Rock Harbor Series - 03 - Into the Deep (13 page)

Donovan was in his recliner with the news blaring and the paper in his lap. He dropped the paper to the floor and patted his leg. She collapsed onto his lap, and he nuzzled her neck.

“Um, you smell good. My favorite scent of baby shampoo and cooked cabbage.” There was laughter in his voice.

Naomi chuckled. “Your son still insists any other shampoo will burn his eyes, and you’re the one who wanted the fried cabbage. The rest of us won’t touch the stuff.” She settled against his chest. She would talk to him about Emily later. Right now, she needed this comfort.

Donovan played with her hair. She could sense a stillness in him, as if he was biding his time to tell her something. “How was your day?” she asked tentatively.

His hand stopped caressing her hair. “Um, not so good,” he said.

Naomi sat up and looked into his face. His blue eyes had an anxious squint. “What happened? Did Marika come by?”

He nodded. “Worse, she brought her lawyer with her. She wants to have the kids this weekend.”

Naomi felt like a fist had landed in her solar plexus. “What did you tell her? We can’t let her take them. What if she runs off with them? She can’t be trusted, Donovan.”

“You and I both know that, but I’m not sure we can convince a judge of that fact. She has parental rights. Her lawyer was quick to point that out.” He wrapped a strand of her hair around a finger. “I think she’s changed. She’s making a conscious effort to control her temper, and she seems to genuinely care about the kids.”

Naomi tensed. “Her track record tells a different story.”

“She says she was emotionally unbalanced during that time because I mistreated her.”

“What?” Naomi curled her hands into fists. “You don’t even kill spiders, but carry them outside! Is she nuts?”

Donovan gave a faint smile and kissed her nose. “It’s good I have you for a defender.” He sighed and ran his hand through his hair, leaving the black strands standing at attention. “I’m not sure we have a choice, sweetheart. It’s Emily’s birthday, and Marika says she’s missed three birthdays already and doesn’t want to miss another.”

“And whose fault is that? Not yours!” Naomi wanted to break something, preferably Marika’s head. “Now she’s back here as some kind of environmental crusader! Every time I turn around someone is gushing about how wonderful she is to care so much about her home-town.”

“She was always one to get involved in a cause. I’m surprised she’s stuck with this one as long as she has. She said she’s been working for this organization since she left here.”

“Well, I don’t want her taking Emily on her birthday. I have a party planned for her with all her friends.”

Donovan’s arms tightened around her. “You know as well as I do that Emily would love to spend her birthday with her mother.”

“She hates me,” Naomi murmured. “I wish you’d talk to her.”

“I’ll try.”

“So what did you tell the lawyer?” She was afraid to hear the answer. Donovan’s tight jaw said it all.

“I told her she could have the kids for the day but not overnight.”

“Why did she have to come back? We were so happy.” Since Marika’s return, the progress Naomi had made with Emily had eroded. The little girl had withdrawn and begun to call Marika on the phone the minute she got home from school. From the hopelessness in her husband’s voice, she knew he felt he didn’t have a choice. A part of her wondered if he had even fought to avoid this or if one look at Marika’s beauty had made him cave.

“I’m still happy; aren’t you?”

“Yes, but she’s messing everything up.” Naomi scowled.

“What’s that face mean?” Donovan ran his fingers along her jaw.

Naomi had to know. She knew the question would upset him, but she couldn’t live with this uncertainty gnawing at her like Charley with his favorite chew toy. “Do you still have feelings for her?” she asked in a small voice.

“For who? Marika?” Donovan gave a bark of laughter. “Oh yeah, I have feelings for her. Dislike and distrust. But that’s all.” He cupped Naomi’s face in his hands. “You’re my wife, and I love you. Don’t ever doubt that. My years with Marika weren’t happy, not one of them. The honeymoon wore off in a month, and I wondered how I could have been so stupid. I thought the children would make things better, but nothing helped. She was still just as wild and volatile. I’ve never said this, but the only thing I really felt when she left was relief. I didn’t believe in divorce, but she gave me the easy out.” He kissed her. “Can you still love a coward?”

The relief she felt nearly made her cry. “With all my heart,” she whispered. She snuggled against his chest again. “We need to decide about Lauri’s baby too. Have you given it any more thought and prayer? She needs to know so she can make plans. I’m leaving it up to you.”

Donovan nodded against the top of her head. “Yeah, I’ve thought about it. And prayed about it.” He cleared his throat. “I don’t think we should do it, Naomi. We’ve got so much on our plate right now with Marika. More turmoil wouldn’t be good for the kids or for our marriage. And I’d like to have a baby of our own sometime.”

Naomi closed her eyes, unable to stop the prick of tears. That was her heart’s desire too. She thought about carrying a baby in her own body, the child of their love for one another, and the vision filled her heart with a joy she’d never thought she’d feel. “When?” she asked.

“Soon. Let’s wait until this thing with Marika settles down and then start trying. I’m already thirty-six. I want us to have time to ourselves when we retire. I’m going to talk to a lawyer myself tomorrow and see what our choices are about Marika. We need to get it resolved, even if
we don’t like what we have to do. There has to be some way to protect the children.”

Naomi didn’t know when she’d been happier. She thanked God Donovan felt the same way she did about having a child. But how could she tell Lauri no?

10

H
er students clustered around the yard with their dogs. Bree found it hard to keep her mind on the training. Her father’s pleas coupled with the pictures of her as a child had rattled Bree more than she wanted to admit. She didn’t know what she would have done if she hadn’t had an excuse to leave. The past few days, her mind had been filled with turmoil and confusion.

“You’re all doing terrific,” Bree said. “I want you to be working toward FEMA certification now. The Federal Emergency Management Agency certification isn’t easy, but you’re all committed and your dogs are up to the challenge. There’s a training session in Milwaukee in three weeks. I’d like all of us who can to go to that. Are you game?”

“Even Zorro?” Lauri put in eagerly.

“Especially Zorro. He’s come a long way this year. You should be proud.” Bree studied the faces clustered around her. They were more than students; they’d become close friends and part of her life. “You’ve studied water searches, man-trailing, death response, and now it’s time to learn disaster preparedness. It’s a tough job though. You have to be physically conditioned for climbing over rubble, but even more important, the job takes mental conditioning to face the lack of hope when only bodies and not living victims are pulled from collapsed buildings. But I think you’re ready for it.”

“I’m in,” Eva Nardi said. Lauri called her a Nordic goddess, and the description fit her six-foot statuesque frame.

“I’ll need to see if someone can watch Gretchen,” Karen Siller said. “But she can probably stay with my mom. How long would we be gone?”

“Over a three-day weekend. But it will be worth the trip,” Bree promised.

“I’ll have to ask Kade,” Lauri said. “Or you could ask him. He’d say yes if you asked.”

Bree’s cheeks heated at Lauri’s pointed look. “I think I’ll let you handle that.”

Lauri knelt and scratched Zorro’s ears. “He’ll do anything for you.”

“From the mouth of a child,” Naomi muttered under her breath.

Bree shot her a quelling look. “I’ll see about making motel arrangements. Are you all okay with sharing a room? Other than you, Ryan. I’m afraid you’ll have to pay for it yourself.”

“No problem. I’ll find something to do,” the quiet paramedic answered with a sly look at Eva. She smiled back at him.

“We had a call this morning about looking for a runaway who’s been missing for two months,” Bree told them. “I’d like as many of you as possible to go with me. This will be something new for you as we go through the boy’s room and let the dogs look for distress smells. It’s doubtful we’ll find the boy, but we might be able to tell a little about his state of mind. I told the parents we’d come over late tomorrow afternoon.”

The group began to disperse. “Can we talk?” Lauri asked Naomi.

“I was planning on it,” Naomi said. “We have any Pepsi left, Bree?”

“In the refrigerator.”

“Come with us,” Naomi mouthed over her shoulder as she and Lauri went toward the Kitchigami Search and Rescue building.

What was up? Bree hurried after them. She and Naomi hadn’t had much time to talk the last few days.

Inside the building, Naomi handed out soda. She pulled her long, single braid over her shoulder and twisted it in her hands, a sure sign she was nervous.

“Pistachio?” Bree asked, splitting a nut with her thumb.

“Thanks.” Lauri took a handful, but Naomi refused, though she
didn’t make her usual comment of dislike but instead chattered away about last night’s reality TV show.

“You’re going to say no, aren’t you?” Lauri said, sounding near tears.

Suddenly understanding her friend’s anxious manner, Bree took Lauri’s arm. “Let’s all sit down,” she suggested.

Lauri made no move to resist as Bree tugged a folded chair into the office. Tears sparkled on her lashes.

Naomi shut the door behind them. “I’m sorry, Lauri,” she said. “Donovan and I talked it over, and we both feel this wouldn’t be the right thing for our family. The kids are in so much turmoil already with their mother back in town, and we don’t think we can disrupt them even more.”

“But what am I going to do?” Lauri’s voice was plaintive.

“There are so many couples who really want a child,” Bree said. “You won’t have any trouble finding someone to take the baby.”

“But I want it to be someone I know and trust.” Lauri turned to Bree. “What about you, Bree? Davy needs a brother or sister.”

Bree gaped. The thought had never crossed her mind. She turned the idea over in her mind slowly then shook her head. “He needs the stability of knowing he has my undivided attention right now,” she said. “I’m sure he’d adjust to a brother or sister if he had to, but I don’t think now is the time. And your baby needs a loving father as well as a mother.”

“Maybe I should just abort it!” Lauri crossed her arms over her chest and glared at them.

“You know you don’t mean that,” Bree said, careful to keep her voice gentle. “You still have plenty of time to find an adoptive family. I’ll help you look. There are probably several in town who would love a baby.”

“My life is a mess,” Lauri wailed. “I thought it was all settled, and now you’ve spoiled everything!” She jumped up and rushed out the door, slamming it behind her so hard papers flew from Bree’s desk.

Naomi’s hand shook as she passed her palm over her forehead. “I hated to do that. I know she was counting on me taking the baby.”

“I understand though,” Bree said. “It’s a lot of responsibility. “What’s happening with Marika?”

“Donovan is checking with our lawyer. But we think we have a good case since she abandoned them. For one thing, we can insist on supervised visitation, which will go a long way toward easing our fears about her running off with the kids. He’s going to write her a letter detailing what we expect. We’ll probably have to go to court.” She sighed heavily. “Emily has been throwing tantrums that have to be seen to be believed. I don’t know what we’re going to do.”

“Let’s pray together right now,” Bree suggested. She chuckled at the surprise in Naomi’s face. “I know I’m a baby Christian, but I’ve learned that much.”

“You’re a good friend,” Naomi said, taking her hand. They bowed their heads and prayed for God to guide Naomi’s situation and to keep the children safe.

Jonelle leaned on the fence and watched Zane work Bruck. The dog’s powerful muscles moved as he loped along on the treadmill.

Zane glanced up and saw her. “I have to get that dog today. The big match is in just over three weeks. We need him to put on a good show by then.”

“Why should you care? You don’t want Bruck to lose,” Jonelle said.

“I don’t want the fight to be one-sided either. The spectators might feel they aren’t getting their money’s worth. I want the betting to go high for this one—really high. Then me and Simik will rake in the dough.”

Jonelle tossed corn to the chickens scratching in the yard and didn’t answer. He wouldn’t listen anyway. A big car came up the driveway. She rolled her eyes. Simik again.

He got out of his car and walked toward Zane. “Zane.” His voice was tight. “We got a problem.”

“Yeah?”

“The troll is getting antsy. He’s offering more money to snatch the dog, but it has to be today or he’s going to get someone else.”

“What a patsy! He’s paying us to snatch the dog, and then he thinks that mutt will really beat Bruck.” Zane rubbed his hands together. “We’re making money off him in a double whammy.”

Simik leaned against the fence and watched Bruck. “The troll is itching for that dog to fight. If we won’t get the dog, he’ll go elsewhere. We can’t let that happen. I want to control the game and bankrupt the jerk. You get that dog and make him mean enough, the troll is sure he can beat Bruck.”

It was a complex game the men were playing, Jonelle thought. Make the troll think Samson has a shot at Bruck, then get him to bet everything he has on the fight.

Zane snorted. “It’s easier said than done. People are watching now.”

“Don’t whine to me about it. You’ve already screwed it up once.”

“You didn’t offer to help!”

“You said you could handle it. You’ve never had a problem before.”

“Yeah, we’ll get the stupid dog today. You tell the troll it’s a go.”

“All right, but don’t disappoint us again.” Simik nodded to Jonelle, then got in his car and drove away.