The Ruth Valley Missing (14 page)

I leaned in and matched her voice.
“Maybe? He did kiss me the other night.”

“What?!” Emma’s whisper disappeared
and the woman behind the counter looked over. She lowered her voice again,
“Sorry. He kissed you?”

“It was just on the cheek. But
still.”

“The Sheriff isn’t the type to lead
a girl on. Believe me. I’ve seen women try to get his attention and as nice as
he is, he’s not the type to go around flirtin’ and givin’ them the wrong idea.
That dinner was definitely a real date.”

“Yeah, well, too bad it got cut
short,” I said, popping a tater tot in my mouth. “Speaking of which, I wonder
if everything is ok. Jack thought he’d be back this morning.”

I pulled out my phone checking to be
sure I didn’t miss a call and heard Emma giggle. When I looked up I saw her
smiling at someone behind me. I felt a hand rest on my shoulder and looked up
to see Jack standing there.

“Well, that answers that,” Emma
said, jumping out of the booth still giggling. “And my break is over. Nice
seein’ you Sheriff.”

“You too, Emma.” Jack slid into the
spot Emma left.

“How’s the Doc?”

“He’s doing fine. He’s home
resting.”

“Really?”

“Yup. If you’re done here, I’ll fill
you in.”

I tossed a few bills on the table
and waved to Emma as I got up. I looked for Jack’s Jeep as we walked out but
didn’t see it anywhere. Reading my gaze, Jack offered, “I dropped the Jeep at
the house after I took the Doc home. Felt like a little walk. You don’t mind do
you?”

I shook my head. Jack walked close
with his head down as he spoke. “So the Doc...”

“Yeah?”

“Turns out he had a pretty high
blood alcohol level. Looks like he took some medication, nothing out of the
ordinary, but the combination knocked him out cold. Made his heart race, but he
didn’t have an attack or anything.”

“That seems weird that he would take
his meds and drink that much, especially if he had plans to leave the house.”

“I don’t know. Like I said before,
the Doc has been having some troubles lately with his drinking. This confirms
it’s gotten out of hand.”

“So you don’t think there’s anything
suspicious about it?”

Jack sighed. “Honestly, I don’t.
Even if,” he looked around and lowered his voice before continuing, “Father
Mike was up to anything, going after the Doc doesn’t make any sense. And that’s
if there is really anything going on.”

I stopped walking and turned towards
Jack. “You don’t think Father Mike might be up to something?”

“I’m not saying that, I’m just
saying that the Doc doesn’t give us any more reason to think that he is. After
all, we don’t even know if his story about Andy isn’t true.”

I let out a sigh and continued walking.
Jack followed, walking closely, nudging me with his elbow. “You’re not upset
with me, are you?”

“No. I just hoped we were closer to
figuring something out. Turns out there may not be much of anything to figure out.”
I quickly added. “Not that I wanted something bad to happen to the Doc, of
course.”

“Of course. Would it make you feel
better if I said there was a surprise for you at the house?”

I raised an eyebrow and smiled.
“Really?”

He nodded. “I’m not telling you what
it is, though. You’ll have to wait until—”

Before he could finish I broke into
a run, heading for the house. When I could hear him behind me I sped up,
laughing.

We reached his front porch, out of
breath. Jack coughed for a second before saying anything. “Who knew you were so
fast?”

“I’ll give you a head start next
time,” I said, leaning next to the door.

Jack shook his head as we walked in,
grabbed my hand and led me to the kitchen. A chocolate cake rested on the
table. I looked over at the dishes in the sink, confirming that it was
homemade.

“When did you do this?”  

“After I dropped the Doc off. Came
back here and whipped this up, then called the diner to see if Emma knew what
you were up to.”

“Ahhh, that explains the extra
amount of giggling when you showed up. Very clever.”

“I figured I still owed you dessert.
Didn’t want you thinking I didn’t know how to properly finish a date.”

I sat down at the table, watching as
Jack sliced a huge piece onto a plate, bringing it over with two forks. As he
sat down next to me I took a bite and closed my eyes. “You’ve been holding out
on me. This is incredible.”

“Well, I don’t bake for just
anyone.” I tried to hide a big grin behind another big bite of cake. “I’m
probably going to need to go out of town again for a few days. With the Doc’s
drinking, we really need someone to cover the clinic. I spoke with someone at
the hospital about interviewing candidates.”

“Makes sense.”

He leaned closer and laid his hand
on mine. “As much as I’d love for you to come with me, I think the town needs
you here in case of an emergency. I hate to put that on you, but I think it’s
the best thing.”

“Of course. It’s only a couple of
days. No big deal.”

“Well, you could at least pretend
you’ll miss me.”

I laughed. “If you’re gonna twist my
arm.”

With little warning, he leaned in
and kissed me. He was gentle, save the scratch of his 5 o’clock shadow, and
didn’t linger. As he pulled away, I breathed in, the fresh smell of soap and
pine fading behind the scent of chocolate cake. Still close, he spoke quietly.
“Now will you miss me?”

I smiled, trying not to look away.
“Yes. I’ll miss you. But I’m pretty sure I can console myself with the rest of
this cake.”

I sat in the back of church,
counting the minutes getting me that much closer to the end of the day. Jack
was gone most of the week and was scheduled to return tonight. I kept myself
busy, taking pictures, visiting with Emma, and helping Joan at the bookstore,
but in the evenings I really missed chatting with him over tea. At least things
had been uneventful during his absence.

When services ended, I said a few
hellos to the parishioners sitting around me then made my way down the steps.

“Jameson.”

I knew before turning around who was
waiting for me. “Father Mike. What can I do for you?”

“I thought I would check in and see
how you were. Haven’t spoken with you in a bit, and haven’t seen you in
confession.”

“I’m fine, thanks.” I tried my best to
be polite. Jack made me promise that I wouldn’t stir up any trouble while he
was gone, especially since we didn’t know if Father Mike was guilty of
anything, other than being creepy. “How are you?”

He smiled. “You’d be surprised how
infrequently I get asked that. I’m well enough. I appreciate the interest.”

I smiled, still walking towards
home.

“So,” he continued, taking a quick
look around, “how are things going with you and the Sheriff?”

“Things?”

“Rumor has it you two are seeing
each other now.”

“Something like that.”

He nodded. “A word of advice?”

I waited without objecting.

“Keep a low profile. This town is,”
he paused, squinting, “protective of its own. Some people may not be thrilled
about you two.”

“And what do you think of us?”

Father Mike stopped, then smirked.
“Not really for me to say. I don’t really know you well enough to chime in on
who is or isn’t good for you.”

“Wisest thing I’ve heard you say all
day.”

“Look, Jameson,” Father Mike’s voice
was calm, but serious, “I get the feeling you think I’m some sort of bad guy
here for some reason. I want to assure you I’m not what you think I am.
Whatever that may be.”

I kept walking, but inside I froze.
I knew I had been cool towards the priest, but I didn’t think I had been
obvious about my suspicions. How could he be on to me, when I wasn’t even sure
whether or not he was guilty of something?

“Not at all, Mike. Maybe you caught
me on an off day.” I paused. “Or days.”

“That’s alright. We all have them.
I’m glad to know that I was reading you wrong. You see, always good to go to
someone directly when you think you may have caused offense.”

I nodded and forced a smile. We had
reached the turn for me to head to the house.

“Well,” Father Mike paused at the break
in the road, “I am going to go grab lunch at the diner. Care to join me?”

“I appreciate the invite, but I have
some things I was hoping to do at home this afternoon.”

“It was worth asking,” he shrugged.
“Have a lovely afternoon, Jameson.”

“You too, Father.”

I turned the corner, praying that
Jack’s jeep would be in the driveway when I got there. 

“So glad you accepted the invitation
to visit with us, Miss Quinn.”

I sat in the circle of ladies, each
with their knitting needles and yarn in their laps.

“I appreciated the invite. I’ve
always meant to learn how to knit.”

Francine leaned over to look at what
I was doing. “You seem to be catching on well enough.”

“Thanks. I think I can manage to make
myself a scarf. It won’t be like anything you ladies make, but I figure I gotta
start somewhere.”

The women smiled and nodded, their
hands never pausing from their work.

“So, Francine,” Camille, the owner
of the shop we were sitting in spoke up, “have you talked to Joan lately?”

“Yes. Poor dear. You know it’s been
months and she is still in denial about that husband of hers.”

“Horrible thing to happen. And with
two kids.”

“What happened with Joan’s husband?”
I asked.

“Up and left her,” Camille answered,
“for some other woman. She didn’t even see it coming.”

The other women took turns shaking
their heads and clucking their tongues.

“That’s awful.”

“You want to know what’s even
sadder?” Francine was leaning forward in her chair, knitting needles still
clicking away. “She’s convinced herself that he didn’t leave her for some
woman. She thinks something happened to him. I mean, I guess I can understand.
You hate to think the man you trusted for years wasn’t who you thought. Guess
it could be more comforting to think he was in some accident and lying dead in
ditch than to know he’s off gallivanting with some leggy young thing.”

“It’s beyond tragic,” Camille added.
“We should invite her to do something. Get her mind off it all.”

The other women nodded in agreement.

“So, Miss Quinn,” Camille continued
without looking up from the sweater she was working on, “I hear the Sheriff has
taken a bit of a shine to you. I don’t like to entertain gossip, of course.”

I waited, unsure if I was supposed
to be answering her lack of a question. As a few ladies glanced up from their
work at me, I decided I should say something.

“We’ve been spending time getting to
know each other. He’s a very nice man.”

“Yes he is. About the only eligible
man in town, too. Well, was anyway.”

I forced a smile, feeling awkward as
the center of attention. I remembered what Mike said about the town being
protective and quickly added, “We’re still getting to know each other.”

Francine smiled and paused from her
knitting to pat my arm. “Oh sweetie, we ladies here are a little old for the
Sheriff, so we aren’t concerned with a nice girl snatching him up. That doll
deserves a good woman.”

“Speak for yourself,” came a voice
from one of the chairs, a white haired old woman that looked to be pushing
eighty, easily. “I still know how to work it.”

I took my cue from the rest of the
group and laughed, relieved that they all seemed to be in such good spirits
about the news. Maybe Father Mike didn't know the town as well as he thought.

Or maybe he had other reasons for
warning me about dating Jack.

~~~

I sat in front of my laptop eating
the last piece of cake. It was after ten and I’d given up on trying to sleep.
Despite the Doc’s collapse being explained, and Jack being unsure if there was
anything to suspect of the priest, I couldn’t stop thinking about Andy and the
lack of men in the town. I thought I would get online and do some
investigating. After all, if I stumbled upon a town of what deadbeat dads had
left behind, surely I would be able to track some of them down. If I could find
them, I might be able to find out if they had other reasons for leaving.

I’d been at it for an hour and
hadn’t managed to find a single one of the husbands and fathers that walked out
on these families. I closed the laptop, frustrated that my research only left
me with more questions than answers, and flopped on to the bed. I turned
towards the nightstand, grabbed my pile of unopened mail, and opened an
envelope of photos, the ones developed from the old film in the rummage sale
camera. I flipped through some foliage photos, tossing the bad ones on the
floor. Pausing as I got to some blurry pictures I didn’t take, I remembered
that there was an unfinished roll in the camera, so I slowly flipped through
the rest of the stack.