Chapter 4
Kate was in her bedroom getting ready to head into Hollister when her phone rang. She smiled and answered it. “Blessing! How have you been?”
“Wonderful, but I wanted to call you. Can I ask you a weird question?”
Kate frowned. “Sure, what’s up?”
“Do you own a small horse? A miniature one?”
Kate barked out a laugh. “No. I’ve never even seen one before.”
“Huh.” Blessing was silent for a moment.
“What caused you to ask that?” Kate wanted to know.
“I had the weirdest … dream.”
“You’re calling them dreams now? The sight?” Kate chuckled.
Blessing laughed softly. “There’s something about this tiny horse and you. I can’t get a grip on it. How’s your brother?”
“My nephew was very smart by alerting me he wasn’t doing well. I wish I could’ve come home sooner.”
“He probably wouldn’t have been ready to admit he needed help if you’d approached him earlier,” Blessing mused.
“Which, knowing my brother, is the absolute truth,” Kate agreed. “I’m heading into town. I hear it’s grown up a bit since I was last there.”
“You should get something to eat while you’re there,” Blessing remarked.
“I should?”’
“Yes. Definitely.”
“Blessing, are you going to tell me what you know?” Kate was positive the woman was blessed at birth with the sight.
“I know I have to get going, or I’ll be late for work, and I have a busy day coming up. I’ll call you soon. Be good and say hi to old friends.” The call disconnected.
“Who was that, Aunt Kate?” Hailey asked from the doorway.
“A friend who lives in Atlanta. Would you and Craig like to come into town with me?”
“Can we?” Hailey clasped her hands together.
“Sure. Let me see if your dad would like to go, too.”
“Yippee. I’ll go tell Craig.” Hailey bolted down the hallway. “Craig, we get to go into town!”
Kate walked out of the house, grabbing a light jacket on the way out the door. She heard Lawrence in the machine shop.
He was halfway inside the tractor when she found him. “What are you doing?”
“This damn clutch is slipping,” Lawrence said from where he was contorted.
“Can it wait?” She leaned against the green metal.
His body stopped moving. “Why?”
“I want to go into town; thought you might like to go?”
“To Belle or Rapid?”
“No, Hollister. I thought we could get some lunch, and I could look around.”
Lawrence started working again. “I’m good.”
Kate sighed. “Is it okay if I take the kids?”
“Sure, if they’ve done their chores.”
“They”re done.” Kate slapped her brother on the ass as she walked past him.
“Hey, what the hell, Kate?”
“That’s the second time you’ve cussed in two minutes,” she said it lightly, but it wasn’t like Lawrence to swear.
He mumbled something under his breath.
“I’m sorry; what did you say?” Kate leaned a bit closer.
“Nothing. Have a good time.” Lawrence grabbed a wrench without extracting himself from the engine.
“We will.” Kate headed back to the house. She would have to find a counselor for him to talk with and the sooner, the better.
She loaded the kids in her new used truck, and they drove into town. “Wow, what’s that?” Kate pointed to the bar.
“The Bit and Spur,” Craig answered. “It’s a bar.”
“That has a dance place in the back where kids can go,” Hailey said.
“Yeah, and last Fourth of July, Cody told me they had a town barbecue there,” Craig added.
“We didn’t go ‘cause Dad said he was too busy,” Hailey added.
“Well, we’ll go to the next one. All of us.” If she had to, Kate would use a crowbar to get Lawrence off that ranch. She put on her blinker and turned down what used to be a tiny strip of buildings hedged in by two churches. The churches were still there, but gosh. “What a change.” Kate shook her head. She recognized the hardware store and the gas station. Wow, someone put a lot of work into the diner.
“How about we get some lunch, and then I want to explore.” Kate pulled into a vacant slot in front of the diner. “Can we have pop?” Hailey asked with wide eyes and a hopeful expression.
“Sure. It’s a special treat.” Kate smiled when Craig pumped his fist in the air and hopped out of the four-wheel drive. After helping Hailey down and shutting her door, they entered the diner.
“Hi, kiddos, long time no see,” a beautiful woman with red hair said from one of the booths. “Hi, Miss Samantha.” Hailey ran over to her, and the woman gave Hailey a hug. Craig walked over and said hi to her, too, so Kate followed suit. “Hi, I’m Kate Johnson, their aunt.”
“She’s out of the Army now and can stay with us,” Hailey said, jumping up and down a bit.
“Nice to meet you. I’m Samantha Zorn.” The woman extended her hand, and Kate shook it.
“I used to know Ken Zorn. Any relation to him?”
“He’s my husband. Would you like to join me? I just got here, and Ken called, telling me he’s not going to be able to make lunch today. Work.”
Kate sat down because the kids had slid into the booth already. Hailey beside Samantha and Craig beside her. “What does he do now? He went away to college the year before I left.”
“He’s the county sheriff,” Craig told her before Samantha could.
“Hi, Craig; hi, Hailey,” the waitress greeted as she brought over waters for everyone. “Where’s your dad?”
“He’s home. Aunt Kate brought us to town,” Craig said. “Is Cody here?”
“Yep, upstairs. If your aunt says it”s okay, you can go up after you eat.” The waitress extended her hand to Kate. “Ciera Evers.”
“Kate Johnson.”
“Oh, the Army aunt.” Ciera laughed.
“That’s me,” Kate admitted.
“Well, I’m glad you’re back. We haven’t seen much of Lawrence since Bridgette passed. What can I get you for drinks? The lunch special today is hard shell tacos with rice and beans and tres leches cake for dessert.”
“I promised the kids pop,” Kate said, and Hailey clapped her hands together again. “Orange, please.”
“Same for me,” Craig said with a wide smile.
“Water and coffee for me, please.” Kate smiled at the woman as she whisked herself away, heading to the kitchen.
“How long have you been gone?” Samantha asked when the kids had their soda.
Kate stirred cream into her coffee. “Twelve years in the military and four years before that going to veterinarian school plus undergraduate. I was fortunate enough to get my associate degree while I was still in high school.”
Samantha frowned and cocked her head. “I didn’t know they had undergraduate courses available for high school students in Hollister.”
“Oh, they don’t, or at least, they didn’t. I went to high school in Denver. My mother lived there, and my father was out here. They stayed married until the end, but they didn’t live together. Lawrence decided to stay here for high school after they separated. He was older and was given a choice. I went with Mom and traded holidays between both parents, but I spent the summer here with Dad.”
“Aunt Kate, why did Grandma and Grandpa live separate?” Hailey asked.
“Well, to be honest, sweetie, they fought a lot, and everyone was happier when they weren’t together. Sometimes, when you’re an adult, you have to make hard decisions so people can be happier.”
Sam looked over at her and mouthed, Sorry.
Kate smiled and shook her head. It wasn’t a topic she avoided. When their platters arrived, the kids dug in like they were starving. “So, what do you do in Hollister?” Kate asked Sam as they took a more casual pace to consume their meals.
“I was the local highway patrol here. That’s how I met Ken. Then, after I was shot?—”
“Shot?” Kate’s mouth fell open.
Sam looked over at the kids and shrugged. “Yeah, a strung-out guy decided he’d rather not have a ticket and shot me to get out of it.” She made a face. “He didn’t get away with shooting me, though.”
“Now, you’re a lawyer,” Craig said with his mouth half full of tacos.
Sam laughed. “I had my degree and met all the requirements, so I studied and passed the bar. I have a small office the doctors let me use once a week until Senior can get a couple more buildings off the ground.”
“Doctors? I remember a decidedly older woman with gray hair scraped back so tight you could see her scalp. She was a county nurse who used to work out of …” Kate turned around and looked out the window and pointed. “Well, the building used to be over there.”
Sam chuckled. “The little town has grown from what I understand. I’m a recent transplant here, but even since I’ve been here, we’ve grown. There are new houses going up to the east. Nice ones from the looks of it.”
“We’re going to explore the town after lunch,” Hailey said as she licked her fingers.
Kate handed her a napkin. “Use this, sweetie.”
“The Hollisters still own everything, I take it.”
“Yep, for the most part, and no one is complaining about that.” Samantha chuckled. “From what I hear, if it weren’t for them and the Marshalls, this little hamlet would have died off long ago.”
“No doubt,” Kate agreed.
“I’m done. Can I go see Cody?” Craig pleaded.
“I don’t know.” Kate didn’t know Ciera or Cody.
“I can vouch for them. Scott Evers works out at the Marshall ranch, and all of them are the salt of the earth.”
“Can I come, Craig?” Hailey asked a bit timidly.
“If it’s okay with Aunt Kate and Miss Ciera, you can come.” Craig looked at her.
“If it’s okay with Ciera,” Kate agreed. She slipped out of the booth, and Craig got out. Hailey followed, slipping under the table and darting out.
“Well, that’s one way of doing it.” Samantha laughed.
Ciera headed over. “I’ll take them upstairs. Scott is home today, so they’ll have supervision.”
Kate thanked her and watched them happily chatter as they walked through the kitchen.
“So, you were shot by a strung-out druggie?” Kate leaned forward. “Tell me about that.”
“It sounds a lot more interesting than it was, at least for me. A traffic stop. I had no warning the guy was going to shoot me. He shot. I went down, and I woke up in the hospital. Now, my husband has a different version of that story, but he’s been known to spice it up for effect.” Sam laughed. “What are you going to do? Are you going to stay in the area?”
“Until I can get Lawrence on his feet, yeah.” Kate looked at her new friend. “What type of doctors are in that building you share?”
“Well, Doc Johnson … Hey, are you any relation?”
Kate shook her head. “Nope, not that I’m aware of. Johnson is a common name around here along with Swenson, Jorgeson—all the sons …” She laughed.
“Well, Zeke Johnson is a family practice doctor. His wife, Stephanie—Declan Howard’s sister—is the receptionist.”
“I don’t remember a Declan Howard.” Kate tried to put a name to a face. “The name sounds familiar, though.”
“Declan owns the Bit and Spur, the bar and community hall on the other side of the highway.”
“I saw that when we came in.” Kate took a bite of her taco. When she finished, she rerouted the conversation back to the doctors. “You said doctors as in plural?”
Sam finished her bite but nodded. “Dr. Wheeler, he’s a psychiatrist.” She made a waving motion with her hand. “You wouldn’t think he could sustain a practice out here, but he’s busy. His wife, Eden, is a nurse practitioner, and Gen Hollister is his sister. She’s the one who owns this place.”
Kate tried to follow. “Wait, which one owns the diner? Eden or Gen?”
Samantha laughed. “Sorry, Gen owns it. She leases the land behind Phil Granger’s garage and has the county’s biggest garden. She uses the food here to keep prices down and donates or sells what she can’t freeze, or use. She married Andrew Hollister, the younger one. Well …” Sam blew a breath out. “Senior is the older Hollister, Andrew is his son, and he’s the sixth of the Andrew Hollisters. Gen and Andrew had a son, and they call him Sev, short for the seventh.” She laughed. “It can get confusing. There’ll be a test later, so you should take notes.”
Kate laughed. She really liked Samantha. “I know the Hollisters and Andrew. He was around sometimes when my brother and I were in town during the summer, and we sat with him and his father at the Fourth of July rodeo in Belle. Lawrence is younger by a year, so they went to school together.”
“Oh, well, there goes the peace in the neighborhood.” Samantha motioned out the window.
Kate glanced outside. A trio of women were headed across the street. She recognized the one in the middle. “Edna?” Kate said and turned to Samantha. “That’s her name, right? She always stopped my dad to talk to him.”
“Yep. Edna Michaelson. She’s a hoot. She believes in UFOs and Bigfoot.”
Kate shrugged. “So do I.”
Samantha’s face blanked in shock. Kate couldn’t keep the smile she was trying to hide off her face. Samantha rolled her eyes and expelled a huge breath, saying, “Woman, don’t do that.”
“I’m sorry.” Kate laughed.
“I’ll get you back for that one.” Sam laughed and leaned forward. “She’s a bit eccentric, though harmless. But be warned, she’ll be all up in your business if you let her.”
“Thanks for the warning.” Kate took a drink of her coffee.
Edna and the ladies came in and made a direct march to the booth where she and Samantha were finishing their lunches. “Samantha, where is your husband today?”
“Working. You know the grind when duty calls …” Sam let the sentence slide.
“Who’s your friend?” Edna turned her gaze to Kate. “You look familiar.”
“I’m Kate Johnson. Lawrence’s sister. I believe we talked a little over a year ago after Bridgette’s funeral.”
“At Lawrence’s house. Yes, I remember. You were wearing an Army uniform. Are you back for a vacation?” Edna sat down, scooting Kate over in the booth without asking.
“Edna, she hasn’t finished eating,” Samantha reminded her.
“I won’t take long.” Edna didn’t even look at Samantha as she spoke. “How’s Lawrence? We haven’t seen much of him or the children.”
“Edna, Belinda, and Doris, do you want the same as usual for drinks?” Ciera came over and interrupted the conversation.
“Yes, of course,” Edna said in a distracted way.
“Good, I have them right here. Now, Edna, I know you want to know what’s going on, but Kate needs to finish eating, and then she’s going to take a stroll around town with the kids, who are upstairs with Cody and Scott. So, maybe we can save the interview for another day?”
“I’d be happy to have lunch with you another day, Edna. You were always so kind to my father.” Kate laid a hand on the woman’s arm. “I promise I’m not going anywhere for the foreseeable future.”
Edna beamed with a mile-wide smile. “Your daddy was a good man. Always had time for a few words. The girls and I are usually here most weekdays in the morning for coffee and lunch on Saturday, right, girls?”
The two other ladies smiled and nodded, although one hid behind the other. Kate smiled back at them. “Then how about I come in one day next week and have coffee with you?”
“That sounds wonderful.” Edna got up and lifted her chin. “To the corner, ladies. We have some work to do.”
“What are you working on today, Edna?” Sam asked as the women headed to their booth.
“There’s a new study out saying the sightings of Bigfoot correlate to the number of sightings of black bears in each area. Now, I know for certain there haven’t been any black bear sightings around here, but we’re going to dig, call on Dean Burrows, the game warden, and have a little chat. Then, we’re going to do a computer search for black bear sightings and see just how much of the information in that article is true. We don’t believe it for a minute. Do we, ladies?”
Both women shook their heads. “Sounds like a deep research project for sure.” With a grin, Samantha turned back to Kate and took a drink of her water. Her eyes were wide, and she was trying not to laugh.
“Thank you for being so sweet and giving me the lay of the land,” Kate said before she drained her cup.
“Oh, honey, I just scratched the surface.” Samantha leaned in. “You should think about talking to Noah Macy. That man is always on the go and has mentioned more than once he’d like to slow down a bit.”
Kate shrugged. “I didn’t do any post-graduate work on big animals. I’m more of a family pet type of doctor. My specialty is military working dogs, but I bet they’re few and far between up here.”
“The state police have a drug dog, but it’s stationed down in Rapid. There are a couple more in Pierre, one in Aberdeen, Brookings, and Sioux Falls. Those dogs are amazing.”
“They are. The ones I dealt with also deploy and see action. The Deltas have dogs that jump out of planes with them.” Kate loved the dogs she worked with. For the most part, all were well-mannered. Duke, on the other hand, was one who left his imprint on her arm when he bit and held her. He didn’t do anything else, but the dog would not release until his handler told him to do so.
“Delta?” Sam cocked her head. “I think …” She pointed toward the garage. “Alex, Phil Granger’s nephew-in-law, was a Delta.”
“Really? Usually, they don’t let people know. They’re really secretive.” Which was the understatement of the century.
Samantha leaned forward and talked even lower. “He helped my husband and me when we were working a case. I didn’t mean to spread information out of context, so I’d appreciate it if you didn’t say anything.”
“No worries.” She was a master of keeping secrets.
“Do you want your dessert, or should I box it up?” Ciera asked as she stopped by.
“Could you box it and one extra piece for my brother?” Kate asked.
“Sure, and I’ll put it in the fridge until you get done with your walk around.” She put two tickets on the counter. “I’ve got Samantha’s, too.” Kate picked up both tickets and grabbed her wallet from her purse.
“You don’t need to do that.” Sam seemed taken aback by the offer.
Kate gave Ciera the cash and a nice tip. “Keep the change and return my niece and nephew?”
Ciera laughed. “Coming right up.”
Kate turned her attention back to Samantha. “I know I didn’t have to do that, but I appreciate the immediate friendship and intel about the town. It’s grown so much since I was here last. Hopefully, we can run into each other again.”
“I’d like that. Hey, why don’t we exchange cell numbers? There’s a lot going on in this little town. We have quilting classes, and something always pops up in the way of helping out others, either with a meal or some old-fashioned elbow grease.”
“I’d love that.” They exchanged telephone numbers, but Sam stopped her when she was keying in her name. “Call me Sam. All my friends do.”
Kate deleted the letters until the name was right and stood up as the kids came flying through the kitchen to the front of the diner. “Aunt Kate, can we stay a bit longer? We’re playing Battleship, and it’s got lights and sounds and everything,” Hailey begged as she hopped up and down.
Kate looked at Ciera and a boy about the same age as Craig. “Is that okay with you?”
“Sure. Craig doesn’t get to come into town too often, and they’re best buds in school. This is my son Cody.” The boy smiled at her.
“Well, if you’re sure.” All three kids yelled happily and headed back toward the back of the kitchen. “Wait!” Kate barked the words out, and three sets of feet stopped immediately. “I’ll be back in about forty-five minutes. We’ll have to go home then. No arguments and no begging. Copy?”
Craig saluted her. “Copy, Major Aunt Kate.”
Kate waved them on their way. Ciera laughed with her. “They’re the best-behaved children. Go explore, and I’ll have them and the cake ready for you in about an hour. I know you said forty-five minutes, but no doubt you’ll run into someone you remember. Hey, let me give you my cell number, so if you get tied up, you can let me know.”
Kate added another number to her phone and waved goodbye to Edna and her crew. She wasn’t sure if they saw her because they were hovering over notebooks while the shy one in the back was typing on a laptop that must have been in the woman’s oversized bag.
She smiled as she stepped out in the brisk air. Where should she start? She turned right and started walking. It was really good to be home. Kate paused at the end of the boardwalk. Home? She considered that thought for a moment as her eyes scanned the small main street and the buildings huddled next to it. Yes, Hollister was as close to home as she had now. It was where her family lived. She smiled and stepped off the boardwalk.