Everett’s initial hardened face eased. He thought for a moment. “Bryce is about the best kind of man there is. Saw him here just a few days ago in fact. He asked me countless questions, about my wife, about my kids. He even remembered the name of the daughter who doesn’t speak to me anymore. I probably hadn’t seen him in five years.”
“That’s what I was telling her,” Gunner said excitedly. “He hasn’t been around. But he just popped up the other day?”
“Larry and I both saw him,” Everett said.
“He already said he’d help me with my tractor this spring. Needs some fine-tuning. He was always such a good handyman, that one. Before he disappeared.” Larry turned his shaggy head back toward Kenzie. “Where was it that you met him?”
“Up in the mountains.”
“So that’s where he’s been,” Larry muttered to himself.
“He abandoned you?” Kenzie asked. “Didn’t tell you where he was going?”
“He didn’t tell us a lot, no,” Larry said.
“Well, do you know where I could find him tonight?” Kenzie asked, feeling hopeful. They’d seen him only days before! That meant he couldn’t have gone far. Unless he was on the run.
No one spoke for a moment. Gunner sipped his beer, and a man rushed around the bases on the TV screen, scoring a point for his team. The men acknowledged it, always keeping one eye on the game.
“I might know where he is,” Gunner said then, sounding cryptic. “But warm yourself here first. I don’t want you running around in the cold. Found her getting mugged on a street corner just over an hour ago.”#p#分页标题#e#
“What are the chances?” Everett said, shaking his head.
“It was terrifying,” Kenzie admitted. As she sat, sipping her water, she watched as some snow kicked up outside, one of those sad, April snows where winter reared its ugly head once more. She was reminded of the safety of Bryce’s cabin, and of the secrets therein.
“Hey, you wouldn’t happen to know anything about Bryce’s wife or child, would you?” she asked.
Everett and Larry exchanged glances. Gunner looked perturbed. “Wife? Child?” he asked.
“I have reason to suspect he has both, yes,” Kenzie said.
“Well, he never mentioned anything to us,” Everett said. “Remember—he kept his mouth shut a lot, unless he was giving one of us idiots advice. A good man, but not one you can get close to.”
Kenzie turned toward Gunner, pleading with her eyes. “Just tell me where I might find him,” she whispered, finishing the last droplets of her water and aching to be on her feet again. The sooner she found Bryce, the sooner she could feel safe, warm.
Gunner scratched the back of his scalp, clearly disappointed to see her go. He’d found a curiosity in her, one he could show off to the other Blues Boys at the clubhouse. But he drew up a napkin from his back pocket and wrote directions in a black scrawl. “You’ll find him just east of town, where the town dwindles off and the mountains begin. He said he likes to sit in a park called Blue Blossom and think.”
“Think about what?” Kenzie asked.
Gunner shrugged. “He told me that years ago. He could be writing poetry in his head for all I know.”
Kenzie thanked Gunner, standing up and wrapping her arms around his neck. “Thanks for taking such good care of me today. Bryce is lucky to count all of you as friends.”
The men, now looking tired, with bags folding several times beneath their eyes, hugged her back and sent her on her way, telling her to be careful on the roads near the mountains. “It’s still April, ma’am, and the roads get slick.”
Kenzie walked quickly to her car, grateful to be alone again. She couldn’t imagine her Bryce hanging around men like that, men who seemed to swap off-color stories and drink beer long into the night. But then again, there was little she really knew about Bryce. Perhaps loneliness had kept him there. Perhaps just having another warm body to talk to or be around for a few hours had been enough back then.
She didn’t know if she should feel encouraged that the men hadn’t known about a wife and child or not. Her information was lacking. For all she knew, she might come upon Bryce in the park only to find him playing with his six-year-old child, his wife looking on. It would break her, certainly, but perhaps she’d watch from afar and make peace with the situation.
Kenzie ducked into her car and drove east, toward the mountains. She shivered as she drove, her elbows swinging. If she didn’t find Bryce at the park—late as it was—she’d have to check into a hotel immediately. Clinging to the steering wheel for dear life, she hoped, prayed, wept—just wanting him to be there. Her heart felt squeezed.