reached his bed, they began looking for changes—a slight movement beneath his eyelids, the fingers on one hand slightly twitching.
“You can talk to him,” the nurse said. “Just quietly, please.”
Macie reached for his hand, stilling the twitch with her grip.
“Hi, Tony, darling. It’s Mom. Dad and I are right here beside you. We want you to know that you’re not lost anymore and you’re safe.”
Baxter gently patted his son’s arm. “Hey, T-boy. Can you hear me?”
All of a sudden Macie gasped. “He just squeezed my hand. Oh, Baxter! He heard us.”
Baxter was so emotional he was shaking. “We love you, son. Just keep getting better and come back to us.”
Tony moaned, and when he did, the nurse was immediately there.
“It’s the pain. He’s just beginning to feel it,” she said, and adjusted the drip on his IV.
“Just rest, Tony. It’s the fastest way to heal. We’re just outside in the waiting room and we’re not leaving here until you come with us,” Baxter said.
Tony’s lips were moving slightly, but no sound was coming out, and then he was gone again.
“He’s out,” Baxter said, and patted Tony’s hand. “We’ll be back, son. Rest well.”
Macie leaned over the bed and kissed his cheek.
“Love you, honey. You’re going to be okay.”
* * *
Charlie suffered the hangover from hell the day after he’d emptied that fifth of whiskey, and to add to his misery, he received flower deliveries from the Dunleavy family in Denver, as well as flowers from Morning Light.
He didn’t want to look at flowers and remember Annie dying. It was going to take years, if ever, before he could think of her without remembering her last days. In sickness and in health, until Alzheimer’s parted them and death took her.
So he gave the flowers to the women from his cleaning service, who also did his laundry.
He got a text from the Dawson family, telling him that Tony was regaining consciousness and squeezed their hand when they spoke to him.
It was an affirming thing to know that the kid was healing, and he sent a brief text back, thanking them for the update. Even though that news was good news, it didn’t change his focus. He’d known for months now that he was going to lose Annie. He thought he was prepared, and now it appeared he was not.
He had to find his new normal, and to do that, he was going to go AWOL. He needed different surroundings and something different on which to focus, so he texted Wyrick that he was out of town for a couple of days, but didn’t bother telling her where he was going. He didn’t have to. She had that damn app on his phone that tracked him wherever he went, so if she cared enough to snoop, she’d know.
The next morning, he packed up and left with no destination in mind, and drove north on I-35 into Oklahoma. Somewhere near McAlester, Oklahoma, he saw a sign advertising Robbers Cave State Park, which was somewhere he’d never been, and left the interstate on Highway 270 heading east.
On the way, he called their office and reserved a cabin for a couple of nights. It was almost noon when he drove into Wilburton, Oklahoma, population: 2,843.
It was a tiny town nestled within a beautiful grassland valley between the San Bois and Winding Stair mountains, both of which were heavily forested.
He already had a cabin rented, so he stopped at Roy’s Cardinal Grocery Store on Highway 2 on the way to Robbers Cave Park, to stock up on food. He had been told when he called to make a reservation that there was a restaurant on-site, but he wasn’t in a socializing mood.
After buying what he wanted, he stayed on that highway until he came to the park, then followed the signs to the office to sign in and get a key.
The woman behind the counter was reading something on her phone when he walked in. She looked up and quickly put it aside.
“Good morning,” she said.
“I’m Charlie Dodge. I have a reservation for a cabin.”
“Yes, Mr. Dodge. You wanted one with a view in the old part of the park?”
“Yes.”
“Cabin One is empty. It’s actually the first one ever built in the park. I think you’ll like it. There’s not much ground behind the cabin, but the view from there off the back of the mountain is amazing.”
“Thanks,” he said, and as soon as their business was done, she gave him the key and a map of