Running Northwest (33 page)

“They’re so cute, what are their names Ann” Stephanie asked as she reached down to pet the twin cocker spaniels who here pushing each other for attention from the new person.

“Well the big one there trying to lay on you is Frank, and the smaller one her name is Ava” Ann said.

“Frank and Ava huh, you guys are so cute,” Stephanie said as she petted and rubbed both litt
le dogs” then adding, “you and R
ay must be huge Sinatra fans then”.

“Oh jeez you could say that” Ann replied then adding “I think we got every album that hot ass Italian man ever made. I even met him a few times when I worked in Vegas,” Ann said with a little wink and a smile.

Stephanie didn’t know how to reply other smiling and saying “I’m a pretty big Sinatra fan to”.

“well honey, I don’t know how far up the beach you’re heading but would ya mind keeping an old lady company while she walks, unless you want to private time than I’ll understand” Ann asked.

“Oh no I’d love the company also Ann, seeing all these people with their dogs makes me miss mine so I’m feeling a little lonely out here. Wait I thought you weren’t old Ann” Stephanie said with a slight smile.

“I can say it, just don’t make me feel it” Ann said laughing and giving Stephanie a pretend stern look

“Sounds good, hey Ann do you want me to take one of them for you
?
” Stephanie asked gesturing at the dogs.

“That would be wonderful Sweetie here… why don’t you take Ava I think she likes you pretty fair, Frank can be a moody old bastard” Ann said as she handed the leash over to Stephanie who laughed hard again.

The two women separated by decades in age walked up the beach then back down for close to an hour, chatting like old friends the entire time. Ann told Stephanie about her life and then told Stephanie some things about the Oregon Coast. She told Stephanie where to go and where not to go, what to eat and where and what shops in Cannon Beach were interesting and which were not worth the time. Ann also filled her in a little bit about Tillamook to the south and Seaside to the north as well as some places in between that may be worth seeing. And for as much as Stephanie wanted to pump Ann for information about Tillamook and maybe even if she had heard of Thomas, she refrained because she didn’t want to seem nosey. They had a nice talk and Stephanie loved Ann’s odd form of wisdom and stories. After walking for a little while longer, the two new friends parted ways. Ann headed back home and Stephanie wandered a bit more before going back to her rental to get ready to head into town.

.
             
.
             
.

Later that evening Thomas was sitting at the café with his laptop open in front of him. He looked at his phone, which said it was 7:45 pm. His son had called him about half an hour earlier to let Thomas know they were heading back from the beach. Thomas had met up with Tracie for a quick dinner after she had gotten out of work at four o’clock earlier that afternoon. His girlfriend seemed annoyed and withdrawn and did not say too much while they ate. Thomas was not sure why and he was worried a little bit, she did not seem interested in small talk. He had tried calling her about an hour ago just to talk but she did not answer, so he left a simple voicemail. Tracie sometimes got into moods where she really did not want to talk or be around anyone except when she had to, like at work. Thomas was hoping this was one of those times and not something more. She seemed fine earlier in the day when he had helped her out at the shop and wondered what caused the change.

After a few minutes of emailing, Thomas saw headlights pull into the parking lot and a few seconds later, he saw Amy, Stevie’s mother. She walked through the shops front door smiling as she came in.

“Hey Thomas, I need your help” Amy said.

“Sure what’s up” he relied

“Just come outside” she said laughing a little.

Thomas got up and followed her outside to her SUV. She opened the door to reveal Daniel who was passed out and sleeping.

“Looks like you tired him right out. How long did it take for him to fall asleep
?
” Thomas asked.

“Actually, I think he was half asleep when he called you on the phone. My sons were already sleeping” Amy said.

“Well I’m surprised he held on that long then. Let me grab him, maybe I can get
him
without waking him up
,
” Thomas said as he unlocked his truck with the remote.

He reached into her SUV, scooped up his pooped out son in his arms, and carried him over to the truck. Amy followed with the boys backpack and opened the door for Thomas. After setting his son into the front seat and belting him in, he shut the door and turned to Amy.

“Well I’m sure I’ll hear about your day in the morning. But how was he, was he any trouble
?
” Thomas asked

“Oh God no, he has to be the most polite kid I’ve ever met Thomas. We had a ball out there; I have to say he is pretty into his nature stuff isn’t he
?
”

Oh yeah, you want to know about something in the ocean and the beach and he’s your kid. I’m glad he was good for you though
,
” Thomas said.

“Well we would love to have him along again sometime, he kept Stevie busy. My oldest son doesn’t make friends very easy, he’s kind of a shy little kid so he and Daniel are two peas in pod if you ask me” Amy replied.

“Yeah Daniel is pretty shy also. Well whenever you want, just let me know. I’m assu
ming you have my number already?
” he asked.

“Yeah your son gave it to me, hope that was okay
.
” she said smiling.

“Of course” Thomas said feeling a little awkward then adding “well I should get him home, we gotta a little bit of a drive up the coast
,
” Thomas said.

“Yeah I have to get the boys home and see if I can get some dinner in them before it gets too late. Well, have a nice night, hopefully we will see you soon” Amy said.

“Oh I’m sure you will
,
” Thomas said then sticking out his hand to shake her hand.

A few minutes later after waving goodbye to Amy and her sons, Thomas grabbed his things from inside the coffee shop and was heading north. It had started clouding up earlier and he had heard there was some big storms coming and should be here tomorrow evening. The weather service had already issued a gale warning for the next three days for the coast and storm watches for most of the western Oregon area. After getting home Thomas, would have to see if he had to go to the store the next day and pick up any supplies. Usually when they had bad storms, Thomas and Daniel
’s
house tended to lose power for a day or so, sometimes more. He would have to make sure they were stocked up on firewood if the power did go out. He was glad school was out for the summer, during the school year they would occasionally have to sit a bad
storm out in a hotel farther in
land. However, if there was one they both liked about storms when they got them, it would be the high waves they got here on the coast. If this was going to be a big one maybe they would head up north a little ways with the dogs and check out the surf action Thomas thought as he drove.

As they pulled into the dirt road that led to their small cottage home Daniel started waking up and looked over at his dad and smiled.

“Hey Dad” the boy said quietly

“How’s it going buddy, I thought I was going to have to carry you into the house. Amy said you and Steven had fun today at the beach” Thomas asked.

“Oh man it was so much fun, I’ve never been this tired before I don’t think” Daniel said as he was trying to stay awake in the passenger seat.

“Okay, well you can tell me all about it in the morning, but why don’t you go inside and get into bed all right
?
” Thomas said.

“All right Dad, sounds good to me” the boy replied as he opened the door and lowered himself out of the truck then headed towards the houses back door.

As Thom
as went in, Layla and Harley flew
out of the door, almost knocking him down.

“Hey guys” Thomas said bending down to pet the dogs who were licking his face. Then Thomas said “all right you guys get back in side and then after Daniel falls asleep we will go and hang out down on the beach.

A few minutes later Thomas and both dogs were inside the house. He made his way towards his son’s bedroom just to find him asleep in just shorts on top of his blankets. He looked at the boy’s dirty feet and decided a shower would have to wait until the morning. He covered his son up with a blanket and left the room after shutting off the lights. He walked out into the living room and turned the TV on; switching the station to the news and waiting for the weather to come on. He sat down on the couch and was joined by his two dogs Layla and Harley. Through the window behind him he could hear the wind already picking up.

The James home was a mess the next morning. Thomas woke up to the sound of his son jumping on his bed up and down very excited about something. Layla was disgruntled and had removed herself from the bed and relocating to the couch and Harley was running around the house because a storm was coming and she was scared senseless. Thomas rolled over onto his back just to have his son land all his weight onto Thomas’ stomach.

“Dad you gotta wake up man, you got to see the waves, they are huge” he said excitedly.

Thomas groaned and moved his son off him so he could breathe again then rubbed his eyes.

“Kid you jumped on my gut, why would you do that
?
” Thomas asked as he rubbed his stomach.

“Dad, seriously man you sound weird when you say the word…dude” Daniel said with a serious look on his face.

“Oh yeah that’s right, I’m old and can’t say that word” Thomas said then adding, “so what’s the big deal, it’s like 8 am you know.”

“Yeah I know I can’t sleep anymore and Harley is all upset and won’t stop moving
,
” the boy answered.

Thomas sat up, got out of bed, and walked towards the slider in his room. He opened it just be hit by blast of cool salty wind. He looked out over what at one point was a wide open beach but now was just a mess of giant waves and water. He looked up at the sky and saw that it was cloudy but the farther out over the ocean it was dark and ominous.

He turned around and looked at his son who was sitting on his knees on his bed petting Harley’s head as she laid there nervously then said, “
Well
it looks like we’re gunna get one hell of a storm, maybe the weathermen on TV were actually right this time”

“Heck yeah they were Dad, it’s so exciting I love storms” the boy said with a big grin on his face.

“I know you do Kiddo. Well, how about you get dressed and then help me get things outside moved in so they do not blow away. Then, how would you feel about going up to Cannon Beach for part of the day. The beach is bigger there and maybe we can see some good waves crashing down and get some breakfast and hang out up there for a while?” Thomas asked.

“That would be awesome Dad, I love it there. I think we should bring the dogs too though man. I think they would freak out If we left them here alone, especially this ol’ girl, she doesn’t like storms much” Daniel replied as he pet
ted
Harley.

“Well of course, besides they may like running around on the beach up there. They will be okay in the truck while we’re eating I think
,
” Thomas said then adding “well come on go get dressed and get ready to go, and don’t forget your rain coat
,
”

“I won’t Dad I promise.” the boy said as he ran out of the room leaving his dad and Harley sitting on the bed.

Thomas reached over and rubbed the nervous dog’s stomach then said, “Hey old girl, you’re getting pretty good at feeling these storms. I don’t even have to see the radar to know
its
gunna be bad; it’s gotten you all upset. You want to go to the beach?” Thomas said to his old dog, who lifted her head slightly in response, her tail beginning to pound on the bed.

He smiled stood then petted the old dogs head one more time then reached for his cell phone. Usually Tracie called to check in by now, leaving a voicemail for Thomas if he did not answer. He looked at his phone and missed only one call from Derrick. He got up and walked towards the slider looking out as he dialed Tracie’s cell phone number; it rang then went to voice mail.

“Hey Hun it’s me just checking in, I haven’t heard from you so I hope things are all right with you and at the shop this morning. Daniel and I are going up to Cannon Beach for part of the day. We should be back in the early afternoon but I’ll call you about lunch time, all right by Hun
,
”