by T. K. Chapin
On the drive over, Ally broke the silence and kind of caught me off guard. “Did you know that Sammy won’t talk to strangers? You’re the first male that he’d interact with outside of his father.”
“Well I’m glad. He seems like a neat little kid.”
She smiled as she looked out the window. “He really is… He’s obsessed about that coin trick of yours. He won’t stop talking about it. And now he makes Levi give him wheelbarrow rides when he goes out to get more wood.” She laughed. “He seems happy out here; Olivia does too…”
“Good,” I replied. “Living out in the country is probably a little different than city life.”
She nodded. “It’s nice not hearing sirens all the time. And the quietness you find out in the stillness of the evenings is priceless. The stars were so bright and numerous tonight on my walk.”
I smiled as I replied, “The stars always remind me of God’s beautiful design and purpose for our lives.”
“I agree.”
The silence returned between us in my truck, but this time I broke it. “So do the kids see their Dad? Or how’s that work?” I asked.
She sighed heavily as it seemed a weight was dropped onto her shoulders. “I don’t know. He says he wants them in the summer and then he changes his mind a few days later. He’s flip-flopping all over the place and he keeps changing what he tells the kids. I was even like- Adam, just make up your mind and stick with it. They need consistency.”
I nodded. “Sounds like a difficult time.”
“It is,” she agreed. “And the worst part about that guy is my parents are so in love with him that they keep trying to edge me back to him. They even kept a picture of him in their living room!”
I laughed a little. “Sounds like they should marry him.”
She laughed. “I know, right?”
“You haven’t thought about going back to him? For the kid’s sake and all that?”
“No, I don’t want that jerk back.” I was hesitant to ask what happened, but I did start to ask, but stopped. She caught it and asked, “What were you going to say?”
“Nothing, never mind,” I replied.
“No… you can’t do that. You already started saying something. Just say it.”
I glanced over at her and asked, “What happened between you two?”
“Long version or short?” She asked.
“I’d like the short, if it’d work.”
“He was a slimy guy.”
“Okay,” I laughed. “What’s the long version?”
“Everything started out great. For instance, the first couple years of marriage we were in church all the time and then when the children came he was super into helping me and whatnot. Then he got this promotion at his job which began requiring more of his time. Which was totally fine, I’m not one of those women who nag their husband about working too much. And anyways, it started getting more and more that he ‘had to work’ or whatever. I’m talking, he went from being home by five, to six, seven and then it got to the point where he was leaving at six in the morning and getting home after one in the morning, and get this, sometimes he wasn’t even coming home at all! What kind of life is that?”
“Wow.”
“Yeah, but anyways, basically I found out he had a girlfriend and all these crazy issues with drugs. I couldn’t handle it. That was no life I wanted and I had the Biblical reason for divorce, so I took it. And now I’m here. My kids seem happier and Jess knows a lot of good people, so I think it’s for the best.”
“I’m so sorry you went through all that,” I said.
She looked at me and smiled, “It’s okay. I’m sorry I went on and on… I shouldn’t even be talking about myself right now. You just had your Dad die.”
Waving my hand over to her, I shook my head. “No, I’m happy you are talking. It helps keep my mind off the fact my father is gone and my brother is missing….” Pausing for a moment, I realized I missed the cut-off for the access point. “Dang it,” I said smacking the steering wheel. Pulling over to the side of the road I said, “We went too far. I was too focused on our conversation.”
She laughed. “Snap, how far past did we go?”
Looking up and out of the windshield I just saw trees on both sides of the road. I had no idea. “No clue,” I laughed.
She laughed. “I’m so sorry!”
I smiled over at her. “It’s okay. We’ll start heading back.”
“Sounds good,” she replied. “So what about you?”
“What about me?” I asked.
“Tell me about Dylan Holden.”
“What do you want to know?”
She shrugged. “I just feel like I shared a lot and I don’t know much about you. The balance is off right now, we need some weight on your side to even it out.” She paused for a moment. “Wait, the table… you made that for Floyd. Tell me about your woodworking stuff.”
“Well I make tables and chairs and whatnot.”
“Well I know that, I own one.”
“Really?” I asked surprised.
She blushed. “Yes, I bought one when I was at the Chattaroy Feed Store a while back, I didn’t realize it was even yours until I brought it home and Jess pointed it out. She explained how you make furniture and sell it at the feed store.”
“Well I’m flattered you picked one up,” I replied with a grin.
“Don’t let it go to your head, but I think you are pretty talented. You put a lot of detail that you just don’t find in much furniture these days.”
I nodded. “Thank you.” I turned a little red in the face.
She laughed. “Don’t be embarrassed! Embrace your inner awesomeness!”
I laughed.
Arriving at the access point just after nine, Ally and I got out of the truck and headed down the dirt path into the woods. The moonlight was bright enough to light our way, but I retrieved flashlights from the back just in case.
Coming to the water’s edge, we began making our way up the shoreline towards the boulder where Sparky was buried.
“Do you think your brother’s here with his truck not being parked back at the access point entrance?” She asked.
“I don’t know…” I replied. “I have to try though.”
As we arrived at the boulder, we found an empty bottle of whiskey that wasn’t frozen over with ice. Bending at the knees as I picked it up, I turned to Ally. “We must have just missed him. He’s been here.” I looked across the lake and at the inn. “Maybe he is over at the inn?”
“What inn?” She asked.
“Silverback Inn, it was my Dad’s and now it’s our uncle Lenny’s.”
“I see. We can try there?”
“Yeah, I’m sure Lenny will let us crash out there for the night.”
“Let’s just head home,” she replied.
“Okay,” I replied. We began walking back towards the truck and Ally was near my side.
“I’m sorry,” she said. “I just don’t want to share a room with you, no offense.”
“You’d have your own room, Ally,” I laughed.
She took a breath of relief. “Oh thank goodness… I thought you wanted to share a room.”
“Uh, no. I don’t know you and I’m not that kind of dude.”
“I’m not that kind of gal, so I felt super awkward.” She sighed. “I’m glad, though, you aren’t that kind of guy… you’ve never given me a reason to think that; I was just trying to be cautious.”
Smiling, I asked, “So you want to crash out over there?”
“Sure, let’s go.” She seemed much more comfortable now that she realized I wasn’t interested in that kind of thing with her.
We made it over to the inn by eleven and by no surprise Lenny was still awake. He had a horrible case of insomnia for all the time I’ve known him growing up. He’d spend hours staying up late watching TV.
When he opened the door he hugged me right away. “Dylan!” He said as he pulled back. “I hadn’t heard from you or your
brother all day, I’ve been biting my nails in anticipation.”
“Chris is missing,” I replied agitated. “Why would you leave a voicemail like that?”
“I’m sorry; I wasn’t in my right mind. I didn’t even call until the afternoon because of all the chaos that followed this morning.” He looked over at Ally. “Who’s this?” he asked with a raised brow.
“This is Ally; she’s one of Jess’s friends from Atlanta.”
“I see,” he said with a suspicious tone.
“It’s not like that. Could we get two rooms for the night? We are tired of searching for Chris and need some shut eye.”
“Absolutely. Let me grab my jacket and we’ll go get you some keys over at the office.”
Pillowing my head that evening, I closed my eyes and thought back to my childhood. One memory stuck out in my mind particularly. Chris, Dad and I were all on a row boat in the middle of the lake and we were fishing. It was one of my earliest childhood memories of all of us together having a good time. Dad was baiting our hooks when Chris suddenly began peeing off the back of the boat. Dad laughed and smiled as he shook his head and I joined him in the grin. That day we lost track of time out on the lake and we ended up fishing for nearly half the day. As I drifted off to sleep, I made a commitment to myself and God that I’d focus on those good and wholesome memories of my father instead of the bitterness and anger that he showed Chris and me.
CHAPTER 9
February 11, 2011
The next day I woke up relatively early and just lay there, my thoughts spinning in my head about Chris. Where are you trying to go? I wondered as I watched the ceiling fan spin above my bed. A knock from my door broke into my thoughts. Glancing over at the alarm clock on the nightstand, I saw it was about six. I grabbed my coat that was draped over the chair at the table and headed for the door.
“You okay with us chatting a little?” Lenny asked, handing me a cup of coffee.
“Sure,” I replied stepping out from the cabin and shutting the door behind me. We walked over to the office and had a seat inside on the couch in the lobby area.
“Your Father was a complicated man, Dylan,” Lenny said before taking a drink of his coffee and setting it down on the coffee table.
“I would have to agree with that.”
“Did you know about the room?” Lenny asked as his eyes fell over to the hallway that led back to some additional offices.
“Room?” I asked.
“Yeah, a hidden room in this building.”
Shaking my head, I replied, “No.” Dad had a secret room?
Lenny stood up and motioned for me to follow. Walking down the hallway I noticed all the pictures of the rewards and magazine articles along both sides of the walls. The Silverback used to be a big deal back in the eighties, but business trickled downward over the years, especially in the nineties when people began using the internet for marketing and making decisions on getaways. My dad’s little newspaper ad suddenly wasn’t relevant anymore and he was too stubborn to learn about internet marketing. He thought the internet was just a trend that would go away.
Coming into my dad’s old office, Lenny pulled back the rug that was on the floor and revealed a square cut out of the floor with a handle. “Never knew about this…” I said softly.
“He was fairly private. I wouldn’t take it to heart,” Lenny said, looking up at me as he pulled up on the handle, moving the piece of floor up and out of the way. Glancing down into the hole, it was dark until Lenny reached down and flipped on a light switch.
I immediately noticed my old bike from when I was a kid. I thought he had gotten rid of it years ago. Following Lenny down the ladder into the hole, I found myself in a room full of items from our childhood. “What is this place?”
“He kept all this stuff over the years. To remember the times he had spent with you and Chris.”
“Why would he hide this from us? We thought he got rid of it all!”
Shrugging, Lenny replied, “He loved you boys more than you’ll probably ever understand.”
Spotting a safe over in the corner, I asked, “What’s in there?”
“That’s the cash he kept on hand. Quite a bundle if I do say so myself. He called this place his treasure room.”
Walking along the shelves, I marveled at how many different things he kept from the days of old. Old report cards from our school years were framed, my old Pog collection, Chris’s action figure that he loved to throw off the dock with a piece of fishing line attached to it. It was all here, in his treasure room. My eyes were soon watering as I was overwhelmed with the new-found love I had discovered our father had for us. Then I came across an envelope with my and Chris’ name on it. Picking it up, I turned to Lenny.
“That’s the letter he wrote you the day he found out he was going to die. He wanted you to have it after he passed on.”
I began to open it when Lenny put his hand over mine. “Not here Dylan. You can read it, just not here.”
“Why?”
“It’s intense,” Lenny replied.
“You know what it says?”
“I can guess at what it says.”
Nodding, I slipped the envelope into my pocket. Continuing to inspect the room, my thoughts drifted back to Chris. “You have any idea where Chris could be?”
“Let’s go back up to the lobby,” Lenny said.
Following after him, we went back up out of the room and into the lobby. We took a seat back down on the couch in front of our cups of coffee. Lenny took another sip and said, “I don’t know where Chris ran off to, I haven’t seen him since I’ve been here.”
The office door opened, and the bell chimed. Glancing over, I smiled as I saw it was Ally. “Hey…” she said softly. “Am I interrupting? I can go.”
“No,” I replied. “It’s okay.”
Shaking her head, she said, “I can tell I’m interrupting. I’m just going to go for a walk along the lake.”
I watched over my shoulder through the window as she headed down to the lake. The sun hadn’t fully risen, but there was enough light out to create a dim blue hue outside.
“You like her,” Lenny said.
Shaking my head, I said, “Nah.” Lenny didn’t need to know about my personal life or my feelings about Ally. I was still trying to figure them out for myself.
“No, I can tell these things, Dylan,” Lenny said shaking my shoulder. “It’s okay if you like a gal; you aren’t getting any younger.”
“She’s fresh out of a divorce. She was married for, like, six years and has kids.”
“You said she was from Portland?” He asked.
“No, Atlanta.”
“Oh. What’d she do there?” Lenny asked.
“I don’t know.” Recalling the nursery she did for Jess and Levi, I remembered that she was an interior designer. “Oh wait, she was an interior designer.”
“Oh wow, in Atlanta? That’s impressive in a big city.”
Nodding, I replied, “Yeah. So, no ideas on Chris?”
“Nope. If I were you, though, I would just double back over your tracks and try friends, work, places he frequents.”
“Okay,” I sighed heavily.
Lenny patted my back. “You’ll find him. He’s a little unpredictable and scatter-brained, but he’s not stupid. I’m sure he’s okay in the sense he’s alive.”
“He is kind of stupid, Lenny… he was home drinking yesterday and then got in his car and drove.”
“He’s just hurting.”
I agreed with a nod and stood up. Shaking Lenny’s hand, I said, “Thanks for everything; I’m glad my Dad could trust you with the inn. After I get this Chris issue sorted out, I’ll drop off the tables and we can move forward with the next phase.”
“Sounds good, no rush. Take care.”
Walking out the office door, I pulled out the letter. I began reading the letter as I headed down to the boat dock to sit out on the end of the dock. Lenny came out of the office and got in his truck,
taking off somewhere.
Dylan,
Today I found out that I have only a few months to live, could be less. On the car ride back out to the Silverback after I found out the news, I spent a great deal of time reflecting over my life and the choices I made in raising you and Chris. First off, I know the visits over to your house to kick your butts into shape probably ended up doing more harm than good in the long run. I sit here now, in my little room in the back of the Silverback, on my bed alone with my thoughts. I am so sorry for the way I had treated you and your brother. I always thought I was doing the right thing until today. When I realized I hadn’t seen nor heard from either of you in a while.
I’m writing this letter, not to apologize only, but to tell you about your mother, Elyse. You see, she never died; she’s actually alive and well with a different family in Lincoln City, Oregon. I have tears in my eyes as I write this because it’s been a secret I’ve kept from you boys since she left us so long ago. I never had the heart to tell you she moved on. I always wished she’d someday return and make amends with the both of you. But I fear if I don’t write this down, you might never know the truth.
Take care of each other.
I love you both,
Dad
Raising my watering eyes up, I looked across the lake as the sunrise came up. The beauty of the morning was eclipsed by the feeling of betrayal I felt not only by my own mother, but by my father. How could he never tell us about our mom? I felt angry, sad and hurt all at once as I glared into the still and quiet waters that lay before me. You sure have impeccable timing, Father! I thought to myself.
Suddenly a hand touched my shoulder. Looking up, I saw it was Ally and quickly wiped my eyes. “Why do you keep catching me in these awkward moments,” I replied harshly.
“Sorry,” she replied curtly as she turned to leave the dock.
“Wait, Ally,” I said, jumping up to my feet to catch up to her. “I’m sorry…”
“It’s fine Dylan. Are we about ready to go?”
“Yeah,” I replied with a nod. “The Wagon Wheel opens soon for breakfast; we’ll get some food and ask about Chris.”