Cattail Ridge, page 10
part #4 of Firefly Hollow Series
With virulent curses, he picked the phone back up and called Jack. Gilly, Jack’s wife, answered.
“Hey, Archer. How are you?”
“I’m okay. I’m sorry to bother you. Is he busy?”
“Nope, just watching some TV. Hang on a second.” She handed the phone over.
“Hello?”
“Jack. You’re probably going to curse me when you hear this, but I’ve got to take tomorrow off.” He explained the situation and waited for the fallout.
“Well, shit. How do you want me to handle this? Obviously, you have to go.”
“I know. And this puts you in a bad spot. I’m sorry.”
The older man grunted. “No. You’ve just had a run of bad luck lately. You go do what you need to do, and leave the little twit to me. I’ll handle things on this end. I have a couple of cards I can play.”
“Thank you, Jack. I’ll pay you back for this. I swear I will.”
“I don’t want to hear any of that. You’d do the same for me. Call me when you get back in town. And Archer? Good luck.”
As he prepared for bed that night Archer couldn’t keep his mind from going back over his marriage to Candace. The trip down memory lane wasn’t pleasant and he tossed and turned all night. He had a sinking feeling in the pit of his stomach when he got up the next morning, and all during the four-plus hour drive to the women’s prison where Candace was housed.
He just hoped that this time his instincts were wrong. Because he had no idea what would happen if she was paroled. Having just decided to pursue Emma, if Candace somehow interfered in that, he didn’t know how he would handle it. On top of Logan’s injury and the threat to his job, her parole might just be the straw that broke this camel’s back.
Chapter Thirteen
Thursday morning, Emma was getting set up for the first appointment of the day when the bell over the door jingled. Zanny’s happy greeting alerted her to the identity of the visitor.
“Archer! What kind of trouble are you getting into today?”
“As much as I can. How are you?”
Emma stepped out into the reception area. Sure enough, Archer was leaning against Zanny’s desk, clad in a casual shirt and blue jeans. He had a to-go cup from the bakery next door in his hand. She smiled.
“Hey, you.”
“Hey. Thought I’d swing by, say hello.”
Emma cocked her head to the side and studied him. “What’s going on?”
He shrugged. “Nothing. I wanted to see if it was okay if I pick up Sydney after she gets out of preschool this afternoon, spend some time with her.”
She put the camera lens she still carried in its case and set it on the desk. “Yes, it’s fine. But why aren’t you at work?” She had a sneaking suspicion she knew, and her temper started to heat up on Archer’s behalf.
“Well, about that. Uh, as it turns out I’m taking a little vacation from work.” He took a sip of his drink. “I may have been let go.”
Zanny looked as dismayed as Emma felt, and also surprised. She was the first to speak. “You were what?”
He shrugged. “It was more of a mutual decision than a one-way street. And Jack made some calls, pulled some strings. We start our new jobs next week.”
Emma waved a hand. “Hang on. Jack got fired, too? Stop being so mysterious, please. What happened?”
He ran a hand through his hair. “Monday was rough. I got written up for taking off this last time to be with Logan. I had to go to Peewee Valley Tuesday, which I found out about late Monday evening.”
“Wait,” Emma interrupted. “Isn’t Peewee Valley where the women’s prison is?”
“It is. Candace had a parole hearing.” He paused and let that sink in. “Anyhow, when I got back late Tuesday, there was a message waiting for me from jerkwad. He was going to have Jack clean out my locker, and they’re mailing my last check to me. Well, what he wasn’t counting on was that Jack got mad as hell about that. Jack went in Wednesday morning and told the little pissant in no uncertain terms what he could do with his job. And then he went down to the competition and got both of us jobs there. With raises. I’ll be a straight mechanic again, but that’s fine.”
Emma’s grin felt feral. “Way to go, Uncle Jack. I’ll bet the pissant about peed his pants.”
A glimmer of a smile made its way onto Archer’s face. “I guess the owner just about reamed him a new one when he found out. But we’re not going back. No matter what they offer us. It’s changed too much.”
“So you’re out running around, taking advantage of having a few days off?” Zanny asked.
“Absolutely. Since I missed her birthday, I thought spending some one-on-one time with Sydney might go a long way toward healing any hurt feelings.”
Emma shook her head. “She’s not hurt. She’s just happy you’re home. Damn, Archer, sounds like you’ve had an awful week. At least tell us that the parole hearing went well.” She didn’t want to have to say his ex-wife’s name. She didn’t like the idea of him having been married to someone, as jealous as that made her sound.
He blew out a breath. “She’ll be out by the end of the year. Apparently, she’s been an ideal prisoner, found Jesus, all that shit. Excuse my language.”
“They should have fried her harpy ass, if you ask me,” Emma countered. “What does that mean for you?”
“Hell if I know. I thought I had at least two more years before I had to worry about her being out. I’ve not told Logan yet. He’ll lose his mind when he hears.”
From the edgy tenseness that surrounded him, Emma surmised Logan wasn’t the only Gibson the information was giving trouble. The door behind him opened, and her ten o’clock appointment walked in.
“Janie, I’ll be with you in just a minute,” she told the realtor, who was there to have her portrait redone. “I’ll call her sitter, let her know you’ll be by to pick Sydney up. She gets off the bus at around eleven thirty,” she told Archer. “Do you know where Mrs. Hendricks lives?”
“Yes. What time should I have her home?”
“A little after six, or you can drop her off here earlier if you want.” She made the call. Mrs. Hendricks had watched both of Zanny’s boys from the time they were toddlers, and had started watching Sydney this summer when Eliza became engaged. When she hung up, she dug into the cup on Zanny’s desk where she stashed her spare car keys.
“You’ll need her booster seat to go in the truck. Do you know how to get it out of my car?”
He grinned at her. “I think I can figure it out. Will it be safe to put in the front seat?”
Emma thought about his truck, which was an extended cab. “I think so. She’ll get a kick out of that, being able to ride in the front like a big girl. Just lock my car up when you get it out.”
“I will.”
“Archer? Have fun, but be safe. Keep an eagle eye on her. She’ll get away from you faster than you think.” She fought against biting her lip with worry, not wanting him to think she didn’t trust him with Sydney. She did, but she knew her daughter.
“I promise I’ll take good care of her. Thanks for letting me do this.” He picked up his cup and saluted her with it. “I’ll bring the keys right back.”
Zanny sighed as he walked out the door. “I love John to pieces, but that man… Emma, if you don’t snatch him up, there’s something wrong with you.”
“Maybe he doesn’t want to be snatched up.”
Zanny and the realtor both laughed.
“Honey, that man is ripe for the picking as long as you’re the one doing it,” Janie teased. “Are you dating?”
“Not quite. We’re… I don’t know what we are. But today should be a good endurance test for him. He’s had Sydney by himself a few times, but only for an hour or so. He’ll have her, what? Six, seven hours today? That’s if he makes it that long.”
Zanny grinned up at her. “Oh, I think he’ll do very well. And then you won’t have any excuses when he finally asks you out.”
“Hush. Janie, let’s get this new portrait done.”
Emma had to backtrack to get the lens she’d intended to use as she was so distracted by the thought of Archer, and especially of Archer with Sydney, she left it on Zanny’s desk. Zanny was holding it out with a knowing smile.
“Not a word, Zan, not a word.”
“I didn’t say a thing, thank you very much.”
“You didn’t have to. I’ve known you more than two decades. I can practically read your mind,” Emma retorted.
“Then you should know how happy it makes me to see you finally having a romance. Go do your job. We’ll talk later.”
Emma knew her cheeks were hot when she went back in to the studio section of the building. It was becoming a common occurrence. She’d blushed more the last few weeks than she had in her entire adult life. Something told her she’d better get used to the idea, at least for the next little while.
Chapter Fourteen
Archer was waiting for Sydney when she got off the small yellow bus from preschool. He’d had a nice visit with Mrs. Hendricks, and could see why the Campbells thought so highly of her. When Sydney saw him sitting on the front porch she shrieked with excitement and ran the rest of the way up the walk.
“Archer! Are you here to see me?”
“Maybe.” He winked at her.
She tilted her head to the side and gave him the sweetest smile. “You are here to see me.” Her ponytail was a little lopsided and her backpack was slipping off her shoulder. She was a danged cute kid, he thought, and a familiar lurch went through his chest. There was no getting around it. He wished she was his kid. His and Emma’s. With any luck, someday she would be.
“How about you and I spend the day together? Go do something fun?”
Sydney’s eyes grew huge. “Really? Just you and me?” she whispered.
He nodded. “Just you and me. Then I’ll drop you off to your mom this evening.”
Her arms went around his neck in a tight hug. “Let’s go.”
Standing, he lifted her onto his hip. “Mrs. Hendricks, sounds to me like I have a date.”
“Yes, it does. It was nice to finally meet you, since this young lady talks about you all the time.”
“You do that?” Archer asked Sydney with a smile. “Talk about me?”
She nodded vigorously. “I like you.”
He kissed her forehead. “I like you, too. Mrs. Hendricks, we’ll see you soon.”
Once Sydney was safely strapped into her booster seat, they hit the road.
“Where are we going?”
“I thought we might head down to Natural Bridge. Have you ever been?”
She pursed her lips in a manner she got straight from Emma. “I don’t think so. What is it?”
“It’s a big stone arch like a bridge, but made from rock. You have to climb waaayyy up the mountain to go see it.”
She frowned. “Okay, but can we eat first? I’m starving.”
“Absolutely. Can you reach that little bag there next to your seat?” Mrs. Hendricks had warned him that she was used to eating as soon as she got off the bus, and had been kind enough to pack a small snack for her. “There’s a sliced apple and three cookies. Eat a couple of the apple slices, and one cookie. That should tide you over until we get there and then we’ll have lunch.”
He uncapped a bottle of water and put it close enough that she could reach it. In between bites of food and sips of water, she kept up a happy chatter the whole way to Slade and the turnoff of Mountain Parkway that led to the State Resort Park. By the time they got there he almost felt like he’d been at her birthday party, she’d described it so well.
“Mommy took lots and lots of pictures, and we made you a picture book so you could see my cake and all my presents. I had a tea party yesterday with Mary from next door. She’ll be six in November. She wants a tea set for her birthday. Her mommy is having a baby brother for her someday. She’s got him in her belly now. Do you think I could ask Santa for a baby brother for Christmas?”
Archer blinked. “Um. Well, I suppose you could.”
She nodded. “I might do that. But Mary says you have to have a mommy and a daddy in order to get a baby brother. But Mommy got me without a daddy. Maybe I’ll just ask for a big-girl bike. Does it really take a daddy to get a baby brother?”
Oh, he was way out of his depth here. But she wasn’t finished.
“You have a brother. Is he a baby brother?”
“No. I’m the baby brother. Logan’s the oldest. He might come visit me for Christmas. You’d get to meet him.”
She thought about that for a minute and Archer hoped she would be distracted enough that she’d lose the “baby” train of thought.
“Does he look like you?”
“Some. You know how Aunt Rachel and Amelia look like each other? He’s got dark hair and he’s not as tall as me, but you can tell we’re related.”
She liked that comparison and she grinned over at him. “So you’re Aunt Amelia, and he’s Aunt Rachel? ‘Cause Pip is the baby, and you both have blond hair. So you’re the baby, too?”
He nodded. “Exactly.”
To his relief she did drop the subject of baby brothers. But she kept him on his toes the rest of the afternoon, asking curious questions about anything and everything, from queries about the waitress’s shoes to how the natural bridge had been formed in the first place.
“Well, scientists say the bridge was formed by erosion. Wind and water made it, and there was a weak spot in the rock where the water got in. But the Indians who lived around here thought it was made by God. There were two families who fought a lot and he separated them by a creek that used to run through here to keep them from fighting. But they missed each other. He knew they’d fight if they were together all the time, so he built a bridge so they could see each other every now and then.”
Sydney, who was perched on his back piggy-back style, said a quiet, “Wow. Which story do you think is true?”
He hefted her into a better spot so that her knee wasn’t digging into the sore muscle on his back. “I think they’re both true. Come on, let’s look on the other side. There’s something I think you’ll get a kick out of.” He took her around to the back side of the formation, where a narrow walkway had been created between two rock faces.
“What is it?”
“They call it Fat Man’s Squeeze. Think we can fit through it?”
She pushed against his shoulders and he eased her to her feet. “Let’s try it!”
Of course, Sydney was able to walk between the two faces easily, but Archer had to turn sideways. His shoulders wouldn’t fit. That caused her to dissolve into giggles and once they were out of the passage, he scooped her up and tickled her.
“You think that’s funny, huh?”
She nodded. “Do it again!”
“We will on the way back down. Let’s go up top.”
A surprising thing happened once they got to the flat surface on top of the bridge, though. Sydney got very quiet and instead of tugging at his hand, she clasped her arms around his leg. He put his hand on her head.
“What’s wrong?”
“I don’t like it up here. It’s too tall.”
“Too tall? You don’t like heights?”
She shook her head and he saw that her lower lip was sticking out a little, complete with a tremble.
“But it’s no different than being at Grandma and Grandpa’s,” he told her.
“Oh, yes, it is. There’s not a big hole under me there.” She held her arms up, and the sad look on her face almost broke his heart. He picked her up and she clung to him tightly, her face buried in his neck.
“We’ll go down. We don’t have to stay up here.” He turned and headed back down to the ground.
Sydney sniffled wetly. “I’m sorry, Archer. I like your bridge. Just not the tall part.”
He smiled. “It’s okay. The other parts are just as cool.”
They headed back down the trail and he carried her the whole way. She was tiny and probably only weighed fifty pounds or so, but by the time they got back to the trailhead, he was sweating. He’d gotten some raised-eyebrow looks from families when they were going up the trail, and now he figured they’d probably been wondering just how long Sydney would make the trek on her own. A five-year-old’s endurance, he was learning, wasn’t that great.
“Live and learn, I guess.”
“Hmm?” she asked, lifting her head to look at him. Her eyelids were heavy and he knew she’d probably be asleep by the time he got her to the truck. If Emma let him pick her up again he’d have to make sure to ask her what an appropriate day trip for a five-year-old was.
Sure enough, she slept most of the hour-long drive back to Hazard. They’d just entered the city limits when she woke up.
“Morning, sleepyhead. Did you have a good nap?”
“Yes.” She squirmed in her seat. “Archer, I gotta pee.”
He glanced over. Her frown was intense. “Can you hold it for a couple of minutes?”
“I think so.”
That didn’t sound good. He evaluated their options. They were on the bypass and the turnoff to a shopping center was coming up. There were several fast-food restaurants located just after the turnoff, and he deftly maneuvered the truck into the parking lot of the first one. By the time he got out of the truck and around to her side, she was standing beside the vehicle, dancing in place.
