Chapter 3
Chapter Three
Iris
“What do you think’s wrong?”
“I don’t know. It was Wyatt; he was calling me from Isaac's phone. He left me a strange message; he sounded tired and scared. He was mumbling something incoherent; it sounded like he was running at one point. Then the phone died. I had to go.”
“Did you call back? I don’t know why you just ran off from the party. Are you sure you're not making this stuff up so you don't have to meet him?”
Claire’s assumptions would have rattled her cage more had Iris not already been shaken to her core. Fingers clenched to the steering wheel as she drove at breakneck speed, she hurried out of town.
“No, I’m not making excuses; I can feel it. In fact, I felt it earlier today, but I didn’t tell you; something's not right. Isaac and I usually talk; we haven’t talked in over a week, and now this. Something isn’t right, and I’m going to find out. I have to; he’s all I have left, he and Wyatt.”
“Well, you be careful, and we are going to sort this out. I’ve got Leah on things to help me while you're gone. Go take care of it, and get back here. Heaven sake, try calling him again; maybe he was in the bathroom or something, and Wyatt was outside running around. Who knows. When you figure it out, give me a call; now you’ve got me worried too. ”
Iris hung up, tossing her phone on the seat beside her. The sound of something banging, a soft clank from somewhere outside the car, was barely audible over the sound of her wildly beating heart and erratic thoughts racing across her brain.
A quick change of gears and she was picking up speed. “No time to waste.” Her gut instincts were never wrong; she’d used them her whole life to make most of her decisions. Now, as she thought about all she left behind, including her business, nothing else mattered but Isaac and Wyatt.
“I knew I should have come out sooner. I’ve been far too busy, worrying about the wrong things. So what if that new ghost hunting business came to town to give us some competition? Nothing is more important than family.”
She ignored the thump of her heart as the memories of her former life in Elk Banner raced across her mind.
“Heaven help me, I miss it. Why have I not made time for this?” She knew why: the constant work, the barrage of customers, and her drive to always be better.
That and a healthy dose of drama from a wayward, wrong-turn situation with Connor recently, and she’d not had much time to think of anything else.
“I miss it so much. I’m coming home, Isaac, Wyatt. Soon we will be playing ball in the backyard, and going for hikes. I know how you love to go hiking with me.”
A flash of green as the memories of evergreen trees and pine needles that scented the air drifted to her brain. Elk Banner, the coziest of spots she’d lived in all her life, hometown, and most beautiful place in the world in her eyes.
The warmth of a fire burning in the hearth at night, the delight of a mountain waiting for skiers and tubing. The huff of a woodland creature as you slipped down a hiking trail in search of natural treasures and the beauty of nature.
The hum of flea markets and tiny shops that dotted the area here, and mom would often visit as a child; it was home. Fresh baked breads her mother made daily, candles she’d learned to make at an early age, and the warmth of the bookshop her brother called business at its core.
Dusty old books had never been her thing, not beyond reading them, not like Isaac; in those books he’d found purpose, peace, and a happiness he’d never found in love.
Yet another reason she knew love wasn’t in the cards for her.
She and Isaac had never found love, not the kind that really mattered; the only thing he’d blessed her with was a child, whereas she’d been left empty.
No matter what, she was content with her career and returning to the one place that she’d always called home, Elk Banner. She could still remember riding on the back of her brother's ATV through woods and nature, at breakneck speeds that worried her mother and father.
The day she fell off his dirt bike and demanded one of her own, it had been no surprise to her that her parents refused. She could still smell the scent of her mother's freshly baked cookies and the garden her brother now tended.
Home, there was no other name for it in her heart, and though her adult home was somewhere else, she’d needed adventure; it would always be the one place she could return to and find peace.
Oh, a sigh; she realized this trip was not going to be the kind of trip that made her happy, not at first anyway.
While finding every excuse in her worried brain for why neither Isaac nor Wyatt answered the phone, she tried not to panic.
Exhausted and cranky, she wished she’d taken the time to change out of the itchy, tight, very busy dress.
“When I get home.”
Again she let the memories sweep her mind away before she bit her bright red nails to nubs or shook uncontrollably while driving, making it hard to focus on the safety on the road.
Her favorite shop, the place she’d learned about herbs from what eventually became Auntie Marie, she could still remember her first lesson in making dried flower bouquets and how that shop eventually became the place where Isaac got his fancy dried flower pressed bookmarks for his shop.
Small town life, tucked away in the mountains, was everything you could imagine, and she smiled knowing she was returning home, just as she always did. “Everyone knows each other's business; it's always been the case.”
She thought of calling Isaac's neighbor Hannah but remembered it was far too late for such a call and Hannah, being elderly, might not appreciate it though she’d never say it. Her only salvation was to stop, grab something to drink, and then maybe she could clear her head a moment.
“Right now, just drive, put as much distance between you and Connor and get as close as you can to Elk Banner.”
That was easier said than done, as somehow she made a wrong turn, something she’d rarely done in her life. Passing that same old SUV that had been blasting rock tunes a while back only infuriated her.
“Fool. It's so late at night, and he’s blasting music like that. Hopefully someone gave him a piece of their mind, and he thinks twice about doing that again. Goodness.” She kept her eyes where they belonged, more furious at herself for getting turned around.
“Tired, you're just tired.” She stole a glance anyway, wishing she’d not, as something in those amused eyes she saw in passing jolted a flare of anger and annoyance in her. “Rude man.”
She sped off a tiny bit faster to put distance between them for her own sanity. “I’m not in the right frame of mind for meeting anyone right now. Just get back on track, and let it all go.”
By the time that exact thing happened, it was another half hour, and she’d passed that man sitting on the side of the road two more times.
He seemed more amused than she that they’d oddly meet again in such a manner.
On her last trip past him, he saluted her much as Claire would do during work, a soft smile on his handsome face.
“No time for that, Iris; keep it right on moving. The last thing you need is a masculine distraction to keep you from getting out of town.”
When she finally got back on track, realizing she could have stopped and bought a new outfit in that time annoyed her more than the scratchiness of the fabric. “I should have never let her talk me into wearing this thing. Who does this anyway? I’d not even have worn this to prom for heaven's sake.”
A glance down and back up again, she knew exactly why she’d worn it. “Claire.”
Finally, after a good ten more minutes, she headed out of town, thankful her road skills and sanity returned. Mentally, a note in her head to change the dress as quickly as she could, she floored it, knowing time was of the essence.
The further she drove, the worse she felt; her instincts never wrong, she knew something was wrong back home. “I’m coming, brother.” She sped up a tiny bit faster while trying her best to get the phone and call Wyatt again.
“Ugh.” The phone again went to voicemail.
“Either he’s shut it off, or it's dead.” She feared the worst, the last word echoing oddly in her head; she searched for an excuse.
“Maybe it fell into a spot in the bookstore, and no one knows it's there. I can see Wyatt doing that, burying it so Isaac has to pay more attention to him.”
Satisfied with that answer, she smiled, forcing herself to avoid reading the instincts that simmered in the depth of her soul. Hope was a strange thing; she wanted to believe this trip back home was a fool's errand, a cry from a child to see his favorite and only Auntie for some fun.
None of it mattered, as long as they were both okay. When she hit a pothole, the phone hit the ceiling and landed on the floor in front of her passenger seat. “Boo.”
The loud clank of something as she and her old car recovered made Iris make mental notes. “Time for a new car, I guess, but not yet, old girl. We’ve got one last trip back home to Elk Banner yet.” Iris rubbed the top of the dash; her car had seen better days.
That was when she heard it, really focused on it, the sound of something banging beneath her car. Unable to put her finger on it, she kept driving, unsure what to do. “Poppa used to say if it's not broken don’t fix it, and don’t mess with it if nothing's wrong.”
She kept driving like that for a good half hour, certain the sound, whatever it was, would fade away. When it stopped here and there, she smiled, remembering all the times Isaac took her fishing and the first time she’d actually caught a real fish.
They’d spent the night celebrating by eating every last bite of the four large fish they’d caught streamside. He’d laughed at her, citing how it had taken her entire childhood of never catching a fish, well into adulthood, for her to succeed.
At the ripe age of forty, she’d caught some, and a celebration it was. That was a hard time for them both, the strike of her new business idea budding in her mind, Isaac feeling lost and lonely, no clear direction in life since their parents' passing.
Still, they’d celebrated, eating fish under a canopy of moonlight and stars, the sound of an owl in their nature. So many memories she and Isaac had; there were too many to remember at once.
“I’ll have him look at the car once I get home. He knows how to fix things, good with mechanics, probably should have been one.”
Something about that statement sank inside, a low knowing she’d not acknowledged, and that’s when it happened.
The clank grew louder until something broke and her car just slammed to a stop right in the middle of the road.
If not for a seat belt, she’d have been injured; if not for it being late at night, she might have caused a scene.
“You’ve got to be kidding me. This can’t be happening.”
Just like clockwork, as if on cue, a tow truck rolled up beside her. “Hey, ma'am, see you’ve broken down. I can tow you to the shop if you’d like. I’m John, the only mechanic in town.”
“What a coincidence. I guess my choices are limited here. Sure, why not.” Iris tamped down her anger beneath a facade of indifference as she cautiously hopped into the passenger seat, thankful to see AAA on the side of his door. “I have someplace to be.”
“I can tell, nice dress. I won’t keep you. Sounds like you’ve got some serious repairs on that car, judging by what you said.” They pulled the garage bay door seconds later, her car on the roll back looking more pitiful than ever.
“Yeah, well, I don’t have time for small talk; I’ve gotta get going. How soon can you have it fixed? I can wait.”
He smiled with perfectly white teeth. She could sense he was a con artist, something about his mannerisms, the pristine way his shop sparkled.
“Mom, forgive me, but this isn’t an easy fix.
I tell you what, I know the car rental guy; I can get him out of bed for ya; he’ll give you a mighty nice deal on a rental car, if you must be going. ”
“Sure, whatever. If that's the best you can do, thank you.”
She’d not argue; the quicker she got out of town, the better. When half an hour later the wheels on her new ride were turning, determination soared again. “Thank heavens, but one more bill I gotta pay. I’ll deal with that when I head back.”
It was late, close to 2:00 a.m., and she was tired. The coffee left in her cup did nothing to quell the fatigue, or the tightness of her dress as she tore her eyes from the road for one second. “Just a bit more to go, halfway now Iris stay…”
The car slammed into something, and the car spun around. Her seatbelt was the only saving grace as her body was thrown from side to side, then a sudden stop. Body jarred but safe from harm, she lay in a ditch, smoke coming from the hood of the rental.
“Oh, for the love of heaven.”
By the time it was nearly 3:00 a.m., the police hadn’t convinced her she should seek medical care, and the only thing on her mind was that she’d not be getting to Elk Banner that night; she needed sleep.
“There’s a motel just a block up; I can drive you.” The young officer with kind eyes helped her get to her destination for the night. “Get some rest. I’m sure in the morning all will be resolved as long as you are okay.”
“Thank you.”