out here in that time period was probably ruthless. There was a lot of land grabbing, and at one time the family owned a great deal of land around here.”

  “But he had his dream?” she said.

  “I think that came later,” Nate said thoughtfully. “From what I read in the excerpts, he didn’t have many options after he sold everything in Scotland and traveled to save his brother. That was his original purpose, according to the journal. When his brother died, I rather imagine he wanted to build something that would be lasting, maybe for his brother, maybe for himself. Maybe for his children.”

  “Three, right? That’s what is in his Bible. Could there have been more?”

  Nate reached out and put his arms around her. “I doubt it. Never heard of any other.” Nate studied her. “You’re really becoming invested in him, aren’t you?”