Love on the Horizon (A Northern Woods Novel) (11 page)

“Okay, I’ll send him in. Good
luck.” He touched the brim of his black cowboy hat and left. The minute the
door closed behind him, the phone rang.

“Colburn Stables.”

“Mornin’ Nick. I’m just calling
to let you know I won’t be in until noon.”

“What’s up, Jake?”

“I have to run Anya in to the
doctor’s office.”

“Oh, has something happened?”

“I really don’t have time to
explain now, Nick. I’ll tell you all about it when I come in at noon.”

“I thought she’d been fine when
the police report was written up. Does there appear to be another problem?”

“I’ll explain it all later, Nick.
She told me exactly what happened. We have to leave immediately, or we’ll be
late.”

“You stop in at my office first
thing, Jake. We need to talk.”

“I will, Nick. Hopefully, it
won’t take long."

Nick hung up the phone. With his
elbows on the desktop, he placed his head in his hands.

* * *

After completing payroll, Nick
called Mariah.

“Hi honey, how are you feeling?”

“I still have a headache;
otherwise I’m fine. All I have to do is look at our two precious angels, and I
feel marvelous. How is Nicky holding out?”

“He’s very anxious for mommy and
his little sisters to come home. He was so excited when I showed him the
pictures.”

“You tell him the three of us
miss him and you too, honey.”

“I’ll be in to see you in the
early afternoon. Bess is on her way to visit right now. She should be there any
minute. When she returns, I’ll head over.  I love you, sweetheart.”

“I love you too.”

He replaced the receiver and
looked up from his desk. Jake was leaning against the door frame and Nick waved
him in. Apparently, he’d been listening to his conversation with Mariah.

“Have a seat, Jake.”

“I took Anya to the doctor for a
pregnancy test. That’s why she wanted me with her.”

“And?”

“It was negative, and she was
disappointed. I told her we should wait. I thought she was taking the pill. I
was quite surprised when she announced to me that she was pregnant. How is
Mariah? Are the babies okay?” he asked, with a look of concern.

Nick laid his arms across the
desk, his fingers laced together, as he sat and carefully thought of what to
say. When he finally decided there was no simple way to put it, he told Jake everything
that was in the police report and all that happened to Mariah. He also informed
Jake of the lies Anya told Mariah at the café.

Jake looked up, and his
expression clouded with disbelief. He stood, his face filled with a look of
anger.

“Sit back down and listen to me,
Jake.”

“That’s not true. Mariah must
have misunderstood her,” he replied sharply. He shook his head vehemently and
lowered himself into the chair. “Anya informed me that Mariah reached over,
grabbed the steering wheel and the car skidded over to the opposite side of the
road and into the ditch.”

“Jake, she’s lying to you."

“I don’t believe that.” Again, he
stood, placed one hand at the back of his neck and slid the other into his
pocket. He slowly moved his head back and forth. “Anya would never drive
recklessly with Mariah as a passenger. She wouldn't say things like that to
Mariah either. She likes her; they’re good friends.” 

“You’re wrong, Jake. You may as
well head back home and get matters straightened out with your wife. I can’t have
you working with the horses while you’re upset. I’ll put this down as a
personal day off.”

Jake exhaled a deep breath, then
pulled the door open and left without another word.

Nick shook his head. He wasn’t
able to tell Jake about Anya’s flirtatious activity toward him.

* * *

“It’s so good to be home,” Mariah
said, after eating a quiet dinner. Bess had prepared her favorite:
country-style ribs with twice-baked potatoes and corn-on-the-cob. Bess was now
giving Nicky his bath; with their tummies filled, the twins had finally dozed
off. Nick and Mariah were sitting on the sofa, relaxing in front of the warm
fire.

“The look of wonder on Nicky’s
face when he saw the twins, it was such a breathtaking sight,” Mariah
whispered.

“He truly loves his siblings.
He’s going to be one proud brother. I can just see him, protecting them,
drilling each and every one of the boys who wants to take them out on a date.”
He laughed softly, and Mariah snuggled up to him with a smile. The fire seemed
to have him mesmerized, and she watched as he quietly stared at the flames.

“What’s on your mind?”

“Oh, just thinking about Jake;
Anya has warped his judgment. She has him so wrapped around her finger he’s
lost all control of himself. She is a very manipulative woman.”

“I don’t understand. Why would
she have wanted so badly to come to our country and then pull such underhanded
schemes?”

“Money, Mariah, money and
citizenship. Oh, don’t get me wrong, there are plenty of decent women from all
over the world who come over as mail-order brides. However, Jake was one of the
unlucky men. I had a bad feeling, right from the beginning.

“Well, let’s get to bed,
sweetheart. This is your first night home with the twins, and you need some
rest before they wake up for their next feeding.”

“Yes, you’re right. I’m tired.
I’d like you to come in and cuddle. I missed you.” She leaned her head back and
gazed into his eyes.

“I missed you too Mariah.” They
looked at each other, smiled, and their faces glimmered with love. Nick stood
and held his hand out to her, gently helped her up, and they walked to their
bedroom. Nick was so very thankful that Mariah and the girls were safe and
sound.

Chapter
Eighteen

“That’s a great idea, Sarah,
let’s do it. It’s a beautiful summer day. With our men and boys out camping,
I’ve been bored.”

“I’ll pick you up in an hour.
Have Angie and Allie ready
;
they’ll enjoy a picnic. We’ll go to the park
next door to the Pine Cone Café. This being the beginning of summer, it’ll be
beautiful. They’ve landscaped the area around the pond with trees and grass, and
ducks are swimming in the water. It really is a site to see. They’ve also added
a playground. The twins will have fun.”

Mariah laughed and pointed out to
Sarah that they’re only four months old. “As a matter of fact, they’re four
months tomorrow. Before we’ve even walked halfway around the pond, they’ll be
sound asleep.”

“Good, then we can enjoy
ourselves. We’ll be able to talk until we run out of things to say,” she added.
“I'll pick you up in an hour.”

Mariah and Sarah had been best
friends through high school and made it a point to see each other as frequently
as possible. After they’d finished with their picnic lunch, they walked the
twins along the sidewalk, circling the entire pond, and then sat down in the
grass to rest.

“I need to use the restroom,”
Sarah said. She stood and headed over to the building nearby. “I’ll be right
back,” she yelled over her shoulder.

The twins were sound asleep.
Mariah sat and waited on the grass next to the stroller, then leaned back and
tipped her face toward the sky. She enjoyed the warmth of the sun and the light
breeze carrying the fresh scent of the recently mowed lawn.

* * *

When Sarah opened the door to
exit the restroom she stopped short. She could hear a conversation outside of
the doorway. She left the door ajar, just far enough to see a woman, who was
leaning against the wall, a cell phone in one hand, while eating a sandwich
from the other. Apparently, she was speaking to her boyfriend. Sarah listened
closely.

“Maybe I should come clean. I’m
sure he knows something already. I’m getting tired of this game, honey. I know
we planned our future well ahead of time, conspired very carefully; but I miss
you so much. I want to be home with you. When will this be over?”

Sarah quietly walked out of the
restroom and noticed a wedding band on her left hand. The woman became aware of
Sarah, quickly turned away from her and spoke softly into the phone, while she
walked over to a picnic table to continue her conversation.

Sarah hurried over to Mariah, sat
next to her on the grass and tapped her on the knee. She told her about the
discussion she overheard.

“Shame on you, you were
eavesdropping.”

“But look at her, Mariah.” She nodded
toward the woman sitting at the picnic table.

“I’m not going to be nosey,
Sarah. That isn’t nice. Maybe she’s having marital problems, but that’s none of
our business.”

“Hmm… she sure is pretty. She has
beautiful auburn hair and a fantastic figure. I feel sorry for her husband.”

Mariah finally could stand it no
longer. She slowly moved her head a bit; just enough to see what Sarah was so
concerned about.

“Oh my God,” she gasped and
sucked in a sharp breath. She turned and quickly began to pack their items in
the bag that hung on the stroller, while keeping her back to the woman.

“What’s wrong?”

“We have to get in the car,
Sarah, hurry,” she whispered. “I’ll tell you when we’re out of here. Please,
help me with the twins.”

When they turned the corner and
were out of sight, Mariah let out a sigh of relief.

“Now tell me what’s wrong. Do you
know her?”

“That was Jake’s wife. Her name
is Anya.”

“No way! Are you sure?”

“Positive, and from the
conversation you heard, Nick had been right all along. Their marriage was a
setup. Oh, poor Jake. Tell me again exactly what she said.”

“She said, ‘Maybe I should come
clean. I’m sure he knows something already. I’m getting tired of this game,
honey. I know we planned our future well ahead of time, conspired very
carefully; but I miss you so much. I want to be home with you. When will this be
over?’ That was all I heard. She then turned in the opposite direction, and I
walked out of the restroom.”

Mariah pulled a tablet from her
purse and wrote it all down, word for word.  “I have to show this to Nick. As
much as it would hurt Jake, I’m sure he’d want to know what she’s up to.” 
Mariah held the gold heart on the chain she wore around her neck. Nick gave it
to her for Christmas. It was a beautiful one-karat diamond set in the middle of
a gold heart. She was an extremely lucky woman and still very much in love. She
was very thankful for a wonderful husband and a solid marriage.

* * *

“I wonder how the men are doing,”
Mariah said, after she’d put the twins down for their nap.

“Probably having the time of
their lives; I’m sure my boys are enjoying it.”

“I’m not real sure about Nicky.
He thought I’d be going along. When I told him the girls were too young to go
camping, he looked as though he was having second thoughts.”

“Don’t worry, Mariah. Once
they’ve pulled out their fishing rods, they’ll have forgotten all about us.
Believe me. I’m glad you asked me to stay here tonight. I get awfully lonely in
that empty house.”

“I love to have you around,
Sarah, you know that. We’re both so busy with our families these days that we
aren’t able to get together often enough. Hey, let’s see if there’s a good
movie on tonight, and we can make popcorn. All four of us will have a slumber
party,” she joked.

Mariah suddenly grabbed her phone
from the table next to her. “Hello handsome,” she said.

“You must have been bored to
death, sitting there waiting for us to call,” Nick said. “What if it hadn’t
been me? What if it had been Art?”

“Oh, he’d have thanked me for the
compliment,” Mariah laughed.

“Here, Nicky wants to talk to
you.”

“Mommy, guess what? I put a worm
on the hook all by myself, and I got a great big fish!”

“Oh my goodness, you caught one
all by yourself?”

“Well, daddy helped me.”

“Now you’ll have something
special for show and tell when you start kindergarten this year.”

“I know. Daddy took a picture. I
have to go now. I’m going to help them set our tent up. Bye Mommy.”

“Bye honey, you have lots of
fun.” She closed her phone and looked at Sarah.

“You don’t have to tell me,”
Sarah said, glancing upward, her forefinger placed alongside her chin. “Let me
see… he was all excited; he caught a fish; they've all been having fun, and he
didn’t even tell you he missed you.”

“How’d you know?”

“Been there, remember? It turned
out the same way for both Tommy and Bobby. Don’t worry, by tomorrow he’ll miss
you all the way home. ‘
Are we almost home daddy? Are we there yet?
’
Don’t worry, he won’t forget about you. Nick will tell you all about it.”
Mariah laughed and playfully gave her a light push.