14. Summer
Summer
Reese returned to the motel more relaxed than I’d ever seen him, giving me the impression his reunion with his parents had gone well. He told me his mom was making breakfast, so we needed to go straight to his parents’ place first.
The breakfast part was sweet, and it seemed important to him, so I didn’t argue. But I really wanted to find a place to stay. I hated being homeless.
Checking out of the motel felt ominous. I didn’t like the idea of not knowing where we were going to sleep that night.
It made sense to find a place in Tilikum.
That was our destination—where we were going to settle down.
And hopefully the place where I could finally provide a more stable home for Nate.
With our things loaded in the back of the SUV, we headed out to the highway.
I watched the scenery in awe. The road followed a winding river that churned with white, rushing water.
Mountain slopes rose up on either side, dotted with determined pine trees clinging to the rock. I’d never been anywhere like it.
My heart fluttered when we passed the Welcome to Tilikum sign. We’d arrived.
The main road led past a large wooden cutout of a squirrel. Flowers bloomed in hanging baskets and the storefronts looked cheerful and welcoming. We passed a large park in the center of town and small knots of people gathered on street corners or wandered up and down the sidewalks.
I twisted to look at Nate. “What do you think?”
He gazed out the window. “Does it snow?”
“Yeah,” Reese answered. “It snows a lot in the winter.”
“Wow,” he breathed.
I appreciated his sense of wonder—he’d never seen snow in real life—but it did make me think of all the things we didn’t have. Warm coats, hats, gloves, boots. What else did you need in a place with cold winters?
One thing at a time. I’d figure it out.
The road led away from the little downtown area, and Reese kept going. We passed a few houses and an intersection that looked like it led to a residential neighborhood. He approached another intersection and oddly, didn’t slow down.
My foot pressed against the floor, as if I could hit the brakes from the passenger side. “Um, Reese? There’s a—”
Before I could say “stop sign,” he drove right through.
“What?” he asked, and his eyes lifted to the rearview. “Oh, shit.”
Blue lights flashed behind us. It was a cop.
“What the hell?” he muttered.
“There was a stop sign,” I said.
“Are you kidding?”
“No, it was right there.”
He shook his head. “That did not used to be there.”
“Are we in trouble?” Nate asked.
“Not really,” I said. “Reese didn’t see the stop sign.”
“And of course a freaking cop was there,” he grumbled, lowering the window as the officer approached. “You’ve got to be kidding me.”
“What’s wrong?” I asked.
The cop wore aviator sunglasses and an army green and khaki uniform with the Tilikum County Sheriff logo on one side of the chest. On the other was his name, and when I read it, I almost gasped.
Haven.
“License and registration, please,” he said.
Reese let out a long breath and took off his sunglasses. “Hi, Garrett.”
The deputy’s mouth dropped open, and he pulled off his aviators, leaning down as if to get a better look. “Reese?”
“Yeah.”
For a second, no one moved. My heart raced as Reese’s brother—it had to be one of his brothers—stared at him, shock plain on his face.
“Step out of the car, please,” Garrett said finally.
“What?”
“You heard me. Out of the car. Hands where I can see them.”
“Garrett, come on. I ran a stop sign. You don’t need to—”
“Reese. Get your ass out of the car.”
“All right.” He unfastened his seat belt, opened the door, and stepped out, keeping his hands up.
I had no idea what was about to happen. Was his brother a good cop or a bad cop? Was he going to arrest him for something? What could he arrest him for?
And what would happen to me and Nate if he did?
“Holy shit,” Garrett said with a shake of his head. “It really is you.”
And then he did something completely unexpected. He didn’t tell him to put his hands on the vehicle or behind his back so he could cuff him. He stepped forward and hugged him.
After a second’s hesitation, Reese returned the hug, wrapping his arms around him.
My eyes misted with tears. I didn’t know anything about Reese’s history with his family—why he’d left or why he hadn’t been back—but it was clear this brother, at least, was ready to welcome him home.
“What’s going on?” Nate whispered.
I turned and whispered back. “I think that’s his brother.”
The two men let go and stepped apart. Garrett shook his head again, like he still couldn’t believe what he saw.
“Have you seen Mom?” Garrett asked.
“Yeah, this morning. We’re headed there now.”
“We?” Garrett glanced into the SUV. “Are they…?”
“No,” Reese said quickly. “She’s a client…a friend… It’s a long story.”
“You gonna be in town for a while?”
“Looks like it.”
“All right.” The corners of Garrett’s mouth lifted. “I guess I can let you off with a warning. This time.”
Reese chuckled. “Thanks.”
Garrett held out his hand. Reese took it and they shook.
“See you around, brother,” Garrett said.
“Yeah. Soon.”
“Better be soon. You have a lot of explaining to do.”
“I know.”
Garrett dropped his hand and leaned down to look at me. “Ma’am. You have a nice day.”
“Thank you, Officer,” I said.
Straightening, he regarded Reese for a moment as he took a step back. “You really do have some explaining to do.”
“I know.” Reese’s voice had a hint of exasperation. “I will.”
Garrett nodded one last time, then walked back to his car.
Reese got in, and when the lights behind us stopped flashing, he took another deep breath.
“Of course Garrett would pull me over on my first day back.”
“That was one of your brothers, wasn’t it?”
“Yeah.”
“It’s wild that you ran into him like that. Like you said, on the first day.”
He turned the engine back on. “Honestly, I shouldn’t be surprised. Tilikum is like that. Not running into one of them would be weird.”
“He seemed nice.”
“Yeah, Garrett’s a good guy. They all are.”
So why were you away so long?
I pressed my lips together, biting back the question. If he wanted to tell me, he would. I didn’t want to dig too far into his personal life. It wasn’t my business.
“Did you get a ticket?” Nate asked.
“Nope. He let me off with a warning.”
“Because he’s your brother?”
Reese grinned. “Pretty much.”
“That’s good,” Nate said. “When you got out of the car, I thought he might take you to jail.”
“I haven’t done anything to land myself in jail.”
“Promise?” Nate asked, his voice full of urgency.
Reese paused before pulling out onto the street, and instead of looking at him in the rearview, he twisted in his seat to face my son. “I’m not going to jail, chief. I promise.”
I put my hand over my heart. My poor little man.
“Okay,” he said.
“Well that was an interesting detour,” Reese said, turning to face forward. He pulled out onto the street. “But at least I can blame my brother for making us late.”
He drove a little farther, then turned onto a long gravel driveway with pine trees on either side. It curved up a hill, and at the top, we emerged into a clearing with the cutest log home I’d ever seen in my life.
Was it even real?
It looked like something on a postcard. An actual log house, with a big front porch decorated with spring flowers. Trees rose all around and the side yard had a picnic table and a swing set.
“This is your parents’ house?” I asked, more than a little bit awestruck.
“Yeah.”
“Did you grow up here?”
“Pretty much.”
“It’s so beautiful.”
“Yeah,” he said, as if that hadn’t occurred to him before. “It is.”
We got out and I gazed at the trees rustling in the light breeze. The air smelled fresh and clean, and the sky above was clear and blue. Although we’d gone up a hill, we were still surrounded by taller mountain peaks.
Nate and I followed Reese up the porch steps. He knocked and waited. Nothing happened, so he knocked again and opened the door.
“Dad? Mom? It’s me.”
“We’re in the kitchen,” a woman called.
We went inside and Reese shut the door behind us.
I took slow steps down the short hallway, gazing at dozens of framed photos on the wall.
Some looked old—they had to be pictures of Reese and his siblings when they were young.
Others were newer. Wedding photos, and quite a few kids. The next generation of Havens.
It was such a big family. It was going to be hard to remember everyone’s names.
Reese’s parents were busy in the kitchen. His mom looked up with a warm smile. Her hair was cut in a chin-length bob, her eyes bright behind blue-rimmed glasses.
“You must be Summer.” She came around the island and opened her arms to hug me. “Welcome. I’m Marlene.”
I stepped into her hug. “Thank you so much. This is my son, Nate.”
“Hi, Nate. I think Reese told me how old you are, but I’ve already forgotten.”
“Ten.”
“Will you be in fifth grade next year?”
“Yeah, and I’ll be eleven in October.”
“Wonderful. My grandson Thomas isn’t much older than you.”
Reese gestured to the man in the kitchen. “That’s my dad, Paul Haven.”
“Nice to meet you,” I said.
He tipped his chin. Although I knew Reese wasn’t related to him biologically, there were definite similarities between them.
Maybe it was just coincidence. Or maybe it was his size.
He had a large frame, like Reese, with broad shoulders and thick arms. Dressed in a plaid flannel, he looked like he’d be at home with an axe in his hands.
“I figured you’d be hungry,” Marlene said, circling back to the kitchen. “Can I get you coffee before we put everything on the table?”
“I would love coffee, but can I help with anything first?”
She poured a cup and slid it across the island. “We’ve got everything in hand, but thank you. Nate, do you like hot cocoa, or would you prefer lemonade?”
“Lemonade, please,” he said.
“I got it,” Paul said.
He got a pitcher out of the fridge and poured lemonade into a blue glass. Right as he gave it to Nate, the front door opened, and a male voice carried down the hallway.