Russell's Return (10 page)

CHAPTER
7

Russell smiled when he heard his
favorite song on the radio but then the damn thing kept sticking on the chorus.

“Russell...Russell, your phone is
ringing.”

He sat bolt upright at the sound of
Emily’s voice. “Miranda! What’s wrong with Miranda?” Leaping up, he rushed to
the chair where he’d put their clothes, to dig for his phone. “Hello.”

“Hi son. Don’t worry, Miranda is fine,
but I need you to come home.”

“What happened, Ma?” he demanded as he
sat on the edge of the bed.

Evelyn sighed. “It’s your brother. He’s
had an accident and I need to get to him. Someone needs to stay with your
daughter.”

“Okay Ma, I’ll be right there.” He hung
up the phone and started to get dressed.

“What’s going on Russell? Is there
anything I can do?”

“My brother’s been in some kind of
accident and Mom needs to leave.”

“Oh no!” Emily worried. “Which brother?”

“She didn’t say, but it has to be Dylan.
I swear Logan never leaves that damn grocery store anymore.”

Emily nodded and rose from the bed.
“I’ll come with you. You never know how Miranda will react to the news.”

Russell didn’t argue, he just moved so
Emily could get to her dresser. Somehow he already knew, this early in their relationship,
not to bother arguing with her. And he could really use her quiet comfort right
now.

The word ‘relationship’ reverberated in
his head. What they had was so new, he couldn’t call it
that
yet. Could
he? Yes, they got along well, and yes the sex was fantastic. He really
liked
her but…

Shaking off his troubling thoughts, he
grabbed his keys and turned to Emily. “Ready?”

She nodded and headed for the living
room. With a growing sense of urgency, they left the former bunkhouse and
headed to the main house.

**********

Evelyn was waiting in the backlit
doorway when the SUV pulled into the driveway. Russell and Emily rushed over to
her. “What happened?” he asked.

“Dylan ran off the road and was thrown
from the car,” she said quietly as another round of tears formed.

“Ma, you can’t drive in this state,”
Russell insisted as they made their way to the kitchen. “Let me drive you.”

Emily busied herself with making coffee
while Russell and Evelyn sat at the breakfast bar.

“I didn’t plan on driving myself, son.
Evangeline Ballas is taking me. Tomorrow is her weekly trip to see her mother
in the nursing home so she said she would just go up today instead.”

Russell released the breath he’d been
holding and covered his mother’s hand with his. “He’ll be okay Ma. You know
Dylan, he won’t leave a world where there are still women to conquer.”

A small smile appeared on Evelyn’s face.
“You’re probably right Rusty, but just in case, keep praying.”

“I will, Ma. But
ixnay
the
icknamenay
,” he whispered with a sly glance to
Emily.

Evelyn chuckled as she accepted a cup of
coffee. “Thank you, dear.”

Emily sat down next to Russell and
joined the somber conversation. “Did they take him to Casper or Billings?”

Evelyn took a sip of coffee and closed
her eyes. “Billings,” she murmured.

They all knew that if he had been taken
to Billings, Montana, there were traumatic injuries. Casper wasn’t as equipped
to handle cases that serious.

The doorbell rang, breaking the mood in
the room. Russell hurried to answer it with Evelyn and Emily not far behind.
“Hello Mrs. Ballas. It’s nice to see you again.”

“Well Russell dear, it’s good to see you
home,” the attractive older woman said as she blew into the room, followed by
an equally attractive dark-haired young woman.

Evelyn gasped. “Nicoletta what are you
doing here? I thought you were working as a nurse on a cruise ship.”

“I was, Mrs. Harper,” the young woman
admitted. “But I’ve run away from the real world for long enough.”

“Well, we’re glad to have you back,” Evelyn
said with a smile. She wasn’t sure if Dylan’s best friend being back in town
was a good thing or not. Somehow she thought it hadn’t ended well.

Emily offered everyone coffee but the
two longtime friends and Nicoletta decided to head for Billings right away.

Russell shut the door behind them and
turned to Emily. “Nicoletta’s back. If Dylan makes it through this, the whole
town will be lit up with fireworks.”

“Yeah, that ought to be fun, Rusty,”
Emily chuckled.

Russell sighed and glared at her. “Don’t
call me that.”

“Aww why not?” she asked with a sexy
pout. “It’s cute.”

“Only to my mother,” he grumbled as he
walked past her and back into the kitchen.

She laughed and followed him. “I’m
sorry, you’re just so fun to tease.”

“So, I’ve been told. Sit down and I’ll
cook you breakfast.”

Emily looked at him skeptically.
“According to your daughter, your cooking is ‘icky.’”

Russell chuckled. “Most of my cooking
is
‘icky’. But I make the best omelets in Vegas. I started out as a buffet omelet
cook.”

“I make a pretty good omelet myself,”
Emily bragged, sitting at the breakfast bar. “Show me what you’ve got.”

“I thought I did that last night,” he
joked kissing her forehead. Walking to the fridge to gather supplies, he
couldn’t help but smile at the sweet sound of her laughter.

The whole scene was quite domestic - he
making an omelet, she sitting there talking to him and waiting in anticipation.
And for some strange reason, he didn’t seem to mind. Perhaps because it was a
completely new feeling; he’d never had anything close to domestic with
Vivienne. “And here you go sweet Emily.”

“Oh Russell, this is wonderful,” she
mumbled around a mouthful of ham and cheddar omelet. “You could serve just this
at your restaurants and keep them in business.”

He chuckled. “I don’t think I’ll try
that, but thank you for the compliment.”

They both heard loud footsteps on the
stairs. Miranda was awake. She came rushing into the kitchen with a smile on
her face and Rizzy following close behind. Russell hated that he was about to
ruin her whole day.

“Sit down baby girl. Do you want an
omelet?

“Yes please, Daddy. Can Rizzy have one
too?”

Emily smiled. “People food isn’t good
for puppies. While your dad makes your breakfast, I’ll feed the puppy and take
her outside.”

As soon as the door closed behind Emily,
Russell asked Miranda to sit down.

“Where is Grandma?” she asked as her
father brought her a glass of orange juice.

“She had to go to Montana,” he said
quietly. “Uncle Dylan had an accident last night and he had to go to a hospital
there to get checked out.” He saw the morning’s joy leave her face. She was a
troubled little girl who had problems reading emotions, but she was far from
stupid.

“Is he dead?” she asked quietly.

Emily walked back in at that moment and
motioned to Russell to let her talk to his daughter.

“He’s not dead Miranda. But we don’t
know how bad he’s hurt yet either. Your Grandma will let us know as soon as she
talks to his doctors.”

“Okay,” she murmured.

“Do you always think the worst when
something bad happens?” Emily hedged.

The little girl nodded without looking
up.

“That’s something we can work on
together, if you would like?” Emily suggested, sitting down next to her. “I can
tell you don’t like always thinking the worst.”

“It’s scary,” she admitted quietly. “It
makes me worry more than other people.”

“I’ll help you.”

Miranda nodded and reached for her fork.
Russell had just set a cheese and tomato omelet in front of her.

They sat quietly while she ate and
Russell noticed her start to rock vigorously back and forth. “Be careful
sweetie, that stool doesn’t have a back.”

Emily got up and grabbed Rizzy to bring
her back to the breakfast bar. “I think someone wants your attention, kiddo.”

Miranda stopped rocking and gathered the
little back and brown dog in her arms. Her father and Emily immediately
breathed a collective sigh of relief. She wouldn’t fall over backwards onto the
hard tile floor after all.

“Come on, squirt. It’s time to get dressed,”
Russell encouraged. “You don’t want to miss the bus.”

“Okay Daddy,” she answered quietly, she
was still definitely sad and contemplative, but her eyes were no longer wild.

When Miranda left the room, Russell
turned to Emily. “Why does she do that? Why does she rock?”

“It’s a comfort mechanism.  Some
kids rock back and forth, some flip or shake their hands and some pace. It’s
very soothing to them.”

Russell nodded. “Should I let her do it
or should I stop her? God, this is all so confusing.”

Emily moved over and wrapped her arm
around him. “It’s okay, you’ll get the hang of it. Eventually, we will teach
her other coping mechanisms but for now, just let her do what she needs to do,
unless of course she’s in danger like today.”

Russell looked at Emily and smiled.
“Thank you for everything you are doing for her. I’ll never be able to pay you
back.”

Emily reached up and caressed his cheek.
“Just help your beautiful daughter and that will be all of the thanks I need.”

He smiled and kissed her hand. “Let me
drop you off at work, and then I’ll pick you up and bring you back here for
dinner. My treat.”

“Hmmm,” she winked. “You might have to
do a bit of convincing first.”

“Oh really,” he said, reaching out to
pull her close. “Like this?” His lips met hers in a kiss that threatened to
burn the house down. The sound of the school bus honking interrupted
them
mere seconds before Miranda ran thought the kitchen.
The front door slammed behind her.

“I guess maybe we should be a little
more careful,” he sighed, rubbing his hand across the back of his neck.

“Yeah,” she agreed. “How about one more
for the road?”

CHAPTER
8

After arriving at work, Russell called
his mother’s part-time housekeeper and offered her a bonus if she would keep an
eye on Rizzy and cook a meal for him to serve that evening. She readily agreed,
so when four-thirty rolled around, he left the assistant manager in charge and
headed to the school to pick up Emily and Miranda.

The principal’s secretary was finishing
up her work and told Russell to go on back to Emily’s office. When he peeked
in, she was deep in thought across a checker board from Miranda. “Knock,
Knock!”

“Daddy!” Miranda squealed, jumping up to
run to him. The checker game went flying.

“Whoa squirt,” he cautioned, gathering
the little girl in his arms. “You just messed up your game.”

“It’s okay Daddy. I was winning again
anyway.”

“I guess I’m not the only one who losses
to little miss smarty pants, huh?” Russell asked, shooting a glance at Emily.

She smiled. “I haven’t won a round yet.
Miranda could you come help me pick the game pieces up please?”

“No. There’s too much,” she whined.

“But you made the mess, so it’s time to
pick it up.”

“I’ll help you,” Russell cut in.

“No,
it’s
Miranda’s mess, she needs to do it,” Emily cautioned with a raised hand.

“But, but there’s so much!” the little
girl whined while bouncing on the balls of her feet.

“Let’s just take it one piece at a time,”
Emily said in a soothing voice as she led Miranda to the mess. “One red, then
one black until they are all in the box. You can do it.”

Russell watched in fascination as his
daughter slowly calmed down and set about helping Emily to clean up the mess.
He looked at the young counselor questioningly. She just shrugged and smiled
before taking the box from Miranda and putting it in its spot on the game
shelf.

As his daughter ran ahead to the outer
office, Russell waited for Emily to gather her things. “How did you do that?”

“Too much of anything frustrates her. I
just broke it down into smaller tasks that she was able to handle. She still
did the same amount of work, but it seemed easier to her.”

Russell thought of the many times in the
past he could have used the strategy and sighed. Why hadn’t anyone at her old
school known what was happening? Her childhood could have been much easier on
her.

“Hopefully with therapy, she’ll learn to
deal with tasks without having to have them broken down. But that takes time,”
Emily informed him. “It all just takes time and practice.”

Russell closed his eyes and took a deep
breath. “I’m pretty much going to have to learn all new parenting skills,
aren’t I?”

Emily chuckled. “Yeah, but it will be easy.
It’s easy to adopt new behaviors when you see how well they work and how happy
your daughter is. And I’ll be there every step of the way.”

That crazy, brief feeling of doom he’d
been cursed with over the last couple of weeks made an appearance. Miss Zane
was truly becoming ingrained in their lives. Did he want that? He wasn’t sure
anymore. He liked having her around. He loved how she helped his daughter. But
there was something there, on the personal side of things, which scared him.
His subconscious told him he’d better get used to it because like it or not,
he’d started something personal the night before when he’d taken her to bed.

The uneasy feeling warred with the warm
and fuzzy feeling so he shook it all off and escorted Emily and Miranda out of the
building. There would be plenty of time to think about it later.

**********

Miranda was the first to jump out of the
SUV and head inside. By the time her father and Emily made it in, she was deep
in conversation with Ella who was standing at the stove, finishing dinner.

“Ah, you called in the big guns,” Emily
teased. “I won’t have to worry about food poisoning.”

“Oh, she’s being funny,” he smirked as
he tugged on her braid. “If you’re not careful I’ll bake you some of my famous
Raisin Oatmeal cookies.” Infamous was more like it. The first time Vivienne had
eaten one she broke a tooth.

“No Miss Emily!” Miranda warned.
“My…my…my mother always said they were hockey pucks, not cookies.”

Emily laughed and pulled the little girl
close for a quick hug. “Thanks for the warning kiddo,” she whispered
conspiratorially.

“I heard that,” Russell mumbled.

“Are you ready for your tea party, young
miss?” Ella called from the dining room. I don’t know about you and your dolls,
but I’m hungry.”

“Yes ma’am,” she squealed and joined the
housekeeper on the back stairs. “Your dinner is in the dining room, Daddy.”

Russell and Emily looked at each other
and smiled. “I guess it’s just you and me for dinner,” he said, holding his arm
out to her.

She took it and held just above his
elbow, following him into the dining room. “Wow. This is…”

“A set up if I ever saw one,” Russell
grumbled. His daughter and his mother’s housekeeper had some explaining to do.
He wondered how much extra he would have to pay the woman for this.

“It’s very sweet,” Emily defended. “I
think it’s nice, let’s just enjoy it.”

“You’re not mad?” he asked, pulling her
chair out for her.

“Of course not, Russell. It’s just
dinner… with candles, and romantic music playing in the background.”

He chuckled and took his seat across
from her. “Okay. I’ll let my daughter off this one time. Let’s just enjoy the
quiet.”

“Agreed,” she sighed, raising her water
glass to him. “I don’t get much quiet these days.”

“Do you like your new job?” he asked.

“I love it!” she smiled. “It’s just not
quiet. All of the kids I work with are great though. I’m glad I get the chance
to help them.”

“They’re lucky to have you. I hope they
can do without you for a few days because I’d like you to come with me to
Denver when Miranda has her first appointment with Doctor Jacobs.”

“I was hoping you’d ask,” she grinned.
“I’ve already cleared it with my boss. I think it will be good for me to
observe everything. I could use a refresher on ASD.”

“Miranda will be happy,” Russell said
softly.

“Speaking of your daughter,” Emily said.
“I wanted to ask you about her relationship with your wife, before she left.
She seemed reluctant to talk about her earlier.”

Russell sighed and took a sip of his
water. “She was only seven when Vivienne left.” He shrugged and looked away
from Emily’s curious eyes.

“What is it? Do you think she doesn’t
miss her?”

“Truthfully,” he murmured. “I just don’t
know. They were never very close, but what kid doesn’t miss a parent who is
gone?”

Emily swallowed her last bite and pushed
her plate away. “How did Vivienne treat her when she was there?”

Russell’s eyes cast downward. His voice
was soft and angry. “Like she was a burden. Like there was no way someone with
Devareaux
blood could act like she did.”

“And how did Miranda deal with that?”

Russell finally looked up and into her
eyes. “She tried to please her mother. She did everything she could to win that
bit…woman’s love. But at the end of the day, my daughter was who she’d always
been. She didn’t know how to control her impulses.”

Emily soaked up the information,
quelling the disgust she felt for Vivienne Harper. “How long did you say it has
it been since she’s seen Miranda?”

“Two years,” he admitted with a grimace.
“Through the quickie divorce and her signing my baby girl over to me, I’m the
only one who saw her – for ten minutes while papers were signed. The rest was
done through representatives.”

“Didn’t she even fight for custody?”
Emily asked. Her heart broke for the little girl. Who wouldn’t want that
precious child in their life?

“No. I got a call from her
representative one day saying that she was giving me sole custody. That was the
end of it.”

Emily reached out and put her hand on
Russell’s. “I’m sorry. That couldn’t have been easy for you.”

“I wouldn’t have had it any other way,
but no, it wasn’t easy at all. I’m ashamed to admit it, but I chose to marry a
complete nut.”

“Really?” Emily questioned with a raised
eyebrow

Russell shrugged. “Truthfully, I think
that by the time she left, she was a bit off her rocker. Thank God, for her
sake, I didn’t have to fight for custody or she would definitely have been
evaluated.”

Emily was too stunned for words, all she
could do was rub his hand as a measure of comfort. Vivienne
Devareaux
Harper was truly a piece of work.

“I didn’t mean to spoil your evening,”
Russell apologized.

“I’m the one who brought it up,” Emily
chuckled. “I think we could both go for a subject change.”

“We should probably talk about last
night,” he hedged.

“Yeah, things kind of moved fast.”

“Do you regret it?” he asked softly.

“No. Never.”

Russell folded his napkin and put it on
the table. “Would you be opposed to taking a step back? I thought maybe we
could get to know each other and…I don’t know…go on a date or two?”

“I’d like that,” she murmured with a
smile. “I’d like that a lot.” She knew there was something special growing here
and if they didn’t at least try to take a step back, it might not work out.

Russell smiled and stood. “Why let this
great music go to waste. Would you like to dance?”

She stood and reached for his
outstretched hand. “I’d love to.”

He held her tight as they danced around
the dining room. They stuck to mundane topics that in the end would help them
get to know each other better.

“I can’t believe we have the same taste
in music. If I remember correctly, you didn’t like the ‘trash’ that Chuck and I
listened to.”

“You remember,” she laughed. “My tastes
have changed over the years. I have broadened my horizons.”

“Then does that mean you would like to
accompany me to the final installment of Music in the Park this weekend? I
believe
it’s
classic rock.”

“Is this one of those dates you were
talking about?”

“Absolutely. We’ll have dinner at
Vito’s, then go to the park.”

“I haven’t been to Vito’s in ages. 
That sounds fun so…”

“So…?”

“It’s a date.”

“Good,” he said, spinning her around.
“Can I ask you a question?”

“Of course.”

“Can I still kiss you?”

“I think kissing is still allowed,” she
murmured as she pulled him closer.

“Good,” he whispered as their lips met.

“I’m home!” Evelyn’s voice rang out
through the house.

Russell and Emily pulled apart. “Great
timing as always, Mother,” he mumbled. They hurried out to the kitchen and were
soon joined by Ella, Miranda and Rizzy.

“How is Uncle Dylan?” the little girl
yelled as soon as she was on the last stair. “Is he coming home?”

Evelyn sat down at the breakfast bar and
kicked her shoes off. “I’ll tell you everything, just let me get a glass of
water and some food.”

Ella was one step ahead of her and
quickly set a plate full of food and a glass of water down in front of her.

Evelyn took a drink then started to eat.
“Dylan has some broken bones, bumps and bruises, and a concussion.  Thank
the lord, his neck and back aren’t broken. He does have a neck brace for the
time being, but it’s mostly just a precaution. Right now their main concern is
internal bleeding.”

Everyone breathed a collective sigh of
relief then began to chat amongst themselves about Dylan’s condition. Soon Ella
headed home while Evelyn and Miranda went to bed.

“I should probably take you home,”
Russell said. “It’s getting late and you have work tomorrow.”

“And so do you,” Emily said with a
smile. “I think I’ll walk. It seems like a beautiful night out there.”

“I’ll accompany you,” he insisted. “You
never know what may be running around this old ranch.”

“Thank you, I’d love the company.” Emily
stood, gathering her things then she and Russell stepped out into the cool
night air.

“It is a beautiful night,” he stated.
“Not a cloud in the sky.”

She looked up and smiled. “Oh how I
missed these stars when I lived in the city. I could stay outside all night
just staring at them.”

Russell chuckled and grabbed her arm to
steady her. “Perhaps you should do it from a patio chair in your front yard, no
tripping hazards there.”