The Ruth Valley Missing (13 page)

I handed him half the envelopes and
got up on my knees so I could reach some of the photos further away. We had
only filled a few envelopes when I stopped suddenly. “Does anything strike you
as odd when you look at all these photos?”

“Not particularly.”

I looked over them again. “Look.” I
started pointing to pictures. “Mother and daughter. Mother and three daughters.
Aunt and niece. Grandma.”

Jack shrugged. “I must be slow,
James. What am I missing?”

“It’s what the town is missing -
men.”

He looked over the photos again.
“There’s Gordon from the Inn there. And there’s Joan and her two boys.”

“Right. Old guy and school-aged
boys. If you don’t count men over, let’s say 65, and boys under 18, how many
men would you say are in this town?”

Jack sat, thinking. “Well, there are
a few farmers that live a bit further out.”

“But right here in the heart of
town?”

“I can’t think of too many.”

“Doesn’t that seem more than a
little strange to you?”

Jack rubbed the back of his neck,
his forehead wrinkling as he frowned and shook his head. “I don’t know. I guess
it’s a little unusual. Don’t know if it means much, though.” He sighed and went
back to stuffing the envelopes. “We should finish and eat.”

“You’re right. I’m probably being
paranoid.” I didn’t really think it was just unusual, but I knew I’d be able to
think more clearly after dinner. I took the stack of filled envelopes and
placed them on the bed, while Jack broke out the food. He handed me a napkin
and we sat on the floor, backs against the foot of the bed, foil containers
balanced on our laps.  

“It’s a good thing I walk most
places in this town,” I mumbled with a mouthful of dumplings. “This is so
good.”

Jack laughed. “They do know what
they’re doing around here.”

We finished our dinner and Jack
gathered up the empty dishes, dirty napkins and plastic utensils and tossed
them in a bag. He stood up, offering me a hand getting to my feet. I looked up
at him and he started to laugh.

“What is it?”

“Just funny what turns out to be
highlight of a person’s day.”

“Eating out of tinfoil plates with
plastic forks? We need to get you out more.”

“Now that is an excellent idea. How
about dinner tomorrow?” He looked down at the paper bag full of trash in his
hands and added, “Dinner out.”

“The diner?”

“No, I was thinking something nicer.
And a little quieter.”

“Sure.” I bit my lip, trying to keep
from looking too excited.

“There’s a nice place the next town
over. We can leave here a little after five.”

“Okay.”

I stood there, reduced to nothing
but one word answers.

“Alright then. I’ll lock up on my
way out.” He leaned over and kissed me on the cheek. “See you, James.”

“Night.”

I sat on my window seat, watching
Jack walk to his house, only slightly embarrassed when he got to his back
porch, turned and waved.

“Is there something wrong with your
food?”

I looked up from my pasta, shaking
my head. “No, not at all. I’m just formulating my plan of attack.” Jack raised
an eyebrow, so I added, “I’ve just never been very good at eating Italian food
without wearing it.”

“Messy eater?”

“Sadly. I’ve lost one too many
outfits to tomato sauce.”

“And that is a particularly lovely
sweater, so we wouldn’t want that.”

I looked back down at my plate,
hoping the restaurant was lit dimly enough that Jack wouldn’t see me blush. I
pulled gently on the green cashmere sweater, picked out specifically for the
evening. The sweater was an impulse buy before I left New York; the soft
cashmere was fitted enough to show off my curves, usually hidden underneath
sweatshirts and jackets.

Dylan rarely took notice of any
effort I made when we went out, unless I was wearing something he bought or
picked out for me.  At a certain point, I stopped trying.

Tonight was different. Instead of my
go-to ponytail, I wore my hair down, dark red waves falling below my shoulders.
Most days I wore nothing more than moisturizer on my face, but tonight I added
some mascara and eye shadow to highlight what I thought was one of my better
features.

Jack was dressed up for the evening
as well, abandoning his usual jeans and flannel for khakis and a blue dress
shirt. His face was freshly shaved, giving him a more youthful look, save the
occasional hint of silver gracing his temples.

I took a bite of the pasta and
closed my eyes. “That’s really good. Great suggestion.”

“Glad you like it. Their Puttanesca is
one of my favorites.”

“You come here often enough to have
favorites?” I teased.

“Not that often.” It was his turn to
look down at his plate.

I glanced around the small
restaurant populated mostly with couples. The dim lighting, the crackle and
glow from the red brick fireplace, the tiny tables and booths which forced the
occupants to sit close to each other; this was clearly the type of place you
brought someone you wanted to impress.

“Come on, when was the last time you
brought someone here? You know about my last failed relationship. It’s only
fair to share.”

Jack took a sip of wine and took a
deep breath. “There really isn’t too much to tell. We dated for a few months.
She was on the quiet side, real sweet. But it didn’t work out.”

“Didn’t work out?”

“She couldn’t get used to Ruth
Valley, I guess. Not everyone is cut out for small town life.”

I swallowed another bite of pasta.
“She wasn’t from Ruth Valley?”

He shook his head. “Not originally,
no.” Jack paused and dug his phone out of his pocket. He glanced at it, then
set it down on the table.

“Do you need to get that?”

“They’ll call back or leave a
message if it’s important.”  

“Maybe you should take the call,
Jack. Something might be wrong. I don’t mind.”

“I’ll just be a second, then.” He
answered the phone, getting up from the table. He paused as he walked away,
then turned around, motioning for me to get up as he walked back. He tossed a
couple of bills down and hung up the phone. “I’m real sorry, but we need to get
back to town.”

“What’s wrong?”

“Not sure. Something happened to Doc
Matthews.”

We raced into town and headed for
his office. Joan from the bookstore was waiting there when we arrived. “Thank
you, Jack. I didn’t know what to do.”

We walked back to an exam room, where
Father Mike stood next to the patient table occupied by the Doctor. I walked
over, checking his vitals while talking. I could smell booze on his breath.
“Can you tell me what happened?”

Joan spoke up, “He came into the
bookstore. He was about to ask me something when he grabbed his chest and fell
over. I called Jack as soon as it happened. Fortunately, Father here happened
by and was able to help me get him here.”

“He just fell over?” I asked.

Joan nodded.

“Did he grab his arm or his chest? Did
anything seem unusual about him?”

She thought for a moment. “I’m not
sure which. He pretty much passed out as soon as I looked up at him.”

I sighed.

Jack stood next to me and spoke
quietly. “Is he going to be ok?”

“I don’t know. His vitals are stable
at least, but he’s obviously not conscious, and there is no lab here. Doc is
the one who sent out for everything. All I can really do is monitor him for
now. How far is the closest hospital? A real hospital. One that could send an
ambulance maybe?”

“I know Doc transferred a patient
two towns over once for something serious. Let me call and check.”  

Jack left the room and Joan spoke
quietly. “Do you still need me here, Miss Quinn? I really should get home to my
kids.”

“No. You can go home. Thanks for your
help.” I watched her walk out of the room, leaving me alone with an unconscious
doctor and Father Mike.

“So...” Father Mike started, “you
look nice this evening.”

I looked down at my fitted green
cashmere sweater and camel colored skirt. I replied through my teeth. “Thanks.”

“Do something special tonight?”

I shrugged. “Dinner.”

“With the Sheriff?”

“I don’t really see how that’s your
business.”

Father Mike put his hands up, taking
a defensive stance. “Just trying to make conversation.” He stuck his hands in
his pocket, kicking at the linoleum floor. “Where’d you go? Couldn’t have been
the diner, the whole town would be talking about that by now, and you two would
have been here long ago.”

I stared at him trying to give my
best glare without answering.

“Wow. I guess the night didn’t go
well. Sorry.”

“I didn’t say that.”

“No, but you’re awfully cranky for
someone who was enjoying her date.”

“Didn’t say it was a date either.”

“No, but your sweater did. In my
experience a girl doesn’t wear that to hang out with a pal.”

I crossed my arms, regretting the
choice to leave my jacket in the Jeep. “In your experience?”

“From what I’ve observed, of
course.”

I rolled my eyes and changed the
subject. “You were in the right place at the right time this evening.”

“Was on my way home from visiting
some parishioners and thought I’d pop in to say ‘hi’ to Joan.”

“God works in mysterious ways, I
guess?”

He shrugged, “Some things are just a
coincidence.”

Jack reentered the room. “Mill Springs
Hospital is sending out an ambulance. It will probably be a half hour before
they get here. I’ll stay here and wait for ‘em.”

“I should too, in case there are any
changes in his condition.”

Jack and I stood, staring at Father
Mike. He looked up from the doctor at us. “I’d like to stay as well. You know,
to pray over him.”

Jack gave me a look and I shrugged.
He slid a chair over and stood next to it. “You should sit, James.”

I sat down, Jack standing next to me
with his arms crossed, while Father Mike stood next to the bed with his head
bowed.

It was going to be a long thirty
minutes.

~~~

My phone danced across the end
table, and I jumped across the bed to retrieve it. After Jack dropped me home
he headed to the hospital, in hopes of finding out what happened to Doc. I
expected his call meant there was news.

“Just wanted to let you know I won’t
make it back tonight. Not at this rate.”

“I’ll be sure to sleep with my bat
next to the bed, then.”

Jack’s voice got serious. “If you think
you hear anything, you call me. Doesn’t matter how late it is.”

“I’ll be fine. Don’t start worrying
yourself.”

“I’m not worried. I just don’t like
leaving you there alone.”

“I know. I’ll be fine. I promise,
I’ll call if so much as a squirrel crawls across the roof.”

I swore I could hear him smiling on
the other end of the line. “Thank you. Sorry for such a miserable date, by the
way.”

“It wasn’t miserable. We had a good
dinner, then you know, possible attempted murder and a creepy priest praying for
the entire last half hour of it. As far as I’m concerned, the only
disappointment was the lack of dessert.”

Jack laughed. “Well then, I owe you
some pie.”

“Sounds perfect.”

“Leave it to you to have me joking
about pie at a time like this.”

“Can’t let them take my sense of
humor. Whoever ‘them’ is. Or, are. Whatever. I think I’ve officially lost the
ability to string together a coherent sentence.”

“You should get some rest. I’ll
swing by tomorrow when I get back.”

“Sounds good.”

“Until tomorrow then.”

I hung up the phone, and lay in bed.
I closed my eyes, thinking of Jack, only to have the image of his face replaced
with Father Mike’s smirk.

I grabbed my bat off the floor and
fell asleep hugging it to my chest.

“How was dinner?”

Emma slid into the booth across from
me. It was a little early for the usual dinner crowd, so she took a break to
chat with me while I finished mine.

“It was nice. We went to this little
Italian place the next town over. He chatted about growing up near a farm and
how he misses having animals around. It was sweet.”

Emma leaned in, lowering her voice
to barely above a whisper, “Are you and the Sheriff dating?”