Chapter Thirty One
July Third
Juniper
His hand dipped into the tub and asked her, “Where did you find bubble bath?”
“I didn't, it's part shampoo and part liquid body wash.”
She rested her chin on her knees.
"How did you know that would be a substitute?"
"Every girl knows that." She looked at him over the side of her bubble bath as he sat petting Zeppelin who was on his side snoring. “When did Patrick say he was coming back? What’s going on with this dinner?”
“It’s Saturday, he said he would come up early with Sylvia and his daughters would come up later if they decide to join us. He isn’t sure how they will react to a surprise cousin.”
“Does he live in Redding?”
“He's in Chino, and said his daughters live somewhere nearby.”
“Hm.”
She watched Zeppelin kick his leg in a dream. “Do you think there’s an update on the news?”
“I don’t think so, let's not worry about it.”
She stared at him, “Your sides are getting long, do you want me to cut your hair?”
“Uh, Brittanya uses a straight razor so, no.”
“Okay, well let's get tattoos.”
She straightened her legs, bored.
“Yeah? What are you going to get a tattoo of?”
“A minimal wolf tattoo.”
She smiled, Wolfie looked at her unamused, “You know, one of those single line ones.”
She shifted to her side and rested her head on her arms folded on the edge of the tub.
“Yeah, I know what it is but getting a name tattoo is just asking to end things. It’s bad energy.”
“You want to get a juniper branch tattoo?”
“Juniper, no. I don’t need to risk that. Look at how well my luck has been so far.”
“I’m the one with bad luck,”
Her eyes saddened and then perked. “You’re the one sitting in an excluded area with the girl of your dreams.”
“Alright, I am definitely the lucky one, let’s not jeopardize that.”
July Eighth
Juniper
“Does it look okay down here?”
Her eyes darted to Wolfie passing in the loft, his hair wet with droplets on his back.
He leaned over the handrail. “Yes.”
“I just don’t want them to think we are pigs and show them some gratitude for letting us stay here. They didn’t have to let us after they found out we were. Patrick will probably be here soon.”
She strung the washcloth over the side of the sink after wiping down everything in the kitchen, sweeping, mopping and doing their load of laundry.
“We just finished breakfast, take a breath. Do you want to come up and take a shower yet?”
“I don’t know, does it look presentable? I’m nervous to meet Sylvia.”
She rounded the island into the living area.
“Why? I should be the one who’s nervous.”
She grabbed a pillow off the couch just to set it back down, “Why? Because I’m the freeloading girlfriend.”
“Technically we are both freeloaders.”
He joined her downstairs, “I actually want to talk to you about that.”
She pressed her hand on the records, making sure each was lined up to the back perfectly flat, “About what?”
“The money.”
“Oh, how much is there?”
She turned to him, seeing that he looked confused himself, “I never knew. He never told me how much he made.”
“And you never went into his safe, knowing his combination?”
“No.”
She looked down with old feelings coming up. “Only when he asked me to put money inside or take some out for him.”
“Oh, I want to estimate thirty seven thousand left.”
“It’s been in your backpack, right?”
She scanned the room, inspecting every item swiftly.
“I split it up. There’s some in the car, some in my bag and some in our room.”
She focused on him, “What do you want to do with it?”
He sat on the edge of the couch with Zeppelin bumping his nose on his hands, “I would like to offer to buy the supplies I have been needing for the hardware on the island and maybe go help Jay when he gets here to get resources. I would also like to give the car to Patrick, we won’t have time to sell it and he can profit off of it.”
“That sounds fine.”
She took a breath feeling accomplished.
“Do you want or need anything here or on the island?”
“I don’t, but”
She walked over to him “Zeppelin needs a bed and toys.”
She crouched down, getting her hands behind his ears.
He stopped her as she stood, grabbing her hand. “You don’t need anything?”
“I just need to get back to the island, everything I want is there.”
“If you think of anything, let me know.”
He kissed her.
“Okay, I’m off to shower.”
Wolfgang
The laundry exterior door tapped with the creak, opening “Hello?”
A woman's voice entered the home. Wolfie launched himself off the couch and turned to greet her through the kitchen. She gasped, “He does!”
She turned to Patrick behind her, “You look exactly like your father,”
She absorbed him with her arms, “You have your mothers eyes though, I can’t believe this.”
“Hello Sylvia.”
He pulled back and smiled at Patrick.
“He’s tall, look how tall he is.”
She set her purse on the counter. “Where is the girlfriend, Juniper?”
“She’s upstairs getting ready. Thank you for letting us stay here.”
“I wish we knew you were here sooner. When Pat told me that our neighbor messaged him saying someone was in our cabin, we would have never thought it was family we didn’t know about. I thought it was homeless people.”
“Sorry about that, I didn’t expect to be here either. Did Pat tell you why?”
She closed the fridge, “Yes he did. How romantic.”
Wolfie turned to Pat who was carrying in bags, “Can I help with anything?”
“This is it. We keep a few outfits here to keep us packed light.”
“How long will you be staying?”
“Four or five days,”
Sylvia piped, pulling out a chair at the kitchen table to sit with her plastic cup from the gas station.
“And your daughters? Will they be coming up?”
He watched them settle in the kitchen.
“Kaylee will be up before dinner with her family and Crystal will join us after dinner.”
“Do Juniper and I need to evacuate our room? We would hate to intrude.”
He stood at the table with his arms across the back of a chair.
“Wolfgang, there is a whole apartment above the workshop. Have you not seen it?”
“No Ma’am.”
“They will sleep up there.”
“Is there anything Juniper and I can help with for this dinner or week?”
“I’m sure we can find something.”
She pushed the chair out next to her and motioned for him to sit with a smile. “How’s your mom and Amy?”
he lowered himself into the chair, “They’re good, ready for me to be back. They actually want to know if you guys want to come live with them.”
“Oh no.”
She waved her hand at him, “Honey, we are too old to be relocating. Plus we got all these little ones to watch grow up. I don’t think they would be ready or prepared for the entire Killabrew family to join them, all eleven of us.”
“My mother would be upset if I didn’t say that we can make it happen and to think about it.”
“That’s sweet Wolfgang, but-”
She looked at Pat who was leaning against the counter.
“Wolfgang. Can you help me with the smoker? I’d like to get it out of the workshop to start cooking for Sunday dinner.”
He pushed his hip off the counter.
“Sure thing.”
Pat closed the door to the workshop. “I want to keep you up to date, Sylvia doesn’t know, and the only thing you have in common with the few pictures is a dark haired woman and a bearded man. They can’t make out any facial features or nothing. I’m assuming the female suspect knew an exit strategy because they don’t have a lead, they should probably lay low still.”
“Thank you for the update. Pat, I wanted to offer you something.”
He turned to the car, “I can’t take this with us, and if you can’t use it or don’t want it, sell it for money.”
“Serious? Why don’t you sell it for money?”
“Money isn’t usable on the island, when we leave, we will leave the keys inside the house along with that paper the seller gave us.”
“The title?”
He turned to walk towards the back of the shop.
“Yes.”
Wolfie followed.
Pat stopped next to the smoker. “Can we trade?”
“What do you mean?”
“Can you take the bike? Between the two you should be able to fully restore one of them. Most of the parts on my bike have been replaced. It runs but your dad’s bike is probably more sentimental.”
“I can’t take your bike.”
“Wolfgang I am fifty seven years old, I haven’t got on that thing in five years. Syl don’t like me on it anymore and my son in law sees it as junk. Take it if you can.”
Wolfgang’s cheeks lifted, “Thank you Pat.”
Juniper
She stood in the living room, receiving hugs from Kaylee and Tyler as their three kids ran off. Sylvia had given her a warm welcome and refused to let Juniper help in the kitchen. She kept claiming it was an easy pasta dish. She sat at the counter, giving her company as Wolfgang helped Patrick chop wood in the back. She was well aware there was enough wood for the fire they were planning tonight in the back but who was she to interrupt them? Wolfgang hadn’t had an uncle his entire life and was finally getting that. He also hadn’t had any older male role models in over ten years.
They welcomed Wolfgang, excited to meet him, their only cousin on their fathers side. She watched how easily they clicked, as if they knew each other growing up. He was so happy. They were kind to her as well, but it reminded her of her family growing up, she didn’t know where her cousins were now, if they were alive or dead and if they would be able to have something like this if the conditions were different. She was happy for Wolfgang anyway.
He closed the bedroom door while Juniper climbed into bed, ”Are you okay?”
He whispered.
“Yeah, I'm fine. It was just a long day.”
Zeppelin had made his way up to the bed below Juniper’s feet.
“Wolfie,”
she looked at him. “What if we stayed here?”
“What do you mean?”
They continue their hushed tone, not knowing if they would be heard or not.
She sat on the side against the wall, watching him, “You seem really happy.”
“I am but I don't want to stay here.”
He slipped a leg in each pajama bottom. “On the island we have my mom, your roommates and most of all, peace of mind. This has been fun and I would love it if they came with us, but it's not realistic. How would we work? I don't have any credentials here.”
He tossed his used clothes in the corner.
Juniper hadn’t thought of that, she just wanted to let him know, she was willing to do what he wanted to be happy, “Okay I was just checking. I was happy around the island but I didn't want to uproot you again.”
He turned the light off and pulled his side of the comforter up, getting close to Juniper's face as he laid down, he murmured sarcastically, “You already ruined my life, what more do you want?”
and kissed her.