A Soldier's Journey (23 page)

CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE

A
NDY
SPENT
A
restless night. As much as she tried to think ahead, the onslaught of the all-too-painful memories last night lingered. She'd feared having another recurring nightmare...

She worried about what had brought them about. The kiss? Her growing attachment to Nate? Guilt?

At first light, she gave up on sleep and brewed a pot of coffee. She filled a thermos, opened the door for Joseph and started up the path to the lookout on the mountain. She didn't bother with a leash. Joseph wasn't going to leave her side and she doubted she would see anyone this early.

Once there, she sat on the rock overlooking the town and watched as the sun filtered through scattered clouds and painted streaks of gold across the lake. She continued to watch as cars started to move through the streets.

Andy tried to pinpoint Nate's house from here, but she wasn't sure she found the right one. She looked for color; Nate had made light of the many roses in his yard, claimed that taking care of them was part of his rent, but she knew roses. Her mother grew them. They took time and tender loving care.

Another side of Nate. She was always finding new ones. He was far more complex than he'd appeared the first day they'd met.

She took a deep swallow of coffee. It was strong, the way they drank it in the army. She rested against the rock, listened to the birds trilling their morning song and put her hand on Joseph's thick fur. He looked up and gave her a big dog smile.

The leftover tension from last night's flashback gradually faded away as the sun burned off the early-morning dew and a fresh breeze stirred the tall pines. Darn if she wasn't falling in love with this place. And that wasn't a good thing.

Andy took a deep breath. She had to start thinking about the future, something she'd refused to do before coming to Covenant Falls. She hadn't wanted to think about a life without Jared, the army or nursing. But her stay here was temporary. The fact that she liked it more each day didn't change that.

She still had to get a paying job, visit her mother and sister and plot a new course. Covenant Falls was a temporary refuge, nothing more.

Joseph whined next to her. At least
he
was hers. She didn't know how she could have survived without him.

Activity increased in the town below her.

Toy cars were moving among toy houses. So untouched by violence. So different from the violence thousands of miles away. She tried to push the memories away, but they kept returning. Why Jared? April? Britt? They had been all about saving lives. It hadn't mattered whose.

Joseph uttered a low rumbling noise.

“No good answer, huh,” she said. “Then, tell me this—what should I do about Nate?”

Joseph wagged his tail. It wasn't very helpful.

Every time she thought about last night, her body ached for something that went beyond a kiss. She'd felt alive last night, really alive, for the first time in months, and that felt like a betrayal to those who died.

And then there was his own past.

She knew from the way Nate touched her that he cared. But she couldn't help remembering the flatness with which he mentioned his ex-wife, the betrayal he'd felt. She wasn't sure she could love so strongly again, and to do less would be a disservice to him.

The brochure
, Andy reminded herself. She had to get started on the town brochure. The event had taken over everything. She reluctantly stood and Joseph rose with her.

Back at the cabin, she made breakfast—toast and eggs and coffee—then she jotted down some notes for the brochure, picking out various phrases from the journal entries.

Her mind was not being cooperative. It kept skipping from the copy to her future to Nate.

He sneaked in her mind like a thief, stealing all the common sense and reservations she had. Her heart warmed every time she thought of him, and yet there was caution, as well. She kept telling herself everything was too fast, yet she knew she wanted to see him. She wanted to finish what they had started. Then suddenly the scene in Afghanistan would flash through her head, and pain ripped through her again.

She was, quite simply, at war with herself.

She looked back at the first sheaf of papers that Sara had combined of the most important journal entries.
Tomorrow I leave my beloved Scotland.
She skipped ahead until she reached the entry with Angus's first impression of the place he would call eventually call Covenant Falls. She started writing.

“The loch is as deep and blue as the evening sky, as pure as those in my highlands. It lies at the foot of mountains that overlook the dry country through which we passed and is obviously fed by the snow that caps their tops. It is a beautiful, serene place, and I plan to stay and establish my trading post here.”

Those were the words of Angus Monroe, who established one of the first trading posts in central Colorado. It went by the name Monroe until he saved the life of a Ute subchief during a time of friction between the American Indian tribes, the military and settlers. In appreciation, the Utes made a covenant with Angus. They would protect Angus and everyone at the post. Angus was given the chief's sister as his wife.

Angus then named the post and the town he'd envisioned Covenant Falls.

Angus started a freight business, an extension of bringing in his own supplies. He bought camels from a circus, which had bought them from the US Army, to take supplies into mining camps. The camels made their way into the lore of Covenant Falls.

The Civil War tore the territory apart, and six of the men left to fight for the Union while one headed south to Texas. It was the beginning of a long tradition of service by the residents of Covenant Falls. Five of the seven did not come back.

Today, the town of Covenant Falls has grown from a one-man trading post to a town that boasts of warm hospitality, a spectacular waterfall and lake, a national forest and a living history...

She stood up and stretched. A start. It didn't sing, but she had something to work with. She looked at her watch. A little after 2:00 p.m. Where had the day gone?

The cell phone rang. Her heart raced as she saw Nate's name pop up. “Hi,” she said. “Did you spring the lumber from police custody?”

“We did, thanks to Craig Stokes,” he replied.

“I remember him,” she said. “He helped me after your fall. He and his son.”

“Well, I did well today, too. I went up the mountain path this morning, then worked on the brochure. It's not great, but I'm getting there.”

“You might want to get together with Susan on the design,” he said. “She has some photos, but you might want a few additional ones.”

His voice was friendly. Businesslike. As if last night hadn't happened. As if flames hadn't flared between them.

“I'll do that tomorrow. I'm going over to Sara's tonight. The script committee is meeting again.”

There was a silence, and she wondered whether he had been about to ask her out tonight.

“What time?”

“Seven.”

Another silence. So that had been the plan. Regret flowed through her. Regret and maybe a little relief.

She wanted to see him. She wanted to be with him. She wanted to explore those feelings that aroused her. But she also knew it probably would mean making love.
Do I really want to go there?
“When do you start the addition?” she asked, trying to break the silence.

“Tomorrow morning at seven. We want to get it done so we can help with the pageant or whatever we're doing.” He paused then added, “I'm beginning to wonder whether this was such a good idea after all.”

“What particular thing?” she asked. “The play? Or...” She couldn't quite get the last word out.

He didn't answer that question. “I'll call you tomorrow,” he said.

“Sounds good,” she lied.

She put the phone down and stared at Joseph. She'd wanted more. The conversation had felt strained, but then why wouldn't it be? Neither of them was in a position to...have a relationship.

With a sigh, she turned back to the brochure.

CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX

L
OUISA
HAD
SUPPLIED
all the committee chairs with the proposal for the script. A narrator would read selections from the journal. Each selection would introduce a scene. It was agreed that the story should begin in Scotland, when Angus discovered his brother had left for America, and end with a celebration when Colorado became a state, a total of twenty-eight years.

She presented the group with the pages from Angus's journal concerning his wedding to Chiweta, the chief's sister, which would end the first half of the pageant. The second half would be about the Civil War and the fight for statehood.

Clint had agreed to work with Louisa on music for the production. Preliminary ideas included a hoedown with the wagon train segment. Perhaps a Scottish hymn at the death of the brother. A traditional Ute dance at one point was suggested by Louisa.

The meeting lasted nearly three hours, but they had a timeline, possible scenes and backgrounds. Craig would build the stage and work with kids from Louisa's drama class on props. Sets would include the shop in Scotland, the wagon train and the trading post and town.

Goal one belonged to the script committee—to write scenes that could be used to audition actors for the speaking parts.

When Andy arrived back at the cabin, her head was spinning. Three weeks ago, she had empty days and an empty life. Now she had had a schedule so full she had no idea how to get it all done.

It was a blessing. She had no time for memories. She fell asleep immediately Sunday night and slept until dawn. No nightmares.

When she appeared at the community center the next morning, Bill had already made a place for her.
His
place, really. He had surrendered his desk, provided her with one of the computers from the library and scrounged a file cabinet from somewhere.

“What about you?” she asked. “Where will you sit?”

“I don't need to be here,” he said. “I basically open and close the place. I'm going to spend much of my time up in the museum. We really need to get that in order before we have those travel writers here, and I think you're going to be a little too busy to do it.”

She wasn't sure she wanted to be the first person everyone saw when they came into community center, but he had gone to so much trouble she didn't have the heart to refuse. There was even a water dish for Joseph.

To her bemusement, volunteers appeared almost as soon as the center opened at 9:00 a.m. Word, apparently, had quickly spread that volunteers were needed. It seemed every resident in town wanted to participate, even though they knew few details about the project. They had all been sent to her.

As each volunteer appeared, she tried to discover their interests and talents and promised to turn their names over to the appropriate person.

With so many residents offering their help, Andy found herself liking Covenant Falls even more than she had. There was a spirit here that her town in West Virginia had lost. She spent more and more hours at either Sara's or the community center while Nate was busy sunrise to sunset at his construction site or the inn. Four days disappeared in in a flash.

And then they had five weeks until the pageant. After that, she should leave. She was healing. She had more confidence. The cabin should go to someone else.

She had to visit her mother. She had to find a future on her own.

That took her thoughts to Nate. She had not seen him since Tuesday night, although he had called each day. The conversation yesterday had been short and awkward. She knew he would be busy today, that there had been problems with the job, and that the construction business part of the partnership was paying some of the bills for the inn.

The phone rang and somehow she knew it was Nate. “I heard you're queen of the world,” he said.

“More like the footman,” she said.

He laughed. “What's happening there?”

“I'm being flooded with volunteers, most of whom are would-be actors and actresses. I'm trying to steer them to other committees.”

“I can probably tell you exactly who they are,” he replied and she heard the amusement in his voice.

“But I'm impressed how eager they are to do almost anything after I dash their hopes of stardom.”

“Covenant Falls does that.”

She changed the subject. “But I get failing marks on the copy for the brochure,” she said. “I've been saturated with ‘the event,' which everyone is calling it now.”

“I have faith,” he said. “I'm going to quit tonight around seven and try to make it to poker night. Will you be there?”

“Thought I would. I'm low on money.”

She heard him chuckle. “Can I pick you up?” he asked.

“I'm just around the corner,” she said before thinking, “and I expect both Joseph and I will need a walk after being inside all day.”

“Okay,” he replied. “It's just as well. I'm not sure when I can get there. If I'm running late, I probably won't have time to go home and change. I might be sweaty and uncouth.”

“Already been there and done that, and I didn't even faint,” she said. “I'm sure you've seen a group of rangers returning from three or four days in the field. I don't expect you'll be quite that uncouth.”

“I'll try not to be.” He hung up before she could reply, but her heart started humming. She suddenly realized that his offer to pick her up might have been an invitation, or a date, or something. She hadn't even thought of that until it was too late.

Would he expect to come to the cabin after the meeting? Should she ask him? Would they begin where they had left off before? Did she want to?
Yes!
She still ached inside whenever she thought of Saturday night. But did she really wish to start something that probably had no hope of a satisfactory ending?

She added up the reasons why she shouldn't. Her stay here was temporary. He was obviously wary of marriage. She was still too raw to make any kind of emotional commitment, and she had never just slept around.

A woman and toddler came in the door and headed straight for her. The woman introduced herself as Gail Simmons and said she'd had the lead in her senior play. Her son was a born ham, she added. She'd heard that they were looking for actors.

Mary was dark haired and slender and, if she could act, would probably be a good wife to Angus. Andy took the name and contact number. “I'll call you about the auditions,” she said, then added, “You know it's all volunteer?”

“Oh, yes,” she said. “I just think it will be a great thing to bring more people to Covenant Falls. It's impossible to find a job here now.” After she left, Andy looked into the top drawer of the desk. Maybe she would have a little time to cast a fresh look at the brochure copy. She took the several pages she'd written and photocopied them, then sat back down and tried to concentrate.

The front door opened and Stephanie stepped inside, a big dog with her. A pit bull, Andy thought.

“Hi,” Stephanie said. “I came to see whether there was anything I could do and thought you might like to meet Braveheart. He's Clint's dog, formerly Eve's. We didn't bring him that first Saturday night you were here, but he's one of Eve's rescues and for some reason he really took to Clint, and Clint to him.”

Joseph's tail wagged frantically when he saw Stephanie, but he looked more suspiciously at Stephanie's companion until he apparently decided the pit bull was on the approved list. Then he approached Braveheart, who trembled at first, but then let Joseph sniff him, and they sat down together.

Stephanie grinned. “You can't believe what Braveheart was like ten months ago. He was afraid of his shadow, and no wonder. He'd been used for dogfighting and thrown away when he didn't win. When Eve brought him to me, I didn't know if we could save him. Clint adopted him, and he's been staying with me while Clint has been taking the law enforcement program.”

Andy leaned down and gently rubbed his ears. Braveheart's tail wagged.

“You're a friend now,” Stephanie said approvingly. “I knew the dogs would get along. I came in to see whether there's anything I can do.”

“I'm just a flunky here,” Andy said.

“I don't think so. I hear you're rocking the world of Covenant Falls. Every place I go, I hear your name. No one else could have talked the Monroes into cooperating with this...”

“It didn't take much convincing. I think Sara Monroe was just waiting for an opportunity.”

“But no one else recognized it.”

Andy had no reply.

“Seriously,” Stephanie said. “I really would like to help.”

“Well,” Andy said, “we might need Wallace, a dog,” she said. “He seemed to be very important to Angus. And,” she added with the slightest of smiles, “I think a camel or two has been mentioned.”

“They spit,” Stephanie said.

“I know. It's why the city passed a no-spitting ordinance.”

“I remember,” Stephanie said drily.

“Nick suggested it.”

“Yes, he did,” Stephanie said. Then she peered at Andy. “You're serious?”

“I really don't know if I am or not,” she said. “Depends on the script and how far into Angus's life they want to go. But in the meantime, why don't you check on the availability of camels?”

“Okay,” Stephanie said with a deadpan expression.

“But I'm leaving the final decision up to the scriptwriting committee. I've taken myself out of that activity. My job is to keep track of the committees and plain old pamphlet copy. Nate needs that soon.”

“How is it coming?”

“The committees are great. They pretty much run themselves. But the brochure, not so well,” Andy said. “A few paragraphs I've pretty much discarded. Volunteers for the pageant keep coming by, so I haven't been able to focus. I didn't know Covenant Falls was full of would-be actors and actresses.”

“I could have warned you, but I've been told you're very diplomatic. I'm not good in that department.”

“Everything
does
get around in Covenant Falls, doesn't it?”

Stephanie nodded. “Bothered the hell out of me in the beginning, but you get used to it. I had a problem last fall, an ex-husband from hell. You can't believe how protective this town was. Let me take care of it myself, but they had my back.”

“That's good to know. But I don't have an ex-husband, and I don't plan to stay long. Just through the pageant. I don't want to take advantage of Josh's cabin.”

“And then what?”

“I don't know.”

“Have you thought about staying?”

“As I've learned, there's not many jobs around here, and I need one. I also should go home and see my family. I won't stay in West Virginia, though. Nothing there for a one-handed nurse.”

“I don't know. You seem to do pretty well.”

“The whole point of coming here was to get my act together,” Andy said. “Thanks to all of you, I'm beginning to realize there
is
life after Afghanistan, but this is a bubble right now. I have to leave it sometime.”

“You think?”

“You don't?” Andy retorted.

“I make a point of not giving advice,” Stephanie said. “I'm too bad at taking it. So I'll shove off. I have some appointments this afternoon. Let me know if you need anything in addition to a dog and camels.”

All the energy in the room seemed to leave with Stephanie.

At four, Andy realized she hadn't had lunch. She called Maude's and ordered a cheeseburger for herself and a hamburger, hold the bun, for Joseph. She would pick the order up. She really didn't want to run into anyone else and spend the rest of the afternoon answering questions. She just wanted to get away from everyone, eat in private, work on the brochure and get ready for the poker game.

When she reached Maude's, the order was ready.

Maude smiled, took her money and gave her a sack, then asked, “Say, you wouldn't have a cook in that play you're writing, would you?”

Andy groaned inwardly. “I'm not writing it,” she said, “but why not? You might ask Eve.”

A little bit of payback for Eve. She still didn't know how she had become so involved in the Covenant Falls, in the brochure, in the play. She suspected, though, that Eve was behind a lot of it.

* * *

A
NDY
LOOKED
AT
the clock. Ten to seven. Time to go.

She'd returned from Maude's, fed Joseph and herself and taken a long hot shower. She'd then listened to the news on a Denver television station. It was the first time she had consciously turned on the news since she'd arrived back in the United States.

After the shower, she dressed in blue jeans and her favorite shirt. Her heart pounded as she ran a brush through her short hair and added a touch of color to her lips.

“Come,” she told Joseph, and he barked. Would she ever get used to the way he seemed to understand every word she said? He fetched his leash and waited patiently while she fastened it. He really didn't need one, but she was aware that other people might not know that. She walked at a fast pace to the community center and joined several of the guys who were also arriving.

“The card shark,” said one of them, but there was no rancor or resentment behind the words. Good-natured teasing followed, and she relaxed. She was one of them. Rightfully here.

Josh was already there, along with Bill and Clint. The latter was getting his share of ribbing. “Out of school now?” someone asked.

“You bet, and you'd better watch your speeding in
my
town,” Clint shot back with a big grin. “I'm going to be looking for you and that yellow pickup.”

“Liked you better when you were a computer geek,” said another.

They all made their way to the wastepaper basket full of ice and beer and grabbed one.