The Family Gathering

  Sedona spilled some of her story—her husband was threatening divorce if she didn’t get mental help! And she’d spent ten days in a mental hospital, and while the medication did make her feel better, it had not been a great experience. She’d been frightened and isolated. She missed her children desperately but was terrified to go home.

  Alice made tea and Sedona began to clean the kitchen and the refrigerator. And she found there was laundry to do. The bathroom needed attention, serious attention. All the while they talked. They talked almost through the night while Sedona cleaned and Alice nodded off in the chair, but it was all right, she said. She hadn’t really gone to bed at bedtime since her husband died. She’d slept in her chair, about two hours here, two hours there, bored and lonely and always tired.

  This is how I will be, but no one will set up accounts or watch over me, Sedona thought.

  Sedona had grown to fear the bed—it meant only anxiety and restlessness for her. She saw herself in Alice, a lonely old woman who was seen as a burden, a problem.

  That was almost a week ago. The locks on the doors were strong, but Alice didn’t get frazzled when Sedona checked them several times a day. The park at dawn or dusk was refreshing and Sedona told Alice more than she’d told her therapist and Alice had told her life story over and over again. The same story actually—she repeated herself. Sedona didn’t mind. Sedona cleaned and cooked and taught Alice how to order her groceries by the phone and made her a small chart to check off her meals when she ate them. Sedona kept track of every nickel and promised to send Alice a check when they parted ways. She promised to pay her half and, in the meantime, made lovely little meals for them to share.

  Sedona had been missing for ten days. She left the hospital on a Thursday, stayed over the weekend in Maggie’s house, left there on a Monday with the intention of flying home to Connecticut but lost her purse, her phone, her money and hooked up with Alice out of necessity. And she was actually quite happy despite her obvious issues. Alice didn’t question Sedona’s behavior or fuss that she was disturbed by her quirky rituals, like folding and refolding the towels, taking three steps into a room, then three backward steps out and then back in.

  But on their sixth day together, Alice’s son called as he did every Sunday morning. And Alice said, “I’ve never been so happy. I have the loveliest roommate! Her name is Sedona!”

  A loving heart is the truest wisdom.

  —CHARLES DICKENS

  13

  DAKOTA AND HIS band of volunteers were not getting off to a prompt start. Up till now it had only been a few people to manage but fifteen was a bit daunting. Sister Mary Jacob stepped up to the plate, fetched clipboards out of her car, while Dakota rummaged around for paper in Maggie’s study. Everyone in the group hunted for pens and the nun, a born organizer, begin to assign areas. While they were doing that Cal, Maggie and Sully arrived, Elizabeth with them. Introductions were made and instructions repeated.

  Even though they had canvassed much of the area between the restaurant where Sedona was last seen and Maggie’s house, they had not gone to the neighborhood in the other direction, away from the restaurant, so that was the mission of the volunteers for this particular Sunday. They went down the sidewalk in pairs, headed for the neighborhood just past the small park, when two police cruisers rushed past them, lights flashing but no sirens.

  “This used to be such a quiet neighborhood,” Maggie said. “Nothing but excitement the last couple of weeks.”

  Dakota’s cell phone was ringing in his pocket and he pulled it out. It was Detective Santana. “Where are you?” he asked Dakota.

  “Just outside my sister’s house. Less than a block away with a group of volunteers. What’s going on?”

  “I think we might have found her but we’ll need your ID. The son of an elderly woman called the police and said a woman named Sedona was holding his mother hostage...”

  “Hostage! She wouldn’t do that! Where is she?”

  “The police are en route to Felder Avenue, just three blocks from Dr. Sullivan’s house.”

  “I see them!” Dakota shouted into the phone. He began to jog down the street where the two police cruisers were parked diagonally in front of a little house and the officers were crouched behind the cars, weapons drawn. “Holy shit, what are you doing?” he yelled.

  “Stay back, sir! Get down the street and take cover until this is resolved!”

  “Is my sister in there? Sedona Packard? She wouldn’t hold anyone hostage! Sedona!” he yelled, walking right into the police officers’ line of fire. “Sedona! Come out!”

  He was suddenly tackled. He went down hard with a very heavy police officer on top of him, a knee in his back. He realized a little late that it was lucky he didn’t get shot. “Don’t move,” the officer said. Dakota felt his hands roughly pulled behind him and handcuffs slapped on his wrists.

  “The detective just called, he’s on the phone! Let me see if my sister is in there! Take my phone,” Dakota pleaded. “Talk to Santana. Come on, man, have you lost your mind?”

  “The house is not secure!”

  The front door squeaked open and an elderly woman with wiry white hair wearing a purple pantsuit and bedroom slippers stood in the doorway. She just stood there, looking at the scene on her front lawn with a confused look on her face.

  “What in the world are you people doing?” she asked.

  Sedona stepped up behind the old woman, her hands on the woman’s shoulders. Immediately, the police started shouting at her to show her hands and come out of the house slowly.

  Sedona had a stricken look on her face, but she did as she was told and the crowd of volunteers was converging rapidly on the two officers and Dakota. Cal ran toward them, waving one of his flyers with her picture on it, trying to rapidly explain that they’d been looking for Sedona for a week.

  Ignoring the police, Cal pulled her into his embrace. “What are you doing here?” he asked.

  “I just wanted a little time,” she said. “I’m afraid the bunch of you and Bob will have me committed.”

  Maggie ran up to them. “Sedona, no one can have you committed unless you’re a danger to yourself or others. You’re panicked, that’s all. We’ll find the right kind of help for you.”

  “Bob will be furious,” she said. “He’ll—”

  “Bob is worried sick,” Dakota said from his place on the grass. He’d wrangled himself into a sitting position, hands cuffed behind his back. “Will you get these goddamn things off me?” he shouted.

  “Hey, Bud,” the second officer said, holding his cell phone away from his ear. “This is our missing person. Santana is on his way into the station. We’re going to meet him there with Mrs. Packard.”

  “And me,” Cal said. “I’m her brother and attorney.”

  “And I’m her sister-in-law and doctor,” Maggie said.

  “And I’m her brother and the guy who’s going to sue your asses!” Dakota said.

  “He’s a little cranky,” Cal said. “Let him go, huh? Otherwise, he’s going to make this worse than it already is.”

  “Maybe we should wait awhile,” the first cop said. “See if he can behave. We already know he can’t listen or follow orders.”

  “You don’t know the half of it,” Cal said.

  “What about Alice?” Sedona asked.

  “Alice?” three people said in unison.

  Sedona turned and looked at the elderly woman in the doorway. She just stood there, waiting. But a couple of tears made paths down her cheeks. “Oh, Alice,” Sedona said, walking back to her and enfolding her in her arms. “Oh, dear Alice, you took such good care of me.”

  “I didn’t,” she said, her voice weak and trembling. “I didn’t do anything for you. And you were my friend.”

  “Well, we knew it was going to have to end. I have a family.” She looked over her shoulder
. “A lot of family. And you have to talk to your son.”

  “Hmph,” she said, wiping her eyes. “Is it too late to cut him out of my will?”

  Sedona laughed and wiped her own eyes. “He only wants you to be safe,” she said.

  “I’m not so sure about that,” Alice said. Then she gave a tremulous smile. “My house has never been so clean. Even before I was old.”

  “One of my gifts,” Sedona said. “It comes at a dear price, trust me.”

  Alice got a shocked look. “Do I owe you something?”

  “No, no, of course not. I just meant... Oh, never mind what I meant.” She kissed the old woman’s cheek. “Thank you for taking care of me.”

  “A lot of people seem to want you,” Alice said.

  Sedona looked at the crowd. She didn’t know most of them.

  “This is going to take some sorting out,” one of the officers said, approaching Sedona.

  Maggie came to her side. “I’ll go with you, Sedona. Your brothers will come. We’ll call Bob right away—he’s very worried. Everything is going to be okay now.”

  * * *

  Sedona had only been three short blocks from Maggie’s house, but since it was in the opposite direction of the restaurant the search hadn’t covered that area and Alice and Sedona had never noticed the flyers posted everywhere. It was unclear if Sedona had lost her purse or left it at the restaurant or if it had been stolen but her credit cards had been used until they were shut off by companies. It was possible Sedona left it and someone took advantage.

  Sedona told her story, an emotional ordeal for sure. To her, it was all very logical. She signed herself out of the hospital and went to Maggie’s house, where she used her time alone to prepare herself for how she’d work things out with her family. But her medication wore off and panic set in. As she had done for many years, she forced herself to leave the house, get dinner, make a reservation, behave in a socially acceptable manner. It was very likely the panic that caused her to leave her purse behind. By the time she got to the park without her purse, her phone, her money, she was exhausted and frightened. That’s where Alice found her and took her in.

  “I’m kind of embarrassed I didn’t think of that scenario myself,” Maggie said. Sedona was released to the custody of her brothers and sister-in-law. Maggie called Dr. Tayama to report that Sedona was safe and asked her to prescribe the best mild sedative for her condition.

  Bob was on his way. Dakota and Sidney were told they could head back to Timberlake, but they decided to stay until they could see Sedona and Bob reunited. Sedona was tense despite a sedative, but Bob was so relieved to see her he just put his arms around her and said, “Let’s get this fixed, honey.”

  Dakota and Sidney finally did escape. They were in two cars. Dakota leaned into her window. “Let’s go somewhere for the night,” he said. “There’s a lodge on our way—the Pinewood Lodge. Give me just a second to call them and make sure they have a room, then will you follow me there?”

  “Sounds perfect,” she said.

  A moment later, he put his phone back in his pocket. He smiled. “Twenty-four-hour room service,” he said.

  In forty minutes they were pulling into a little hideaway in the mountains. Ten minutes later they were entering a room with a view of the Rockies and a lush valley below them. They had a small deck, a king-size bed, a spa tub and each other.

  “It’s been a long, stressful week for you,” Sid said. “Good outcome, but a long one.”

  “Thank God she’s okay and safe.” He laughed. “Thank God I didn’t go to jail!”

  “Yeah, you’re going to want to avoid making a habit of that.”

  “I know,” he said, running a hand through his hair. “How fast can you be naked?”

  She laughed in spite of herself. “You’re impossibly romantic, you know that?”

  He grabbed her around the waist. “I must knock you off your feet, huh?”

  She ran her fingers through his short beard. “As a matter of fact...”

  * * *

  They enjoyed a delicious dinner of trout, rice, grilled asparagus with a cream sauce and beet salad. “It’s like eating a rainbow,” Sid said.

  “We have to remember this place,” Dakota said.

  After dinner they showered and got into bed. Dakota pulled her into his arms and began to slowly and thoroughly worship her body. He kissed every inch of her, from her eyelids to her toes, pausing here and there to deliver some special attention with his tongue and fingers. When he found her lips at last, she was breathless.

  “You’re right about the beard,” she whispered. “There are times it really is magnificent.”

  “Works for me, too,” he whispered back. “Have I mentioned how much I love your body? Your body is so good to my body.”

  “Quit playing around and come inside,” she said.

  “Ah, the lady is ready...”

  “I’ve been ready,” she said. “I love the way you love me. I didn’t know it could be like this.”

  “Say no more, sweetheart,” he said, covering her with his body and bringing it home, taking extreme pleasure in the sighs of pleasure she made. He rocked with her, and when her legs circled his waist, he rode her. He kissed her deeply as she gripped his shoulders, her nails digging into his shoulders. He loved the feel of that passion in her fingertips and then, with a small cry, she came, throbbing around him. It filled him with the urgency he loved and he joined her, letting go, pulsing until there was nothing left in him.

  “Oh God,” she muttered. “I’m completely hooked on you. You do that so well.”

  “I thought it was you,” he said. “Shit! That condom’s still sitting on the bedside table—”

  She giggled. “We’re okay. I started the pill. I was saving it as a surprise.”

  “Well, that explains why it was just slightly better this time,” he said, burrowing deeper. “We have a nice little routine.”

  “There’s nothing routine about it,” she said, holding him closer.

  He rolled onto his side, bringing her with him. “When I came to Colorado, I had no idea what I’d find.” He gently tucked her hair behind her ear. “I never imagined I would find you. I wasn’t looking for this, but God...I think finding you is the best thing that could have happened to me.”

  “And here I thought you just wanted to get laid,” she said, humor in her voice.

  “Oh, don’t get me wrong, I’m usually open to getting laid. But with you I have so much more. I think you’re my best friend.”

  Her eyes widened. She looked shocked.

  “Why are you surprised? I love all the time we spend together.” A low rumble of laughter tumbled out of him. “I admit, I like this part a lot. But on top of everything else, you’re a true friend. Sid, I know you want us to be cool, but you’re going to have to adjust to a reality. I’m in love with you.”

  “Cody...” she said in a breath.

  “Shh, you don’t have to say anything. I know you’re trying to find yourself, that you were a little lost after your divorce. That’s okay. I’ve been there. And I’ll be right here when you’re ready. I’m hoping for a good outcome.”

  “Oh, Cody, I think you’re magic.”

  “I’m glad you think so. I’m planning to pull something out of my sleeve that will last forever. I think we both deserve it. Now kiss me and I’ll take care of you again.”

  “You are a magician...”

  Deep in the night, Dakota woke to the sensation of small, soft, urgent hands boldly caressing him. Soft, sleepy laughter rumbled out of him. “Someone woke up frisky,” he said. “And wanted me to wake up, too.”

  “You were already awake,” she said, turning toward him. “At least some of you!”

  “Do you need me to take care of you? Again?”

  “Could you just put me back to sleep,” sh
e said. “If it’s not too much trouble.” Then she wiggled closer and put her leg over his. He responded by turning her onto her back and taking his place between her thighs. “I thought you might do this in your sleep.”

  “I can,” he said. “With you, it’s the most natural thing in the world.”

  He made love to her in her favorite way. It was so amazing to him—they hadn’t been lovers for very long and yet they had such a satisfying routine. He knew exactly how to touch her, rub her, stroke her, kiss her and bring her to a shattering climax while he held her in his arms. When she was complete and her eyes gently closed, he kissed her eyelids. “Better, honey?”

  “Better,” she said. Then she rolled onto her side and he curled around her.

  “You’re so good for me, Sid,” he said in a hoarse whisper. “I hope I’m good for you.”

  “Mmm,” she said, nestling closer.

  “You’re so good for me,” he whispered. “I know you’re too good for me. I just might become a better man if I put an effort into deserving you.”

  She didn’t move.

  “Sid?” he asked softly. She didn’t move. He softly kissed her neck. “Good night. I love you.”

  * * *

  Tom Canaday had a good-size backyard, large enough for a vegetable garden, patio and a fire pit surrounded by a few chairs. His oldest son, Jackson, was twenty-one and making great progress in college, studying architecture. Jackson was going to the University of Colorado in the fall to complete his degree, and for this, he would have to live away from home. Tom was grieving; Jackson was ecstatic.

  Tom was dealing with a lot more than Jackson going off to finish college, so when his son walked into the kitchen at about nine on a Saturday night, it all came to mind. “Hey, you’re home!” Tom said. “No date tonight?”

  “Shelly is having girls’ night,” he said. “I just dropped her at Brooke’s, where several girls have gathered to do secret things.”