Just Fine with Caroline

by Annie England Noblin

  Noah reached down and offered Caroline his hand. “It wouldn’t have anything to do with that car you were chasing, would it?”

  Caroline eyed Noah’s hand skeptically. “So you saw that.”

  “I did,” Noah replied. “You gonna take my hand or what?”

  Caroline stared up at him. He was smiling at her, almost laughing, but it didn’t seem like he was making fun of her. Although she wouldn’t have blamed him for laughing at her. She was sure she looked just about as stupid as she felt. She reached for his hand. “Thanks.”

  “No problem,” Noah replied. He was still holding on to her hand. “Why were you chasing that car?”

  “One of them stole a fishing pole,” Caroline said. “I turned my back for five minutes, and one of those little urchins stole a damn fishing pole.”

  “What are you going to do about it?”

  Caroline shrugged. “I’ll call Court later on, but it won’t make much difference. Even if they sent someone out here to find them, they’d say it was just a misunderstanding,” she said. “It’s always a misunderstanding with city people.”

  “Hey, now.” Noah cocked his head to one side. “Not all city people are jerks.”

  “Oh, so you’re a city person now?” Caroline asked. “Here I thought you was a Cranwell from the hollers.”

  Noah let out a laugh that was contagious. “Why do I feel like you’re mocking me?”

  “I wouldn’t know.” It felt good to Caroline to laugh.

  “Do you want to come over for a few minutes?” Noah asked. “I found some more old photos in the station, but the only people I recognize are my great-grandfather and grandfather. I was hoping maybe you could tell me who the other people are.”

  Caroline wanted to say yes, but she knew she couldn’t leave her mother alone in the shop. “I better get back to work,” she said at last. “Maybe another day?”

  “Oh, come on. It’ll just take a few minutes.”

  Caroline looked over at the shop, debating. Surely her mother would be okay for a few minutes. How long could it take? “Okay,” she said. “But just for a few minutes.”

  “Great!” Noah clapped his hands together. He led her over to Cranwell Station, holding the door open for her to step inside. “I know it’s a mess in here, but I’m working on that.”

  Caroline didn’t care. The only thing she wanted to do was look at the pictures he’d told her about. They were laid carefully out on a table in the middle of the room. Plastic covered the floor and parts of the walls. There were tools littered about everywhere, and the table stood naked, the only static thing in an otherwise chaotic room. That’s when she saw a lump in the corner of the room—a large, hairy lump—a snoring lump. “Is that Yara?” Caroline asked. “I couldn’t find her earlier. I figured she was just wandering down by the river.”

  “She’s been in here since you closed up yesterday,” Noah said, a bit sheepishly. “I hope that’s alright.”

  “Of course it’s okay,” Caroline replied. “I’d rather she have a nice, cool place to sleep at night, but she won’t ever come into the shop.”

  “Watch this,” Noah said, his eyes lighting up. He picked up his right foot and brought it down hard on the wooden floor beneath him. Twice more he did this, before Yara, sensing the vibrations in the floor, lifted her head, cocking it slightly to the side. “Come here,” Noah said to her.

  “She can’t hear you.”

  “Just wait for it,” Noah replied, not taking his eyes off of Yara. “Come here,” he said again, taking his hands and making a scooping motion in the air before bringing his palms to his chest.

  Without hesitation, Yara was up and trotting towards him.

  “Now, sit,” Noah said, this time taking his hands off of his chest with a downward motion.

  Yara sat.

  “Good girl!” Noah pulled a treat from his pocket and gave it to the dog. “Good girl!”

  Caroline stared at them both, openmouthed. She’d never seen Yara do anything like that before. “How did you . . . I mean, when did you teach her this?”

  “About an hour ago,” Noah said. “Well, I taught her to come to me last night. She kept pacing back and forth in front of the door, so I let her in. Caroline, she is so smart. She picks up on everything so quickly.”

  “I couldn’t even get her to come inside.”

  “Do you mind?” Noah looked panicked. “I wasn’t trying to steal your dog or anything.”

  Caroline grinned down at Yara, giving her a pat on the head. “Of course I don’t mind. I just wish I’d thought to teach her sign language before.”

  “It’s a trick I learned in the service. All of the dogs we used knew sign language commands.”

  “That’s amazing.”

  An awkward silence fell between the two of them, and Caroline wasn’t sure what else to say. After what seemed like an eternity, she remembered the reason she’d come over in the first place. “Where are those pictures you wanted to show me?” she asked.

  “Here,” Noah replied. He pointed to them. “I found them in a box in the old woodstove at the back of the station. I have no idea why someone would put them in there.”

  “Maybe they meant to burn them and forgot,” Caroline offered. She glanced down at the pictures. “Wow. Some of these are old.”

  “From the ’20s and ’30s, I think,” Noah said.

  “They’re in surprisingly good shape for being in a woodstove for God knows how long,” Caroline said. “Holy hell, this one is amazing.” She pointed to one of the earliest photos; it was of two men standing arm in arm in front of Cranwell Station. They were both smiling and squinting into the apparent sun. One of them had a cigar hanging out of his mouth. He looked a lot like Noah.

  “That’s my great-grandfather,” Noah said. He pointed to the man with the cigar. “I’m named after him.”

  “The other man is Boss Tom Pendergast,” Caroline marveled.

  “Who?”

  “He practically ran Kansas City during Prohibition.” Caroline slid the photo off of the table. “He was a politician and probably the only reason Harry Truman was ever elected president.”

  “Are you serious?”

  “This is an amazing find,” Caroline said, scarcely able to control her own excitement. “He and his brother had their fingers in every pot, especially organized crime, prostitution, and I reckon bootlegging alcohol. It makes sense he might have had connections with your family.”

  “What’s that supposed to mean?”

  Caroline looked over at Noah. She hadn’t thought about what she was saying as she said it. She was used to talking to others about the Cranwells, not to talking to an actual Cranwell. “I’m sorry,” she said quickly. “I didn’t mean it like that.”

  Noah crossed his arms over his chest. “Didn’t you?”

  Caroline bit at the corner of her bottom lip. Now she’d done it. She was contemplating her next move when from out of the window she saw her mother step out of the shop, teeter down the steps, and start trudging unsteadily towards them. She was wild-eyed, looking lost. “Oh shit, it’s my mom.” She rushed out of the station.

  “Wait,” her mother was mumbling. “Wait, please, wait.”

  “Mom, I’m not going anywhere,” Caroline said, calling out to her. “I’m right here.”

  But her mother rushed past her and over to Noah, who’d come out of the station, as well. He was standing in the doorway. “Where have you been?” she demanded. “I’ve been waiting to see you all day.”

  Noah glanced from Caroline to her mother and back again. “I’m sorry,” he said, “but I don’t think we’ve met.”

  “Of course we’ve met, don’t be silly!”

  “Mom.” Caroline grasped her mother’s arm. “Mom, let’s get you back over to the shop.”

  “No, thank you,” her mother replied, wrenching herself from her daughter’s grip. “I’ve been in there long enough.”

  “Do you want to go home?”

  “No,
thank you.”

  Caroline let out an exasperated sigh. There was no way Maureen O’Conner was going to go anywhere she didn’t want to go, and Caroline refused to scold her like a child. “I’m sure it’s cooled off in there some by now. Let’s head back.”

  “I said no.”

  Caroline looked helplessly at Noah. He wasn’t looking at her. He was instead smiling at her mother. He held out his hand to her, the same way he’d held out his hand to Caroline minutes earlier. “What about if I walked you back over?” Noah asked her.

  “Only if you’ll come inside and sit a spell,” Maureen replied.

  “This is my mom, Maureen O’Conner,” Caroline said, walking behind them.

  “How are you today, Mrs. O’Conner?” Noah asked.

  “Lord, child, you don’t have to introduce us,” her mother replied. Then, turning her attention to Noah, she said, “Since when did you start calling me Mrs. O’Conner? It’s Maureen to you, same as always.”

  “Okay, Maureen.” Noah took her hand. “Let’s go over to your shop and sit a spell.”

  Caroline followed behind them and listened to her mother chatting happily with Noah. Caroline didn’t know just who her mother thought Noah was, but he didn’t seem to mind being mistaken for someone else. She thought about the pictures she’d seen in the station, the ones of Jep Cranwell looking an awful lot the way Noah Cranwell looked now. Was it possible that her mother thought he was Jep? She doubted it, as her mother never had anything nice to say about Jep. Just then, Noah turned around to smile at Caroline as he helped her mother up the steps, and she found herself grinning right back. Yep, no way could he be mistaken for Jep.

  “I like the name of this place,” Noah said as he stepped inside. “Very clever.”

  “It was my mother’s idea.” Caroline nodded towards her mother, who without another word had walked into the back room and picked up her knitting. “She had a great sense of humor.”

  “Is it Alzheimer’s?”

  “Yes.”

  Noah stuffed his hands down into the pockets of his jeans. “My grandmother, my mom’s mom, had it. She lived with us until I was twelve.”

  “It’s a vicious disease,” Caroline replied. “My dad is a doctor, and I think he thought he could slow it down, but it’s gotten worse over the last year.”

  “How long has she had it?”

  “About five years, but it’s only been bad the last couple.” Caroline walked around behind the cash register. She could feel his eyes on her, studying her. “I don’t know who my mom thought you were, but thank you for playing along. It makes everything a lot easier when people just play along.”

  Noah leaned onto the counter in front of Caroline. “My Gram used to think I was a kid she went to school with back in Poland. She would get so angry when I couldn’t understand Polish,” Noah said. “My mom told me he and his family were arrested during the war and that my Gram never saw him again.”

  “How sad.”

  “It was.” Noah nodded. “It’s strange the things the mind is able to remember when it’s forgotten almost everything else.”

  “So your grandmother emigrated here from Poland?” Caroline wasn’t sure why she was asking Noah questions about his family, except that she didn’t want to go back to talking about her mother, and she didn’t want the conversation to end.

  “Yes,” Noah replied. “She came over with my great-grandparents after the war and settled in New Jersey. My mom and I moved back there when . . .” Noah paused, taking a deep breath in through his nose and out through his mouth. “When my father died.”

  Caroline was searching for something to say when the door opened and Ava Dawn burst through. She was all lipstick and daisy dukes, her blue eyes wide with a story to tell. “Carolina, you are never gonna guess who I just seen!” she exclaimed. “Never!” She stopped when she saw Noah Cranwell watching her, an amused smile on his face.

  “I don’t think we’ve officially met. I’m Noah Cranwell.” Noah stuck out his hand to her.

  “I’m Ava Dawn.” Her cheeks turned pink when Noah engulfed her hand with his. “Pleasure meetin’ you.”

  Caroline glared over at Ava Dawn. “What are you doing here?”

  “Uncle Max called and said to come pick up Aunt Maureen when I got up and around,” Ava Dawn replied. “And then I ran into Reese on the way over. Did you know he was back in town?”

  Caroline’s heart leaped into her throat. She wished Ava Dawn would keep her mouth closed about Reese until they were at least out of earshot of Noah. She just knew Ava Dawn was going to say something else to make sure Noah knew Caroline’s history with him. She kicked herself for not telling her cousin the night before, or at least leaving her a note or something. “Court told me last night.”

  “I figured Court knew about it,” Ava Dawn said. “He always seems to keep a tab or two on Reese.”

  “Yeah, well . . .” She trailed off. Caroline didn’t want to talk about Reese or Court right now. “Mom is in the back. I don’t know if she’ll go with you, though.”

  Ava Dawn ignored Caroline and continued to talk. “Seems like he’s here to stay—Burlington Northern finally transferred him back here. Says he’s real glad, too. You know he’s makin’ a ton of money workin’ for the railroad.”

  Caroline glared at her cousin.

  “He said he was comin’ to the pie auction tomorrow night. Asked me all about you. Wanted to know how you were and what you was doin’. I told him you could tell him yourself since I reckon you’ll get to see him then.”

  “I reckon I will.”

  “Wait, what’s a pie auction?” Noah wanted to know.

  “Well, ain’t you cute,” Ava Dawn replied. “It’s a benefit sort of thing—for Court Brannan and his daddy—to help pay for his step-mama’s funeral. Everybody brings a dessert, usually a pie, to auction off. All the money goes to them.”

  “Court’s the deputy, right?” Noah asked. “He was there that day you aimed a gun at me?”

  “I wasn’t aiming a gun at you,” Caroline corrected him. “I was aiming a gun at Ava Dawn’s no-good, piece-of-trash husband.”

  “She’da shot him, too, if you ’n’ Court hadn’t shown up,” Ava Dawn chimed in.

  “Oh, I don’t doubt that.”

  “She’s a real good shot. Scares most men off.”

  “Thanks,” Caroline replied sarcastically.

  “Well, not all men,” Ava Dawn continued. “Reese sure did get a kick out of your fiery side, that’s for sure. Think you two will reconnect? Maybe Wyoming isn’t lookin’ so bad right about now, huh?”

  Caroline wanted Ava Dawn to shut up. She hadn’t seen Reese since the day she broke it off with him. He’d been sent to Wyoming with the railroad, and he hadn’t been happy when Caroline rebuffed his offer for them to get married and for her to move with him. He’d known she couldn’t leave her mother and father, but he’d thought the allure of not having to work for a living would be too good for her to reject. It was just further proof that Reese hadn’t known her at all, and they both knew it. Court never liked Caroline and Reese together, and in the end, he’d been right about Reese running all over the county with any girl who was willing. And here Ava Dawn wanted to open all those old wounds right here in front of Noah Cranwell. It clearly wasn’t lost on Ava Dawn that Reese had been the only boyfriend she’d ever had.

  “Well, ladies,” Noah said, tipping an imaginary hat to them. “I better be getting back across the road.”

  Caroline shot her cousin a look the second Noah was outside. “What in the hell, Ava Dawn?”

  “What?” Ava Dawn asked. She innocently twisted a strand of blond hair between her fingers.

  “Don’t you think you could’ve kept a lid on it until he wasn’t here?”

  “Why do you care, Carolina?”

  Caroline threw up her arms in exasperation. “Just forget it. You are ridiculous, anyway.”

  “Don’t you want to hear about Reese?” Ava Dawn pressed. “He
was drivin’ a brand-new Toyota Tundra. Extended cab. Offered to take me for a ride, but I said no cuz I had to get out here.”

  “I’m sorry you had to make that sacrifice,” Caroline said dryly, sticking her head into the back room to check on her mother. She was sitting with her knitting. When she noticed Caroline looking at her, she smiled.

  Ava Dawn wasn’t listening to her. She was looking out the window and across the street at Cranwell Station. “Hey, come look at this,” she said. “Ain’t that Jep Cranwell out there?”

  Caroline squinted. “Yep. It sure is.”

  “What do you think they’re talking about?” Ava Dawn whispered.

  “I don’t know.” Caroline couldn’t tell what they were saying, but neither man seemed particularly happy. “But whatever it is, it isn’t good.”

  Noah was pointing to the bait shop with one hand and waving the other in the air. Jep was shaking his head back and forth in disagreement with whatever Noah was trying to tell him.

  “Ooooh, Noah looks mad,” Ava Dawn said. “Looks like they’re talking about us.”

  “It’s not our business.” Caroline backed away from the window. “Go get Mom. Will you fix her some lunch when you get home?”

  “Sure thing,” Ava Dawn replied. “Come on, Aunt Maureen, let’s go home.”

  Maureen looked up at Ava Dawn. “Your hair is so pretty. I had a little niece with hair like yours.”

  Ava Dawn took her aunt’s hand. “I am that niece. Now let’s get on home, and I’ll fix you some lunch if you’re hungry.”

  “Mashed potatoes would be nice,” Maureen said, taking Ava Dawn’s hand.

  The two women led Maureen O’Conner out the front door as Jep Cranwell was getting into his truck, lugging his oxygen tank as he went. Jep stopped when he saw them coming out of the shop. He stared at them long and hard for a few seconds, just long enough to make Caroline nervous, and then he got into his truck.

  “I know that man,” Maureen said, watching the truck pull out onto the gravel road.

  “I’m sure you do, Mom,” Caroline replied. “That’s Jep Cranwell.”

  “Hop in, Aunt Maureen,” Ava Dawn said, opening the door for her aunt.