The pain Natalie felt knowing she would never return to Kenny couldn't possibly compare with Paige's pain over the death of her mother. Natalie put her arm around the child's shoulders. "Paige, life is full of good-byes. They hurt. But life is also full of hellos." She smiled. "If I hadn't said goodbye to someone a couple of weeks ago, I wouldn't have met you."
"And you're glad you met me?"
"You bet I am!"
"And Daddy and Ripley?"
"Them, too."
"That's good to know," Nick said.
Natalie hadn't heard him come in. He looked tired after the recent events, but also relieved. "Daddy, guess what?" Paige asked excitedly. "We just got back from Dr. Cavanaugh's and he says Ripley gets to come home tomorrow!"
Natalie smiled. "Ripley is doing fine after his surgery. He hurts, and he'll need to rest in a cage for at least a week. Before you know it, though, he'll be jumping off the newel post again."
"Oh, great," Nick groaned. "That's one particular trick of his I could do without."
Paige beamed. "I'm gonna go call… some friends and tell them about Ripley."
When she left the living room, Nick motioned toward the couch. Then he sat down close to her. "Hard to believe that forty-eight hours ago Paige was in the hands of that maniac. You'd think nothing had happened to her."
"She's resilient but not indestructible. I think there might be repercussions."
"That's why I'm taking the week off. We need to be together. Also, my ace babysitter is in the hospital."
"I hope when she's released she won't be coming back to work here."
Nick rolled his eyes. "No way in hell. I've been talking to a few women who might work out. Before I hire one, though, I'm going to learn a lot more about her than I did Mrs. Collins. I'd like to have someone who would actually watch over my daughter, not tie up my phone all day."
"Well, I know Paige will be glad to see the last of Mrs. Collins. She'll also be delighted to have you to herself, and this is one week when you won't worry about her."
"I'll always worry about her, especially after everything that's happened. I don't want to be her jailer, though. She'll start to hate me."
Natalie smiled. "And that's why you've decided to let her talk to Jimmy again. You know that's who she's calling."
"No kidding?" He grinned. "I guess Jimmy's not so bad. Besides, if it hadn't been for him, I would never have known where to find Paige that night." His face grew serious. "After dispatch let me know she was missing, I went tearing to the Saunders house. I would have ignored the report of a disturbance at The Blue Lady by that guy at the convenience store if they hadn't said a blue car was parked outside. Jimmy had described the car she was taken away in."
"That officer posted outside also might have bled to death if help hadn't arrived so fast."
"Yes, and he has a wife and two kids. I don't know what they would have done without him."
"So Jimmy has redeemed himself."
"Partially." Nick frowned. "Of course, Paige wouldn't have been in any danger to begin with if he hadn't talked her into sneaking out-"
"Part of Jimmy's trouble is that his parents are so wrapped up in the younger kids, they don't give him the supervision he needs," Natalie interrupted. "I think that situation will change now. I also think both Jimmy and Paige have learned their lesson."
"Then they're the only ones who got anything good out of this tragedy," Nick said. "Richard Hunt lost a son, and the Bishops and Oliver Peyton each lost a daughter."
"Oliver might have lost two. When Alison regained consciousness and told her mother she'd listened to Oliver and Max Bishop talking on the phone-"
"About how old Max had paid Peyton to do a lousy job of defending Eugene Farley?" Natalie nodded. "I don't get it. Peyton has money."
"Not as much as he claimed. He's in debt and he needed the bribe money Bishop offered. That's what Alison was raving about the day of Tam's funeral. I remember Oliver looking like he was going to have a heart attack. He knew that she knew what he'd done. I wonder why she sat on that information-but then, Alison has her own incomprehensible reasons."
"Do you think Viveca will stay with him?"
"Lily told me she's already bade him a crushing farewell. I guess Viveca has higher standards than I gave her credit for. Lily is also badly disillusioned. She's not speaking to her father. I believe she'll forgive him, but not for a long time." Natalie sighed. "And then there's my father. I think he's sworn off women for good. First Kira, then Viveca, then Ruth… I mean Constance."
"God-what a shock. She had everyone fooled."
"Except Jeff, and look what happened to him."
"Yeah," Nick said slowly. "I thought of something a few hours too late to be of any use. Lindstrom's driver's license said his name was Jefferson. The woman in Knoxville called him Jeffrey. I should have picked up on that."
"It's a pretty small detail and there was a lot going on. What will happen to the real Ruth Meadows?"
"She's missing. I think my phone calls spooked her. Then Constance probably missed a couple of phone calls and Ruth decided something had gone wrong. When the Knoxville police got to the house Sunday morning, her clothes and personal effects were gone. She left the dog she'd walked every day so she'd be seen. One of the neighbors is taking it in."
Natalie smiled. "Just like you're taking in Constance 's cat Callie."
Nick tried to scowl. "It wasn't my idea. When Paige heard there was a homeless cat, she decided Ripley needed a girlfriend."
"You could have said no," Natalie said innocently.
"I couldn't and you know it. So now we'll have two cats."
"And I have a dog. No one answered the ad for Blaine."
"To your tremendous disappointment," Nick laughed, then sobered. "So what are you going to do with her in Columbus?" he asked softly.
Natalie looked down at her pearl ring. "Have you seen that empty building on Dawn Street?"
"The little brick place beside the park?"
She nodded. "I think it would be a great place for a clinic with boarding facilities. The dogs could be walked in the park each day."
"Nataüe, what are you trying to say?"
"I'm going to buy it." She glanced up. "I believe there's room for another vet in this town."
Nick's dark blue eyes widened. "Are you joking? You want to stay here and open a clinic?"
"Yes. My life in Columbus is over."
"I thought you had someone there. Someone you cared about."
"I never told you that."
"I did a little investigating." Natalie raised her eyebrows. "Not for personal reasons. There was a murder investigation and-"
She held up her hand. "It doesn't matter. There was someone, but there isn't anymore. I've already told him. And the funny thing is that I'm not all that upset about it. I suddenly realize I haven't been happy for quite a while, and not just with my personal life. With my own clinic, I can give more personal care and run the place exactly as I please. And in Port Ariel are my father, and Lily, and…" She smiled. "Well, I just believe it's time to come home." She paused. "I might be making a big mistake…"
Nick reached out and ran a finger over the curve of her cheekbone. 'Then again, you might not," he said gently. "There's only one way to find out."
