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That seemed to worry Grandpa. He’d been starting to relax, just a little, but now he went back to the pinched look. Meredith hurriedly added, “She was most likely a pet, one that got a little too hard to handle and so her owners tried to release her into the wild.”
“I don’t think so.” Grandpa sounded sure.
“It happens more than you’d believe.”
“So,” Grandpa said, “ignorant people drop an animal like Yoda off in the forest thinking maybe he’ll find a wolf pack in Arizona? I don’t think I’ve seen wolves in the wild in the last fifty years.”
“And whoever released our wolf dog didn’t take the time to remove her collar. That’s just wrong.”
“Maybe they just didn’t care.”
“I hate to think that,” Meredith said. “I’d rather believe that the wolf dog got loose and couldn’t find her way back. Maybe somebody’s looking for her.”
Grandpa gazed out the window. “I doubt it. That wolf dog’s owner might be sending a message, a warning.”
“What? Grandpa, why would you say that?”
His lips pursed together. “I just know.”
Meredith wasn’t sure about this sudden change in Grandpa’s mood, but pressing would probably just make him more irritable. “Whoever lost the wolf dog had good intentions,” she said. “They just get overwhelmed.”
Meredith could manage a whole animal habitat without getting overwhelmed. And yet she’d not been back in Gesippi but twenty-four hours and she already felt the crush of responsibility. This elderly man sitting across from her was the only one who’d truly understand.
“It was strange having both Jimmy and Danny in the kitchen talking with me.”
“Danny’s moved on,” Grandpa said. “His fiancée’s nice. I’ve talked to her a time or two. Her name’s Holly. She rides her bike up and down Pioneer Road on occasion. She likes my chickens.”
“He deserves happiness.”
“Always,” Grandpa agreed. “You talk to Jimmy about anything special?”
“He asked why I didn’t marry Danny.”
“What did you tell him?”
“The truth. That I didn’t love Danny that way.”
“Did you tell him who you still loved?”
Standing, she gathered up their breakfast dishes and asked, “Do you need help getting to your bedroom and getting dressed?”
“No. And don’t try to change the subject.”
“I’m not trying to change the subject. I am changing the subject.”
No way was she going to talk about Jimmy Murphy. Ten years put a lot of dirt over the casket of unreturned love.
Grandpa waited a moment, then nodded. In the time it took Grandpa to stand, walk to his bedroom and shut the door, she finished clearing the table, washing the dishes and putting everything away.
The phone rang just as she set the towel on the edge of the sink. Her first impulse was to answer it, but this was Grandpa’s place, and she needed to remember that. After a moment, she heard him answer.
“This is Ray Stone... What? I can’t hear you. Speak a little louder.” She was about to knock on his bedroom door and offer to help, when apparently whoever was on the other end must have made himself heard.
“No,” said Grandpa, “I’ve not lost a wallet or any money. Really? That’s interesting, but my wallet’s on top of my dresser. I’ve no idea why my phone number would be in a wallet containing that much money.”
The conversation ended, and when Grandpa didn’t call for her, she decided it wasn’t her place to pry. She headed for the small hallway bathroom and brushed her teeth, redid her ponytail and then went outside to sit in Grandma’s rocking chair and call Luke Rittenhouse. Next to her, he understood Yoda the wolf dog most and would be able to help her with this new animal.
“We can’t take another wolf dog,” he said, surprising her. Used to be, he’d open BAA’s doors to any animal. “Yoda’s struggling to find his place, and he’s been at BAA for years. Technically, wolf dogs are not wild animals. They’re pets.”
“So’s your beloved iguana.”
“My iguana is a not-so-wild wild animal that someone attempted to turn into a pet. Your new wolf dog is a hybrid, so it clearly falls under the pet category. I know there are rescue—”
Meredith protested, “You know as well as I do that there are more wolf dogs than there are people and places that will take them. We’ve already done the legwork with Yoda. And this new one will be harder. She’s been in the wild. Yoda never was.”
“First you have to find her,” Luke said calmly. “Then we’ll worry about what to do with her.”
“Easy for you to say,” Meredith muttered, frustrated.
Luke laughed before asking her a few questions about the birds and giving her an update on Ollie the orangutan who, like Meredith’s grandfather, was losing the battle of aging.
The moment she hung up she realized that Luke hadn’t told her how Yoda was faring. Which meant there was something Luke didn’t want her to know.
She started to redial, but Grandpa shuffled out from his bedroom. He’d lost weight. She could do something about that, like make him eat a second helping of her hash browns and three bites of sausage. He had less hair. She didn’t care; he was still handsome. His hands shook. After a moment, The Price is Right blared on the television. Grandpa’s favorite show.
“I don’t need to go see Doc Thomas,” he stated. “He’s just going to tell me to take a pill if my back hurts and to baby the foot and try to stay off of it. Use my walker more.”
“You should use your walker more,” she scolded. She’d said she wouldn’t pry, but her curiosity got the better of her. “Who was that on the phone?”
For a moment, she thought Grandpa wasn’t going to answer, but then he said, “The sheriff. Someone turned in a wallet. My number was written on a piece of paper inside.”
“Who’d you give your number to?”
“Nobody I remember.”
She let him watch television while she cared for the chickens. It wasn’t all that different from taking care of Crisco the bear or Ollie the orangutan. She fed, watered and cleaned their bedding. The only thing she did that she couldn’t do with Ollie or Crisco was gather eggs. The five chickens ignored her, not even appreciating the fact that she was making sure they had plenty of shavings.
After doing a few more odds and ends, she took an hour, put on clean clothes and woke Grandpa up.
“I wasn’t sleeping,” he insisted.
“Maybe not,” Meredith appeased, “but you do need to get up and out, eat something besides cookies and make the family happy.”
“I always make the family happy.”
“Not true.”
“You’re one to talk,” he grumped.
“I’m the one most like you.”
That earned a smile and got him out the door, into her car and agreeable.
About halfway to town, he asked, “So, why were you in Gesippi last night? And why are you the one driving me around today?”
It took Meredith a good three blocks to answer. She didn’t want to give him room to argue. “I’m here to stay with you during the week. Zack will stay with you on weekends.”
“Because I fell! That’s silly. I fall all the time.”
“Yes, Grandpa. You fall all the time. And we want to be there to make sure you always stand up. What if I hadn’t shown up last night and realized you were missing? Would you have eventually gotten up? Or would you have spent the night out in the cold? And maybe still be there now?”
“It’s December in Arizona. Doesn’t get really cold.”
“You didn’t use to lie,” she accused.
“And you used to listen.”
“I’m staying.”
“No, you—” he started to protest.
“I’m staying because I love you.”
“And because I love you, I want you to go on with your life.”
“You are my life.”
He didn’t respond; he stared out the window as tears pooled in his eyes. She didn’t know if he were happy because he was loved or miserable because he needed to rely on other. What she wished was that he’d reach over and pat her knee, give her some sign that he appreciated what she was doing and recognized the need.
Gesippi hadn’t changed much in the ten years since Meredith had stopped calling it home. Sure, she’d been back a time or two. But she’d mastered sneaking into town for a few hours and then hightailing it back to Scorpion Ridge. Today her trip into town would take much longer.
Downtown Gesippi was three long blocks. Tyler’s Antique store was the biggest. Old-time Christmas decorations graced its window. A combination drugstore and restaurant was next to it. Someone was out front ringing a bell hoping for donations. A Native American trading post, the Crooked Feather, had opened when Meredith entered high school. It had a wooden plaque in the front window advertising Victor Lucas as proprietor. He’d obviously not found a moment to decorate for the season. His daughter, Kristi Lucas, had been in Meredith’s grade but had dropped out of high school. A tiny movie theater, which played movies months after their release, offered a film Meredith had meant to see. Already a giant Christmas tree was in the tiny park by the school. A big sign notified the public that Santa would be visiting on Christmas Eve.
“You want anything from the drugstore?” Meredith asked.
“Cookies.”
She laughed. “Anything besides cookies.”
She parked in front of the drugstore and hurried around to help Grandpa out. The wind added a bit of red to his cheeks. Impulsively she reached up to pat one. He caught her hand with his and smiled.
“I’m glad you’re here, Merry.”
She’d not been called that in years.
Unfortunately, he added, “But you needn’t put your life on hold to take care of me.”
She didn’t bother to respond as she followed him into the Drug and Dine.
“Hey, Ray.”
“Keith, good to see you. Thought we’d stop and get something to eat.” Grandpa didn’t mention that Meredith had had to nudge him out the door to get here. “Not that I’m hungry. The granddaughter, here, thinks I should eat more.”
Keith, wearing a Santa hat, came around the counter. “I heard you had an adventure last evening. So, Meredith, you say we have a wild wolf dog running loose?” He led them to a table and held Grandpa’s chair out. Once Grandpa settled, Keith handed them menus and asked, “Is this something we should call the county sheriff about? Could someone get hurt?”
“The wolf dog was more interested in playing with Grandpa than eating him,” Meredith said. “The odds of someone getting hurt are slim.”
“Jimmy Murphy’s sure taken an interest in what happened last night. He came in this morning and wanted to know if anyone had dropped off any Have You Seen This Dog posters.”
“What for?” Why was Jimmy asking questions? He’d not even been overly concerned about the too-tight collar.
“He said something about recognizing a good story when one dropped in his lap.”
Now Meredith knew exactly what she’d say to Jimmy if he ever challenged her commitment to Bridget’s Animal Adventure. She might be working with animals that would be happier in their natural habitat, but to her they were more than stories.
“What did you tell him? Has anyone been looking for a lost dog?”
“I sent him over to the library. If anyone had been asking around, Agatha Fitzsimmons would have heard about it.”
“The library’s still open?”
“Every day but Sunday from ten to three. What’ll you have?”
Meredith ordered while Grandpa said, “The usual,” before shuffling off to the bathroom, looking as if he could topple at any minute. Keith stayed close behind.
Looking around the Drug and Dine, Meredith noted that not much had changed. Keith stocked a little bit of dry goods and a whole lot of tourist paraphernalia. The only things completely new were all the cell-phone displays.
She wondered how much the Gesippi library had changed. It was housed in three rooms under the courthouse. It had half windows that started at the ceiling and that teased with just a little natural light. But Agatha Fitzsimmons, who’d once managed a library in Washington, D.C., had made it something special. During her teens, Meredith had spent a lot of time perusing the young-adult section. Agatha had also made sure a good number of animal books were on hand for a questing Meredith.
Agatha had to be about the same age as Grandpa, if not older.
Unfortunately, while Meredith had been a favorite hometown girl, Jimmy had been a favorite hometown boy. Agatha, who’d not had any children of her own, had attended the high school’s Friday-night football games just to cheer for Jimmy.
When Jimmy left and Meredith came in to show off her engagement ring from Danny, Agatha had called her a stupid girl.
That was the last time Meredith had traipsed down the stairs to the Gesippi library. It wasn’t until many years later that Meredith realized Agatha had been right.
Grandpa returned. “Food not here yet?”
“No.”
“Penny for your thoughts.”
She couldn’t tell him the truth, couldn’t tell him that Jimmy’s presence in town was making her uncomfortable and bringing forth memories she’d tried to bury for so long.
Memories of a love that wouldn’t stay buried.
CHAPTER FIVE (#ulink_a542f8b1-2bc6-59fb-b58a-90230837ea0c)
