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KIM BALDWIN. Her heartbeat picked up. “Erin Richards?”
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Her heartbeat picked up. “Erin Richards?”
“That’s her. She called the F rehouse a couple of times looking for you. Right after you left, and then again a few days ago. She said she’d keep trying until you got back.”
She wants to F nd me too! “Did she say where she was staying?”
Carl ran a hand through his hair. “Don’t think so. Oh—there’s something else too. After she called the last time, Dick came in with news about that cat of hers you were asking about.”
“Has somebody seen him?”
“Sounds like it. Dick was having breakfast the other day at the café in town, and he overheard some woman talking. Apparently her son found a hungry-looking cat in the woods a couple of days after the tornado. Turns out it’s gray with a white mustache, just like you said!”
“Where’s the cat now?”
Carl pulled a slip of paper out of his wallet. “Here’s the number of the people taking care of it. The woman told Dick she’d give it back when we found the owner.”
Gable called the family and arranged to pick up Earl Grey. She’d look after the cat while she searched for Erin, she decided. She didn’t want him settling in too comfortably with a new family. She stopped at the grocery store on her way there and got a bag of dried food and several cans of moist, along with a litter pan and litter and a variety of toys.
v
Gable had to admit that Earl Grey was truly adorable; a Groucho negative, all dark gray but for his perfect white mustache. The cat had viewed her with suspicion at the start—and hid under the car seat all the way home. She lured him out with a handful of treats, and he clung to her shoulder crying pitiful mewling sounds when she carried him inside.
Within a week, he had charmed her in a way she’d thought impossible, sleeping curled beside her every night and wailing loudly how much he’d missed her when she returned home from work.
Gable did everything she could think of to F nd Erin. The school where Erin taught was no help. The principal had given her a month off and said only that she’d be back in touch once she got things settled.
• 42 •
FORCE OF NATURE
Why didn’t you give her your number, idiot?
She hung out a lot at the F re station when she wasn’t working, hoping Erin would call. But when another week passed with no word from her, she began to worry that maybe Erin had reconsidered her decision to rebuild. Maybe there was a problem with her insurance.
She drove by Erin’s place again, and her heart skipped a beat when she spotted the Oakleaf Log Homes truck parked in the driveway.
A crew of workers was busy putting up log walls.
After that, Gable went by regularly to check the progress. The house looked like one of those prefab kits. It sure was going up fast.
Sometimes she rode her bike out there—the fourteen-mile round trip was a satisfying evening ride after work. Other times she drove and took Earl Grey with her, riding on her lap. Soon the way to Erin’s became as familiar to her as her route to work. Off her dirt road, she headed south along a paved two-lane until she came to the farm with the twin silver silos, glinting in the sun. Left onto a gravel road for a half mile, then right onto another paved road and over the bridge to Pine River.
This time of year, the bridge was usually lined with cars belonging to the F shermen who were trying to catch rainbow trout in the sparkling water below. A mile or so beyond was the intersection where she’d encountered the tornado. Gable always slowed and said a prayer of thanks as she passed the concrete slab that marked where the convenience store had stood. When she reached the F nal quarter mile, her heartbeat would begin to pick up. She always hoped to get a glimpse of Erin, but was disappointed each time.
Finally, after a month or so, the new cabin looked done from the outside. After that, she’d see the occasional electrical company truck or plumber’s van in the driveway, but still no Erin.
v
One Friday evening, two months after the tornadoes hit, Gable got off work early to attend the bimonthly supper meeting of the volunteer F re department.
Carl greeted her as she stepped into the PlainF eld Township F re garage. “Hey, girl, you playing with us later? Going to have a game over at Billy’s.”
“Maybe,” Gable replied. “Let’s see how late this goes.”
• 43 •
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