The Ruth Valley Missing (10 page)

More nodding.

Once we were a few steps away from
the door, Father Mike spoke up. “It was very kind of you to check in on him,
Jameson, but you should probably let Doc Matthews take care of getting him his
pain meds.”

“I don’t mind.”

“I’ll be a little clearer then. It’s
not your job to check in on him, and the town has opinions about these sorts of
things. It would be in your best interest to stay away from Andy’s place for
now.”

“That sounds a little threatening,
Mike.”

“Look at that,” he smiled, “you
remembered to call me Mike.”

“Well, you aren’t sounding terribly
Fatherly at the moment.”

He stopped walking and turned to
face me. “I’m not threatening you. I just know this town. I’m trying to keep
you out of trouble.”

“Of course. My apologies for
implying anything else.” I tried to rein in the sarcastic tone I was sure had
already escaped my mouth.

“Don’t worry about it. It’s already
forgiven. Speaking of forgiveness, you haven’t been to confession since you got
to town. You should come by tomorrow. You’d be surprised how good you feel
afterwards.”

He stared at me, his tone even and
steady. Something about his calm was disturbing mine. As many questions as his
presence brought to mind, it seemed like ending the conversation might be the
best option.

“I’ll think about it.”

“Great. I have to get going. Lovely
seeing you as always.”

I nodded as he walked off, wondering
what really happened to Andy and what the Father knew about it.

“Are you ready?”

Jack was standing downstairs waiting
on me. He made regular runs into town for a few things you couldn’t find in the
local shops for himself and a few of the townspeople. I was in need of a new
memory card for my camera, so he suggested I tag along.

I didn’t mind the suggestion. Aside
from Emma, Jack was pretty much the only person in town I had really made
friends with, and it would be lying if I said I didn’t have at least a little
crush on him.  

He was the opposite of Dylan in just
about every way. Dylan was tall and attractive, slim and meticulously groomed.
When we would go anywhere, I was usually waiting on him to be ready. He watched
foreign films, bought me obscure poetry, subscribed to The Economist; all
things I liked about him when we met.

Jack was tall and attractive too,
but in an entirely different way. He had the build of a lumberjack, or at least
what I would imagine a lumberjack’s build was, broad shouldered and strong. It
was unlikely he spent more than five minutes getting ready to go anywhere, as
his wardrobe varied only between flannel, sweatshirts and tees. He seemed well
read, but classic fare adorned his bookcase; Swiss Family Robinson, Moby Dick,
The Old Man and the Sea.

The biggest difference was how Jack
treated me. Dylan was always big on giving me my space, making sure I
maintained my independence in our relationship. In the beginning I thought that
was very progressive of him. Over time, I realized that it was an excuse for
never putting my needs ahead of his, or even showing me basic consideration.
Jack, even in a non-boyfriend role, was a constant gentleman. Even the simplest
act of opening a door never escaped him.

It was a welcome change, even if he
was just a friend.

I headed down the stairs, tossing on
the coat I had hanging over the stairwell, and sliding a few rolls of film from
the old rummage sale camera into my pocket. “Sorry, I’m ready.”

“I was beginning to think I was
going to have to come up after you.”

He gave me that same boyish grin he
flashed the first day we met. I wondered if the chilly air as we walked out
would mask the blush color of my cheeks. Once we were both in the Jeep, he
turned towards me.

“I almost forgot,” he said leaning
in close. I held my breath as he sat inches from me, his arm behind my seat. He
moved away, a padded envelope in his hand. “This came in the mail for you
yesterday.”

“Oh.” I looked down and tore open
the envelope. “These are some of the photos I took around town. I told Emma I’d
bring some of the diner ones for her. There’s one of her I took that came out
so cute. Remind me when we’re shopping to see if I can find a frame. I want to
give it to her as a gift.”

“Sure thing.” Jack glanced over as
he drove. “Hey, those are real nice.”

“Thanks. They’re ok.”

“No, James, I mean it. That one
there, with the truck? I have a spot in my living room where I’d hang that.”

“Well, then, I’ll have to get you a
frame too.”

“Sounds like a plan. I may have to
look through the rest of those and pick out a few more.”

“Sure.” I smiled, feeling flattered
and awkward at the same time. Dylan never paid any attention to my photography.
He always said it lacked ‘a statement’.

“Music?” Jack motioned towards the
radio dial and I nodded. The twang of bluegrass spilled from the speakers and I
leaned back, watching the forest and mountain scenery whizz by. Every once in a
while I’d catch Jack singing along and laugh when he’d pause knowing he was
caught, then continue on anyway.

Before I knew it, we were slowing
down and entering town.  

~~~

“Who knew shopping at Walmart was so
great?”

I was tossing a rubber ball up and
down as we walked down an aisle looking for a special brand of tea for the
little old woman who ran the bakery.

“Great? I don’t know if I would say
that.”

“I found hot pink fuzzy socks for a
dollar ninety seven and, in the same trip, a ten pound bag of lemon cooler
cookies, cookies I didn’t even know still existed. How is that not great?”

“Ahhh, sarcasm. I got it. City girl
poking fun at the humble small town folk.”

For a brief second I was worried he
actually thought I was making fun, but when he broke into a smile that told me
he didn’t, I relaxed.

“I’m only being a little sarcastic.
I really am excited about the fuzzy socks.”

“I see. Well, I’m headed over to the
automotive section and some other boring stuff. Did you want to go look at
frames and whatever else and meet me at the Jeep in fifteen?”

“Divide and conquer. Got it.”

We headed in opposite directions, and
I quickly picked out a few suitable frames, then remembered the film in my
pocket. I headed to the front of the store, searching for their photo
department.

Behind the counter sat a young guy,
lanky, with short hair, save a wispy rat tail traveling down his neck.

“I was wondering if I could drop
these off to be developed.”

“Just fill out that envelope and
drop it in there,” said the clerk, barely looking up from his phone. “They pick
up in the afternoon and it should be here in about four days.”

“Oh. You don’t have one-hour
service?”

The clerk smirked. “Nope. No one is
really in that much of a rush around here.”

“Okay. I don’t really make it out
here often—”

“If you put your address information
and check the ‘home delivery’ option, our photo service will mail them to you
directly. There is an extra charge for it, and it will be about a week, give or
take.”

Taking digital photos for so long
made me impatient, but I didn’t have a whole lot of options, so I followed the
clerk’s instructions, looked around a little while longer, then checked out and
headed to the Jeep.

“Looks like I beat you here.”

Jack was emptying the cart when I
arrived, and immediately went to work emptying mine. Once inside, we drove a
few minutes up the road. “One stop before we head home. I don’t know if you’ve
noticed, but Ruth Valley is a dry town.”

“I noticed. I just wasn’t sure if
noticing would give anyone the wrong idea.”

Jack laughed. “Smart. With some
folks, it might have. I like to keep a little something at the house myself.”

We pulled into the liquor store
parking lot and headed in. I hadn’t had a glass of wine since I left New York,
so the mere thought of it made me giddy. I started loading bottles into the
cart and Jack laughed again. “Ok, I take it back. You keep loading the cart at
that pace, I’m definitely going to get the wrong idea.”

I shrugged, “Hey, I am just stocking
up to last until the next trip.”

He raised an eyebrow and looked down
at the cart, counting the bottles. “Not counting on another trip for about six
months then.”

I rolled my eyes and pointed to the
whiskey bottles in the cart. “And are you planning on drinking that in your
coffee every morning?”

He laughed again. I liked making him
laugh. His whole face smiled when he did, eyes crinkling in the corners.
“Alright, I think we both have enough. Let’s get going.”

As he unloaded the cart, the woman
behind the counter looked over at me and back at Jack. “I’ll need to see her ID
before I can ring ya’ll up.”

Jack looked over at me and covered
his mouth, unsuccessfully hiding a large grin. I dug in my pocket and turned
over my ID. As she handed it back, he intercepted it, looked at the ID, then up
at me. “That might be the most unfortunate driver’s license picture I’ve ever
seen. If I pulled you over, I think I’d have to let you go without a ticket.
Out of pity.”

I slapped his arm playfully and
swiped at my license, returning it to my pocket. He wasn’t wrong. At the time
of the photo my dark red hair was cut in a very short bob with a severe straight
bang, and my usually fair skin was pale. My stylist was convinced that this
look was edgy and made me look older. This photo was evidence that I was
clearly not meant for edgy.

We loaded up and headed back,
listening to the radio along the way. After a while, Jack turned down the
music. “How are you feeling about living in our little town? Are you getting
along any better?”

“Good,” I paused, “for the most
part.”

“There was something going on in
that silence of yours. Everything alright?”

“Yeah.”

“You sure? If you need to talk about
anything, I’ve been told I’m quite the listener.” He raised an eyebrow and
smiled.

I returned the smile then asked, “Do
you go to confession? At the church?”

“Sure. Once a week.”

“Really? I didn’t know you were such
a sinner.”

“You joke, but we all are. Most of
us make excuses for the little things we do, a mean comment, a little white
lie, what goes on inside our heads or the privacy of our homes, whatever it is,
we tend to reason it away. Confession makes me think about those things
honestly. It’s not so much about admitting it to someone else as it is about
admitting it to myself.”

“I hadn’t thought of it that way.”

“Why the interest?”

“Oh, Father Mike was telling me I
should go to confession.”

Jack’s brow furrowed. “When was
this?”

“The other day at Andy’s. I went by
to check on him and Father Mike showed up.”

“Hm.”

“What?’

“Oh, it’s nothing.” Jack’s face
relaxed as he waved his hand. “Usually the Sisters visit the sick or laid up.
How’s Andy?”

“He’s not great. I mean, physically
he seems well enough, but he is still pretty shook up about the accident. He
barely wants to talk about it.”

“I would imagine. Whatever he came
across got him good. It was good of you to go see him.”

I shrugged. “Glad you think so. I
don’t know that I was very helpful.”

Jack grabbed my hand and gave it a
squeeze. “We all do the best we can, that’s all. I’m sure he appreciated you
being there.”

My face felt hot as his hand
continued holding mine. I looked out the window and saw the little sign ahead
for Ruth Valley as his grip loosened and his hand slid away.

~~~

“Emma?”

I jumped out of the Jeep, seeing her
sitting red-faced on Jack’s front porch, and ran up to see what was wrong.

“He’s gone, James. Something happened.”
Emma was sobbing, and she buried her face into my shoulder.

Jack gently touched her shoulder.
“Let’s get you inside, and you can tell us what’s going on.”

I sat down next to her on the couch,
while Jack sat opposite in the big armchair. He leaned forward and spoke
gently. “Tell me what’s going on, Emma.”

“I went to Andy’s. I was worried
about him and thought I would stop in real quick to make sure he was ok. When I
got there, no one answered. I knew he wasn’t up to goin’ anywhere, so I peeked in
the windows. The place was a mess. Furniture turned over and everything.” Her
eyes welled up as she looked at me. “Why would someone want to hurt him?”

“We don’t know that anyone hurt him.
Don’t get yourself thinking about things like that.” Jack stood up and motioned
to the kitchen. “I’m gonna make a call or two and James will make you some tea.
You just sit here and stay warm.”