Shit. “Boone, I’d tell you if I could. I promise.”
He stood and waved Reno off. “Like Domino said, I’m glad your home. When you get ready to tell me the truth, I’ll be ready to listen.”
Fancy walked up to whisper in his ear. “I’m about to get the kids up. Are you ready?”
“Sure. I can’t wait.” He gave her a weak smile, then took off his hat with a shaking hand. He was going to have to do a better job with the kids than he’d done with his friends.
He didn’t have to wait long. About a half minute later, a sleepy Tess came pitter-pattering down the hall with the doll Amelia made for her under her arm. She spotted him, stopped, rubbed her eyes, then squealed at the top of her lungs. “Reno!”
Her shriek alerted her brothers and they also came running. They all dove on top of him like ants on a cookie. He’d never received so many hugs and kisses in his life.
Except from Journey. Stop. Stop. You can’t do this to yourself right now.
“Oh, Reno. I knew you weren’t dead; I just knew it.” Emory hiccupped the words through his sobs.
“Hush. I’m here now. It’s okay.”
“Where have you been?” Saul asked. “We thought we’d never see you again.”
“Yea, we’ve missed you something terrible.” Huck sat down on the floor to hug Reno’s leg.
“I’m so sorry. I got held up. I came back as soon as I could. I hate so much that I worried you. It wasn’t my choice. I wouldn’t have hurt you for anything in the world.”
Luckily for Reno, the children were easier convinced than his friends. Even Amelia and Ace bought his sketchy story. He was glad to see Amelia looking more at ease. She even gave him a welcome back hug. Reno knew that was hard for her. She was pretty scared of men. “It’s good to see everyone. You’ll never know how much I missed all of you.”
Or how much he missed his Journey.
When Fancy called the children to eat, Reno finished his own plate of food. Just as he stood to take his plate to the dishpan, he saw King standing in the door. He crooked one finger to indicate he was to follow.
“Oh, hell. Another moment of truth.” Frankly, he didn’t know how much more of this he could handle.
As he left the kitchen to go into the back room that King called his office, he felt a rising sense of panic. He felt like the damn walls were closing in on him. Everything seemed darker than it used to be. The last month of living in an electrically lit world made him notice how dim the log cabin seemed with its small window and kerosene lamps. Each step he took seemed to echo his heartbeat. What was he going to do? How would he return to Journey? What would he tell her in the letter he promised?
So sorry. Stuck in the past.
Oh, hell no. He’d figure something out. He had to.
“Come in and sit down, Reno.”
When Reno darkened the office door, he saw Gentry waiting on him also. “Hello, fellows.”
“You look like hell, Reno.” King sat down in his chair and propped his feet up on the desk. “I understand you’ve had quite an adventure. Did I understand you say you were kidnapped?”
Reno looked from one to another, then bowed his head. He felt totally defeated, not because his friends were giving him a hard time – that he could take. No, it was Ela’s death and its unthinkable consequences that had thrown him for a loop. “You wouldn’t believe me if I told you.”
“That’s what Clay said,” Gentry muttered.
Reno raised his head. “Clay talked to you?”
“No.” King sat up, leaning over his desk. “He just said we needed to talk to you. That you’d been through something traumatic and he was worried about you.”
“Hell, I’m worried about me.” Reno stood and walked to the window. Ironically, he could see his own grave from this vantage point. “If we are going to talk about this, I’d like Clay to be here. I know I didn’t make much sense earlier, maybe I can do better this time.”
King motioned for Gentry to go fetch Clay. When he was gone, King waited for Reno to find his seat again. “We held a funeral for you. Clay gave a decent sermon considering he didn’t have much to work with in the praise-worthy deceased department. Hell, we buried an empty pine box and I even wore a damn suit. If for no other reason than that, you should’ve had the decency to stay dead.”
Reno returned King’s stoic stare. “Sorry to disappoint you, Cap.”
“Oh, I’m glad you’re not dead. I just wish we hadn’t gone to so much trouble. Do you know how much that headstone cost?”
“I can reimburse you.”
“No. I guess we’ll just fix the date when you do kick the bucket.”
“That’s mighty generous of you.”
Both looked toward the door as Gentry returned with Clay.
Reno noticed his best friend looked a mite guilty. “It’s all right. I intended to tell these two anyway.”
“I think that’s wise,” Clay muttered as he found a seat next to Gentry.
“Why don’t you start from the beginning, Reno? Clay watched you ride off from the Stanton cabin with a band of Indians on your tail. That was the last any of us ever saw you. When we didn’t hear from you, we assumed you’d caught the stage in Waco. Of course, when you never showed up in North Carolina, Wallace sent Gentry a telegram. That was when we started looking for you.”
Gentry took a knife and a whetstone from
