Being Emma (8 page)

“Yes, Mr. Ferguson?”

“Did you call that IT guy?”

“Yes.”

“Is he going to get here in this
century?”

“He said probably not until 5:00.” He thought
he heard her grinning.

“Marcia, are you laughing at me?” She poked
her head in and smiled.

“You’re so grumpy today.” He put down the
phone. It was obviously unneeded.

“So…”

“… So, the last time you were this grumpy was
when Janie Johnson blew out a tire and crashed into your new car.
Remember that? Right out in front of the building here… It was so
funny when she…”

“Okay, thanks, Marcia…”

She stopped laughing, but continued to smile.
“Do you want me to reschedule him?”

“Yes, please. I need to get out of here
and…”

“Go workout? Blow off the grumpiness?”

“Good night, Marcia.” She closed his door
still smiling. She had a good point though. Working out at the gym
would blow off some of this whatever that he was currently trapped
in. Before he left for the day, Colt called him.

“Hey, I’m just about to head out.”

“Come on over tonight. Let’s ride and then
we’ll bug Mandy for one more plate at dinner.” Craig smiled.

“It’s a deal, but only if I get to sit
between Lucy and Livy. They got peanut butter all over my shirt
last time.” Colt laughed. “Eating at your house is always
memorable.”

“Later...”

Night was coming and the horizon was painted
in oranges and yellows. Could be rain coming, but in Nevada, who
really knew? The saying was if you didn’t like the weather, wait
fifteen minutes because it’ll change.

Colt and Craig had been riding along the
eastern part of the property a few miles from his house for a while
now. They rode their horses in silence, listening to some birds
trilling in the distance and coyotes howling in their territory.
Checking on some cattle in that part of the ranch, they did a
cursory count and looked for anything amiss. Finding nothing, they
stopped for a while. Cattle grazed not far away, chewing and
swallowing. Colt enjoyed watching the setting sun.

Both men leaned back on their Palominos and
relaxed. Sitting these horses was as comfortable for them as the
easy chair on the front porch. Craig wiped something off on his
jeans and took off his cowboy hat to brush off the dust. Colt
looked happy. After a long while, he spoke.

“How was Scotland?”

“It was good. Malcolm’s leg is better and
Aileen’s still putting up with him.” Colt grinned.

“Your grandfather hurt his leg doing what
again?”

“He almost broke a hip in the bathroom, but
luckily just suffered a bad sprain.”

“Is your grandmother still trying to get you
to move over?”

“… Yep… but she insists that I can only do it
if I bring a woman with me. Preferably a wife…” That made them both
laugh.

“Should we advertise on a dating website for
you?”

“At the rate I’m going, that actually sounds
good.” Colt looked over at him.

“What’s wrong?”

“Oh, nothing… Just jet lag…” … And to change
the subject… “I hear Sandy’s putting in a new well.”

“Yeah, that geologist Jesse hired last year
found a huge aquifer loaded with spring water. Dad wanted to tap
into it to help all our wells. Don’t think we’ll ever have to hook
into the county line now with this one.”

“Great news… I bet that made Sandy’s
day.”

“It did. Except there’s one thing…”

“What’s that?”

“The guy Dad hired to drill the well, his
company that is, well, he’s…. “

“… He’s what? Incompetent? Sloppy? A
Martian?” Craig laughed.

“Ah … No… He’s dating Janie…” Colt let that
hang out there for a minute to see how Craig would take it. He
didn’t look surprised.

“Apparently, a lot happened when I was in
Scotland.”

“Just shows you can’t leave town for too
long… Anything can happen.”

Craig looked over at him.

“And did…” Pause. “Does she like him?”

“…They’ve been out a few times. You know
Janie — If she didn’t like you, she’d be gone.”

“What’s his name?”

“Mike Church. He owns the company up in Reno
and has worked everywhere. He came highly recommended by Bill and
his firm, so Dad hired him.”

“How’s the well coming along?”

“I think it’s about wrapped up. Which will
probably wrap their relationship too.”

“What makes you say that? You don’t think
it’s serious?”

Colt rubbed his face and looked at him. “I
think Janie’s a pretty tough nut to crack open. The guy who gets
her is going to have to peel her back layer by layer. There’s
shining treasure there, but the guy’s gonna work for it.”

Craig thought about that…

“Come on. Let’s get back to the house.
Mandy’s looking forward to seeing you tonight… She hasn’t told the
kids or they’d be driving her more nuts than usual.” Craig
laughed.

“Let’s go then.”

Galloping back to Colt’s house, they put
their horses in a corral, removing saddles and other gear. Colt
made sure the horses had hay and water. Then they walked to the
house, stamping their boots and brushing off their jeans before
going in. The dogs started barking and ran up to them, which set
off the shrieks of three little children. Colt laughed and scooped
up the first one he saw. He got Sammy, who was usually faster than
his sisters.

Craig caught Lucy as she launched herself at
him and juggled her, while also picking up Olivia. Both little
girls laughed and threw their arms around him.

He kissed their little cheeks and then walked
into the family room with Colt. Mandy waved from the kitchen.

“Craig! Wonderful to see you again… You can
put those sweeties down anywhere.” She laughed.

Colt walked up to Mandy and put Sammy down.
Then he took off his hat and leaned in to kiss her. Colt gazed into
her eyes for a moment and then kissed her again. Watching from the
living room, Craig was almost envious of how they obviously felt
about each other. He was beginning to think that he needed a change
in his life. What that was, however, was the $64,000 question. He
didn’t know.

“Let’s get everybody to the table, Colt and
I’ll bring in dinner. Craig, you know where to sit?”

“Yup. Same place as usual.” He put Livy in a
highchair to his right and Lucy in her highchair on his left.

“Since you’re being so helpful tonight, Sir
Craig, how about giving the girls their dinners as well.”

“I think that’s the only reason you two have
me over… Free childcare.”

“Ha.” Mandy laughed while getting Sammy to
stop struggling and sit on his chair. Somehow, between the three
adults, they got the three children to down some dinner. It took
determination and Craig figured a little skill on his part,
especially since he had the twins. And they were notoriously picky
eaters.

After dinner, Mandy did cleanup while Colt
and Craig corralled the kids. It was bath night, so Sammy was in
one tub as Craig tried to get him clean. The girls were splashing
in the other tub, making a mess of that bathroom, while Colt tried
to wash them. When the men finally got the children dry and in
their pajamas, Mandy came in to put them to bed. She looked at the
guys and laughed.

“You’re both soaking wet. The children are
supposed to be the ones taking a bath, not you…”

“Funny, Mandy… very funny. Get me a beer,
Colt, before I collapse.”

Colt snorted. “Get your own. I’m crawling to
the couch.”

Craig snagged two beers from the fridge as
Colt sat on the couch and tugged off his boots.

“I can’t believe Mom and Dad had six kids. No
wonder they’re both so thin. They probably didn’t sit down for
years.” Colt smiled at the thought.

“And you know, I don’t remember them
complaining either. Even when Miles and Joey were pulling all their
shenanigans… I think they truly loved having us all underfoot.”

Mandy came back out, got a glass of wine and
joined them. She sank back on the couch by Colt.

“I earned this today…” She took a grateful
sip.

“…Bet you did.”

“What are we talking about?” She looked at
both of them.

“Just about Mom and Dad… And how hard six
kids must have been.”

“I can say amen to that. Three’s a lot of
work. Lily must have had some help occasionally.”

“She did,” Colt remembered. “By the time
Janie was born, I think Mom had a cook for a while. There was
definitely a girl in to babysit when needed.”

Mandy glanced at Craig when Janie’s name came
up.

“Have you seen her since you’ve been
back?”

“Not much. We ran into each other at Naples
Bar my first night back and she was with what’s-his-name. Quite a
Welcome Home…”

“… None of us really knows what’s going on,
Craig. She’s going through some changes apparently.”

Colt set his beer down. “Have you been
practicing together at the archery range?”

“No, I haven’t even been there myself, so I’m
not sure about what she’s doing.”

Craig looked over at Mandy.

“Do you think she’s serious about this
guy?”

“I think you two need to talk. It’s high
time…”

“High time to talk about what?” Mandy glanced
at Colt. He leaned forward and spoke sincerely.

“For you to tell her how you feel,
Craig.”

“And how’s that?” Craig put his bottle down
and looked at him.

“Oh, come on… Even the twins know you’re in
love with her. Why can’t you admit it to yourself?” Craig leaned
back in his chair and ran his hand through his hair.

“I have, but why should I torture myself? She
only thinks of me as her friend and archery pal. She’s never
thought of me in any other way.”

“That doesn’t mean she won’t… Have a little
faith.”

Craig smiled at them both. “You probably just
don’t realize what a special thing you two have. To love somebody
and have them love you back, well… it’s an incredible thing… and
rare. I don’t know if I’m going to have that in my life.”

Mandy was getting teary and Colt cleared his
throat. Craig stood up.

“Thanks for dinner, but I need to take off.
My computer froze up today in the midst of trying to get all the
Johnson Family Trust accounts in order for Sandy and Bill to take
to Vegas. I have an early day tomorrow…”

He walked to the door and picked up his
cowboy hat. Mandy gave him a hug, while Colt shook his hand.

“Jeez, folks… No one has died here. Lighten
the atmosphere a bit, would you? Love those babies…” And then he
was gone. Mandy burst into tears, while Colt searched for a tissue.
Handing her one, she blotted her face before speaking.

“And we all used to be ssso happy. What
happened?” Colt took her in his arms and smoothed her hair.

“We’ll be happy again. Janie’s changing and
Craig will need to change with her.”

“What does she want, Colt? Mike?”

“Only Janie knows that answer, sweetheart.
Maybe it’s time to talk to Grandma.” She pulled out of his arms and
smiled slyly.

“Of course… Jeanne. She always knows what to
do. I’m calling her tomorrow.”

“In the meantime, do you think you could come
to bed with your husband? He really would like to get you naked.”
She kissed him long and slow…

“What a sweet talker you are, Mr. Johnson.”
She teasingly raised her eyebrows and took his hand to lead him
into their bedroom. Colt followed and closed the door behind
them…

CHAPTER NINE

Dispatch was fairly busy the next day. All
the deputies at the Sheriff’s Office had been out on several calls,
wracking up many new entries in the logbooks. Janie had even been
out on a call with Ethan once. He was finally speaking to her –
professionally. Which was just fine with her… She was in the
station, checking some inventory when another call came in. The
dispatcher yelled back that a 10-56 was reported – a suicide
attempt. Janie blew out a breath. Better an attempt than an actual
suicide… Those were tough calls to put behind you.

“I got it, James. You just came back.” Janie
grabbed her jacket and strode out of the station.

“Thanks,” James called out to her retreating
back. She waved at him.

Janie got in the new patrol car, but barely
thought about it. A car was simply transportation – It just needed
to be dependable, that’s all. After buckling her seat belt and
adjusting the mirror, she checked the address. It was down her road
and in the same apartment complex where she and Diane lived. That
gave her a tiny pause and then she started the patrol car. Her
thoughts were on her friend, even though the apartment number was
different. She needed to make amends with Diane. She felt out of
sorts not having first Diane around to bounce things off and then
Craig… Craig — Simply can’t go there… She refused to think about
him.

Pulling up outside the complex, Janie went to
the apartment manager’s office. He was surprised to see her.

“Janie? Everything all right? … It’s not time
for you and Diane to pay the rent yet, you know.” He chuckled.

“Dave, this is an official call. I need you
to let me into apartment 353 right now. There’s been a suicide
attempt. I’ve already called Emergency and an ambulance is on the
way. Could you please meet them and show them where to go?” Dave
was a short, pudgy man with little hair, but a brave smile. He
gulped with all this information.

“Sure, Janie. Anything you need. Let me grab
a master key.”

Dave and Janie walked down to apartment 353
together. She knocked first. When no one came to the door, he
opened it and stepped aside. Janie walked in and started searching
the apartment. She found a woman in the bedroom who was not
breathing. Dave’s mouth dropped open.

“Dave, go make sure the paramedics get in
here fast. This doesn’t look good.” He hurriedly left. She found a
sleeping pill bottle on the nightstand and it was empty.