The Best of Us (Sullivan's Crossing #4)(42)

Then in the afternoon at about four he would say, “Time for Helen to stretch her legs. We’ll take both dogs.” And off they would go, up the trail with the dogs.

When they were out of sight of the store, Sully would take her hand, as if they were keeping a secret from anyone. Even Frank had asked Sully, “You get her by mail order catalog?” The only one who was oblivious was Leigh and that was because her mind was on one single thing—the pub owner.

“The end of next week I have to go to New York for a convention,” Helen said to Sully. “I’ll be gone almost a week. Six days. I’ll be back just after Memorial Day weekend, but you said that’s very busy for you.”

“The campground will be full and the store will be busy, but I’ll have help. Tom Canaday’s kids have worked out here in the past and they’ll work a little bit over the summer. I won’t be too busy to look across the yard to make sure you’re writing. But do you look forward to New York?”

“I love New York, plus I’ll meet with my agent and publisher, see a show, have some nice dinners and visit with friends. Would you like me to call you?”

“If you think about it,” he said. But he squeezed her hand. And she squeezed back.

The very next morning, Helen’s cell phone rang. She looked at the screen and it said Sullivan. She answered the call.

“Sorry to wake you, Helen. I know you like to sleep. But there’s a big herd of elk down by the lake. And there are new calves.”

“Oh!” she said, sitting up. She looked at the phone. “It’s 5:00 a.m. for the love of God!”

“I’ll take some pictures,” Sully said.

“No. I mean, yes, take pictures, but I’m coming.”

“Don’t drive in at your usual speed. Creep up the road. They’re pretty urbanized, not usually afraid of cars and trucks, but wildlife is most evident at dawn and dusk. If you want to see them without getting trampled...”

“I get it! Don’t let them leave!”

He started to laugh and it turned into a wheeze. “What would you like me to do? Lasso them?”

“Don’t be a smart-ass!”

She grabbed her hoodie, slipped it on and put her phone in the pocket. She stepped into her slippers. Leigh peeked out of her bedroom door. “What’s going on?”

“Sully has a herd of elk at the campground and there are new calves!”

“What are you doing?”

“I’ve been looking for them. I’m going to see. You can come.”

“In your pajamas?”

Helen looked down. They weren’t revealing. “I won’t see anyone, and if I do, they’ll think I just have rotten taste. Want to come?”

“Maybe another time,” Leigh said, going back to bed.

It was very hard for Helen to drive slowly to the Crossing but she knew it was true, from what people around town said—the elk were peaceful but they could choose the wrong moment to cross the road. Car versus elk was usually a serious affair. Twenty minutes later she crept down the road toward the Crossing and there they were! Some were grazing, a few were lying down, others up to their knees in that cold lake. She drove on the grass to pass them quietly and politely.

Sully was sitting at one of the tables on the store porch with a cup of coffee, watching quietly. A few people were out of their campers and tents, sitting up on picnic tables, watching and taking pictures.

Helen edged toward the store, parked and got out, snapping a few pictures with her phone on her way to the porch. While she was doing that, Sully had silently gone to fetch her a cup of coffee. She sat down beside him, sipped her coffee. “Sully, they’re amazing. They’re huge!”

“Haven’t seen ’em around here just lately. I suspect they’re headed up the mountain to a higher elevation. Getting warmer down here in the valley.”

“Down here?” she asked. “We’re at five thousand feet! I can hardly catch my breath.”

“You’re adjusting just fine. I count three little ones out there.”

“That’s about right, I think,” Helen said.

“One of ’em is still wobbly. That might be one of the reasons they’ve stopped for a spell.” Although her attention was fixed on the herd, she could feel his eyes on her. “Helen, what you got on there?” he asked.

“Pajamas and a hoodie,” she said. “It would have taken too long to get all dressed.”

“Pretty interesting pajamas,” he said. “I mean, attractive. Very attractive.”

“Sully, they’re just polka dot pajamas.”

“You got a lump over here in your hair. This one side is flat, there’s a bulge over on the other side and you’d do Alfalfa proud with that spike.”

“So?” she said, patting it down a little. “It’s called bed head. It’s what you get when someone wakes you up at five in the morning. If you have hair.” She hadn’t even looked in the mirror, of course.

He smiled at her. “I like it.”

Maggie didn’t have to pack a lot for her Denver runs. She had her own house there, well stocked with her daily needs from clothing to cosmetics. “I’m going tonight because I have an early surgery,” she told Cal. “I’m going to hang around till at least the weekend. Until my patient is out of the woods. Will you and Elizabeth come up for a couple of days? I want to be near the hospital to keep an eye on the surgical patients but I won’t be tied up the whole time.”