I did. You can ask her tonight.”
Ginny nodded. “I will.”
She got her chance when his sister Jenny came through the back door, just as they finished cleaning up after dinner.
Jen stopped in her tracks, pretending to be surprised. “You didn’t save me any?”
“You hate macaroni and cheese, Aunt Jen.” Ginny gave her a hug. “Was Daddy really a pest when he was little?”
“The worst.” Jen sat at the table and pulled Ginny close to her side. Mat the Cat jumped onto her lap and settled with a purr as Ginny rubbed his ears. “I could never get rid of him. And he would take my stuff and hide it. I still haven’t found my favorite Barbie doll—the one I painted to look like a Shoshone warrior.”
Rob leaned his hips back against the counter, tapping one finger against his temple, as if thinking hard. “Oh, yeah. Where did I put that?” He shook his head. “Nope, can’t remember. It’s gone forever. Ready for your bath, Gin?”
She heaved a huge sigh. “I guess so.”
“Don’t sound so put-upon.” Jen got to her feet, pulling her shoulder-length, silvery blond hair into a ponytail with a band on her wrist. “I brought new bath lotion—bubblegum scent.”
“Cool.” Ginny led the way out of the kitchen. In a few minutes, her giggles floated down the hallway on the sound of water flowing into the tub.
As Rob folded the dish towel and turned out the kitchen light, Jen stuck her head around the doorframe. “You okay?”
He straightened his shoulders. “Sure.”
“You look…tired.”
“Long day.” Weren’t they all?
“Another argument with Dad?”
“Among other things. How about you?”
Her face dropped its smiling mask. “Sure. I’m okay.” Sadness clouded her eyes, but then she shook her head. “We’ll be done in a while. I’ll go through her exercises with her tonight. You take it easy.”
“Thanks, Jen. I’ll be outside.” Rob pulled a beer out of the fridge and carried it to the back porch, shutting the door behind him to keep the cool air in and the hot evening out. Despite the high cost of air-conditioning, he wouldn’t think about turning the thermostat up. Ginny couldn’t sleep if the house got hot. And they both needed her sleep.
As he shook off the disloyal thought, he heard a car door slam out in front of the house. The side gate creaked open, and his friend, Pete Mitchell, came into the yard.
“’Evening,” Rob said, lifting his beer in a toast. “Want one?”
“Sounds great.”
When Rob left the house this time, Mat the Cat came with him. The orange tiger started to rub up against Pete’s leg, then took a sniff and darted down the steps into the grass. “I guess he smells Miss Dixie on my jeans.” Sitting on the step beside Rob, Pete took the beer and cracked open the top. “I stopped to feed her before I came over.”
“Yeah, Mat’s not real fond of the canine club. No classes tonight?” The state trooper organized and managed a nightly school program for teenagers who’d run afoul of the law.
“Friday night doesn’t draw enough kids to make the effort worthwhile. Jen’s inside with Ginny? How’s she holding up?” Pete had been part of the law enforcement procession during the funeral of Jenny’s fiancé, killed in the line of duty back in June.
“She says okay. What else can she say?” Rob took a draw on his beer. “Where’s your better half? And your half pint?”
“There’s a wedding shower for Jacquie Archer at Dixon Bell’s house, so I’m on my own. Mary Rose took Joey with her. I guess babies and weddings kinda go together, don’t they?” Pete leaned back against the step behind him.
“That’s the best way, so I hear.”
“I ate supper down at the diner with DeVries and Bell—both of them making do without wives tonight, like me. But, man, I hate being a bachelor again. Just doesn’t feel right.” After a swig of his beer, Pete threw him a sidelong glance. “That was a dumb thing to say. Sorry.”
“No problem.” Although Rob had been one of the first in their high school class to walk down the aisle, his three best friends and basketball buddies had caught up with him in the last couple of years. Along with Pete, Dixon Bell and Adam DeVries had each found a woman to share their lives with. Now Jacquie Archer, another friend of theirs from high school, had a wedding in the works. “I guess love is in the air these days in New Skye.”
“So it’s your turn.” His friend punched him in the shoulder. “We need to find you a nice woman of your own.”
Rob snorted. “Yeah, right. It’s not that big a town, Pete. I already know every eligible woman—grew up with most of them—and the prospects aren’t good. Besides…” He finished his beer. “I’ve got responsibilities nobody else can take on.”
“Ginny doing well?”
“Sure. We enrolled in the Girls Outdoors! troop at school this afternoon. I’m gonna be assistant leader.”
“Girls Outdoors?”
“Like the Scouts. Camping, hiking, all that jazz.”
“With a bunch of little girls?” Pete shook his head. “Man, that’s gotta be crazy.”
They sat for a long time, talking a little now and then as the August twilight deepened and the air cooled. Just before dark, the door behind them opened and Ginny came out slowly, using her crutches without leg braces.
“Hi, Uncle Pete.”
She couldn’t sit easily beside him, so he gently hugged her around the hips. “Don’t you smell good? Like bubblegum. Be careful—somebody’s gonna chew you up.”
Ginny giggled. “You’re silly. Where’s Joey?”
“His mom has him at a party, and I imagine he’s being spoiled rotten as we speak.” Pete got to his feet as Jen came outside. “So how’s your first month on the EMT service going?”
She smiled, the mask firmly back in place. “Excellent, thanks. I’m sure it’s the right thing for me to do.”
“That’s all well and good, but we sure do miss you in the shop,” Rob said. “You don’t even want to know what your files look like at this point.”
She squeezed her eyes shut for a second. “I can imagine. Dad takes ’em out of the drawer and just piles them on the desk when he’s done. I guess he expects the file fairy to come in overnight and put everything back. I’m off this weekend—I’ll take a few hours and straighten up the mess.”
Rob nodded. “That would be a godsend. I’m getting so many calls these days I don’t have time for paperwork except at night. I hate having those files piled high and getting mixed
