you know it? He barely comes into town every few months. And when he does, he avoids most people.”
“Including you?”
“Including me.”
“Do you think medication would help Flanner’s…episodes?”
“I don’t know. He probably hasn’t seen a doctor in four years, maybe longer. So I doubt he’s been diagnosed with anything officially. I tried to get him to go to the VA hospital over in Crescent City. He wouldn’t do it.”
“What do you think is wrong with him?”
“After three tours of duty in Afghanistan, I’d say his post-traumatic stress disorder has layers of anxiety that go deeper than we know anything about. The longer he’s isolated, the harder it will become for him to be around people. It’s nice of you to worry about him like this.”
“He found a dead body yesterday. The incident kicked in some major memories from the war. I thought maybe you could talk to him, get him to see there was no need to be afraid of living in town. But now that I know he won’t even answer the door to you, I guess there’s no ray of hope.”
“There’s always a ray of hope. You know about a year ago, Barley started barking in the middle of the night. I got out of bed and peeked out my bedroom window to see Flanner standing in the street looking up at the house.”
“Didn’t that creep you out?”
“You have to know Flanner. He’s not violent. It’s his anxiety that makes him blurt out inappropriate things he shouldn’t. Like when he was on the force, whenever he’d pull someone over for a traffic stop, he’d keep retelling people what he’d done in the war—brought on by guilt maybe. I don’t know. But it’s what got him fired.”
“My husband is the one who let him go.”
“I know.”
“I’ve had twenty-four hours to think about this. It might be significant. Yesterday, I got Flanner talking, making conversation. It wasn’t about what he’d done in the military. Believe it or not, he talked about that old drive-in movie theater south of town.”
“Really? The Cactus Flower? That old place?”
“Yes. Flanner wouldn’t shut up about it. It seems he had this plan once to re-open it a long time ago.”
Lucy chuckled. “This probably has nothing to do with his plans, but we made out there a couple of times back in high school and again when he got out of the Marines.”
“Can I ask you a personal question? You don’t have to answer.”
“Sure.”
“Do you still have feelings for him?”
Lucy grinned. “I’ll always be fond of Flanner.”
“That’s what I thought. Whenever you talk about him, your whole face lights up.”
“It does?”
“It does. Your eyes sparkle, too.”
“What do you plan to do now?”
“I’m gonna find his cabin and try to lure him back into town.”
“How on earth will you do that?”
“I’m very persuasive when the mood strikes. Do you like music?”
“Sure, who doesn’t?”
“Does Flanner?”
“He used to love the Red Hot Chili Peppers.”
“Have you ever been out to the Duck & Rum?”
“Once or twice. I’ve seen Fortitude, heard you and Lando sing together. You’re both really good singers. I haven’t been out on a Saturday night in a long time, though. I usually stick close to home on weekends. My schedule is usually brutal during the week. I DVR my favorite programs and watch them with a big bowl of popcorn and a few glasses of wine. You’re not planning a fix-up, are you?”
“No, not that. Certainly not at a dingy, loud bar with a few hundred people. It wouldn’t be fair to Flanner. I first have to get him comfortable with coming into town.”
Lucy glanced at her watch. “I don’t mean to push you out the door, but I do have to get going.”
“Not a problem. Thanks for talking to me.”
Lucy let out a sigh. “Let me know if there’s any way I can help.”
“Actually, there is. Give me the directions to his cabin.”
“That’s easy. Once you get to Moonlight Ridge, drive about a mile and a half past the cutoff and take a left. Wait. I have a little map tucked away in my medical bag.” Lucy went to the entryway and dug into her leather satchel. “Here you go. I hope it helps.”
After studying the map, Gemma felt better about her plan. “This is perfect. Thank you. How is it he was able to build on the land?”
“His dad bought that property years ago from the Trask family. It backs up to their land. Why they sold it to him is anyone’s guess. But Flanner held