Road to Nowhere (24 page)

“I don’t think that’s it, Everett. I don’t think she’s even decided herself yet.”

“It’s the only reason she’d try to make an appointment.”

“I really think it’s what she said, that she’s trying to be fair.”

“Well, stop her.”

“I can’t stop her bringing the subject up, but I don’t know how likely we might be to vote a new person in. It would take three votes out of four. And I don’t even know if she’s come up with a name.”

Everett didn’t answer and Randy waited. The doctor was thinking.

“I have an idea. Don’t wait for Louise. You nominate someone. Someone who’d be a sure vote against the road.”

“I . . . I don’t know right off who that would be.”

“Anybody. Anybody here in Mountain View.”

“They’d have to be from Gold Valley.”

“Gold Valley! What right do they have to be on the board, anyway?”

“It is part of the county.”

Everett was getting louder. “And why do you keep taking their side? Don’t you know who you’re representing?”

“I do, Everett. I do. I’m just pointing out what anyone could point out, that those are the rules. It’s Gold Valley district that has the vacancy, and that’s where the replacement has to come from.”

“Then find someone from over there who’s against the road. There must be someone with sense.”

“I expect most of them would rather the road did get built.”

Everett looked like he might start yelling, but then he must have decided it wasn’t worth the effort. “All the more reason they shouldn’t be allowed to have anything to do with it. And they won’t, as long as there’s no new board member appointed next month.”

Randy had a lot to think through walking back home. Everett seemed even more upset than he generally was, to not even be caring about straightforward county rules. It must be that he was that upset about poor Wade.

May 19, Friday

“The men won’t do it,” Louise said. And they wouldn’t.

“So you’ll be traipsing all the way out to that crazy woman’s house?”

“Byron, she’s as sensible as anyone.”

“Anyone sensible would have a telephone,” he said.

“Then there’s different kinds of sensible. She’s on the board and we can’t just ignore her.”

“And you yourself said she votes no on everything.”

“That’s her choice and she can vote the way she wants.” Honestly, the men could get so tiresome at times! Well, Byron was never very cheerful at breakfast. “But I’m going to talk to her about Steve Carter, and that’s that.”

“Then go do it. Mark my words, though, that I say you won’t get any sense out of her.”

“I’ve marked them,” Louise said, “and you might just be eating them tonight for dinner.”

“If you take the whole day driving out there and back, you won’t have time to fix anything else.”

“Oh, you!”

She finally got him out the door for work, and then herself, too. Stephanie would take care of the salon.

And Louise would have herself a little adventure!

Joe checked the signpost.
Lofty Ridge Road.
Fool place to build a road, up and down the side of a mountain.

Gold Valley. Fool place to live at all, middle of nowhere.

Still, seemed to be a fair number of people living on the road, or houses at least. No telling what they were all doing here.

Strange road for a man to choose to live on.

Louise pulled into the gravel parking lot. When was the last time she’d been out this way? This building—it had been something once. Well, of course. It was an old schoolhouse.

And now it was some kind of store. She was really going to have to get out more. All she ever did was drive up Coble Highway to Wardsville, and back home again. And there was a whole big world out there in the rest of the county.

They might know which of these roads was Cherokee Hollow.

Louise looked in the front door. Well! It looked like her adventure had already started. The room looked just like her own pantry, as neat as it could be for being just too packed—even if most of what she saw might not have been exactly what Louise would have had in her pantry. Bins of all kinds of beautiful beans and rices and, well, everything. Bags and boxes and bottles on the shelves. And smells. She was remembering her grandmother’s kitchen on the farm.

It even all seemed a little mysterious. And wonderful!

“Hello.” A lady was standing behind the counter in the middle of it all. She was short and stout and had long white hair in a ponytail.

“Hello!” Louise said. “Good morning! What a lovely store!”

“Thank you.” The lady was looking at Louise with a big smile, and she must have known she wasn’t the regular kind of customer. “Can I help you with anything?”

“Oh! Yes! I’m looking for a road, and I haven’t been out this way in forever. Cherokee Hollow.”

“That’s it right out of the parking lot, up the mountain.”

“It is? Now, tell me, do you know Eliza Gulotsky?”

“Eliza! Of course I do.”

Of course she would. This was just the kind of place Eliza would like. “I’m Louise Brown. I live down in Coble.”

The lady’s eyes had gotten big. “You’re Louise?” The lady leaned forward over the counter, and her hands flew up to her ponytail just by themselves. “You did Eliza’s hair?” And before Louise could even answer, “What would you think about a French braid?”

That would be the house. Joe parked on the side of the driveway.

He rang the doorbell.

“Hello?” A young lady. “Mr. Esterhouse?”

“Joe Esterhouse.”

“Please come in. I’ll get Steve.”

He stood in the front hall. Walls and floor were clean and bare. Children’s toys in the living room.

“Mr. Esterhouse. Hello.” Stephen Carter was holding out his hand.

He shook it. “It’s Joe.”

“Sure. Joe. Come on in. This is Natalie.”

Joe nodded to her.

“We’ll just duck in here. The older kids are outside, and Andy’s down for his nap. I think we’ll be okay.”

“Appreciate your time,” Joe said.

“Sure, no problem.”

They went into a side room, more bare wood floors and light-colored walls. The room had a desk and a wide table, and shelves, and computer screens. Rolls of blueprints on the table.

“Sit down.”

Joe sat on a chair that was all rubber cushions and steel tubes. Steve sat in his desk chair on wheels, to look like a bank president.

“So, what’s up? I guess it’s about the Planning Commission?”

“Not that.” This man was so young. He’d probably learned more in college than people had even known fifty years ago. “I’m wondering what you might think of taking Wade Harris’s place on the Board of Supervisors.”

“Oh . . . wow.”

Oh . . . dear.

The road should have warned her. It had hardly been a road at all. Bending and twisting and doubling back. Louise had no idea which direction she was even pointed in. Everything here was confusing, and if it made sense to anyone, it didn’t to her. What a strange road to be living on!

But now she’d come to the end, and what a sight it was! A bit of open space tucked between two steep sides of the mountain and a creek running as fast as it could through, and right against one steep side was the most adorable little cabin she could imagine. She had a mountain cabin on her kitchen shelves that she bought at a tourist gift store once, but that wasn’t the sight this one was.

And there was even a front porch with two rocking chairs. And Eliza was sitting on one.

Louise bounded out of her car, and Eliza came sweeping down the stairs from the porch, and they met with the biggest hug right beside the stream. It was just the natural thing to do, and Eliza hadn’t even known she was coming.

“Louise! You’ve come to visit!”

“I have, dear, and I’m so glad I did.” She sat herself in the chair next to Eliza. “It’s so beautiful.” She had to breathe deep enough to get it all in. “But it doesn’t look easy.”

That was the next thing she was thinking now that she’d gotten over her first impression. The whole of the small clearing was tilled and planted in one big, neat garden, and green things were already sprouting out of it. There was a woodpile off the end of the porch and smoke coming from the pipe chimney.

“No, it isn’t easy,” Eliza laughed. “But I don’t want it to be!”

Louise knew Eliza wouldn’t mind her asking. “Do you have plumbing?”

Joe just sat and let him consider.

“You mean—you’re asking me to be on the board?” Steve said. “Is that how it’s done, you just choose a replacement?”

“More or less. There’d be a vote by board members at the meeting.”

“Uh—well—I could think about it. When would you want to know?”

“Before the June meeting.”

“That fast?”

“There’s reasons. I expect you’ll hear them all soon enough.”

“Okay. I’ll talk to Natalie. But I guess I could. It’s for how long?”

“About a year and a half until the next election.”

“I guess I could. It doesn’t look like it’s as much work here as in some counties. I mean, I know it is work. But you’re not approving new subdivisions all the time or doing lots of rezoning. I guess the main thing that’s up right now is the new road. Gold River Highway.”

“That’s the main thing.”

“I do,” Eliza said. “My friend, Zach put it in. As long as the creek is running, there’s water. But I haven’t let him put in electricity.”

“It doesn’t look easy at all,” Louise said. She settled back in the rocking chair. “Eliza, I have to admit. I didn’t just come to visit. I have some business to talk about.”

“Very well.” Eliza had such a solemn way of talking about some things.

“We need to appoint someone to replace Wade.”

The minute she said it, she felt bad that she’d had to. It didn’t seem right at all to be talking about poor Wade so soon.

“How is that to be done?”

“We pick someone and vote. And the reason I wanted to talk to you was, there are only four of us and it’ll take three votes. If you’re going to vote no, then we other three have to all agree. But I want to know what you think.”

Eliza set her eyes right into Louise’s.

“What I think?”

“I’ll think about it,” Steve said at the door. “I’ll let you know.”

Joe nodded and walked to his truck. Two children were down back of the house and the wife, Natalie, watching them. They didn’t look to be even school age.

Two men dead. Two board members dead.

“I would not think,” Eliza said.

“Not . . . what do you mean?”

“I would listen.”

Listen.
It was happening again. Sometimes Eliza made her feel so turned around.

“Listen to what, dear?”

“Just listen. And wait for something to be said.”

“But . . . by who?”

Eliza had turned away and was just staring out into the valley.

“By the one who speaks.”

Louise leaned her chair back and couldn’t think of what to say.

“And I would hear,” Eliza said. And then, like she was telling a secret, “And I know who would be speaking.”

Oh well. Maybe Byron was at least part right. “What do you think of Stephen Carter?”

“Stephen Carter. The young man of exactitude.”

“Of what? Exactitude. Well, yes, that sounds like a good word. I think we should appoint him.”

“Then I will begin listening.”

“You do that, Eliza. Does that mean you might vote yes?”

“That could be.”

“Did you come up with somebody?”

Randy stared at the telephone the same as last time, but at least he knew who he was talking to.

“I told you that you need to say who you are.”

“You know who I am. Who is it?”

“It’s you, Luke.”

For about the only time Randy could remember, Luke didn’t jump back with an answer. When he did, it didn’t mean anything.

“But I don’t live in Gold Valley.”

“Of course you don’t.”

“Come on, who is it?”

Randy had to stop a minute. “Why, you’re talking about the board. Don’t confuse me.”

“I’m not. Are you telling me or not?”

“It’s Steve Carter, from the Planning Commission. It’s Louise’s idea.”

“Steve Carter. So are you voting for him, Randy?”

“Luke, I don’t even know for sure that he wants to be on the board.”

“I’ll find out. If he does, how are you going to vote? If Louise and Joe vote for him and Eliza Gulotsky votes no, then it’ll be up to you.”

“I’ll have to think about it.”

“I’ll give you a day or two,” Luke said. “Then I’ll call you back.”

“You don’t need to bother. I won’t tell you.”

“No problem, Randy. I’ll just make something up. You know,
Sources
close to McCoy say he’ll be voting for the new board member.
Something like that.”

“What sources?”

“Me.”

“You’ll cause me all kinds of trouble if you do that,” Randy said. “But that won’t be anything out of the ordinary.”

What a glorious day it was. Not a cloud in the sky and all the gardens blooming. Just exploding! Every color a flower could be.

Byron had been wrong. It hadn’t taken more than half the day to see Eliza. And it surely had been an adventure!

Louise parked her car on Main Street just down from the salon to leave the spaces right in front for the customers. The ladies wouldn’t want to walk down the block to their car in the breeze right after they’d had their hair done.

And there was the courthouse sticking up over everything. That building would always remind her of Wade.

She peeked into the salon, just to see what went on when she wasn’t there, and then she pushed the door open. The girls jumped up from where they were sitting in their chairs talking.

“You won’t believe where I’ve been,” she said.

She was just getting ready to tell them when the door opened right behind her, and she had a sight she wouldn’t have believed.

“Joe! Well, look at you here.”

There he was, tall in the doorway, as out of place as a first gray hair.

“Afternoon,” he said. He didn’t seem to even notice the hair dryers and the pink floor, and the pictures on the walls of hairstyle models.

“Sit down right over here,” she said and she took him back to her desk. She just couldn’t imagine what he was doing there. She just barely kept from giggling. “Now, are you here to get your hair done?” He’d had that same short cut for at least thirty years.