Suddenly Home. Loree Lough

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СКАЧАТЬ jumped onto the window ledge to watch him back down the drive, continued staring until the pickup was completely out of sight. Then he aimed a golden-eyed stare at Taylor.

      “Don’t look at me like that. It isn’t my fault your new best friend is gone, is it?”

      He leapt to the floor and pranced off, as if to say, “It most certainly is your fault.”

      The phone rang, and Taylor picked it up. “It’s just me,” her uncle said, “calling to—”

      “To make sure whoever was at the door hasn’t chopped me into little pieces and stuffed me into the garbage disposal?”

      “Miss Rosie’s posies, Taylor. What a thing to say!”

      “Sorry, Unc.” And she meant it.

      “You can never be too sure these days, y’know.”

      “I know.” She’d been hearing the “be careful” lecture since her mother’s death.

      “What say we get to the brunch early, put in an appearance, fill our bellies and hotfoot it outta there?”

      Laughing, Taylor said, “You’re one of a kind. I just have to shower and dress. See you in about an hour.”

      “Remember…Sunday drivers…”

      “Yeah. Crazy.”

      From nowhere, a picture of Alex Van Buren flashed in her mind. Taylor swallowed a lump of regret. Why hadn’t she invited him to the church social? He’d certainly seemed interested enough when he noticed the bulletin…. “I’ll be careful,” she told her uncle, “so don’t worry.”

      “I always worry,” he said.

      And she knew it was true.

      She hit every green light and didn’t get behind a single slowpoke. Her uncle was sure to think she’d been speeding. Rather than go through the rigmarole of explaining how she’d made the trip in record time, Taylor drove around his block a few times. It was a lovely sunny day, and she took advantage of the extra moments by taking in the summer foliage glowing on both sides of the street.

      “Well, let’s get this nonsense over with,” Uncle Dave grumbled when he got into the passenger seat, “so I can go home and turn on the sports channel.”

      “Nice to see you, too,” she kidded.

      “Don’t get wise with me, young lady,” he teased right back. “You’re not too old to stand in the corner, y’know.” He buckled his seat belt and locked the door. “When was the last time you had your oil changed?” he asked from out of the blue. “And how’s the air pressure in your tires? Have you checked the windshield washer fluid lately?”

      Taylor groaned inwardly. He could be such a worrywart. But he meant well, and she loved him like crazy for it. “I took care of everything last week, remember…the guy at the station told me I needed new wiper blades and—”

      “Oh, yeah. Little whippersnapper was just tryin’ to rip you off. Good thing you set him straight. He’ll know better’n to mess with you again.”

      She gave an affirmative nod. They drove in silence for a few minutes. Taylor’s mind wandered to her morning visitor. She couldn’t imagine what her uncle might be thinking…and didn’t dare ask.

      The instant she pulled into a parking slot in the church lot, Uncle Dave got out of the car and tugged at his jacket sleeves. “Good golly, Miss Molly. There’s Mable Jensen over there. Quick! Hide me before I have to listen to another rendition of her hip replacement surgery.”

      But it was too late.

      “Yoo-hoo,” Mable called, waving a lace-trimmed hankie in the air. “Daaay-veeee! I’ll save you a seat inside….”

      Shoulders slumped, he groaned. “I hate it when she calls me that.” Then, forcing a smile, he returned her wave.

      “Ratchet it down a notch or two, Unc, or folks will get the impression you’re trying to show off.”

      His brows drew together in confusion. “Show off?”

      “The fact that you still have your own teeth.” And giggling, she added, “Really, sometimes it’s hard to believe you’re in the same age bracket as these people. I mean, take Mable, for example. She just turned sixty-five. I know ’cause they wrote her up in the church bulletin. But she acts—”

      “Ninety.” He stood a little straighter, did a little jig. “Guess I do move pretty good for an old guy, don’t I?”

      “At sixty-seven, you’re younger than me!”

      Laughing, Uncle Dave stuck out his elbow. “Will you do me the honor, young lady, of accompanying me to the Ladies’ Auxiliary brunch?”

      She stuck her nose in the air and feigned a British accent. “Why, thank you, kind suh. Don’t mind if I do.”

      Laughing, they walked arm in arm into the church basement. Immediately Taylor spotted Alex, standing across the room, hands in his pockets and smiling at her. Heart hammering, she felt the corners of her mouth automatically lifting as he headed toward her.

      “What’re you doing here?” he asked.

      “We’re here for the brunch. And you?”

      “Same.”

      From the corner of her eye Taylor noticed her uncle’s strained expression. She faced him. “Uncle Dave, this is Alex Van Buren, the man whose suitcase got mixed up with mine at the airport.”

      “David Griffith,” he said, a thin smile on his face as he grasped the hand of the taller, younger man. “Thanks for saving my girl a trip to BWI.”

      Alex shook his hand. “Was my pleasure, sir.”

      “So,” David said, “you two were in Ireland at the same time?”

      He nodded. “I spent three weeks there, all by my lonesome. One of the best experiences of my life.”

      Why did she get the feeling the accent was on lonesome? “Three weeks?” Taylor echoed. “Isn’t that odd? I was there for two….”

      “With a tour group?” Alex asked as her uncle’s eyes narrowed.

      She shook her head. “Nope. I rented a car and drove the west coast, from the southernmost point to the northernmost, then along the Northern Ireland border, back to the airport in Shannon.”

      Alex’s eyebrows rose. “Alone?”

      “Sure. Why not?”

      “’Cause it’s dangerous for a woman to travel alone.”

      Taylor noticed that her uncle’s expression changed from suspicious to admiring. She resisted the urge to roll her eyes at both men.

      “It’s the only way to travel,” she insisted. “Especially if you СКАЧАТЬ