Bird After Bird (36 page)

I guess I did want him to chase me. I might be a thoroughly modern woman, and obviously I’d come all this way to be with him…but I still had my limits. He’d come all the way to New York and not looked me up. There must have been a reason for that. Fear? Lack of time? Lack of interest?

I took a shower while I waited. “I’ll give it an hour,” I said. “If he hasn’t called by then, I’m calling again and going over to his place. To hell with this!”

It wasn’t until I’d been out of the shower, dried my hair, and changed my clothes that I realized my phone was still in airplane mode. I made the switch, and my phone lit up with texts from an unfamiliar number.

-This is my new number. Laurie-

-Rhoda called, we’re going to Linton Saturday for a fundraiser.-

-Can you fly home?-

-You can text me. This number isn’t public. I had to turn off the old one, and old email.-

-I love you, Wren.-

My heart raced in my chest.

I love you, too
, I texted.

The phone bleeped instantly.

-Please come home.-

Then, because technology hates me and love had turned me into an idiot, my phone died. I’d left my charger in the car and it had simply run out of juice.

“Maybe I should just drive to his place,” I said to my reflection. “Good idea,” I answered.

I liked the girl in the mirror a lot better here in Indiana than I had in New York.

Chapter Seventy-two

Laurie

I was still waking up when Billy banged down my door. “C’mon, man! We gotta get up there early!”

“Can I at least shower and eat? I haven’t had my coffee yet.”

“I reckon,” he said, coming in and plopping in the chair I’d come to think of as Wren’s. “Thanks for doing this, man. I know you keep saying you don’t want to be part of the band, but you’ve gotten us more publicity than anything else we’ve ever done. And they can’t throw us out of this one! Are you sure you won’t stay on?”

“Totally sure,” I said, throwing a coffee liner into the maker and spooning in some freshly-ground beans. The aroma of the coffee brewing brought me back to life. “Ah, that’s more like it,” I said, pouring a cup as soon as there was nearly enough liquid in the pot to make a cup. I sat in the chair opposite Billy to sip and wake up. “I’d offer you some, but you’ll have to wait a minute for it to brew.”

“No, I’m too excited for caffeine. Been pissing every fifteen minutes as it is.” And with that, he ran to the bathroom, as though to demonstrate. He wandered back in less of a hurry. “Really, I’m surprised you’re not wired! This could be our big break! This show’s being called a mini-festival, you know that? They’re calling it Bird Aid, for Pete’s sake! Expecting huge crowds.”

“There’s only one face I want to see in that crowd,” I said.

“Have you heard from her?”

“Yes! She texted me.”

“And?”

“Said she loves me.”

Billy’s face lit up. “Did you call her?”

“Tried. Voicemail. I hope it’s because she’s mid-flight.”

“It was the song, wasn’t it? The birds? We came through for you, didn’t we?”

I just smiled.

“Will she be there today?”

I shrugged. “I asked her to come home, but I didn’t hear back.”

Billy’s phone beeped. He glanced at it, punched a few buttons, and said “You told some of your artist friends from the community center to pack up their bird art for today, right?”

“Yeah, I did. Why?”

“Well, according to Fred, they’re waiting for you there. They want directions or something…”

“Shit. Yeah, I said I’d give them a map to the facility. Some of them aren’t exactly GPS-friendly.” I stood and poured out my coffee. “Sorry, Billy, I gotta run.”

“No prob, bro! You get the artist contingent set up, and I’ll meet you and the rest of the boys at the garage, okay?”

“See ya there.” Billy left, and I took a quick shower. I almost didn’t shave, but then I remembered the promises of TV being there. Rhoda’s request for us to play the show in Linton couldn’t have been better-timed. The press conference at the library had gotten news of the show out to all the local media outlets, and it was regional news. I didn’t want to blow it for Billy & the Boys with a grunge look.

My hair had grown longish the past couple of months. I liked it. Totally different look from the military cut I used to sport. I toweled off, ran my fingers through my hair, dressed, and Hap and I hit the road.

The whole town was waiting at the community center. Art students, scout troops, even Donna & Lew were there to support the local Search and Rescue training group, as they joined in the caravan of hometown folks headed up for the fundraiser.

There were a lot of things I wasn’t sure of, but nothing could keep me down now that I’d touched base with Wren. I checked my phone to see if she’d texted me back since I’d told her to come home.

Nothing.

Must be airplane mode
, I reasoned.

Or maybe she never wants to see you again,
the hurt and angry part of me whined.

“Shut up, shut up, shut up!” I accidentally yelled aloud. My painting students stopped socializing immediately, turning to stare at me open-mouthed. A team of schoolgirls with shirts that said “Birdseye loves Billy & the Boys” pointed their fingers at me and laughed. Lew looked at me like he’d never seen me before, and shook his head slowly.

“And now that I’ve got your attention,” I yelled, “What the heck are we waiting for? Let’s get up to Goose Pond and raise some money for an owl!”

Chapter Seventy-three

Wren

I’d waited the better part of a week to see Laurie, to tell him I was sorry, to beg him to forgive me and begin our lives together.

I’d done so much soul searching lately, I wondered if we’d even known each other before, when we fell in love. I was ready to show him my whole heart, bare my entire soul to him, but more than that, I was ready to guard him against any kind of foreseeable hurt for the rest of his life. This part of me, this shield I had used to block out anyone who might get too close to me to hurt me was no longer going to keep out the man I loved.

Instead of worrying how I’d eventually hurt him, I was ready to be the woman who made sure
Laurie
would never be hurt again. He was the only man I’d ever need, and I was ready to be the only woman he’d love, for the rest of our lives!

I flew to his house. The rental car zipped down the highway, and I had to pass a couple of cars with curious “Goose Pond or Bust” signs shoe-polished on their back windshields on the state road. Finally, I pulled into the gravel drive with old growth trees on either side, past the mailbox with the reflective letters B-Y-R-D. My heart pounded in my chest as the gravel crunched under my tires.

I slowed, realizing I might hit Hap if I drove too fast.

I put the car in park and looked up at his cabin. Gorgeous, natural, homey, just like I remembered it.
Home
, I thought.
This is where I belong
.

I ran to the front porch and banged on the door.

“Laurie! Laurie! I’m home! I’m home!” I could barely say the words, emotion choking my voice.

Nothing.

Not even a bark.

I walked around the back of the house and looked into those floor-to-ceiling windows where we’d sat and watched birds for hours. Nobody there.

I walked out to the barn where Laurie parked his old green pick up truck. Gone.

“Well, SHIT!”

I got back into the rental. My phone had finally charged enough to turn on.

-BirdAid up in Linton today. Your friend Rhoda from Crane Days called. Are you coming home?-

I’m home!
I texted him a pic of myself in front of his cabin.

-OMG! You’re here? I’m halfway to Linton!-

I’ll catch up with you

- I want to see you now!-

You have a gig?

There was a pause. I dialed his number.

“Babe,” he answered.

I felt winded. My heart raced at the sound of his voice. “God, it’s good to hear your voice.”

“Yours, too, Wren. I’m so glad you came back.”

“You think you can forgive me for being an idiot?”

He laughed. “Nothing to forgive, really.”

I cried, fighting for breath. “No—I never should have left the way I did. It was wrong.” I could barely eek out the words, through the tears.

“Wren. It is more than okay. It’s the past.” I heard Hap barking in the background. “I’m turning around. I’m coming to get you. Stay right there.”

“No! You have a show. You need to get to it. I’ll just meet you there.”

“Billy can handle it. Trust me, he’s ready to go! I’ll pick you up and we’ll make the set in plenty of time. It’s no big deal. I’m not going anywhere without you.”

And then I heard the sound of brakes, a car horn, metal scraping—the dog barking, howling, and Laurie cursing.

“Laurie! Laurie! Laurie!”

No response.

Chapter Seventy-four

Wren

I got in the car, dialed 911, and reported an accident somewhere between Birdseye and Linton. I apologized that I couldn’t give the dispatcher an exact location, but he hadn’t told me where he was, exactly.

I put the pedal to the metal and hit it so hard down the highway I probably should have had wings. The Mustang roared and purred, my partner in high speed crime.

I caught up with Laurie outside Jasper, his old green pick-up in a ditch on the other side of the road. I don’t know how I beat the ambulance there, but I did. He must have been trailing the caravan of hometown folks on their way to the show, because no one had pulled over to help him until I got there.

He was breathing, but unconscious. Hap lay next to him, paws on his hands, shivering in terror. He barked at me when I approached, then dissolved into pleading whines and cries when he recognized me.

I dialed 911 again. This time, I had a specific mile marker to give them, and they said EMTs were on the way.

“Laurie, sweetheart. Wake up. Laurie.”

It took a few tries, but just before the EMTs pulled up, Laurie cracked open an eyelid. He stuck out his tongue, wetting his lips. “Either this is a head injury, or you’re really here.”

“I think it’s both,” I said. There was a lot of blood on the mangled steering wheel. “Looks like you drove right off the road.”

“There was a bird, headed right for my windshield. A crane, I think. You know I’m not good with waterfowl. It was big and white.” He smiled.

“Are you in a lot of pain?”

“Not anymore.”

“It must have been a crane, then.”

“Crane one thousand and one,” he said. “I got my wish.”

As I watched for the paramedics, I saw the bird. Miraculously, it was a crane. I didn’t have the heart to tell him it was a Whooper.