Holiday Homecoming. Pamela Tracy

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СКАЧАТЬ the center of cornstalks didn’t work for Jimmy. Gesippi, Arizona, was once home to the Tohono O’odham and Akimel O’odham Indians, expert crop growers who would laugh at Danny’s efforts. From the nearby Santa Catalina Mountains, to the Saguaro National Park, to every lake in between, Jimmy preferred natural beauty. Yellow plastic–striped rows of corn just didn’t do it.

      “I’m thinking,” Danny said, “that I’ll stop the quad at the end of a row and walk the plastic down.”

      “Walk?”

      “Well, more like unroll,” Danny admitted. “Maybe just the first few to get a feel of how I want it placed and how it’s going to settle.”

      “What do you need me to do?”

      “Nothing right now. I’ll anchor it on the quad. Shouldn’t be too hard to unroll.”

      “Okay, see you back at the house.”

      Jimmy could tell him that this was a two-man job. The roll would get stuck and one brother would need to run back to untangle it while the other pulled and straightened. But if Jimmy volunteered to stick around, he’d not be able to ride down the road and satisfy his curiosity about the SUV. Clearly the mysterious SUV was connected to Raymond Stone, and that both worried and relieved him. Strange how quickly Gesippi had settled around Jimmy, tapping him on the shoulder and reminding him that he could leave the small town but the small town wouldn’t leave him. He and Briana, his daughter, had only been back a week, which had been plenty long enough for Jimmy to notice that Ray’s body was weakening, his mind was somewhat confused and he was uncharacteristically grumpy.

      As they were Ray’s nearest neighbor, Jimmy’s aunt and uncle had plenty to say about Ray being alone. Mostly how lately they sometimes saw the beam of his flashlight in the middle of the night and heard him shouting in the distance. “As if he’s calling for someone or something,” Aunt Shari had said.

      He wondered if he should go over there. Jimmy didn’t care what the Stone family thought of him; he’d more than paid for his decade-old lapse in judgment. Looking over at Danny, Jimmy felt a moment’s guilt. Actually, Danny had paid more dearly. But maybe now with Danny getting married to the right girl this time, the relationship between the Stones and the Murphys would start to heal.

      Besides, Jimmy loved Ray Stone as if he was his own grandpa. The man had taught Jimmy to sit a sheep, wrestle a steer and ride a bull.

      His mind made up, Jimmy headed for his white Dodge 250 truck, brushing his hands on his shirt. He thought briefly about going inside and washing up, but if he did, Aunt Shari would either want to feed him or want to know what he was doing.

      As he approached, he noticed the brown SUV was parked in front of the house. That told Jimmy the driver was a return visitor. A stranger would have stopped just past the road.

      He parked behind the SUV as the porch door opened and a slender girl came out. No, not a girl, a woman. One he knew well. Meredith Stone, all long golden-brown hair, pink sweaters, and endless energy and smiles.

      At least that’s how he remembered her.

      Today her hair was pulled back in a loose ponytail, and her hoodie was black. Judging by the way she hurried down the front walkway toward him, the energy was still there, but the smile was gone.

      This wasn’t good.

      He almost opened his mouth to tell her how not good her sudden appearance was. Now was the worst time for her to return, just weeks before Danny got married.

      Danny still avoided mentioning her name.

      Heck, sometimes Jimmy couldn’t choke it out, either.

      But before he could say anything, Meredith skidded to a stop right in front of him, panic in her eyes, and said, “I can’t find Grandpa.”

       CHAPTER THREE

      WHILE JIMMY CALLED his aunt Shari and quickly gave her the rundown, Meredith paced. She hadn’t changed, not one bit, in the years since he’d seen her last. Today, she was like a two-year-old colt, not quite broke and wanting to move. She wanted to search some more, with or without him.

      Hanging up, Jimmy said, “Aunt Shari will get a hold of the neighbors. We’ll spread out and cover more territory. Don’t worry, we’ll find him.”

      “My brother’s on his way,” Meredith said. “He’s trying to get a hold of my parents. I—I didn’t know who else to call. I was about to call your uncle, when you drove up.”

      Considering that the Stones and Murphys had been neighbors for more than thirty years, she shouldn’t have hesitated. “You can always call my dad, me, my uncle—” he looked her right in the eye “—my brother.”

      “I’m so flustered,” Meredith muttered, “that I couldn’t remember a phone number for anyone in your family.”

      Any other day, any other moment, Jimmy might have smiled. There’d been a time when Meredith had talked to both him and his brother on the phone daily, either talking or texting. Usually she’d been trying to organize their day to her liking. He’d always reorganized. Danny had actually followed her directions.

      But now she looked ready to cry, something she didn’t do easily. He knew that firsthand.

      “I’m usually spot on in an emergency,” she muttered.

      He knew that, too. “You’re sure Ray’s not in the house?”

      “I’m sure. The house wasn’t that hard to search.”

      No, Jimmy had to agree with that. There were three bedrooms, which made up half the house. A kitchen, bathroom and living room made up the other half.

      “You went downstairs?”

      “I did.”

      She’d never much liked the basement, Jimmy remembered. It was half finished, which bothered her to no end, and most of it was dirt walls. Sometimes snakes managed to get in.

      Though that had never bothered Meredith. She’d just caught them, taken them outside and let them go. He’d helped her—and fallen in love. Who wouldn’t fall in love with a girl who thought snakes deserved a second chance?

      “Pepper keeps barking,” Meredith said impatiently. “I can hear him in the distance. I’ve shouted his name until I’m hoarse. I tried to follow the sound, but I can’t figure out where he is. Once I thought he yelped, like he was hurt, so I decided to come back and get help. On top of everything else, I had to keep searching for a location to get cell-phone reception.”

      Jimmy checked his own phone again. All the bars showed and the signal was strong. “You want to stay here at the house and wait, or come with me?”

      She didn’t hesitate. “I’m coming with you.”

      As they stepped out the back door, in the distance Jimmy, too, could hear Pepper’s barks.

      “Sounds like Pepper’s well past the end of the field.”

      Meredith agreed. “At least to the foothill.”

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