One Day in Apple Grove (16 page)

“I’m sure my father will want to get an early start,” she said, snuggling closer. “That sky doesn’t bode well for a sunny day.”

“You’d have made a good farmer.”

“I thought I wanted to do that for a few weeks as a kid, but then my dad had this great idea that Peggy and I spend one week at our house and then one week at hers one summer vacation.”

“What happened?”

“I didn’t like getting up as early as Peggy had to. And even though I like chickens, they can be mean if you ruffle their feathers trying to collect eggs.”

“You dad is a smart man.”

“Yep.”

“A good man.”

She turned toward him and laid a hand over his heart. “So are you.”

“There are some people who’d disagree with you.”

“Then they obviously don’t know the real you.”

“Do you, Cait?” he asked.

“I know as much as you’ve shared with me, and more that you didn’t intend to.”

He nodded. “True. And you wouldn’t have even found out that much if we hadn’t had that storm last night.”

“For what it’s worth, Jack,” she said, slowly rubbing the spot over his heart, “I’m glad.”

He stiffened. “Because?”

“You’ve shared more with me than any other woman.”

“But it’s not something I intended to do.”

“That’s the point,” she told him, watching him closely. “My parents knew each other’s faults and failings and still they loved each other like crazy for the time they had together.”

When she drew in a deep breath, he wondered if she would start talking about her mother, but she surprised him.

“Meg and Dan, and Honey B. and Mitch do too.” She paused, staring up at the sky. “I want what they have, not because I’m selfish and want to know your deepest, darkest secrets,” she told him. “I’ll tell you all of mine—you’re bound to hear about them down at the diner anyway,” she said on a laugh. “But because I was brought up to believe that the solid foundation of any relationship begins with trust…you can’t build anything on a foundation of sand.”

“What if you knew as much of the truth as someone was able to share?” he asked. “Would that be enough?”

“Why not the whole truth?” she urged.

He eased her out of his arms and slowly got to his feet. “It’s getting late. We should go back.”

He tried to pretend that he wasn’t bothered by the sadness in her eyes and the echoing ache in his heart. But he’d already been foolish enough today. Would last night end their precious beginning? Would she be his saving grace? Would the overwhelming need to have Caitlin in his life be enough to keep her there?

Unaware of the questions roiling inside him, she took Jamie’s leash and waited while he picked up the damp blanket. The silence between them wasn’t as companionable as it had been the day before as they walked back to the house, but there was no help for it.

He had patients to see and she had a barn to side. Sorting things out would have to wait until tonight.

He paused at the edge of the deck and asked, “Will you have time to take care of Jamie midday today?”

She unhooked the dog’s leash and let him inside. “Yes. We should be in better shape today, now that the roof’s on. If I hit a snag, I’ll let you know.”

He nodded. “Do you want the first shower?”

“Thanks. I know my dad’s probably up already and pacing around the kitchen.”

“He’s worried about where you are?”

She shook her head. “He doesn’t want any of his girls to get their hearts broken.”

“Do you think I’ll break your heart, Cait?”

She shrugged. “I watched Meg get her heart broken and look how happy she and Dan are right now. They’re married, have two adorable boys with another baby on the way…maybe it’s part of the process to know that the person you’re in love with has the capacity to forgive and when pushed to the wall will do anything to make it right.”

As she walked out of the kitchen her words hit him…
Did
Caitlin
Mulcahy
love
him?
“Hey, wait!” he called after her, sprinting up the stairs.

She’d already closed the bathroom door. He thought about pounding on it until she opened it, but he was pretty sure she’d heard him calling her. Maybe she hadn’t meant to let him know that she loved him. But he didn’t dwell on that fact; he was grinning from ear to ear, because if Caitlin Mulcahy loved him, he was the luckiest bastard on the planet.

***

Caitlin waited until she heard Jack’s footsteps retreating before she let go of the door handle. She hadn’t meant to let how she felt about him slip out. But being with him muddled her brain and jump-started her heart. That wake-up call in the middle of the night brought parts of Jack’s past and his demons out into the open. Would he push her away now that he knew how deeply she felt?

Starting to pull the borrowed T-shirt over her head, she remembered Jack taking her clothes off in the kitchen. “Crap.” She let it fall back into place all but covering up the boxers she’d borrowed from him. Try as she might, she didn’t remember tripping over her clothes in the middle of the night when she’d first gone downstairs to think.

Resolved that she’d have to go back downstairs and face Jack and his questions while she was feeling vulnerable, she was about to open the door when he knocked. “Hey, Cait?”

She waited a moment before answering, “Yeah?”

“I just pulled your clothes out of the drier. Do you want them?”

“Oh.” She put a hand to her heart. “If you leave them right outside the door, I’ll get them. Thanks.”

“I could hand them to you now.”

His deeply rumbled offer slid over her skin like a caress. “I, uh…need to go pick up my dad.”

His sigh was loud and low. “I’m leaving them on the floor.”

“Thanks, Jack.”

She waited until she heard his footsteps hit the stairs before opening the door a crack and reaching for her clothes. A short, hot shower had her ready to face the day and the myriad of questions her father was sure to have.

As she toweled off and got dressed, she wondered who she could go to for help with Jack’s trauma. Maybe she should look up his symptoms online…less chance of gossip that way. What the heck did they call it anyway? She’d never known anyone who’d suffered from battle fatigue—that’s what Mr. Weatherbee called it, but he served in the army after World War II and before the Korean Conflict. She tried to focus, but her sleep-deprived brain wasn’t cooperating.

She could ask her dad, but then he’d ask all kinds of questions that she wasn’t ready to answer yet. If she was going to help Jack, she was going to have to respect his privacy and need to keep his demons to himself while she searched for a way to help him conquer them.

“My turn?” a deep voice called out as she was opening the door.

Standing there looking delightfully rumpled, she wished she remembered if his hair was wavy or straight. It was hard to tell cut in the military fashion,
high
and
tight.
She would have liked to run her hands over it again, digging into his scalp to massage it…it always did wonders for her whenever she went to Honey B.’s for a trim. The shampooing was her favorite part.

“Are you all right?”

“What? Oh, yes,” she told him. “Just thinking about something.”

“Hell of a something,” he mumbled, slipping past her into the bathroom. He paused and asked, “Do I need to say good-bye now?”

“Yes.” She turned around to face him. “I hate to be late.”

“If ever anyone tempted me to be late, Caitlin, it’s you.” He pressed a chaste kiss to the end of her nose and shoved her out the door and closed it.

“Call my cell if you can’t come by later.”

“OK.” Why did it feel so intimate talking to him through the bathroom door? Maybe it was a culmination of the last few hours, but whatever the reason, right now, she’d better get her head on straight. Her dad was waiting.

By the time she’d said good-bye to Jamie and shut the door behind her, her phone had buzzed. She read the text message from her father and laughed as she typed:
On my way home.

“Hell of a storm last night,” her dad said, getting into the passenger side of the F1.

His words hit her with the force of a blow. He had no idea how hellacious it had been.

“You’re awfully quiet today.”

She could feel his gaze on her but didn’t take her hands off the wheel or turn toward him. “I was thinking about the slab we poured. Do you think we rushed it and it didn’t cure?”

“I wouldn’t have let you start the framing if the slab wasn’t ready. Can’t build anything on a soft foundation.”

“I know,” she said. “You and mom taught us well.”

“Your mom wasn’t handy with concrete.” When she shrugged, he asked, “Is there anything on your mind you want to talk about?”

“Not yet.”

“I know I don’t have to ask, because I know you would trust me enough to tell me, but did Jack hurt you?”

How to answer that question without having her dad hightailing it on over to Jack’s office in town and dragging him outside to pound some sense into him? Wouldn’t that just be a wonderful story gracing the front page of the
Apple
Grove
Gazette
?

“Not really.”

His eyes narrowed as he turned and frowned at her. “Hell of an answer, Cait. Now how about trying the truth?”

“Not physically.”

“Keep talking,” he ordered as she pulled into Johnson’s driveway.

“I can’t yet. I have to figure it out first.” When he would have badgered her to tell him, she pleaded with him, “Can you please trust my judgment enough to wait until I’ve got it worked out in my head and can talk about it?”

He blew out a breath and mumbled something it was probably better that she didn’t hear. “Fine.”

She chuckled. “Now that’s a female word if I ever heard one.”

He crossed his arms in front of him, a sign he was annoyed, but instead of blasting her with his temper, he threw back his head and laughed. “I raised you right, damned if I didn’t,” he said as he pulled out the ladder to check the roof for lifted shingles.

“Looks great from in here,” she called out, knowing her dad was still on the ladder.

“Here too!” He climbed down and walked around the outside. “We’d better get this baby sided today. Weird weather pattern expected for the next few days. Great for indoor jobs—”

“Lousy for outside.”

He put his arm around her shoulders. “Mulcahys do great work.”

“That we do,” she agreed. “Now what’s next?”

“We knock out the siding, break for lunch, and check on that cute little pup while you think about how long you’re going to wait before talking to me about what’s going on.”

“Gee,” she said, looking over at her father. “Thanks for giving me more time to decide.”

He grinned. “You’re welcome. Now,” he said, “let’s get going.”

***

Jack was glad his appointments were scheduled back-to-back. Not having the extra time on his hands was a godsend because it kept his mind focused and busy. The last thing he needed was to overthink the fact that he could have driven Cait away permanently after last night’s fiasco.

When the morning rush was over, he had a chance to ask Mrs. Sweeney if there were any messages. Nothing from Cait on his cell or the office number, so she was probably taking care of Jamie for him. She said she’d call if she couldn’t, and Cait was a woman of her word, something he appreciated.

Thinking of her reminded him of last night. What triggered the relapse, aside from the thunderstorm, when he’d been doing so well for so long?

He wasn’t due to see the doctor at the VA for another month. He wondered if he should call him and talk about what happened.

He was in his office when the phone rang, interrupting his thoughts. Seeing the other line lit up, he answered the incoming call, “Doc Gannon.”

“Jack, I was afraid you weren’t in the office today.”

“I’m here every day, Mom. How are you?” he asked. “How’s Dad?”

“We’re both doing just fine, dear.”

“You’re not homesick?”

She paused and admitted, “Well, your father does miss Apple Grove…”

Jack sensed there was an and, so he asked, “And?”

“We decided to come back a little earlier than we’d planned if you don’t think we’d be in the way.”

Nothing like adding in the complication of your parents as you are trying to sort out a fledgling relationship. “Of course not.” He crossed his fingers as he told that falsehood, hoping his mom wouldn’t be able to tell he was lying through his teeth.

“Well, if you’re sure…”

“Absolutely. When will you be arriving?”

“We’re visiting friends on our way north. We’ll be there in two weeks.”

“Sure.” He wished life hadn’t decided to toss in the added monkey wrench of his parents coming for a visit while he was trying to get his head on straight and figure out what he was going to do about Caitlin.

He
knew
what
he
wanted
to
do
.

“Jack!”

“Hmmm…what?”

“I said, we’ll see you in two weeks.”

“Sure, Mom. Say hi to Dad for me.”

After she hung up, he let his head drop into his hands. He had to get his life back on track before his parents arrived, or else they’d know something was up, and he didn’t think he’d be ready for that particular conversation just yet.

With his hand on the phone, he was about to pick it up and dial when it rang, startling him. “Doc Gannon.”

“Hey, Jack. It’s me, Cait.”

He sighed and everything in the universe suddenly made sense again as he listened to the sound of her voice. “How’s your day going?”

“Great. I think we might be finished up sooner than planned over at Johnson’s.”

“I heard over at the diner this morning that he’s got a lot of students lined up to learn how to ride.”

“Some have had riding lessons before, but most are newcomers to riding.”

“That could be a good thing, right?” he asked.

“Absolutely,” she agreed. “I think he’s doing a great thing for Apple Grove and Licking County. He’s been dedicated to this cause since his son was paralyzed after he took a hard hit playing football.”

“My dad was at that game.” He couldn’t keep the emotion from his voice. “Scotty was an amazingly gifted quarterback.”

“I remember everyone talking about it. It was the first time we’d ever had a serious injury on the football field,” Cait added.

“Scotty went through years of therapy and never gave up. He was the one to approach his dad about setting up the riding school.”

“I’m so proud to be a part of this,” she said. “Even if it’s just a small part.”

“Don’t diminish what Mulcahys is doing to make it happen.”

“Thanks, Jack.” After a few moments of silence, she asked, “So, how are you doing today?”

“I just had a complication fall into my lap.”

“Oh?”

He wasn’t sure he liked the sound of that one word. “Yeah,” he said quickly before she could say anything else. “I just talked to my mom.”

“How is she?”

“She sounds great. She’s looking forward to visiting.”

“When will they arrive?”

He cleared his throat. “Two weeks.”

“Don’t you want to see them?”

“I do…it’s just that I’d gotten used to being on my own.”

“Ah. I’ve never had the pleasure of living on my own. It’s on my list of things to do.”

“I’ve always wanted to have brothers or sisters,” Jack told her, not even stopping to wonder why he’d shared that with her. “But while I’m used to being alone, now that I have Jamie, things are different.”

Her laugh was light and airy, a happy sound that trilled across the phone line. “There were times when I’d have gladly traded Gracie for a puppy.”

“Did you tell her that?”

“Oh yeah, she didn’t like the idea,” Cait confided. “Didn’t speak to me for three whole days that time.”

“Did you guys argue often?”

“Nah,” she told him. “Every other day or so.”

He laughed before asking, “You’re kidding right?”

She snickered. “Nope. We had these off-white quilted vinyl chests that mom got for us secondhand. We used to keep our important stuff in there, and every time we argued, one of us would move our chest out into the hallway and holler at the top of our lungs that we were through and we wanted a new roommate.”

“Then what happened?”

She sighed. “Meg would come in and mediate, and by the time she was through, one of us would end up apologizing to the other. I was never really sure how she managed that feat.”

“I think you and Grace probably owe Meg more than you imagine.”

She fell silent, leaving him to wonder if he should have kept that thought to himself, but so many years listening while Meg confided that worry wouldn’t let him. Finally, she sighed and said, “You’re right, and I know it. I’m trying to make things up to her now. I just finished the first set of shelves for their nursery and am working on a rocking chair for Meg. It’s going to be a surprise, so don’t say anything, OK?”

“Your secret’s safe with me, Cait.”

“Thanks, Jack. I’m really excited about the design—it’s my first rocking chair.”

“You’re an amazing woman, Caitlin Mulcahy.”

“Thanks for saying that,” she said.

“I’m not just saying it,” he told her. “I mean it.”

“You can come see it if you want.”

“You’ve started building it already?”

“It’s in our shed—in my wood shop.”

“I’d love to. You mentioned the design. Is there something different about this chair?”

“Meg’s shorter than the average woman. If you’ve ever tried out different rocking chairs, you’d notice that they’re designed for someone with longer legs.”

“I can’t say that I have. It sounds like a wonderful gift…a thoughtful one from your heart. Will I see you later?”

“I wasn’t sure you wanted to,” Cait said.

“I do,” he reassured her. “I’ll call you in between patients.”

“OK. Bye, Jack.”

“Bye, Cait.”

He was just coming out of his office when the bell on the front door jingled. Mrs. Sweeney was up and welcoming Mrs. Hawkins when the phone rang again. “I’ll get it, Mrs. Sweeney. Doc Gannon.”

“It’s Mitch,” the sheriff said. “Can I talk to you?”

“Sure, go ahead.”

“When you finish up with appointments for today, stop by my office.”

“Sounds serious. Can you give me a hint as to what this is about?”

“Not over the phone. See you around five-ish?”

“I’ll be there.”

Mrs. Sweeney was settled at her desk, going over the appointment schedule as Jack disconnected. He could tell she wanted to know what was going on, but knew she wouldn’t ask; she could be patient waiting for Jack to confide in her. Sometimes he did…and sometimes he didn’t.

He knocked on the examining room door and waited for Mrs. Hawkins to answer. “Now,” he said, walking into the room, “what seems to be bothering you today?”

“I hurt my wrist. I’m not sure if it’s sprained or strained.”

“Let’s take a look.”

A few hours later, he’d finished for the day. He closed the door behind him and walked down Main Street. He had an appointment to speak with the sheriff. He should have asked if it was official business or personal. But Mitch would have said so, wouldn’t he?

When Rhonda poked her head out of the front door to the
Apple
Grove
Gazette
’s office and called a hello, he returned the greeting. Enjoying the short walk down the street, he looked around him, reassured by the simple fact that Main Street hadn’t changed; it still looked the same as it had as far back as he could remember. He loved the change of seasons and watching the progress. The warmer temperatures coaxed the leaf buds till they unfurled and were now wide, glossy, green leaves.

He stopped and looked both ways before crossing Dog Hollow Road. There might have been a few subtle changes, a new bit of sidewalk replacing an old, cracked section. He noticed the raw patch where Cait’s truck had scraped the bark on one of the maples before letting his gaze settle on the Knitting Room across the street. He’d heard from the McCormack sisters yesterday morning that Melanie Culpepper was thinking of starting up a knitting group during the day, now that her boys were a little older. Odd to think that what he’d heard had been the town’s local Internet café for the last few years would once again be used for knitting.

Mulcahys was still open; he could see Grace sitting at her desk. “Still hard at work,” he mused, “keeping the family business going.”

The trees lining the street shaded the way and had him thinking back to Miss Trudi’s description of what it looked like right after the Second World War when each one of the trees had had yellow ribbons wrapped around them, tied up in a bow, for all of the returning GIs.

“Hi, Doc!” He looked up, surprised that he’d passed Murphy’s Market and was already in front of the diner.

“Hi, Kate.”

“Stopping by for dinner?”

“No, on my way to see Mitch.”

“We haven’t seen you for coffee lately,” she told him, standing in the doorway to the diner.

“It’s been hectic.”

“See you tomorrow?”

“I’m not sure, depends on Jamie.”

Her knowing smile had him wondering if word was out about him and Cait. Instead of coming right out and asking, she threw him for a loop, distracting him. “How is the puppy doing?”

“He’s a pistol, full of energy, likes to tear apart my laundry, but he’s great company.”

“He’s lucky you found him,” she said before looking over her shoulder when someone called her name from inside the diner. “I’ve got to go.”

Honey B.’s salon closed up early these days, so she wouldn’t overdo it again. By the time Jack’d crossed Apple Grove Road, he was starting to worry about what Mitch wanted. He walked into the sheriff’s office and called out, “You in the back, Mitch?”

“Yeah.”

Hmm…one word response. Not out of the ordinary for Mitch, but not what he expected.

Mitch’s door was open, like usual, so Jack knocked on the doorjamb. “So, what’s so important that you couldn’t tell me over the phone?”

“Not couldn’t,” Mitch said. “Wanted to tell you face-to-face.”