Chapter 8 Overdue Encounter
Bear kept extending his hotel stay by another day, which eventually turned into a week. He was normally more frugal with his finances, but it was hard to impress a woman while wearing face paint, sleeping on the ground, and showering infrequently.
Dating her at the Heart Lake Plaza Hotel was his way of upping his game with her, and she was worth every penny of the investment. She was classy and sophisticated. She deserved no less effort from him.
His extended hotel stay didn’t go unnoticed by others, though.
One morning he was awakened by a knock on the door. It was too early for housekeeping service. Bear rolled out of bed in his PJ bottoms and moved to the door to squint through the peephole.
Hawk Chesney was waiting on the other side. The unscheduled visit from the man he thought of as a son felt overdue.
Bear opened the door, ushering him inside. “You don’t write. You don’t call.”
“Nope, because you’re one feather shy of impossible to reach.” Hawk stepped into the room, looking exasperated. “Showing up unannounced is the best way to bend your ear.”
“About what?” Bear shut and bolted the door behind him. It sounded like his favorite councilman needed to talk, and he was all ears.
“You.” Hawk strode to the window to push open the curtains.
Daybreak was pushing its way over the horizon.
He pivoted around, making his long black hair swing against his shoulders.
“The repairs on your tiny house were completed days ago. You knew I wouldn’t sit on something like that, so why are you here instead of there?
” He folded his arms over his beaded leather tunic and waited.
His tribal garb was a sure sign he would be tending to council business today.
Bear could tell he was genuinely worried, which made him grateful all over again for having people in his life who truly cared about him. “I’m dating someone.”
Hawk adopted an arrested look. “Come again?”
“You heard me.” Bear ran a hand over his sports cut that a barber in town had freshened up yesterday. “I’m not sure that’s what she’d call it, since we haven’t yet kissed, but that’s the way I see it.” He’d never been into casual dating. He didn’t see the point.
“Not what she’d call it,” Hawk repeated, sounding puzzled. “Have you or have you not asked this woman out?”
“Not officially.” Bear scratched his chin. “I didn’t think it would matter at our age.”
Hawk’s eyebrows rose. “It always matters to women. Trust me.”
“I do trust you.” Bear wasn’t sure why he was making an issue out of it.
“Then ask her out,” Hawk said firmly.
“Okay.” Was that really all he’d shown up for?
Hawk’s expression softened. “I take it we’re speaking about Dr. Chandrakanta?”
“April,” Bear corrected, adoring the sound of her name in the room. “She doesn’t like titles.”
Hawk’s worried look returned. “Do you really think a woman like her will stick around for long?”
Bear knew what he meant, so he took no offense. “Last time, I made the mistake of assuming she wouldn’t. As a rule, I try not to make the same mistakes twice.”
Hawk gave a snort of amusement. “It’s a good rule to live by, but…” Doubt remained etched in his features.
“I can imagine what you’re thinking.” Bear knew it was time to come clean about something he’d never told another soul. Not even April. He’d dropped some hints to her and danced around the topic a bit, but he’d never come right out and said it. He was only just now realizing it himself.
“No judgement,” Hawk assured quietly. “Just say what you need to say. It won’t leave this room.”
“April was my first love, Hawk. I know this may be hard for you to hear, since you adored Lula. You, me, and everyone else.” Bear was definitely including himself in the equation, because it was true on every level.
Hawk nodded gravely. “I’m beginning to understand why you married an invalid, eyes wide open. It’s something I’ve always wondered about, but it wasn’t my place to ask.”
“I gave her the best life I could, Hawk. The best medical care.” Bear needed him to know that.
He’d spent years of his cherish-and-protect instincts on someone who’d truly needed them.
“Lula and I were friends. Good ones. I enjoyed her company.” Deep inside, though, he’d always known it wouldn’t last. What little physical intimacy they’d enjoyed on their honeymoon was soon replaced by endless trips to the clinic, bottles of prescription medications, and bedridden days of pain.
And, yes. The role of her caregiver was one he’d willingly and knowingly stepped into.
“I know you did.” Hawk lapsed into silence again.
“I have no regrets, Hawk. That’s not what this is about.” Bear believed there was a time and a season for everything. It was Biblical. “But now that April is back in my life…” He shook his head, overcome by a wave of emotion he hadn’t seen coming.
Hawk stepped forward to rest a hand on his shoulder. “Tell her. You have to.”
“I will,” Bear promised. They were standing toe-to-toe, mentor-to-mentee, and friend-to-friend. Hawk had also never embodied the role of a son more than now. “Something tells me that’s not why you paid me a visit,” he noted quietly.
Hawk had picked up on Bear’s mood and had immediately yielded the floor to him. It was who he was. He served their tribe with the same brand of kindness and deliberateness on the tribal council. Regardless, it was time to yield the floor back to him.
“You’re right.” Hawk dropped his hand and returned to the window to gaze outside. “Annalee paid a visit to a friend at a nursing home yesterday.”
Bear wasn’t surprised to hear it. Annalee was the gold standard among wives, mothers, and public servants — Hawk’s perfect match.
She volunteered up and down their community and fundraised for more charities than a normal person could keep track of.
They were two of the most selfless people he’d ever met.
“What she discovered,” Hawk continued, “may be relevant to the case you’re involved in.” He respectfully avoided referring to Bear as a person-of-interest.
“Lay it on me.” Bear moved to the coffeemaker to brew a couple of cups for them.
“The nursing home is in Alpine, which is probably how this went unnoticed for so long.”
Bear nodded, knowing that ninety miles separated Alpine from Heart Lake. He finished brewing the first cup of coffee, capped it with a plastic lid, and handed it to Hawk.
“Thanks.” Hawk took a sip. “Here’s the short version. It’s the same nursing home where Callie Haywood has lived for the past twenty-something years.”
“I did not know that.” The second cup of coffee finished brewing. Bear capped it and claimed it for himself.
“Few people do.” Hawk frowned. “By design, I imagine.”
“It’s a long way from her family, come to think of it.
” The distance was especially odd, considering how prosperous Haywood Ranch was.
The father-son Haywood Dental Clinic had further enriched the Haywoods’ bottom line.
As far as dental services were concerned, they were the only game in town.
The truth was that Callie Haywood’s family could afford to keep her anywhere they wanted.
Why had they chosen to admit her to a facility ninety miles away?
“It’s an awfully long way from home,” Hawk agreed, “but the distance makes more sense when you hear the next part of my story.”
Bear gestured for him to continue. “I’m going to be old and gray before you get to the end.”
Humor glinted in Hawk’s gaze. “Callie Haywood isn’t a typical nursing home resident,” he announced.
There was an undercurrent of glee in his demeanor.
“According to one particularly chatty nurse’s aide, she comes and goes as she pleases.
Annalee only found out about it by accident, but that’s another story for another day.
A far less relevant story. My point is this.
Callie Haywood’s so-called residence at the nursing home is merely her postal address of record.
Where she spends the bulk of her time is a mystery. ”
Bear’s mind raced over what he’d just learned. “In other words, her reduced-capacity state might also be fiction.”
“Bingo.” Hawk pointed at him for emphasis.
“Annalee casually asked around, but nobody on staff there seemed to know much about the Haywoods. It’s possible they’re paid to keep their mouths shut, considering how much Haywood endowment money flows there.
One of the front desk attendants called Callie an eccentric billionaire in a hush-hush voice.
She additionally let slip that Callie’s daughter-in-law is the one who picks her up and drops her off. ”
“Interesting.” Bear was predisposed to dislike Callie’s daughter-in-law.
It had never sat well in his craw that Verity Arden had married Tiana’s boyfriend less than a year after Tiana’s disappearance.
Maybe it was time for a long-overdue chat with her husband, Dr. Benjie Haywood.
Since he was Ben’s father, Bear would need to be on his best behavior for Kaya’s sake.
The few times he and Benjie had crossed paths over the years, they’d avoided making eye contact. They had nothing to say to each other. Nothing good, anyway.
After Hawk took off, Bear walked the couple of blocks that separated the Heart Lake Plaza Hotel and the Haywood Dental Clinic.
The boxy building drew into view and set his teeth on edge.
It reminded him of its pretentious owners.
The rest of the Haywoods were in the ranching business, but Benjie and Verity Haywood were an exception to that hallowed rule. They acted like it, too.