Russell's Return (15 page)

“Hey Daddy,” Miranda yelled from the
shore. “Are you guys kissing again? Yuck!”

The couple pulled apart and looked
toward the little girl. Rizzy suddenly left her side and ran to the wood pile
by the front door of the cabin, barking the whole way. The short hair on the
puppy’s back stood on end.

“Well that’s strange,” Russell said
before he started to swim to shore, followed quickly by Emily.

Evelyn and Miranda were at the woodpile
trying to calm the dog when they arrived. Russell picked the struggling canine
up and carried her away from the woodpile. “Did you see that old raccoon that
hangs around here, girl? You won’t catch her, she’s a tricky little thing.” He
sat down on the picnic blanket with his mother and Emily. When he glanced up he
noticed Miranda still standing by the cabin. “Hey kiddo, come over here and we
can have some lunch.” A few seconds later he still hadn’t budged. “Miranda,” he
hollered again. She looked back at him then turned to the cabin. He handed
Rizzy to Evelyn and hurried over to his daughter. “What’s wrong, sweetie?”

“I think I saw someone in the cabin,”
she whispered, loudly.

“Oh Randi, there’s no one in Uncle
Dylan’s house. It’s locked up tight.” Russell walked over to the door and twisted
the knob. It held tight. “See no one could have gotten in. Uncle Dylan and
Uncle Logan are the only ones with a key. Come on, let’s go eat.”

“But Daddy, I saw someone. She…she...it
looked like Mom.”

“Oh come on, Miranda. Your mother is not
in the cabin.” He was now leading her back to the picnic area.

“I saw mom in the cabin, Daddy.”

Emily heard the conversation and walked
over to them. “Hey Randi, I know you must miss your mom and when that happens
sometimes we think we see them when it’s just shadows.”

“I don’t miss my mom that much,” the
little girl said through gritted teeth. “She didn’t want me so I don’t want
her.”

Emily wrapped her arm around her
shoulders and gave her a squeeze. “I’m sorry, honey.”

They sat down to eat the plates of food
that Evelyn had prepared. Miranda dropped the subject but kept shooting glances
at the cabin.

“That’s a pretty big book you’re reading
Miranda, what is it called?” Emily asked between bites. She rarely saw the
little girl without a book but this one looked like it would be a bit advanced
for her.

“I just finished it,” she said. “It’s
called The Haunted House.”

“Oh sweetie,” Emily cried. “No wonder
you thought you saw someone in the cabin. That book is way too scary for a
nine-year-old.”

“I don’t get scared by books Miss Emily,
and all the other ones are too easy. I love these mysteries.”

“If you ever need help picking out a
book that will challenge you, but is still age appropriate, just ask okay?”

“Yeah,” Miranda mumbled. “Maybe I did just
think I saw something. The lady in this book has the same hair as Mother.”

“Yeah, that’s probably what it was,”
Russell answered. “The last I heard, your mother was 2,000 miles away and she
would have no reason to come to Harper’s Rock.”

“Yeah,” Miranda muttered.

They finished eating and cleaned up the
picnic site then laid around soaking up the warm sun that would soon be gone.

“It’s getting really hot!” Miranda
whined. “Can we go home yet?”

“Hey kiddo, could you do me a favor,”
Emily asked.

“Uh sure, what?”

“I know you’re afraid, but come to the
water with me. We won’t go deeper than your ankles. I promise.”

“Go on sweetie. It will cool you off,”
Russell encouraged.

“I don’t know,” she hedged.

“Come on. I’ll be with you the whole
time.”

The little girl sighed and stood up.
“Just for a minute.”

They walked hand in hand to the lake and
then took a few steps into the chilly water. “Are you cooler now?” Emily asked.

“Yes!” she smiled. “Can we go a little
further?”

“Of course, how far would you like to go?”

Miranda thought for a moment then turned
to her counselor. “My knees maybe.”

Emily smiled and took hold of her
charge’s arm. “Okay, knees it is. Are you ready?’

Miranda nodded and they walked forward
together until her knees were covered in the water. “I’m scared,” she murmured,
shakily.

“Do you want to go back?”

The girl shook her head vigorously.
“Kids make fun of me because I don’t know what it feels like to swim.”

“I have an idea,” Emily said with a
grin. “Let’s go out until the water comes to your waist, and then I can hold
you while you lay back and the water can cover you. But I’ll be there the whole
time, keeping you safe.”

Randi took a deep breath and let it out
slowly. “Okay,” she whispered, stepping forward.

They walked arm in arm until the water
reached Miranda’s thighs and she started to shake.

“Ready to go back?” Emily asked. “We can
work up to this slowly.”

“No,” the little girl cried. “I have to
do this.”

“Okay sweetie, just take it slow and if you
need to go back, just tell me.”

A few slow but successful minutes later
Miranda was up to her waist in water. Emily put her arm around her shoulders
and talked soothingly to her. “I just want you to lean back and I’ll put my
other arm under your knees and you’ll be able to feel what it’s like to float
in water. Let me know when you’re ready.”

“Now,” Miranda squealed and closed her
eyes tight.

Emily took the lead and got her quickly
into position, making sure that her arms were somewhat lax so the water could
reach the girl’s chest. She held her and felt the muscles relax one by one.

A slight smile appeared on Miranda’s
face. “I want to get all of my hair wet,” she said quietly.

“Are you sure?”

“Yeah,” came a whisper. Miranda plugged
her nose and took a breath, letting Emily guide her under the water. A few
seconds later, she was back on her feet and squealing with delight.

“Are you okay?” Emily asked.

“Yeah, but I think I’m ready to go back
to Daddy.”

“Okay, let’s go.” Emily grabbed her hand
and they walked back to Russell together.

“Daddy, Daddy, did you see me? I went in
the water!”

“I did, pretty girl. I’m so proud of
you.” Russell hugged her and mouthed a thank you to Emily. He knew the newfound
confidence his daughter had would probably be gone by morning, but each time
she did something out of her comfort zone was a reason to be proud.

Miranda turned to Emily and hugged her
tightly. “I love you Miss Emily!” The words rang through the woods.

“I love you too kiddo,” she proclaimed,
returning the hug.

Miranda pulled away and ran over to her
grandmother, gushing about her triumph in the lake.

“She’s really taken to you,” Russell
said with a smile.

“And I to her,” Emily returned. “She is
something special. She could rule the world someday.”

“That she could,” he agreed.

“We’ve become so close that the
principal, Dave Shelling, and I think that after her diagnosis, the middle
school counselor is going to take over her case. Because I’m involved with
you…”

“I know,” Russell said, taking her into
his arms. “I talked to Dave too and although I don’t like the idea of it, I
understand why it has to be done.”

A smile of relief formed on Emily’s
face. “I’ll still be a part of her life, just on a more personal level.”

Russell chuckled. “Yeah, you’ll be her
friend and her father’s girlfriend.”

“Exactly! Wait? What?”

Russell smiled and kissed her. “I said,
you’ll be her father’s girlfriend.”

Emily smiled back. “I think I could go
for that.”

They kissed again, pulling apart only
when Evelyn cleared her throat.

“If you guys want to take another swim,
you better do it now. We’ll be headed back in about an hour and a half.”

CHAPTER
12

The next few weeks were a blur of
motion. Russell and Emily only briefly came together at dinner each night at
either his place or hers; Miranda usually in tow. An occasional night spent
fully together was a luxury. The school carnival was set for Friday night and
Emily was a big part of getting it organized. Although she would have to work,
she invited Russell to come as her date. His mother and daughter would be there
too.

Russell arrived early to the carnival
and pulled the fresh apple pie out of his vehicle. He still didn’t know why his
mom entered the contest, she always won. How was it she cooked so well and he
burned water?  His cooking was a disaster except for omelets. Spotting the
judging table, he headed over. There was a brief sense of déjà vu.  He
hadn’t been to one of these things in many years, but they seemed so much the
same.

“Rusty so good to see you,” came a
familiar voice.

“Principal Dave, how are you? And don’t
call me Rusty,” he replied, smiling. “How is Hillary?”

“She’s fine, if not a little tired. The
kids run her ragged.”

“Miranda runs me ragged so I can only
imagine what three would do.”

“Well, it was good to see you. I hope
you have fun. But not too much,” Dave said with a wink. “Behave with my
employee please.”

“I will,” Russell promised with a
chuckle. “You know my mom will be here too.”

Russell found himself suddenly blinded
by a pair of small hands. “Guess who?”

“Sarah, is that you?”

“How did you know?” asked the
comfortably dressed, attractive, blonde woman.

“You’re the only one who ever played
that game with me,” he said. “It’s really good to see you.”

“Oh I bet you say that to all the
girls,” Sarah replied, with a wink. “Especially Emily Zane. I remember how you
looked at her…even if you don’t.”

Before he could reply, Emily walked up
to them smiling. “Hey there you two. Better get your entries in. You wouldn’t
want your mom to get disqualified because of you, would you Russell?”

“Maybe I do, so someone else can win,”
he said with a wicked grin. “It would be fun to see her squirm.”

“Russell!” Both women exclaimed at the
same time, before breaking into laughter.

Russell quickly took both his mother’s
pie and Sarah’s, to the table. He waved goodbye to his ex-girlfriend as a young
blonde boy dragged her off toward the games. Rejoining Emily, he gave her a
quick kiss on the cheek.

“I always liked Sarah. She was one of
the
nice
popular girls.”

“I liked her too,” Russell snickered.

Emily lightly smacked his chest. “I
would hope so!”

“And now I like you…a lot!” he said,
leaning in for a real kiss. “What should we do first?”

“I want some kettle corn. Then you can win
me a prize before I have to go run the ring toss in an hour.”

“Kettle corn, huh? I could go for some
too.” They walked hand in hand over to the concession stand, which this year
was supposed to be run by his brother Logan but was instead being handled by
one of his assistant managers. His brother had ‘gone missing’ several times
over the last few weeks. There was definitely something going on with him. And
it most likely involved his new friend and her baby. He would make a point to
talk to him the first chance he got. “Kettle corn, My Lady,” he offered,
handing Emily a large bag.

“Why thank you, sir,” she teased.

They walked through the carnival
dropping money here and there for games and food. When they reached the ball
toss, Emily got excited. “Russell, that’s the prize I want!” she said, pointing
at a large stuffed panda.

He moaned. “Have you ever seen me throw
a ball? My cousin Jackson on the other hand could win it with his eyes closed.”

“Oh please, Rusty. At least try.”

Russell groaned again. “If you stop
calling me Rusty, I’ll try.”

Emily jumped up and down, clapping her
hands in delight. “Thank you!” She leaned in and kissed his cheek. He never
heard her mumble something about ‘stopping for now.’

Russell paid the man and tried his hand
at winning the prize for his absolutely excited, absolutely beautiful
girlfriend. Her childlike joy was enchanting. He knew he had to win this panda
for her. And that is exactly what he did – on his tenth try.

Emily collected her prize and then they
headed to the photo booth.

They were able to get pictures together
kissing, hugging, mugging for the camera, and each kissing the panda.
Collecting their photos, they had to rush to the ring toss to get Emily there
in time. He kissed her goodbye and agreed to meet her at the pie exhibit an
hour later.

Russell walked over to the school and
into the building. The art show was housed in the multi-purpose room. He
couldn’t wait to see Miranda’s artwork. He had a little budding artist on his
hands if only she could focus enough to keep at it.

Quickly finding the fourth grade rows,
he walked up and down, admiring the pictures. There were many extremely
talented kids. About halfway down the third row, he saw Miranda’s picture. A
beautiful colored pencil rendering of the Las Vegas skyline with the title
“Home”. The grand prize ribbon was attached to the top.

“You must be proud.”

“Hey Sarah. Yeah, I am,” he replied.
“Very much so.”

“Art is not a strong point for my kids,”
she chuckled. “Sports on the other hand…”

“Well, you did marry the quarterback,”
Russell teased.

“That I did,” she smiled. “Look Rusty,
I’ve been waiting a long time to say this. But I’m really sorry how things
ended for us. I never meant for you and me to end up hating each other by
graduation.”

“
It’s
okay, Sarah,”
Russell assured her. “It’s over and done with. I should apologize too.”

“Thanks Russell. I’ll see you around.”
She turned to walk away and then turned back. “By the way, I saw Chuck Peters
earlier. He’s looking for you.”

“Thanks Sarah.” Russell’s body felt like
it was on fire. Now that he had confirmation that his former best friend was
indeed an asshole, he didn’t want to see him. His temper was short where Emily
was concerned. He felt so protective of her. Jesus, when had he become such an
alpha male?

Shaking off his feelings, he left the
building and headed for the quilting competition. His old third grade teacher
Mrs. Epson won and when she saw him nearby, she walked over to say hello and
berate him for not coming home more often. Obviously, she was a friend of his
mother’s and had heard all the details of her missing son. He congratulated her
on her win and assured her that he was home to stay, before wandering over to
the pie contest. The judges were doing their job when he arrived.

“So, what did you do while I was
working?”

“Hey Em,” he smiled. “I went over and
saw my daughter’s grand prize ribbon in the art show.”

“Oh, I’m so proud of her!” Emily
squealed. “I had a feeling she would win when I saw her piece.”

“Daddy…Daddy, I won the art show for the
fourth grade!” Miranda ran up and put her arms around her father.

“There you are squirt. I’m so proud of
you.”

“I am too,” Emily put in as she got her
turn at a hug.

“Look at Grandma, they just called them
all up there. I hope she wins!’

“She always does,” Russell murmured
under his breath.

Emily smacked his arm and gave him a
look.

They all paid close attention to the
proceedings as Evelyn was given the grand prize and her cronies all took home
the rest of the ribbons. There was polite applause all around and Evelyn basked
in the attention until it was time for her and Miranda to head to the games. As
they walked away, they were joined by Mrs.
Platski
and her daughter Isabella.

“So, what would you like to do?” Russell
asked, putting his arm around Emily.

“Do you want to go see the animals? That
was always my favorite part as a child.”

“Sounds good to me,” he agreed. “My
brothers and I used to raise and enter pigs and sheep when we were kids.”

“I remember,” she said softly, leaning
into him.

“Well…well, if it isn’t my former best
friend with my nasty leftovers.”

Russell and Emily stopped short and
looked up. Chuck Peters was swaying in front of them. It was obvious he was
drunk. If rumor held true, they’d heard it was his normal state these days.

“You better watch what you say, man,”
Russell ground out. “If I would have known what you did to her in high school,
I would have kicked your ass then.”

“You’re soft now man,” Chuck slurred.
“You couldn’t take candy from a baby. The city has made you weak.”

“I’ll show you just how weak I am, you
nasty son of a bitch,” Russell snarled, taking a single step forward.

“Hey now,” came a voice from behind
them. “Now’s not the time or the place to teach that jackass a lesson.” Jim
Roberts, one of Russell’s other close friends from high school, and now Sarah’s
husband, walked over and grabbed his arm. “Calm down buddy. That asshole isn’t
worth the attention from the Sheriff.”

Russell blew out a breath and relaxed
his stance. “Get on out of here,” he hollered at Chuck.

“Yeah, go on home and sleep it off,” Jim
seconded. “Don’t make me go get the others.”

Chuck stared at them for a moment then
swaggered past, mumbling something about high school. As he walked past Emily,
her foot may or may not have moved out in front of him. Whatever happened, he
ended up face first in a relatively fresh pile of horse mess. He pulled himself
upright and headed to the exit as if nothing had happened. Sarah had already
contacted the Sheriff’s Department to make sure he was picked up before he
could get into his car.

Russell and Jim shook hands and agreed
to get together soon, before the two couples split up once again.

“Can we go look at the horses, please,”
Emily asked. “I can’t get enough of them. I hope to have my own someday, hence
the reason I’m having such a hard time finding a place to buy.”

“That reminds me, I haven’t been out to
see Jasper much since I got home. He’s getting up there in years.”

“He’s doing great Russell. Your mom lets
me ride him sometimes.”

“Good. I’m glad he’s keeping active.” He
stopped Emily and turned her to face him. “I’m sure Mom would let you keep a
horse on the ranch as long as you paid for food and upkeep.”

“You think so?” she asked shyly. “I’m
kind of afraid to ask her.”

Russell laughed and started walking
again. They were almost to the horse staging area. “I’m almost positive. Let me
talk to her.”

Emily wrapped her arms around him.
“Thank you.”

One of their old high school mates,
Robin, walked over to say hello and let Emily coo over his horse. When he left,
she turned to Russell. “Do you think your mom would want to sell the stretch of
land between my cottage and the barn?”

Russell looked taken aback. “I don’t
know for sure, maybe. Why?

Emily shook her head and looked out into
the middle of the arena where the horses were lining up. “You’ll think it’s
stupid.”

“Come on,” he said, turning her to face
him. “What’s going on?”

Emily looked down at her boots. “I kind
of have a dream,” she said softly.

“And that would be?” he encouraged.

“I…I want to start a horse therapy
summer camp for trouble kids,” she sighed. “More specifically, now I’m thinking
of primarily autistic kids.”

Russell stood there stunned. “Is horse
therapy even a real thing?” he asked.

“Yes!” Emily insisted, with excitement
in her voice. “These kids really respond to the horses. It’s good for them.”

“I could see that being true,” Russell
said. “I think it’s a great idea. It will take a lot of money and time to set
up, but it’s a fantastic idea.”

“Thanks,” she smiled, looking back out
at the horses. “I was thinking it would take investors and fundraising, and it
wouldn’t be easy, but it would be so rewarding.”

“I’ll have to talk to my mom about it.
She might just be willing to sell you some land for a project like that.”

“I won’t get my hopes up,” she shrugged.
“But if you want to pass the idea on…”

Russell took her into his arms and
kissed her. “One more hour of working then I’m taking you home and I’m going to
make love to you until you see stars.”

**********

Emily fell asleep on the way home from
the carnival. When Russell stopped the vehicle, he leaned over and kissed her
cheek. “Time to wake up, beautiful.”

Emily moaned and opened her eyes. “Busy
day,” she murmured.