Hidden Falls (25 page)

Jessica rapped the table with the knuckles of one hand. “Are you hearing a word I’m saying?”

“Sorry.” Liam reached across the table and covered her hand with his. “I’m not very good company tonight.”

“It’s not Quinn, is it? Because you know it’s not your responsibility to worry about him. He’s a grown man.”

A grown man whom no one could find. Liam could think of plenty to worry about. The jiggling rolled over to his other leg.

“That’s only part of it,” he said.

“Look, I don’t want to be unsympathetic to your feelings for your old teacher or the pressure of your job, but you have to learn to take care of yourself, too. We never have fun anymore.”

“Maybe I just need a good night’s sleep.” Liam picked up his coffee and moved it to the edge of the table, untouched. As it was, his heart was racing. Even an hour of sleep seemed a remote possibility.

“Maybe,” she said. “Or maybe you just need some good news—and I’m not talking about Quinn.”

“What, then?”

“I think we should set a date.” She beamed.

Liam leaned across the table, studying her face. They’d been engaged for five years. His friends and business colleagues had stopped asking when they were getting married. Even Liam felt they were dragging things out beyond reason. Still, he knew what was in the wedding account, so he was surprised Jessica would bring up setting a date.

His stomach burned and acid traveled up his esophagus despite his lack of dinner. He could think of one possible explanation for why she would find this the right time.

The waiter returned with a polite inquiry about how they were enjoying their meal. Liam leaned back and unbuttoned his collar and loosened his tie while Jessica ordered both desserts with specific instructions that half of each one should be placed in a container that she would take with her.

“Are you surprised?” she said when the waiter left.

“A little, yes.” More than a little.

“I’ve been saving money,” she said. “I think we’re within reach.”

“The last time we talked about it, we seemed to be … quite a bit … short.”

“Things change. For one thing, I got a raise I didn’t tell you about. A promotion, really, with a lot more money.”

He fumbled for words. “Why didn’t you tell me?”

“I wanted to be sure it would work out. The position was on a trial basis. They promised if I wasn’t happy I could have my old job back.”

Jessica worked in accounting for a three-floor department store on Main Street. In the past, her chronic complaint was that she had no opportunity for advancement, though she was capable of far more complicated projects. Liam couldn’t quite add this up to arrive at the explanation she offered.

“And are you happy?” he said.

“It’s working out beautifully. I’m very happy and so are the owners.”

“Well, then, I’m very happy for you.”

“For
us
,” she said. “There’s nothing stopping us now. Let’s get married on the second Saturday of April.”

“A little chilly for a wedding on Lake Michigan.”

She waved away his objection. “That was a passing fancy. Let’s do the Chicago ballroom and all the trimmings.”

“Maybe we should think about it a little more.”

“That’s an underwhelming response.” Jessica tossed her napkin on the table. “Don’t you want to get married?”

“Of course.” Liam backpedaled as fast as he could. “I only meant we don’t have to get attached to a date right this minute. Don’t we need to call the venue to book a date? Check with the caterer’s schedule? That sort of thing?”

Her face froze. “Maybe I’ll get both those desserts to go.”

When Liam dropped her off at her apartment a half hour later, he knew Jessica wouldn’t suggest he come in. He leaned over in the car to kiss her before she got out, but she turned her cheek to him instead of her mouth.

During the silent drive from Birch Bend to Hidden Falls, Liam admitted to himself that he needed help. His cousin Dani was a whiz with computer software. He’d seen her make programs do things it never occurred to him to expect. If anyone could do what he needed—without being nosy—it was Dani. Could he trust her with the information that might emerge? That was the question.

Liam turned his car toward the end of town where Dani lived alone in a small house he would never choose. It wasn’t late enough that she would have turned off the lights and gone to bed. He bypassed the broken doorbell and knocked on her front door. At the same time, he pulled out his phone and called her house number. After four rings, it rolled to voice mail. Liam dialed her cell phone number and took four steps to the right to peer through the slats of the old blinds. On the table in front of the window, he saw the glow of her ringing cell phone. It, too, rolled over to Dani’s cryptic instructions about leaving a message. Liam didn’t bother leaving messages because he knew Dani was never in a hurry to listen to them. No doubt she was out at that hut she called a cabin on the lake overlooking the falls.

9:07 p.m.

An evening that found all five Parkers at home was rare. The television was on, of course. Gianna’s default station featured home-and-garden programs. She called it inspiration. Jack saw dollar signs in her eyes, like an old cartoon. Gianna was the one who wanted this house, and now she seemed intent on making it into something it was not. Colin had gone to his room, or he would have been flipping channels. The girls were content with HGTV in the background.

Eva was at the dining room table wrestling with geometry homework, and Gianna had just left the couch to help her. They learned with Colin to leave the math homework to Gianna—not that Jack had ever been around to help with Colin’s homework. Jack sat in an easy chair with his feet on an ottoman and a legal thriller in his lap. He’d been reading the same novel for seven weeks and seriously considered either starting over or giving up. Brooke was on the couch ignoring the television and playing with the puppy. Roxie squirmed in Brooke’s arms in a constant thrust toward freedom, but Brooke was equally determined not to release her.

“Brooke, it’s time for your shower,” Gianna called from the dining room.

“Not yet. I want to play with Roxie some more.”

“Brooke.”

Jack was glad not to be the object of the warning in Gianna’s tone—this time.

“You’d better go,” he said. “You’ve had a long day.”

Gianna crossed the great room. “It’s a school day tomorrow. And you’re going to have makeup work.”

“I know.” Brooke snuggled the wriggling dog. “I’m just so glad Roxie is safe.”

“Roxie is fine now.” From behind the couch, Gianna nudged Brooke’s shoulder. “But don’t take her in the bathroom with you. She tears up the toilet paper.”

Brooke stood up, still holding the dog. “Dad, will you hold Roxie while I’m in the shower?”

“Does she really need to be held?” Jack closed his book around one finger to mark his place.

“Please? I just want her to know how much we love her.”

She’s a dog,
Jack thought. Trying to connect with his children confused him. Now he was supposed to be responsible for the emotional well-being of a three-month-old animal? The plea in his daughter’s eyes was irresistible. Brooke loved the dog, and he loved Brooke.

“Okay.” Jack set his book aside.

Brooke put the dog in his lap. To Jack’s relief, Roxie sprawled across his thighs and put her head down on one knee.

“See, she likes you.” Brooke stroked Roxie’s permanently upright ear. “I’ll be quick.”

Her scampering approach to the stairs was convincing of her intention. Jack laid a hand on the puppy’s back. Roxie blinked up at him and wagged her tail. Jack noticed the line of color change, from brown to black, across her forehead that he had never paid attention to before. He moved his hand to scratch under Roxie’s neck. If they had to have a puppy, this one would do.

“She probably should go out,” Gianna said. “You’d better take her now. Brooke will be nervous about going out with her after what happened this morning.”

Jack hadn’t taken a dog out in his life. Ever. “She has a leash, doesn’t she?”

“Of course she has a leash. It’s hanging in the mudroom.”

Jack carried the dog through the kitchen to the mudroom, found the leash, and attached it to Roxie’s collar. They stepped out into the backyard, and she immediately did her business. At the sound of a squirrel in the bushes, Roxie strained against the leash. Jack could see how easily she might have run off. He could already hear Gianna’s voice in his head saying they were going to have to get a new gate in the back so the dog couldn’t get out.

Inside again, Jack heard the shower shut off. Brooke had kept her word to be quick. A moment later, the old house creaked with her footsteps in the hall. Jack hung up the leash, and Roxie shook herself. Why dogs did that eluded Jack. He picked up the puppy, wondering how long it would take for Brooke to get some clothes on. Pajamas, probably.

Jack walked past Gianna and Eva still at work on the geometry. From the foot of the stairs, he heard movement in Brooke’s room and began to climb the stairs, stroking Roxie’s head all the way up.

He knocked. “Brooke?”

Brooke wore gray sweatpants and a faded pink T-shirt, an ensemble that passed for sleepwear. Her long hair, unbrushed, still dripped, but she immediately took the dog into her arms.

“Will you come in, Dad?” Brooke said. “I want to talk to you about something.”

Jack looked in the room, wondering just where he was supposed to put his feet among the wall-to-wall clothing and towels. No wonder Gianna preferred to pull the kids’ doors closed when she walked past them.

Brooke shoved a stack of DVDs away from the corner of the bed. “You can sit here.”

“Okay.” Jack sat tenuously and then scooted back for broader support. “What’s on your mind?”

“Roxie.”

He should have known that. “Mom and I have already talked about finding someone to help us train the dog.”

“I want to be the one.”

“The one what?”

“The one who trains Roxie.” Brooke closed the door, let the dog loose, and picked up a hairbrush. That she knew where to find it astounded Jack. Roxie sniffed around in the bed before burrowing between the sheets and blankets.

“I suppose we’ll all have to learn more about puppies,” he said, though he hoped he would be at the bottom of the list of people expected to control the family pet.

Brooke tugged the brush through her tangled hair, spraying water on Jack with the motion.

“I was the one who lost Roxie,” Brooke said. “I don’t ever want it to be my fault again.”

Jack watched Brooke with the brush and then moved his eyes toward the lump rooting around in her bed.

“I don’t think it was anybody’s fault,” he said. “Dogs get lost every day.”

“Not
my
dog,” she said. “I should have known better than to let her be outside without a leash.”

“I didn’t hear anyone blaming you,” Jack said. “Everyone was just glad to have Roxie back.”

“I blame myself.” Brooke dropped the brush back into the sea of clothing she had fished it from. “If something happens to Roxie, I don’t ever want it to be my fault again. So I want the job of training Roxie. I want to be sure she will obey me.”

As his daughter sank onto her bed, Jack wondered why Brooke hadn’t chosen to have this conversation with her mother. This was foreign territory for him. A few hours ago, Brooke was a little girl frightened she would never find her puppy. Now she was asking for considerable responsibility. Was being thirteen as confusing to her as it was for him to have his youngest child reach this stage? Jack was clueless about whether he should agree to the arrangement. Gianna would know what to say.

“Sometimes things happen,” he said, “like puppies running after a bird, and it’s not anyone’s fault.”

“That doesn’t mean I shouldn’t take responsibility to make sure it never happens again.”

“Sometimes accidents can’t be prevented.”

“I know.” Brooke pulled on the blankets to expose Roxie, whose tail wagged. “But I’m the one who begged for a puppy.”

Jack hadn’t known that. He just knew that one day they had a dog, and everyone except him seemed attached to her within the first twelve seconds.

“You’ve been through the wringer today,” he said. “Tomorrow will be better.”

“I’m serious.” Brooke took the dog into her lap and pulled the bedding up over her bare feet. “I want to find a trainer who doesn’t believe in hurting dogs to make them obey, and I want to go to all the training classes.”

“We’ll have to see who we can find.”

“Talk to Mom, okay?” Brooke’s eyes pleaded again. “Make her understand that I want to do this. I don’t want her to sign up for something while I’m at school.”

Jack nodded. “I’ll talk to her.” He wasn’t sure how much weight his opinion would have, but he could broach the topic with Gianna.

“The other thing I want to say,” Brooke said, “is thank you for helping me find Roxie. I know you wanted to come home and you probably have cases to work on or something. You’re my hero. So thanks.”

Jack squeezed her toes through the bedding to buy himself time to swallow the lump in his throat and breathe. “You’re welcome. I learned some things about you today.”

“You did?”

“I did. You’re determined when something is important to you. You don’t give up.”

“Mom says I’m stubborn.”

Jack chuckled. “She says that about me, too.”

“I’d be proud to be like you.”

Jack’s chest warmed. It had never occurred to him that one of his children would ever speak that sentence. “Maybe one of these days we can find something else to do together that doesn’t involve a puppy crisis.”

“Really? Can we?”

Brooke might be his first step, Jack thought. He had missed so much of her childhood with his self-absorption. He disappointed Gianna, and Colin and Eva had already moved into the stage of adolescence when they wouldn’t admit to needing a father. But Brooke was still on the brink.

“Absolutely,” he said.

“I want to help with the health fair on Saturday. They need face painters, and I’m pretty sure I can do that. Maybe you can come with me.”