The Comforts of Home

by Jodi Thomas

  As the day passed and he couldn’t reach her, Denver slowly went insane.

  Chapter 49

  MR. DONAVAN CLOSED THE POST OFFICE A FEW MINUTES after the tornado alarm sounded. He told Ronny she was welcome to stay in the back or he’d drive her over to the funeral home, but he had to get home to his wife before she went nuts with worry. She’d been in the Lubbock tornado in 1970 and hadn’t stopped talking about it.

  “I’ll stay,” Ronny said without hesitation. “I want to finish up with the mail, then I’ll call someone to come pick me up.”

  Donavan remained at the doorway. “You want me to call and check on your mom?”

  Ronny shook her head. “She always goes next door to the Carvers. He’s deaf and his wife is losing her memory, which makes them good company for Dallas.”

  “I’m off then.” Mr. Donavan waved. “I know you’ll lock up if you leave.”

  She wasn’t sure what she wanted to do. She had to think. Marty told her last night that he had a big showdown with his father this morning. Apparently, the family wanted him back in Dallas for another round of testing and operations. He said his old man had been trying to plan out his life since he was born and now, after the accident, Marty complained that he wasn’t sure he could run fast enough to get away.

  Ronny didn’t want to take a chance of bumping into Marty’s family, or the girl in silk and pearls. She’d noticed that when she was with Marty he always turned his phone off. When they were together it was like they had their own little world. The worry lines across his face vanished and she felt safe. Last night they’d cooked a meal together and she’d had her first glass of wine. She’d left early because she could see how tired he was even though he tried to hide it.

  She finished up the mail and tried to read a chapter from one of the books required in her online course, but she couldn’t concentrate.

  When the sky darkened, Ronny could think of only one place she wanted to go. The little duplex halfway between her and the fire station. She put on her coat and the hat Marty hated, locked the back door of the post office, and ran all the way to his house. The wind whipped so violently, it threatened to knock her down, but she didn’t slow.

  The duplex looked dark, but maybe the electricity was out. There were no cars out front, so if Marty’s family had come this morning they were gone now.

  She tried the door and found it, as always, unlocked.

  “Marty?” she called as she rushed in. “Marty?”

  Ronny tried the kitchen first. He wasn’t there, but she could see his Volvo parked out back. An uneasiness passed over her. The house felt empty, too empty. She ran to the bedroom, thinking maybe he was working out on his equipment. It was all there, the bars, the weights, now silent as a playground in snow.

  She slowed, walking back through the house like a mourner. Something was wrong. Very wrong. He wouldn’t have gone out in his wheelchair on a day like this, not even to pick up a paper. His fridge was stocked. The old house was drafty on cold days like this one. Marty always had the fire going in the main room, but not today.

  The memory of the first time she’d stepped inside the place came back to her. There had been nothing personal. Nothing that said, This is Marty’s place. There was nothing now.

  Sitting at the little table by the window, she tried her best to curl into a ball. The cold of the apartment seeped into her. He’d been gone a while. Long enough that any heat from the house had cooled.

  His computer and papers were missing from his desk, but the books were still scattered on the shelves as if someone had taken a few and thought the others worthless.

  The wind rattled the shutters and seemed to seep into the room in little gusts. She wanted to cry but wasn’t sure why. She wanted to scream that she needed him, he couldn’t go anywhere without telling her first, but she’d never hold so hard to another person. If she did she’d be just like her mother.

  Ronny tried to remember his last words. “When I’m feeling better I plan to teach you another lesson.”

  “On what?” she’d asked.

  “On making love, honey.”

  Then he’d kissed her and told her to go home so he could sleep.

  The slam of a door echoed from the other apartment, pulling Ronny from her thoughts. The Biggs boys were probably leaving. Taking shelter somewhere else till the storm blew over. She didn’t care. The tornado could carry her away. She had nowhere else to go. She’d just wait here until Marty got back.

  The front door rattled on its frame and for a moment she thought he might be back, but it was only Border banging his way in as always.

  “What are you doing here, Mail Lady?” he asked, filling the room with his voice.

  “I’m waiting for Marty,” she managed. She no longer feared either of the Biggs boys, but she didn’t want to talk to anyone. She just wanted to wait because, as long as she was waiting, she knew he’d come back.

  “Radio says there might be a tornado heading this way. My grandmother and brother are already at the fire station. I just came back for my guitar. I’m in my brother’s truck if you want to ride along with me. Bran says the fire station is the safest place in town to be right now.”

  She shook her head. “I’ll wait.”

  He set his guitar on the floor and crossed the room. For a moment he just stood there, and then he knelt beside her on one knee. “Lady, I don’t think Marty’s coming back. He banged on our door just after dawn and said Bran could have his old Volvo and I could have his weights if I wanted them. He left in a big car with several people surrounding him.”

  “Did he look ill?” Maybe he’d had to go to the hospital.

  Border frowned. “He looked broken. Kind of like he always looked before you came along.”

  “He’ll be back,” she whispered. “He’ll know I’m waiting.”

  “Come on to the fire station with me. We’ll call his cell and let him know where you are.” Border offered his tattooed hand. “It’s going to be all right, lady. Marty would want you to be safe, wouldn’t he?”

  She didn’t believe him, but she went with Border. For the first time in her life, she didn’t want to be alone. She knew, deep down all the way to her soul, that Marty Winslow was gone, really gone.

  Chapter 50

  TRUMAN FARM

  JUST AFTER LUNCH, REAGAN STARED AT THE WINDOW AS the sky darkened. A warning came over the radio in the kitchen. Harmony and surrounding areas were now under a tornado warning. The alert sounded. Twisters had been spotted. Everyone should prepare to take cover.

  She set the glass she’d been washing in the sink and left it there.

  No one in the house spoke as they all moved toward the van parked at the back door. Foster had pulled it up close so that rain only dribbled on them as they moved one by one into the van. No one took much with them. The house would be here in a few hours when this was over, or it wouldn’t. There was little time to think of anything else besides taking cover.

  Reagan carried two of her pies packed double-decker in a tin carrier. Cindy brought a medical bag and a few blankets. Aunt Pat only brought her knitting bag. Foster packed the walker in the back. As he closed the back door, the lights blinked, then went off in the house. Reagan thought the dark house looked lonely on this stormy day. She missed it already, but she knew they all had to go.

  Cindy flipped on the car radio to listen to the weather reports.

  Everyone watched the storm blowing by outside as they drove off the Truman place onto Lone Oak Road and down two miles to the entrance to the Matheson Ranch. Reagan didn’t like leaving her home, but Aunt Pat was right, this would be better. The basement at Jeremiah’s place housed a huge heater and had rickety stairs the old man would never be able to get down. They also had a cellar out back built in the forties. The walls were dirt and Reagan had always been afraid to go down in it, even when Jeremiah had been able to check for snakes first.

  “You okay?” Noah took her hand. He was the only one in the car who d
idn’t look worried.

  “Sure. I know it will blow over.”

  He nodded, but she could see he didn’t believe her.

  “What is it?” she asked, reading him easily.

  “I called my sister. She said she already knew I was in town. Harley over at the bar told her, but she wanted to give me space if I needed it. I told her we were heading over to the Matheson place. She said Hank was already at the fire station on alert, so she was glad to hear we were going over to the ranch house. Alex said she didn’t like to think of her mother-in-law and all the girls being there alone.”

  Aunt Pat turned around in her seat. “I’ll have you know, Noah McAllen, that the Matheson women have been surviving on this land just as long as the McAllens and Trumans. That sister of yours is sheriff, she worries about everyone, but she’s wasting it on us. She was probably thinking about someone watching over you during the storm. From the looks of all those scars you showed us before breakfast, you look like you’ve been riding tornadoes for a while.”

  “Bulls,” he corrected.

  She frowned. “Not much difference, to my way of thinking. I suppose you’re going to climb right back on one as soon as you’re able.”

  Noah had a feeling no one ever won an argument with this old schoolteacher. “You know what they say, when you fall off you got to get up and get back on as soon as possible. I figure that’s what I’ll do.”

  Aunt Pat was in no mood to be bothered. “You know what they call perfectly healthy young men who risk their lives for eight seconds of a quick thrill?”

  “What?” He braced for words like fool and idiot, but she surprised him.

  “Organ donors.” She turned back in her seat.

  Noah glanced at Reagan and saw fear in her eyes. He looked away. He didn’t want to see it. Didn’t want to think about it. On the road, when they were moving from rodeo to rodeo, no one ever talked about the odds of getting killed. It was all about the ride and the money and the ranking.

  The Matheson ranch house appeared out of the rain. A huge old stone house built to stand anything nature tossed its direction. There were two huge elms in front, but the rest of the house faced the storm without buffers.

  They parked in the Mathesons’ garage and piled out. Hank’s mother was there to welcome them. Within a few minutes, all were settled into the comfortable couches and chairs in the basement. Lanterns, handed down from generations past, were lit even though the electricity was still on.

  Saralynn, Claire’s daughter, was the only one not worried. She talked and laughed as she showed everyone how she could walk a few steps without her crutches. Claire complained that her cell phone wasn’t working while Aunt Fat, as thin as a rail, ate two pieces of the pie Reagan had brought.

  An hour passed. The radio announcer kept up the same warning. Everyone within twenty miles of Harmony was advised to take cover. Tornadoes had been spotted but none had touched ground near Harmony.

  Cindy and Foster began to play cards with Saralynn. Jeremiah dozed in a recliner. Noah grew more restless. He paced back and forth from the couch to the stairs, sometimes going up to see the storm.

  After watching him for a while, Reagan followed him up. They both knew that the last sign before a tornado hit would be the sound of a train coming. If they heard that, or the radio announcing a sighting close by, they’d have only seconds to take cover. All they needed to do was take a few steps backward and close the basement door. Then all would be safe.

  When Reagan reached the top of the stairs, Noah was standing a few feet away watching the storm from one of the long windows running across the entry.

  He didn’t turn around, but he must have known she was there. “When I come back to my ranch,” he said in a low voice, “I’ll build a proper shelter.”

  She put her arm around his waist. “That sounds like a good idea.”

  He looped his arm over her shoulder. “You know, Rea, I’m good, really good at rodeoing. Being away from it has really given me time to think. I’m scared out of my mind sometimes, but when the ride’s good and I win, it’s a kind of high I can’t explain. If I went back, maybe I could make it to the finals. Maybe I could make enough to get the ranch started right.”

  She studied him. “What are you saying, Noah?”

  He turned her to face him. “I could die right here today. We get no guarantees in life. I hate the idea of going back, of leaving you, but if I don’t, I’ll always wonder what would have happened if I’d given it one more try.”

  “What if I asked you not to go?” She fought back tears.

  “Are you asking?”

  Reagan wanted to scream yes, but she shook her head. “No. I’m not asking. Go or stay, but do it because it’s what you want.” She couldn’t be the one to kill his dream or the one to save him. He’d have to do whatever he chose on his own.

  He pulled her close. “You know I love you, Rea.”

  “I know,” she whispered against his chest. He was leaving, maybe not today or tomorrow, but soon. He was leaving her again. She wouldn’t tell him she loved him. He’d have to come back for good to hear that.

  The wind whipped against the windows as if trying to break in. A branch from one of the elms blew past the window, almost as if it were floating on the rain.

  “We’d better get downstairs.” Noah took her hand. “Your hand is already shaking.”

  She didn’t have the nerve to tell him that the fear rattling through her veins had nothing to do with the weather. She’d known fear all her life until she came here, and she’d not leave Harmony, not ever, but she couldn’t hold him back. Noah needed to run. He needed the rodeo. If she tried, she might be able to stop him, but she wasn’t sure the man who stayed would be the Noah she loved.

  The storm outside, even the wind howling like a freight train running at full speed, couldn’t keep Reagan from hearing her heart breaking. He hadn’t asked her to wait. He wouldn’t.

  As they closed the door to the basement an announcer shouted. “This is one big storm coming, folks. To be safe, you need to be underground.”

  Reagan barely listened. Noah was going back; despite everything, he was going back.

  Halfway down the steps to the others she heard a crashing sound. The house shook just before something hit the basement door so hard it shattered the wood.

  Noah pulled her down so fast she lost her footing. He caught her just before she hit the floor.

  Cold air blew in along with rain as the sounds of screams filled the basement.

  Reagan looked back up the stairs. Branches from the huge elm in the front yard were now poking through splintered gashes in the door, and the entire tree seemed wedged in the only exit.

  Chapter 51

  WRIGHT FUNERAL HOME

  IN THE BASEMENT OF THE FUNERAL HOME EVERYONE WAITED. With layers of thick walls between them and the storm, the threat of a tornado seemed far away. The women talked in the comfortable break room while Calvin drank coffee and Dave slept. Martha Q, Beth the bookkeeper, and Kate were talking about redecorating as Autumn thumbed through a magazine.

  They’d been settled in for a while when Autumn stood. “Oh my God,” she said. “We forgot the dog. Little Lady must be frightened out of her mind.”

  “I’ll go get her,” Kate offered.

  “No, I will. I know all her hiding places around the kitchen. I’ll be right back.”

  She was gone before anyone could debate.

  Autumn ran up the back steps to where a panel in the back of the entryway opened. Anyone visiting would never notice the entrance, but she’d explored the hidden passages that allowed those who worked there to move from one room to another without ever passing through the public areas.

  She was halfway across the kitchen when she saw a shadow cross the bay window. A man was wearing black and trying to look in the window.

  Autumn darted for the dog as the shadow moved to the kitchen window.

  Little Lady barked. The stranger’s face pressed against t
he glass. Autumn backed away as she recognized Leland. He was standing just beyond the glass glaring at her.

  Before a scream could clear her throat, he shattered the glass by the lock and was inside.

  She backed up, hitting her head on a hanging pot.

  “Looks like I finally caught you here alone.” Leland smiled as he moved closer, like a cat cornering a mouse. “You should have guessed I wouldn’t leave without taking you along.”

  Her back hit the counter, knocking the receiver off the phone.

  Little Lady barked again and raced toward Leland as if to defend the property.

  In the moment Leland swatted at the dog, she punched 911 and shouted, “Don’t you dare hurt that dog!”

  Leland looked up, ignoring the animal. “I didn’t come to hurt no dog,” he said in almost a whisper. “But I can’t say the same about you. We weren’t finished talking and now everyone in town is busy, I figure we might have our own little storm.” He lifted his fist. “I’m going to rain down on you so hard there won’t be a man in this town who’ll look at you after today.”

  She moved around the center island, staying out of his reach. “Go away,” she managed. “Go away and leave me alone.”

  “Not this time. I saw your boss run over to the fire station. I’ve been watching this place for two days. There ain’t nobody here who can stop me, and with all the racket outside no one will hear your screams. Not even when you lose that bastard you’re carrying.” He laughed. “When we get through dancing, darling, I’ll load you in the truck and take you home. I’d be willing to bet you don’t give another thought to leaving me after today.”

  Autumn had to think. She couldn’t panic. “I’ll go,” she said. “I’ll go back home. Just let me get my things.” She took a step toward her room.

  He smiled. “You’re not getting out of what is coming to you that easily, but if you want to pack up, I can wait. Take anything around here that looks like it’s valuable while you’re at it.”