Cover Of Night

After the breakfast bunch had cleared out and she and Sherry had cleaned up, Cate checked out her climbing group and saw them on their way. She didn’t have anyone else coming in until the following weekend – another group of climbers – which she now realized wasn’t good. With the boys gone, she would have preferred to stay busy.

Sherry left after the cleaning was finished, and Cate was alone in the house.

The silence was painful.

Because no one was arriving immediately, she didn’t have to hurry to clean up all the rooms, but she threw herself into it with a vengeance. .After stripping the beds and getting started on the mound of laundry, she cleaned the bathrooms, vacuumed, dusted, and even cleaned the windows.

Then she got started on the boys’ room, which might or might not have been a good idea. It really needed cleaning, but being in there – putting away their toys, cleaning out their closets, and straightening their clothing – reminded her of their absence. She tried not to watch the clock, but she kept glancing at her watch anyway, trying to gauge where they were by the time. It was impossible, of course; she didn’t know ü the plane had been delayed for an hour or two, though she hoped her mother would have called her in that case, knowing she’d be worried if she didn’t receive their safe-arrival call on time.

She didn’t pause for lunch, because preparing something just for her didn’t seem worth the effort. Several times she had to sniff back tears. This felt like grief, which was silly; she knew what grief really was. Still the feeling of having lost part of herself persisted, even though her apron strings hadn’t been cut, just stretched a little… if several hundred miles could be considered "little."

"Apron strings, my ass," she muttered to herself. "More like the umbilical cord." And that comparison was extreme enough to make her laugh, just a little. They were fine. Her parents might not be fine by the end of the twins’ visit, but the boys would sail through. She’d worked hard to make certain they felt utterly secure, which had given them the self-confidence to fly off With their grandmother for a two-week visit. They were eager to be on an airplane. They’d flown before, of course, but they’d been infants and didn’t remember. She should be glad they were such brave little hearts.

Except two weeks was too long. She should have agreed to just one week.

When the phone rang shortly after three, she hinged for it.

"We made it," her mother said, sounding exhausted.

"Is everything all right? Was there any trouble? "

"Everything’s great; there weren’t any problems. They loved pushing the luggage cart. They loved watching the planes take off and land. They loved the tiny bathroom, which they both had to use. Twice. The pilots stopped by to talk to them before takeoff, and both boys now have a set of wings, which they haven’t taken off."

They would probably still be wearing those wings when they came home, Cate thought, tears sparkling in her eyes even as she smiled at the thought.

"The first thing they saw when we got home was the riding lawn mower," her mother continued. "Your father is out there now with both of them in his lap, riding them around and around. The blades are disengaged," she added.

Cate could remember riding with her father on the lawn mower, and she got a mushy feeling around her heart knowing that now he was doing that with her children.

"So now you can stop sniffling," Sheila said. "They’re not only having a blast, they’ve exhausted me and are now working on your father, which should give you a nice warm sense of revenge."

"It does," Cate admitted. "Thanks."

"You’re welcome. Do you want me to send pictures? We’ve already taken a bunch."

"No, it takes too long for them to download, since I just have dial-up. Print them out and bring copies when you come back."

"okay. How did you do today?"

"Been cleaning like a maniac."

"Good. Now that yon have afternoons free, go get your hair done."

Cate laughed, and for the first time truly realized she could get a haircut. A trim, at least, wouldn’t cost all that much, and she desperately needed one. "I think I will."

"Spend some time on yourself. Read a book. Watch a movie. Paint your toenails."

After they hung up, Cate realized that her parents’ intention had been to give her a little break as much as it had been to have the boys to themselves for a while. She appreciated their concern, she really did, and would try to spend some time on herself. With that in mind, after she’d checked her e-mail and handled the reservations that had come in via the Web site, after she’d finished the laundry, after she’d copied down a list of ingredients for her next shopping trip – for some recipes she wanted to try – and after she had prepared supper for herself – a grilled cheese sandwich – she took her mother’s advice to heart and painted her toenails.

Chapter 14

That night Teague met with Toxtel and Goss again. The three men he’d called in came, too: his first cousin, Troy Gunnell: his nephew. Blake Hester; and an old friend, Billy Copeland. Troy and Bill) were almost as good in the mountains as league was himself; Blake was pretty good, but his main accomplishment, and the reason he was included, was his marksmanship. If there were any tough shots to be made, Blake would be the triggerman.

The six of them went over the plan again and again. Teague had spent most of the day mapping it out, literally, using a combination of road maps, topography maps, satellite images, and maps he himself had made of the area. While he’d been in Trail Stop, he’d also surreptitiously taken pictures, using a digital camera, and printed out the photos on his computer. Using the photos and his own memory, he’d drawn a rough map of Trail Stop, showing the placement of the houses and their distance apart.