12:30 p.m.
Josh found it hard to believe they were actually doing it.
But they were.
He'd asked, "You ready?"
Reva had replied with the word he'd hoped to hear: "Always."
So now they were leaving Springfield, without a word of farewell to anyone - barreling along an otherwise deserted country road in H.B.'s truck. Colin hadn't remembered Josh, of course; but he seemed to be a cheerful, adaptable child. He was taking everything in stride, enjoying the new experience of riding in the front seat between two adults.
No phone calls had been made yet. There'd be plenty of time for that...but somehow, Josh wouldn't be convinced all this was real till the family had been told.
The conversation in the truck - much as he hated to admit it - was strained. He and Reva weren't "adapting" as quickly as Colin.
The truth, when he did admit it to himself? Reva hadn't mentioned Jeffrey or Edmund, and he wished she had. Especially Jeffrey. Or else, he wished he'd departed from his plan and been the first to speak Jeffrey's name. But he still couldn't bring himself to say it.
There'd been one opening, when the topic could have been addressed. Reva had left most of her belongings at Cross Creek, knowing Shayne and Jonathan could look after the house till further decisions were made. She'd just put the essentials in her car, so Josh could transfer them to his own vehicle. (Some family member could retrieve her car, too; knowing it wouldn't be unattended long, she'd left the keys in it.)
When Josh was transferring those "essentials," he'd found that they included Jeffrey's guitar.
He and Reva had looked at each other, over the guitar case.
He'd nodded solemnly, acknowledging the importance of that guitar, and gone on to pack it in the truck, with extreme care.
But neither of them had said a word.
And now, he felt as if he was waiting for the proverbial second shoe to drop - the "second shoe," in this case, being the revelation of just when and how the specter of Jeffrey was going to affect their lives.
He wished the shoe would drop, and get it over with.
x
x
x
A car sped by, headed toward Springfield. Startled by the suddenness of its appearance, he realized he'd been so distracted by his thoughts - and the conversation he'd somehow been carrying on with Reva - that he'd let the truck drift all over the road. He was thankful that oncoming driver hadn't hit him.
But then, behind them, he heard a horrific squealing of brakes - followed by insistent blasts on a horn. Colin, understandably, began bawling.
He looked in the rearview mirror, and saw the car turning.
Oh my God. I've been so concerned about dead Jeffrey that I haven't given enough thought to the enemy who's alive!
He cursed, then told Reva, "He made a U-turn, and he's coming after us! At top speed!"
She yelled exactly what he was thinking. "Josh, it's Edmund! I know it's Edmund!"
"I know."
At least he'd given some thought to this possibility. Even as he stepped on the gas, he reached into the glove compartment.
For his gun.
Reva gasped.
An instant later, he recognized that flight wasn't an option - he was driving a truck, not a racecar. So he grabbed Colin, yelled to Reva to brace herself, and slammed on the brake.
"Josh - no!"
He was relieved to hear the other driver come to a screeching halt as well - at a safe distance behind them. He'd feared for a moment that Edmund might deliberately crash into them.
"I can't lose him," he told the terrified Reva. "He's got a faster vehicle. But" - he took a steadying breath - "it may not be Edmund. Could be some nutcase who just wants to complain that I was hogging the road. Or even wants to ask directions!
"You take this -" He pressed the gun into her hand.
"No, Josh!"
"Take it!" He opened the driver's side door. "I'm going back there. If anything happens to me, you take off, as fast as you can. If you're caught, use the gun. But above all, use your cell phone - warn Shayne!"
As he got out of the truck, Reva and Colin were both wailing. Loudly.
His mind seemed to be bouncing back and forth between two thoughts.
One of those thoughts was Calm down. It's just some harmless driver who's pissed off 'cause I didn't keep to my own side of the road.
But the other was Why the hell didn't I bring two guns?
He strode back toward the menacing car.
The driver got out, faced him.
x
x
x
The second shoe had dropped.
x
x
x
And he hadn't thought of everything.
x
x
x
He didn't have time to entertain any wild ideas - dream, ghost, alternate universe. Before he could even blink, a very corporeal - and very agitated - Jeffrey O'Neill was saying, "Josh, I'm sorry! I can't believe I just did that. I don't know what came over me."
For a moment, Josh felt as if the bottom had fallen out of his world. Everything had changed, in a fraction of a second.
But there was also, oddly, a sense of relief. The second shoe...
He rushed to grip Jeffrey by the shoulders. "It's okay, Jeffrey! My God - you were right to stop us. Everyone will be thrilled to see you.
"But I want to make sure we're on the same page. You do understand that everyone in Springfield thinks you're dead?"
Jeffrey's head bobbed up and down. "Yes. I'm sorry..."
"Like I said, it's okay. I'm just glad you're not dead."
Josh already knew two things, with a certainty that surprised him.
Whatever the explanation, Jeffrey hadn't let Reva believe him dead all these months of his own free will. No way would the man he remembered hurt her like that.
And now, Reva and Jeffrey would reunite. It wouldn't be a situation where she'd be choosing between Jeffrey and himself, with each of them having a fifty-fifty chance; she'd already made that choice, and she'd never regretted it. She'd welcome her husband with open arms.
If he'd had any doubt, the memory of her bringing that guitar would have dispelled it.
And because I love her, I'll have to not only let her go, but be happy for her.
Jeffrey was peering over Josh's shoulder, in the direction of the truck. "Is that - is that Colin crying?"
"Yes." And suddenly, Josh wondered why Reva had fallen silent.
"Damn!" Tears were streaming down Jeffrey's cheeks. "What a way to come home - scare my own baby and make him cry!"
"It'll be all right," Josh said soothingly. Taking a closer look at Jeffrey, he saw that his face - lacking the trademark mustache and beard - was pale and drawn, and he was way too thin.
And he seemed to have trouble getting out of the car, Josh remembered. A problem with one of his legs?
Jeffrey said anxiously, "Reva..."
Josh thought fast. "If she was looking in the rearview mirror when I first came back here, I probably blocked her view of you. And when she realized there wasn't any kind of fight going on, she turned away from the mirror to look after Colin."
I hope that's all it is.
Just in case something was wrong, he knew he should get back there and take a look. "Listen, Jeffrey - it can come as quite a shock to suddenly see someone you've thought was dead. Believe me, I just found that out!
"Will it be okay with you if I go back to the truck and prepare Reva for what she's going to see? Explain, carefully, that you're alive? Trust me - I'll start by telling her this is going to be the happiest day of her life."
He meant it. Meant that he'd say that, and that he really believed she'd see it that way.
Jeffrey said, "Okay."
"And why don't you get back in your car and sit down? Just for now?" He'd had to steady Jeffrey twice; he was afraid that if the man didn't sit down, he'd fall down.
Apparently, Jeffrey still felt guilty about having chased them; he seemed willing to go along with anything Josh suggested. His gaze was riveted on the truck, but he let Josh maneuver him back into his car.
Then Josh took a deep breath, and jogged back to the truck. He wanted to run, but he didn't want to alarm Jeffrey.
Hopefully, Reva would be all right. And then, he thought, I'll somehow deliver one of them to the other.
Incredible.
But when he reached the truck, he found what he'd been praying he wouldn't find. Reva was unconscious in the driver's seat.
And he saw something else - something that made his flesh crawl. The gun he'd forced on her was still lying in her lap, inches from Colin.
He grabbed it and shoved it back in the glove compartment. Then he just stood there, quaking.
Thank God Jeffrey didn't see that - he'd have a fit!
And thank God Colin's still so young he isn't familiar with even toy guns.
He pulled himself together, and tried, gently, to revive Reva.
No luck.
He thought she'd just fainted - didn't want to believe a good shock could give someone a heart attack or stroke - but he wasn't sure.
So in the end, he couldn't think of any alternative but to look back toward Jeffrey's car, wave, and yell, "Jeffrey! You'd better come up here!"
Jeffrey came on the run, despite having a pronounced limp.
Josh stood aside. He explained, reluctantly, "I found her passed out."
Jeffrey gave a muffled cry. Weeping, he leaned into the truck and cradled Reva in one of his arms. He checked her pulse and breathing, then alternated between talking to her and planting kisses all over her face. Every so often he reached across her to clumsily pat Colin, who was clutching his mother's skirt and crying inconsolably.
Josh had never doubted that Jeffrey was still in love with Reva; now he was seeing the proof.
After about five minutes, Jeffrey checked her pulse again, looked up at Josh, and said, "It's strong. And her color's okay. I think we just need to get her out of the truck, so she'll have more air."
Josh nodded. "Right. You want to lift her out? You're her husband."
A stricken look came over Jeffrey's face. To Josh's surprise, he said, "Oh, damn!"
He straightened - slowly - and leaned against the door of the truck. "I can't. I injured my back a few months ago, and I don't think I could lift any adult right now. If I tried, and we both went down in a heap, she might get hurt. Dammit!" Now he was crying as helplessly as Colin.
My God, Josh realized, he's on the verge of a complete meltdown.
I was trying so hard to do the right thing, defer to him as Reva's husband - I'd seen that he's in bad shape. Why did I forget? Now I've made him feel inadequate. When he probably threw his back out performing some feat of derring-do I wouldn't even attempt...
For some reason, it suddenly hit him that if there was nothing much wrong with Reva, the situation he had to cope with was almost comical. Two vehicles blocking the road...the woman of two men's dreams sprawled in the cab of the truck, looking decidedly unglamorous (a stranger would wonder what they saw in her)...Colin once again wailing loudly...Jeffrey, it seemed, about to sit down in the middle of the road and blubber...
But Jeffrey didn't sit down and blubber. He held onto the truck door, took a few deep breaths, and got his emotions under control. Then he said, in a surprisingly steady voice, "Okay. You lift Reva out of the truck and get her over on the grass, and I'll move both our vehicles out of the road. I can at least do that. And I'll take care of Colin."
Josh sighed in relief. "That's fine. Maybe you'd better get him out of the truck first, so he won't be scared when he sees me move his mother?"
"Good idea."
Belatedly, Josh felt he had to say, "He's pretty big for his age -"
Jeffrey managed a weak smile. "Seventeen months - I think I'll be able to lift him."
He walked around to the passenger side, leaned in, and gently took the crying child in his arms. "It's all right, Colin," he said softly. "Are you worried about Mommy? She's just taking a nap. And I've been acting silly, trying to get her to wake up in a hurry so I can tell her I love her.
"But I'll love her just as much five minutes from now. Maybe she needs her nap, and I should be telling you how much I love you."
To Josh's amazement, Colin had stopped crying - as if, now that he had to pay attention to Jeffrey's voice, he was mesmerized by it. He looked closely at the man who was holding him, and said, "Da-da? Da-da?"
Even from the other side of the truck, Josh heard Jeffrey's gasp.
Jeffrey looked over the hood at Josh, an unspoken question in his eyes.
Josh didn't know whether the question was "Does he call you that?" or "Does he call every man he sees that?"
Jeffrey probably doesn't know which he means, either.
Either way, Josh knew how to answer - knew, because Shayne had told him. "Reva shows him pictures of you, tells him you're his Da-da. And she'd never let him call any other man that."
With fresh tears in his eyes, Jeffrey murmured, "Thanks." Then he resumed talking to Colin, telling him, "Yes, I'm your Da-da. And Mommy and I both love you so much!"
Josh found himself smiling. He didn't know where Jeffrey had been all this time, or whether Edmund Winslow was hot on his heels. But for the moment, at least, it didn't matter.
Just be okay, Reva. Knowing her toughness, he was suddenly sure she would be. You have a wonderful family to come back to.