The hour wasn’t yet seven, and I’d already eaten my usual boiled egg and toast. I was sipping a second cup of coffee standing by the French doors that led out to my stone patio. This time of day when the world was not quite awake always seemed sacred to me. The sweet scent of cut grass and wildflowers drifted in through the open windows.
Although the temperatures would reach the mid-eighties today, the night air had cooled the house while I slept. Dew sparkled on the wild grasses in the meadow. The sun hovered above Logan Mountain, shooting rays across my fenced property. Sprinklers came on in my garden patch, telling me it was already seven.
Chores waited for no man. Horses needed feeding. Garden needed tending. July had brought warmer temperatures, and my vegetables were growing and ripening. Even from here I could see my red tomatoes peeking out from their green hosts.
I called out to Duke and Moonshine. “Time to make the doughnuts, kids.” Duke, my yellow Lab, was asleep in a spot of sun with my mad-as-a-hatter tuxedo cat Moonshine curled up against his stomach in their mismatched couple spooning. Duke lifted his head lazily and blinked at me as if to say, “Can’t you tell we’re sleeping here?”
“Come on, you two. Let’s go out to the garden. We got stuff to do.”
Moonshine shook awake and leaped to her feet, let out a loud and disgruntled meow, then weaved, as if drunk—thus her name—and flopped back down onto the floor. “One too many, Moonshine?”
She answered by rolling onto her back and showing me her belly. That white stomach got fatter every day. I knelt and rewarded her for being irresistibly cute by petting her belly. “Your abs have disappeared, Moonshine. Outside, pronto. You need the exercise.”
She gave me an affronted look before rolling over to look at Duke. Moonshine went nowhere without her best friend. Duke rose to his feet and wagged his tail. That dog. Good-natured to the end.
I’d gotten Duke and Moonshine when I’d moved back to Logan Bend two years ago. Only babies when they met, they never really understood that they weren’t the same species. Perhaps missing their mamas, the two quickly became inseparable. I guessed Moonshine figured she was a dog. She acted like one, friendly and loyal to Duke and me. Plus, the girl could eat with the best of them. She never met a bowl of food she didn’t love. On the other hand, Duke slept as much as a cat.
We were almost out the door when my phone buzzed. I pulled it out of the side pocket of my cargo shorts. “It’s Mom,” I said to my sidekicks.
They gave me a blank stare.
I went out to the stone patio as I answered. “Hi, Mom. Everything all right?”
“Why do you always start conversations out that way?”
“What way?”
“Like I’d only call if something was wrong.”
I could picture my pretty mom on the other end of the phone. Slight and tanned, she’d still be in her tennis clothes this time of the morning and treating herself to a glass of iced coffee, no sugar, on the patio that overlooked the ocean. Her choice of a second husband had been a lot better than the first.
“Sorry, Mom. I’m not sure why I always expect the worst.”
“You’ve been like that since you were in high school.”
The comment hung in the air. We both knew why, but the Paisleys didn’t mention that night. Not ever. Darned if it didn’t pop up every once in a while. “How are you, Mom? How’s Dom?”
“He’s golfing this morning, enjoying his retirement. We’re going to head over to Luke’s tomorrow for a cookout to celebrate Sarah’s birthday. She’ll be sixteen. I can hardly believe it.”
“I sent a card with a gift card for the bookstore.” Sarah was the bookworm of my three nieces. Jessie was obsessed with surfing and soccer. The baby, Olivia, loved dance. My sister-in-law was always in the car taking them to various activities.
“You spoil those girls,” Mom said.
“They’re my only nieces. What can I say?”
“They hardly need anything more than they have.”
“Sarah says she can never have too many books,” I said. “She texted yesterday to say thank you.”
“Pamela’s done well to teach them good manners.” Mom was quiet for a moment. I imagined her looking out to the blue Pacific, gathering her thoughts. She had called for a reason.
“What is it, Mom?”
“I ran into Iris at the store yesterday.”
Iris. My ex-wife. I held my breath, waiting for what Mom would say next.
“She’s getting married,” Mom said. “To the gun guy.”
“Gun teacher. Jeff.” The boyfriend she’d gotten before leaving me. In hindsight, I should have known that no one could be that interested in the gun range.
“I thought you’d want to know,” Mom said.
“Not really.” I didn’t care about her any longer; still, it stung. Whatever, I told myself. You have a good life. Your dream life in Logan Bend. The one you wanted. Except there’s no Carlie.
“That gorgeous house you built must get lonely. I worry.”
“I have Moonshine and Duke. They’re great friends and would never cheat on me.” I made a joke of my loneliness, but Mom was right. I did yearn for a partner. I’d have loved to share the home I’d poured my heart and soul into with someone special. Someone who made me feel the way I had about Carlie Webster when I was too young to realize how unlikely it was to find that again. No one had ever made my heart ache with love as Carlie had. Not even Iris, whom I’d married. Whenever my brothers or mom were too hard on Iris, I reminded them that she’d deserved someone who loved her beyond measure. I’d loved her. Of course I had. When she left me for Jeff, my ego and heart
