What We Find (Sullivan's Crossing, #1)(42)

“No,” she said. “Not yet. And I didn’t quit—I’m taking a break.”

She drove to Denver one day to meet with her lawyer and the plaintiff’s counsel, spent three exhausting hours in deposition and then stopped in Golden to visit her mother. That was a mini nightmare—it was one endless argument. Phoebe was outraged that her daughter would throw away all the prestige of her career to stock shelves in a little country store.

“I also garden, hike, do a little rock climbing and I’m thinking of going out on the trail for a couple of overnights.”

“Dear God, what if you run into trouble?” Phoebe asked.

“I have bear repellant and won’t hesitate to use it on any animal that threatens me.” And by that she meant human or animal. Phoebe didn’t seem to know about the predator Maggie had shot, thank God. There had only been a small story that included the names of the felons, the general location and had not named the minor child. Maggie had been described as the “local proprietor of a family-style campground.”

She drove back to Sully’s the same day. When she got to Leadville, she drove all around the town looking for Cal’s truck with its camping trailer. She didn’t see it anywhere. Clearly he’d gone. Lied to her and left her with a promise he wasn’t about to keep.

Going out on the trail overnight was just an experiment, a way to simulate what Cal was doing, how he was feeling wrapped in his solitude. He had to think, he said. About what? she wondered. When Maggie let herself think too much she saw all the carnage of the emergency room on one of the worst days of her life. A bunch of teenage boys in a terrible accident, three head injuries. One neurosurgeon. It just wasn’t worth the exercise.

Instead of camping in the wild she hauled stock, weeded, cleaned the public bathrooms and showers, raked, scrubbed Sully’s house from top to bottom and rearranged furniture.

“Damn near broke a leg in the night just trying to go to the john. You about got it out of your system yet?” Sully asked while they had their morning coffee on the porch at the store.

“What?”

“Cal, that’s what. I guess you think I’m just stupid.”

“Look, I admit I wish he hadn’t gone but it’s probably for the best. He’s just some jobless loser, living in a tent, who couldn’t tell the truth about anything even if it bit him in the ass.”

Sully leveled a stare at her. “You catch him in a lie, Maggie?”

“That doesn’t mean he wasn’t lying!”

Sully scowled at her. “I think they need you in Denver,” he finally said. “I think I need you in Denver.”

“I have too much invested in you to leave now,” she said.

“God help me.”

One day a letter came for Cal from the Colorado State Supreme Court. “Dad?” she said. She held it out to him. “What the hell could this mean?”

Sully took the envelope and held it for a second. “Hmm. Reckon it means he’s coming back. Unless he sends me a request to forward it.”

“I don’t see how it could mean that,” she said. “Clearly he’s on the run.”

“Don’t be ridiculous,” Sully said. “From what?”

“Well, this isn’t a jury summons! He’s not a resident!”

“Maybe he is. You don’t know everything.”

“I don’t know anything! He’s probably wanted!”

“Indeed,” Sully said sarcastically.

“What is it, then?”

“It’s a man’s private mail and as postmaster I swore an oath and part of that oath is to keep my nosy daughter from picking through the mail. You better keep this to yourself, Maggie.”

“Don’t you agree it’s pretty suspicious?”

“I agree it’s pretty personal and none of your business.”

“Well, jeez,” she said. “Not like he’s here to question, now, is it.”

“You heard me,” Sully returned emphatically.

*



When Cal had been gone three weeks, Maggie wasn’t sure how long she could continue to drive him from her mind with hard work and outdoor activities like hiking. She began to slow down. But just to reassure her the universe was not yet on her side, she saw a familiar black Lincoln move slowly up the drive toward the store.

She looked skyward. “Really?” she asked God. “Like this wasn’t enough?” Then she hollered, “Dad!”

Her father came running out of the store, a hunk of his turkey sandwich still hanging out of his mouth. He stuffed it back in before he could speak. “What the hell, Maggie?”

She pointed a shaking finger at the car. “Phoebe and Walter.”

Sully chewed and swallowed. “Well, that took ’em longer than I thought it would. Brace yourself, Maggie. They’re here to do war.”

“How do you know?” she asked.

“Phoebe hasn’t been near this place since she left and took you with her thirty years ago. Hell just froze over.”

Walter parked the big car beside the store and got out. He walked toward the porch, alone. “Where’s Mother?” Maggie asked.

“I decided to come on my own. Don’t you think she must have run out of things to say by now?”