* * *
Junior and Tom took out the quads in search of bears. Typically they used the quads to pull a small flatbed with equipment or to drag soil aerating attachments when the tractor was too large to get between the trees. They could cover the orchard once in little time but it was a big job to check all the fencing, up in all the trees with flashlights and then backtrack to make sure no wildlife had slipped by them and doubled back.
They were out till three in the morning. They never saw a bear. They did see plenty of bear scat—there was no question who’d been to call.
It was probable that the bear and her cubs exited the orchard after Duke gave them a talking to, but it was impossible to know for sure. This was disconcerting for several reasons. First of all, they weren’t sure whether these bears were nocturnal feeders—that wasn’t necessarily the rule. Tom had always assumed they avoided the orchard while there were a lot of workers around and broke in at dawn or dusk when the gate was closed and the workers were gone and the orchard quiet, but maybe they’d been breaking down the fence at night. But there was no evidence they came daily—bear were scavengers—they loved feeding in dumps. And they had a particular fondness for fish. The river ran along the other side of the orchard. They could go around the orchard to get to the river.
“Nora’s usually the first one here,” Tom said.
“She doesn’t come before sunup anymore,” Junior said. “Not these days.”
“I’m sure there’s no wildlife trapped in here,” Tom said as he pulled the gate closed. “Just the same…”
“I’ll be here early,” Junior said. “I’ll go get a couple of hours and be right back.”
The men shook hands, Junior got in his truck to depart and Tom went into the house. The rifle didn’t go back in the gun cabinet, but leaned up against the cupboard in the kitchen.
In the living room he found Maxie in her recliner sound asleep, a crocheted throw over her. She was wearing her slippers but otherwise hadn’t dressed for bed—she was still in her clothes, ready if there was any action. Beside her was Duke. He lifted his head when Tom came into the room and gave his tail a couple of thumps.
Tom scratched him under the chin and said, “Yeah, thanks, buddy. Good work.” And then, without even taking off his boots, he dropped onto the couch and closed his eyes.
* * *
Nora was up, dressed for work and sitting at her table with a cup of coffee, staring at the auction notice when Adie tapped softly at her door. Nora let her in and said, “Come in. I fixed you a cup of tea—it’s so cold this morning.”
There was no mistaking the worry in the old woman’s eyes. “Have you decided what to do?”
Nora smiled reassuringly, though she didn’t feel sure of anything. “I’ll think of something. I haven’t even talked to anyone about this yet—maybe Reverend Kincaid has ideas. Or Jed—he might have a suggestion. Try not to worry.” Or Tom, she secretly thought. What would Tom say about her being thrown out of her house?
“Did you even know this house had been foreclosed?”
Nora shook her head. “Maybe that happened a long time ago. There have been so many foreclosures in the country, I’m sure it’s hard to keep up. I’ve heard of people living in foreclosed property for a year or more before they’re actually evicted.”
Like me,
she thought.
“I’ll help in any way I can,” Adie said. “You’re always welcome in my home.”
“Thank you.” How like Adie, who didn’t have a nickel to spare or much room under her own roof.
It was early November; Thanksgiving was just around the corner. She had been unable to suppress fantasies of how this holiday season might be spent. She would certainly be spending time with Jed, but after this past week of being chased around the apple trees and kissed on any opportunity, she rather hoped Tom might want to make some holiday plans.
But everything in her mind changed when she got to the orchard. After letting herself into the gate and closing it behind her, she pulled up to the barn. And there, parked at the rear of the house, was the red car.
Her heart plummeted. She almost couldn’t breathe.
Nora gathered her mettle and got out of the car. Tom was not in his office, so she made coffee for him; likely he was sleeping a little later than usual this morning since he’d had a house guest last night. Spirit almost broken, she grabbed a bag and a ladder, pulled on her gloves and went into the trees to get to work.
* * *
Tom woke to the aroma of coffee and bacon, the sun not yet up. He hadn’t moved an inch in about three hours; his feet were still on the floor. He groaned, coughed and stood up.
Maxie turned from the stove when he entered the kitchen. “Bear?”
“Never saw one,” he said. “But if they were hiding in the orchard, they were damn good and quiet. We saw plenty of bear shit, though. Duke outted them.”
“I heard a snore from the couch at about three-thirty… .”
“I didn’t even want to bother with the stairs. Did you get any sleep?”
“On and off. I kept waiting to hear a rifle shot.”
“Darla?” he asked.
“She went to bed not long after you left. I guess she wasn’t interested in waiting up.”
He just shook his head and scratched his itching beard. “I’m going to get a shower. I’ll be down in a few.”
He went to his room, gathered fresh clothes to take to the bathroom and stripped to his waist. The sun was still shy, but a soft glow came from outside the bathroom window. While he shaved, he thought. While he was not the least happy about the circumstances, now dealing with Darla was going to be considerably easier. He wasn’t sure how she survived in her world, but there was no way she could make it in his.
A lot of cruel things sprang to mind—like the fact that she was so self-centered she couldn’t even manage to close the orchard gate much less carry her own briefcase. He wouldn’t say these things, of course. But if he didn’t tell her there was no chemistry between them and send her on her way, Maxie just might. Maxie was getting more outspoken by the year.
He laughed to himself as he was pulling on clean jeans after his shower—he’d better lock up that rifle just in case Darla got the notion to try to convince Maxie it was time to pack up her things and go to some retirement home.
He’d barely pulled on his jeans in the steamy bathroom when he heard a glass-breaking female scream from the orchard.
“Nora!” he said aloud.
He ran down the stairs, taking them about three at a time. “Duke,” he yelled to the dog. “Duke, show me the bear!” Though barefoot and bare-chested, he grabbed the rifle as he passed through the kitchen, Duke on his heels.
Duke, apparently over his fright from last night, got low and fast and shot into the trees, snarling. Tom ran like his life was at stake…or Nora’s…and was so grateful Duke was the only one he heard growling.
She screamed again and added, “Help! Oh, God!”
Duke was way ahead and just might get the bear off Nora, even as old as Duke was. “Nora!” he yelled just so she would know he was coming. And then he turned into the trees to follow Duke, who was barking wildly. And Nora screamed again.
When he saw her, it took a second to process. Was she throwing apples at a big black bear? Screaming and throwing apples?
“Get behind the tree,” he yelled, taking aim.
Nora bolted behind the nearest tree and yelled, “Tom! Behind you!”
He turned in time to see a cub behind him; damn cubs were getting big. He had the rifle trained on the mother, who stood on her hind legs, accommodating him. He was all done playing around with this one—he fired. One. Two. Three. The first one caused her to stop, the second made her stumble back, the third knocked her down. It was a lot of rifle; she wouldn’t be getting up.
“Duke!” he commanded. “Come!” And the dog moved away from the dead bear, coming to Tom’s side.
Tom moved slowly toward Nora and the cub ran to his dead mother, standing on all fours beside her, nudging her. He looked around for the other cubs and that was when he thought he understood what had happened. Nora’s ladder was set up to take her in to the tree branches and there, in one of the big old trees, were two bear cubs.
She backed away, her hand covering her mouth, shaking like a leaf. With her back against the trunk, she slid weakly to the ground. “It’s okay now,” he said. “The cubs won’t bother us.”
She just put her hands over her face and sobbed. “God, oh, God,” she kept saying.
He heard some distant sounds—Junior’s truck, the slamming of the porch door, talking. Positioning himself so he could keep an eye on the mother bear to be sure she didn’t rally, he put his rifle on the ground and knelt beside Nora. He gently pulled her hands away from her face. “It’s all right now. It’s over.”
“I was on the ladder,” she said, her voice shaking. “I came nose-to-nose with a bear!”
“I figured. And the mother?”
“Back in there. I screamed and fell off the ladder and she came through those trees.”
“And you threw apples at her?” he asked.
She nodded. “I was going to hold her off with the ladder.”
A small huff of laughter escaped him. He put a finger under her chin and lifted, giving her a small kiss. “You scared me to death,” he said.
“Join the club,” she said, a hiccup in her voice.
“Why didn’t you come to the house when you got here?”
She gave a little shrug and looked down. “Red Caddy,” she said softly.
Tom noticed Junior out of the corner of his eye, rifle in hand and pointed down, giving the dead bear a kick to see if she moved. The action caused the cub to skitter away. The ground was getting soaked with blood—that bear was done. He looked at Nora. “Yeah, that. I didn’t know she was coming.”
“You didn’t invite her?” she asked.
“I told her I was going hunting. I didn’t know it was true. Remind me to tell you some important lessons about lies.” Then he swiveled toward Junior and said, “We have three cubs to round up.”
“They were here all night,” Junior said.
“Most likely.” Then he swiveled back to Nora, ignoring Junior. “Are you going to be all right?” he asked softly.
“Eventually…”
He leaned toward her and kissed her again, this time a little more deeply. She put a hand against his bare chest and against his lips she whispered, “You must be freezing.”
“Ha. Not hardly. Is steam coming off me?”
She massaged his chest a bit with one hand, right over a tattoo. “I’ve never been so scared.”
“Come on,” he said, standing and pulling her up. When she was on her feet he pulled her against him for a moment, just holding her. He kissed the top of her head. As he finally let her go, he kept an arm around her shoulders, holding her close against his side, and said, “Let’s get you to the house. Then I have to help Junior with these cubs.”
When he turned he saw not only Maxie standing behind him, Duke at her side, but also Darla. And Darla had a horrified look on her face, but she wasn’t gazing at the dead bear. She was looking at Tom and Nora. And as she met Tom’s eyes, she lifted her chin indignantly and whirled away, marching fast toward the house.
Nora looked up at him. “I think I’d rather go to the office. Or maybe just home. Is there workman’s comp for bear scares?”
“Let me take you to the kitchen. Maxie will make you some tea or something, make sure you stop shaking before you go home.”
“I don’t feel like tangling with Darla. She looked pretty pissed.”
“Yeah,” he said, taking a deep breath. “I don’t feel like tangling with her, either, but it has to be done.”
“Good, you do it,” she said, pulling away. “I’m going home to hug my children. I came a little too close to orphaning them.” She allowed herself a small smile. “Thank you—you were pretty magnificent. That bear was going to eat me.”
“I spent half the night looking for that damn bear and her cubs. Darla showed up just after dark and she didn’t close the gate. Duke let us know there was a bear.”
She gave his naked chest a pat. “Well, I’m sure she’s very upset. You better go see if she’s all right. I’m going home.” And she walked down the lane to her car, parked by the barn. “Good luck,” she said to him, giving him a wave.
* * *
Tom grabbed a shirt and jacket and went to help Junior round up the cubs, which turned out more like a game for all the orchard workers as they were on the run. The men carried rakes and shovels to try to direct the cubs into a corner where they would be trapped. The gate remained closed so they wouldn’t escape into the forest; they were probably mature enough to survive, but it would be better if an expert made that decision. A couple of hours later someone from Fish and Game arrived with a flatbed attached to a big truck to take away the bear carcass; an hour after that, animal control arrived to transport the cubs to a holding facility.
All this time there was no sign of Darla and the red Caddy remained parked at the back of the house. He stood outside his office staring at that damn car. It would probably have been best if she’d gotten angry enough to leave while he was playing tag with cubs because there was little doubt in his mind she was going to be angry enough to leave after they talked.
“Girl trouble?” Junior asked him.
“What makes you say that?” Tom returned.
“Well, one charged out of here after a bear nearly ate her and in case you think no one was paying attention, she wouldn’t go in the house because the other one was in there. And the other one is still in there and you keep looking at that car like you wish it would disappear.”
“You’re smarter than you look,” Tom said.
Junior scratched his head. “I ain’t that smart. I’m divorced.” Then he turned back to the barn.
Tom took a breath and headed for the house. Maxie was in the kitchen, as usual. She was pouring a pot of soup into a large container.
“Where is she?” Tom asked quietly.
“In her room. Pouting.”
“Okay. I’ll take care of this.”
“I’m leaving,” Maxie said. “I’m going into town to check on Nora, bring her some soup. I’m going to stay gone for at least a couple of hours. I’d be very happy if the drama could be over when I get home.”
“It will be,” Tom said. But he was thinking,
Why the hell can’t someone just shoot me?