but I don’t like to leave you alone out here, so I think you should come in.”
“It’s okay. I’m fine here.” I really didn’t mind, but the look on his face had me quickly open the door to follow him toward the house. Tripper trotted along on my heels. We walked up the stairs to the house, and he hesitated at the door.
“I’m sorry you have to see this.”
He opened the door and let me walk in first, and I spotted the woman on the couch in tears and a man in the corner looking like he was about to break down.
John hurried over to the woman and sat next to her, while Tripper followed cautiously. She started to panic when she saw the big fur ball, but John reminded her that she’d met Tripper before and that he’d been around for a while now.
“Ellie,” he said calmly, “what’s wrong?”
“I don’t want to leave. I don’t want to get into the car.”
“Hey, it’s okay.” He rubbed her back. “You don’t even have to go until tomorrow.”
Her breathing picked up, and her panic rose to the surface. Her words were slightly delayed, and I could see it took an effort for her to get them out. “I don’t want to die.”
“You won’t,” he assured her. “Just like last time, you didn’t die then, right?” John glanced over his shoulder at me, and I looked away when I saw the rawness inside him. I took it he didn’t share this side of himself with many people.
“Pops,” he called to the man in the corner, “I want you to meet Sloane. She’s a friend of mine. Could you maybe get her something warm to drink?”
The older man’s lifeless eyes found mine, and a small flicker of something flashed across his face. He stepped in front of me and put a hand on my shoulder.
“Hi, Sloane,” he said quietly. “Can I make you some coffee?”
I didn’t want any, but I could tell John needed me to be anywhere but here where he was.
“That sounds good, thank you.”
“Oliver.” He smiled warmly.
The kitchen was modern but had a lovely farmhouse feel to it. A chicken with jacked-up eyes stared at me from a shelf. It was creepy but funny as hell. I tried to hide my smile, but he must have caught it in the reflection of the window.
“That’s Hennie.” He filled the pot with water as he stood with his back to me. “John gave us that when he was thirteen. We were horrified at first, thinking the kid just bought us a thoughtful gift and we’d have to pretend we liked it, but after a few days, we caught him moving the ugly thing around the house just to tease the heck out of us.” He let out a small chuckle, but it was soon weighed down by the sounds from the other room. “John was always good at making us laugh.”
It didn’t go unnoticed that he spoke in past tense.
“It’s pretty comical looking,” I added just to fill the silence.
“Mm,” he grunted in agreement. Oliver moved about the kitchen until the coffee was finished. He handed me a large mug and motioned for me to follow him out onto the wrap-around patio. It was cold, but I knew he wanted me out of earshot.
“How do you know my son?” He handed me a warm wool blanket from a box that sat next to the porch swing, and I happily snuggled into it.
“I know his boss in Washington.” I sipped the warm coffee and let its heat spread through my insides.
“What brought you to Montana?”
I sighed and decided the man deserved the truth.
“I’m a criminal defense attorney, and my last clients were pretty shady and forgot to provide me some rather important information that was later brought to light, and we lost the case. They were pretty unhappy with me for losing and started to give me some trouble. Frank—you know Frank, right?” He nodded. “Well, he’s a family friend, and he thought it would be best if I got out of town for a while.”
“It is pretty serious?”
“I suppose so.” I shrugged. I was used to having clients upset when the evidence didn’t work in their favor. “Honestly, I’m not really afraid of them. I didn’t really care that I lost because I think a part of me wished something would come to light and sink them.”
“That bad of guys, huh?”
I pressed my lips together and nodded. Henry’s son always had a way