“Hi Mom.” He reached down and took her hand. It was frail and thin. Her grip was strong, though, as she lifted herself out of the car on sure legs.
“And there’s my little Ry-Guy!”
They embraced in a three-way hug until Wolf was forced to give up his grandson to her waiting arms.
A taller woman, thin with her long white hair pulled into a ponytail, stood up from the driver’s side. “Hi David.”
“Hi Harriet,” Wolf said. “How are you?”
“Not bad. Not bad. You’re mother’s driving me crazy of course. But not bad.” Over the last decade Harriet had become his mother’s favorite competitive bridge partner down in Denver. Both of them being widowers, they had become fast friends, and then eventually roommates in the same apartment. More recently, Harriet had taken it upon herself to watch over his mother as her mental acuity began to slip.
“Yeah?” Wolf chuckled. “What’s going on this time?”
Harriet ignored him, popping the trunk on her Prius. “Kat! Leave that kid alone and come talk to your son!”
His mother put Ryan down, kissed him, and released him back into the wild. “How are you, David?” she said, coming over and wrapping him in a hug.
He winced as she latched onto a bruised rib but rode out the pain and hugged her back. “I’m good, Mom. How about you?”
“I’m excellent.”
“Keeping busy?”
“Busy as ever. Racking up those Masterpoints.”
He smiled. “They have a pretty raucous bridge scene up here, you know.”
She swiped a hand.
Wolf unpacked their bags from the car and brought them inside while his mother followed. They made some pleasant small talk, only briefly skimming through the part where they had not seen each other in too long. And only briefly did Wolf feel a tinge of shame. They were here together now, and that’s all that mattered. Besides, things were going to be different from now on. This time he wasn’t seeking her approval of his plan, either.
But for now he didn’t mention the condominium he’d bought for her in downtown Rocky Points. He didn’t mention that he wanted her back up here where he could keep a close eye on her. He didn’t mention the in-home nursing services that he’d lined up to visit her three times a week. He knew his mother, and knew the memories of this place haunted her. That news would have to be slow dripped over the next few days of her visit. At least, that was the plan.
Wolf went inside with the luggage and put it into the spare bedroom, then went back into the kitchen where Jack and Cassidy were finishing food preparations.
“She’s here,” Cassidy said in a sing-song voice as she leaned into the window. “Wow.” She opened her mouth and looked at Wolf. “Wow. She is beautiful.”
Wolf had been too busy to notice Piper Cain pull up in her Jeep Cherokee. She was already parked and out of the door, approaching the house with her father next to her. She carried a Tupperware in her hands and was bending down to say hi to Ryan.
Wolf had to admit he agreed with Cassidy. Piper wore a pair of jeans and a long-sleeved floral-patterned shirt. Her dark curls were pulled back and cascading onto her shoulders. Dangling earrings glinted in the evening light, accentuating her sparkling eyes and smile.
Wolf’s stomach lurched when he heard his mother’s voice outside.
“Who’s this?” His mother walked at her. “My goodness. Who is this beauty? David. Is this your girlfriend?”
Wolf rushed to the front door and went outside.
“Mom! This is Piper Cain and her father!” He spoke loud, trying to smother the words coming out of her mouth. “She’s a deputy with the department. Hi Peter.” Wolf shook her father’s hand.
“Oh, hello, Piper.” His mother got in on the action, shaking her hand and then her father’s. “What was your name?”
Piper’s father beamed. “I’m Peter Cain.”
Harriet swooped in from nowhere. “Hi Peter. I’m Harriet.”
“Hello, Harriet.”
“What happened to you?” Wolf’s mother asked, reaching out and touching the cast on Piper’s arm. “And your face. Honey. Are you all right?”
“Mom.”
“It’s okay,” Piper said. “I was just a little banged up on the job.”
“Geez, David. What are you letting happen to your deputies?”
“Kat!” Harriet said, pulling her by the arm. “Come on!”
“Yeah, okay. I’m coming.”
A smiling Peter Cain allowed himself to be swept into the house by the two women.
“My God,” Wolf said. “Here. I’ll take that.” He took the container from her.
Cassidy came up and introduced herself. Jack nodded hello, too. Piper shook their hand then introduced herself to Ryan, who started out shy, then told a thirty-second story about his running and kicking abilities. Maybe. It was tough to tell.
“My goodness, this guy is so cute,” Piper said, playfully poking a finger into Ryan’s armpit.
“Thanks,” Cassidy said. “O-kay, buster. Let’s go. We’ll be inside.” Jack took the containers from Wolf and Cassidy led her family in through the door, leaving Wolf and Piper alone outside.
Wolf toed a rock and looked at her. The scrapes had darkened where they had scabbed over. The bruises were fading now.
“You look good,” he said.
She put her hand up to her face. “Yeah. Right.”
“The swelling has gone down,” he said. “You looked like you were on death’s door back in the hospital.”
“I didn’t put makeup over all this. ‘Cause, you know, then I’d look like I had five pounds of makeup on.”
“You look good.”
She smiled. “Thanks. You look good, too.”
They both kicked some rocks.
She turned around and looked toward the dipping sun. “This place is beautiful. Wow.”
“Thank you. I love it.”
He looked back at the house and saw three heads looking out at them from the kitchen window. “Hey, why don’t we take a quick walk.”
“Okay. Sure.”
He led her past the barn, onto a narrow game trail that had become one of Wolf’s favorite hikes to the north side of the property, where there was a lookout to Rocky Points.
She walked gingerly. A few days ago he had seen the x-rays of her chest, and the two fractured ribs
