errand to run. Ben leaned down to Maggie. “I take it you never found our note?”
She smiled uncomfortably. “I did, just after you left.”
She walked alongside him. “Look, after everything I explained, I was just expecting a little more caution and courtesy on your side. What may be common sense to most people is a difficult reach for me. I am on guard most of the time and I’m learning to trust more.” She looked at his gentle eyes. “It may take a while.”
Ben put his arm around her. “I’m sorry I was insensitive. I hope it’s okay that I came.”
With the way Eli was hanging all over Ben, she assured him it was.
“Mom can I ride home with Ben?”
Ben shook his head. “Not tonight buddy. I have to head back to Denver, just wanted to come say hi.”
Eli’s shoulders caved in.
Ben put his hand on the boy’s head. “It’s just till tomorrow. I’ll come see you when I get back.”
“Okay.”
When Maggie pulled into the driveway she noticed one of her neighbors waving their arms. She pulled up toward the driveway and rolled down her window.
“A mountain lion has been in the neighborhood. Keep your eyes open.”
“Thank you. Who spotted it?”
“No one. Mrs. Von Eiffer found part of a deer in the back yard.”
Maggie stiffened. The mountain lion had a clear shot to her back yard from the Von Eiffers. She was on alert. She headed up the road, now with another thing on her mind. The last sight she needed to come upon was a half eaten deer or whatever animal the lion decided to feed on.
Her high beams lit up the road as she approached the house. A collection of papers had blown against the house. It wasn’t the first time the rogue winds delivered her neighbors recycling onto her property.
She opened the garage door and ushered Eli into the house. Braving the wind she picked up the spare trash and cradled it against her. Most of it was newspaper advertisements that must have been picked up by the wind. She heard the tickle of a tin can as she scurried along. Reaching out to pick it up, she recognized the brand. Her heart stopped.
Maggie shot straight up and looked around. That was Jack’s favorite beer. They didn’t sell this brand in Colorado. It was from a brewery in New York.
She left the can where it lay and hurried into the house. Maggie hurried to the blinds and closed each one. She commanded Vala to sweep the house and the dog obeyed.
The soft snow settled over Cascade before Maggie went to bed. Her internet search of the NY brewery kept her up past two a.m.. Somewhere after that she fell asleep only to have a nightmare sweep over her. This time, it was near dark. Maggie was running on that lone road with the sound of the truck approaching. As she dodged into the forest she heard a faint cry, this time it was not Vala, nor Eli. The voice was her own.
Her eyes flashed open as the sound of the TV pricked her ears. Eli was awake. She grabbed her cell phone and checked the time. It was after 8:00. Eli had probably fed himself, and if the ground was frozen, he was not going to school.
Before Maggie could get dressed the phone rang. It was Mrs. Gable from school. The family was on their way up to enjoy the sledding hills.
She pulled up the weather app on her phone and confirmed the snow fall until late morning. She wouldn’t make it to work in weather like this, Klaus’s driveway would be plowed in and he was not the type to dig it out.
Maggie knew she would be stressed today, so allowing Eli to go play may be a good idea. “How’s noon?”
“Noon would be perfect. See you there?”
She hung up knowing exactly what she’d do with the free time. The first thing she was going to do after she got home was sort through that endless pile of mail, bills and the potential clients that had filled up her inbox.
Eli gobbled up an early lunch, washed his face and did whatever else mom had asked, including making the bed and tiding up his room. At 11:50 he was ready to head out. He lumbered out to the car with his sled in his hand. Maggie watched as he struggled to get it into the back seat. Gosh, he’s getting so big. With a final grunt he