Jenner, page 7
He might handle something like being a sheriff because he could kick butt, even with only one leg, but politics? No way. As far as he was concerned, most politicians were just slimy.
But he knew thinking about Laura was a dangerous pathway to go down because he didn’t really want anything about Laura to affect him going forward. He still held anger inside him for what she’d done. He certainly hadn’t been the only serviceman out there who had taken a hard hit from a wife, who was tired of waiting for her military husband to come home.
When he went through his divorce, a couple other guys in his unit had gone through something similar. It created an ugly sentiment against women at the time.
Now seated in his rental vehicle, Jenner took another look at the sheriff and his body language, noting it was stiff, almost beseeching in a way. Jenner wasn’t sure if that described the situation correctly, but it was like the sheriff knew he wasn’t welcome here, and he was sorry about it. There was no arrogance; there was no aggressiveness to his stance.
Frowning, Jenner wondered if she’d be open to explaining that relationship when Jenner returned. But first he had to go see Jim.
At the hospital, he walked up the stairs to the proper room and knocked on the open door. When someone called out from inside the room, Jenner poked his head around the door and asked, “Hey, are you up for a visitor?”
Jim stared at him for a long moment. “I vaguely remember you,” he admitted, “but I really don’t remember … from where.”
Jenner stepped forward, reached out a hand to shake Jim’s and said, “I’m the guy who found you.”
Jim’s face lit up in a big smile. “Wow, I know I was in rough shape out there, but I didn’t realize I wouldn’t even recognize you.”
“I don’t expect you to recognize anything. Shock can be like that.”
“Well, that’s pretty close to what happened,” he confirmed. “Now if only I can find the asshole who put me down.”
“I’m sorry. It looks, from the footprints on the surrounding ground, that you gave him a good fight.”
“Well, I tried. Nothing like taking a guy by surprise, not giving me a good chance to fight back.”
“Bullies are always the worse assholes, aren’t they? They don’t care and will take advantage of any weakness.”
At that, Jim nodded.
“I checked out your house, “Jenner added. “I don’t know if you checked your phone, but I emailed you the photos of the place.”
“I saw that,” he murmured. “Thanks for that much. I can’t believe this guy cleaned out my parents’ home.”
“If it was just furniture,” Jenner suggested, “it’s all replaceable.”
“And it is, but you know there were also some family mementos and bills and mail and legal documents and such.”
“Well, if any of that were in the kitchen, you’re good to go.” Jenner laughed. “There’s even food still in the fridge.”
Jim stared at him.
“I returned this morning, taking another look for any sign of the War Dog or of this asshole squatter living there, but I only found a bit of food and dishes and cooking stuff and the like.”
“Why would he take everything else and leave that?” he asked curiously.
“I figured it wasn’t worth carting off and selling, or, wherever he was going, he already had it, or maybe you surprised him, and he had to leave earlier than expected.”
“All of those kind of make sense,” Jim muttered.
“Yeah, in a big way. What did the doctor have to say about your leg?”
“Surgery yesterday, haven’t heard from the doctor yet today,” Jim replied. “I’m going nowhere quickly, that’s for sure.”
“Been there, done that,” Jenner noted comfortably. He looked down at the prosthetic propped up against the wall nearby. “I guess you don’t need to wear that while you’re in bed.”
“No, I sure don’t,” he agreed. “I need to get a new one anyway.”
“Why’s that?”
“It keeps soring up the leg. You can only do so much with these damn things.”
“I do know somebody who’s really good at building them,” Jenner stated. “If you want me to hook you up afterward, we can see about getting you something much better to walk with.”
Jim looked over at Jenner and said, “Actually somebody is out in New Mexico who I really want to deal with, but, you know, she’s so damn backed up.”
“You’re talking about Kat.” Jenner lifted his foot on the edge of the hospital bed and pulled up his pant leg. “This is one of her old models that she made a couple tweaks to, so I’m putting it to the test, before we build the new one.”
Jim stared at Jenner. “You know her?” Excitement started to break through his voice.
“Absolutely,” Jenner confirmed. “I’ve worked with her for a couple years now. She is brilliant. I mean, like I’m serious. She’s quite brilliant. They actually sent me here on this job.”
“Man, I’d absolutely love to get something from her that actually works.”
“An awful lot of prosthetic makers are out there who build stuff that works these days, but Kat’s designs are at a whole different level. Her prosthetics are like none other.”
“And you’re so lucky to have one of hers,” Jim stated enviously. “Man, you are so damn lucky.”
“Well, get yourself healed and off that bed and back home again, and I’ll introduce you. I can almost pretty well guarantee you that she can do something to make your life a little bit more comfortable.”
“Yeah, she’s also expensive as hell,” he muttered.
“We’ll see. I can’t promise any help along that line, but I know that she’s damn good. She also does payment plans, so I know she’ll work something out.”
“Maybe,” he stated. “Already I have to get my house together, and now some asshole’s gone and stolen everything, so I don’t even have a chair to sit on.”
“Good thing you’ll be here for a while, isn’t it?”
He stared at Jenner. “I really do appreciate all you’ve done.” And real sincerity was in his voice.
“Like I said, I’ve been there, done that,” he said. “Absolutely nothing like this stage of life that you’re going through right now. People don’t understand, unless they’ve already been there.”
Jim nodded glumly. “Isn’t that the truth. Losing my leg the way I did, I wasn’t coming home anytime soon and then, after my folks were killed, it just made it even harder in some ways.”
“We all process grief differently,” Jenner stated. “Don’t judge yourself for doing it the way you need to.”
“Yeah, you mean in a bottle?” he muttered.
“If it’s a bottle, and it helped you and hurt no one else, then good. Now ditch the bottle and get back on your feet. I’m sure some secondhand furniture is something that we can easily find for cheap. You’ve already got a kitchen full of cooking stuff there and food, some of which probably needs to be tossed, but some of it will keep, and the rest of what you’ll need, well, it’ll take a bit of a time. But, if you own the house, that’s actually a huge bonus.”
“It is huge,” he agreed. “I guess I was prepping myself for the day I came home to deal with it all, and instead it feels like now I’m dealing with a completely different issue.” He stopped and added, “It feels like my parents’ memories have been violated.”
“Ah, you know that makes a lot of sense. I’m sorry about that. It’s not as if we don’t have enough shit to deal with in our world without having to fend off creeps who make our lives even more miserable.”
At that, Jim looked at Jenner’s leg and asked, “How did you lose your leg?”
“On a mission in Iraq,” he replied. “I did two tours, and the second tour is when I came home kind of messed up.”
“Got it. I was Air Force myself.”
“Good for you. The military always needs good men. It sucks that we’re both in the same boat, both injured. But, hey, at least I know what you’re going through, and you know that I do understand. So, anytime you need a hand, you give me a shout.”
“What are you even doing in town?” Jim asked curiously. At that, Jenner filled him in on the War Dog. “You know what? I remember you saying something about that. That was a good dog. My parents loved him.”
“But the sheriff said that he came by and did a wellness check, after your mom and dad passed away, just to make sure no animals were still in need, and the sheriff never saw any sign of the War Dog.”
“Well, that sheriff is a bit of a dick anyway, so I’m not sure that he would have done a whole lot, even if he had shown up to supposedly look after the dog. Probably left the door open and just let the dog run.”
“Seriously?” Jenner asked, looking at Jim.
“Yeah, he’s a bit of a hard-ass when it comes to dogs.”
“Yet this squatter guy, who took over your house, had several running around and terrorizing Kellie. She was pretty rattled by all them,” Jenner shared.
“Who’s that?”
“The bed-and-breakfast owner where I’m staying.”
“Ah, Kellie.” Jim nodded. “Now she’s a sweet girl and had a pretty rough start in life already.”
“I heard a little bit about it from her,” Jenner noted, with a nod.
“Well, I’m sure you heard about her son, who was the apple of her eye, even though he didn’t make it very long,” Jim said. “I only know from my parents. I saw her in school, but she was way younger than I was, so I didn’t really get to know her. According to my parents, she’s a really lovely young lady. My folks told me that the town hadn’t been very generous to her.”
“And why not? It’s not as if anybody in town hasn’t made a mistake or two.”
“You kidding? That town’s perfect,” he replied, with an eye roll.
“Yeah, apparently.”
“And the stupid mayor in town is rooting for a bigger political spot. He’s just an egotistical asshole.”
“What’s his name?”
“Silas somebody or the other. He got himself one of those little arm-candy wives. My parents couldn’t stand her—or him for that matter.”
“That’s sad too then,” Jenner noted. “Sounds like your parents really knew the town well, and they would have been good for the dog.”
“They loved that dog,” he said instantly. “They’d be heartbroken to know anything happened to him.”
“Then I’m glad that Sisco at least had that time with them.” Jenner added, “I need to find that dog though, and fast.”
“And what if somebody shot it?” Jim asked.
“Then I need to know for sure that Sisco was shot, and maybe I can’t do anything to help him, but I sure as hell hope to find him alive and well. And maybe I can make his end of days happier than it has been so far.”
“Well, you know, if I was back on my feet, I’d take him.”
“And, once you’re back on your feet, I’ll consider it.” Jenner smiled. “But you’ll be recovering for a while, before looking after a dog like that is an option.”
“Yeah, I will,” he agreed, “but that doesn’t mean it’s all bad.”
“No, it’s not all bad. In fact, none of it’s bad. You survived, and it takes a lot of guts to do that. So don’t ever feel bad about losing a fight to a guy who blindsided you. That’s on that asshole. It’s not on you.”
“And yet somehow,” Jim muttered, “it feels like it’s all on me.”
Chapter 5
After the sheriff left, paying a visit that she felt incredibly uncomfortable with, Kellie closed her front door behind him and sat down at the reception desk. She didn’t even know what to think. She’d told him exactly what had happened with the neighbor and his angry pack of dogs. The sheriff hadn’t said that he disbelieved her; he hadn’t said anything. Just made a comment that he wished that she’d said something to him about the dogs earlier, and he would have taken care of it.
He had stated it in such a way that she almost believed him, but Kellie had had enough problems with him and his wife that Kellie didn’t trust anything he said anymore. Not a lot of the locals either. Which was kind of sad because, in her own hometown, she wanted to feel like she could be safe here. She wanted to feel like everything would be okay. Yet she’d gotten pregnant here, and, of course, the sheriff’s son had been Kellie’s boyfriend and Quincy’s father. Whether the sheriff remembered any of that, she didn’t know.
His son was a trucker, and right now he was gone a lot. She wanted to laugh at that because he’d planned to be somebody big, but, when it came down to it, he got his latest girlfriend pregnant, and they recently got married, and now he was off trucking, trying to pay the bills to support them.
At least he had married this woman, once he got her pregnant.
He’d ditched Kellie right before the prom, and Kellie was already pregnant, just didn’t know it yet. When she did figure it out, she had fully planned on raising the child on her own. The situation had been dire for her, given her parents’ lack of support, yet it had only made her doubly want this child.
When her son had been born sick, it had been the most devastating thing she’d ever experienced. Her parents had quickly come on board when they heard the news, and they’d been just as devastated. It had been a roller coaster ride for three months that had ended in pain and torment for them all. The only good thing to come out of it was the fact that her parents had finally made peace with each other. Kellie and her mom still didn’t talk about Quincy or why her mom cheated on her dad. Just not a whole lot to say about either that didn’t bring up bad memories.
As the sheriff backed away from the B&B and disappeared down the road, almost immediately Laura’s sports car pulled in. Kellie got up and went outside to meet her. Laura stepped out slowly, using the car door for support. Kellie groaned at that. “Now why are you here?” she murmured to herself. Generally Laura wasn’t somebody willing to spend time anywhere close to this part of town.
When Kellie invited her inside, they both headed to the front room, where Laura asked, “You have a male guest here, right?”
She looked at her. “Yeah, I have one guest. Why?” But she already knew why.
“Please tell me that he’s not six-two, really fit, and a hottie.”
She stared at her. “He’s like six-two, maybe early thirties, and, yeah, I guess you’d call him handsome.” Actually he was a drop-dead hottie, but no way Kellie would say that to Laura. “Why?”
“I’m afraid he might be my ex.” At that, Laura sat down in a side chair and groaned. “Why would he do this to me?”
“What do you mean?” Kellie asked in confusion. “The guest I have is here after a War Dog.”
“Of course he’ll be after a War Dog. What the hell’s a War Dog anyway? We don’t send dogs to war. What kind of stupid idiot would say that? He’s such a drama queen.”
Kellie’s jaw dropped at that. “This guy’s not a drama queen,” she argued in a high-pitched voice. She kept telling herself to get it together, and this was so not the conversation that she wanted to be a part of. “Look. I’m not sure what this is all about, but what difference does it make?”
“Because Silas doesn’t know much about him. We don’t talk about it. At all,” Laura snapped promptly, “and he’ll be pissed if he finds out my ex is here.”
“What’ll he find out? Their lives are far apart, and their paths aren’t likely to cross, are they?”
At that, Laura looked at her speculatively. “You know what? You’re probably right. I mean, why would they run into each other? I am worrying for nothing.”
“Why be worried at all? You’ve been married how long now?”
“I know. I know. I know, but, we didn’t exactly leave on good terms.”
“I’m sure you divorced and had a chance to talk everything through.” Kellie shrugged. “What could possibly be bad terms?”
At that, Laura stared at Kellie. “You’re such an innocent.”
Her jaw dropped. “Seriously?” She laughed. “I’m the last person anybody in this town would call an innocent.”
“Even getting knocked up like you did is so typical of an innocent,” Laura noted. “Anybody else would have just had an abortion and moved on.”
At that, her heart clamped in pain. “And I would have missed out on a love that remains one of the best experiences of my life,” Kellie stated.
“Whatever, but still, you were too young for it.”
Kellie didn’t know what to say. She hadn’t seen Laura in this kind of mood before. “Do you want a cup of tea?”
“No, I’m sitting here, wondering what to do about him.”
“I don’t even know that it is him,” Kellie noted, “and he’s out right now at the hospital.”
“What’s he doing at the hospital?” she asked in amazement.
“He’s gone to see Jim, my neighbor.”
“Okay, whatever,” she said, already dismissing it out of hand, as if she really didn’t want to know anything.
It was so odd for Kellie to see Laura like this and to actually think of Jenner being married to her. “How was your marriage to him?” she asked.
“We got divorced,” she snapped, “so that should tell you everything. He was always gone, never home, never made any money. We never had any fun. And believe me. At that time of life, fun is important.” she declared with such emphasis, as if to say that most people didn’t understand how important fun was.
Considering that Kellie had skipped fun because she’d given birth at seventeen, there wasn’t a whole lot she could say about that. “Maybe, but it sounds like probably you guys weren’t suited at all.”
“I was in love with the romance of it,” she replied shortly, and then she sighed. “Which sounds trite and stupid now.”
“It doesn’t matter. You’re happily married. You’re pregnant with your first child. I’m sure it’ll all be just fine.”
“Maybe,” Laura huffed, as she pulled herself up. “Can’t wait until this baby is born though. It’s like dragging around a beached whale everywhere with you.”
