Rocky Mountain Reunion

“Thank you, ma’am.”

“I like your house,” Claire said, her gaze moving past Anne and Lily to peek down the long front hall.

“Well, thank you, dear. It is very special.”

“Claire says it reminds her of a castle,” Matt added.

“A castle?” Lily smiled at the girl. “You’re very right. That’s exactly what my grandmother had in mind when the house was built for her.”

Lily turned to Anne. “Why don’t you show Mr. Clark and his dog the way to the backyard? This young lady and I will meet you there. I’ll give her a little tour of our home along the way.”

Claire’s eyes widened with delight and Anne could only blink with pleasant surprise at her aunt’s take-charge attitude as she held open the door and ushered Claire in. Today Aunt Lily was very lucid and Anne couldn’t help but wonder if it was Claire who was responsible.

“Your aunt isn’t exactly what I remembered,” Matt said as he tucked his crutches beneath his arms.

“Ten years is a long time. And as I recall, you had about twenty minutes in her presence.”

“Yeah, well, as I recall, twenty minutes was pretty much all I needed.”

Anne could hardly refute his words. Her aunt had been ruthless in her dismissal of Matt, forbidding Anne from contacting him in any way, shape or form.

The two of them were silent as Stanley led the way, trotting gingerly on the wide, shale paver path along the side of the house and pausing on occasion to wait for Matt to catch up on his crutches.

Were they both thinking of the past?

“Your aunt really doesn’t remember me?”

“Not today she doesn’t. She has some vascular dementia and was recently diagnosed with Alzheimer’s. Some days her personality, temperament and memory fluctuate like the weather.”

He frowned. “Claire will be okay with her?”

Anne stiffened. “Yes. Of course. She’s not dangerous.”

“Sorry. I’m not familiar... I didn’t mean to imply...” He shrugged.

She knew she should say something gracious to let him off the hook, but the words eluded her. The situation was becoming more awkward by the minute, just as she’d feared.

When they passed the corner of the house, the yard came into view. Stanley was desperate for freedom and made his needs clear as he tugged on the leash and whined in an effort to reach the expansive and lush lawn spread in front of them.

The sight was one Anne never took for granted. An acre of green grass that rivaled any golf course stretched all the way from the house to a border of dense trees.

“Wow, that’s quite a yard. How do you get the grass so green?” he asked.

“My aunt spent years cultivating just the right mixture of seed and fertilizer. She used to mow it with a riding mower herself. Now we pay a local kid to take care of it. But this yard is her pride and joy.”

“All this is your property?”

She nodded. “On the right we’re bordered by those apple trees and lilac bushes.” She pointed left and smiled. “That old barn is on the property line to the left.”

“No fence?”

She scoffed. “Would you fence in this beauty? We don’t have any close neighbors on this side of the road, except an occasional family of deer, so why bother?”

“Good point,” he said, suddenly frowning in thought.

When he shifted his stance Anne glanced down at his walking boot. “How’s the ankle?”

“Annoying.”

“Then I imagine it would be a waste of time for me to mention you should be taking it easy for the first twenty-four to forty-eight hours until the swelling goes down.”

“You would be correct.”

Anne resisted a smile. Stubborn. That hadn’t changed, either.

Stanley’s whining became urgent and this time his tugs on the leash were accompanied by low groans of impatience. “Okay to let him run? He can barely stand being on this leash.”

“I don’t blame him. Of course. Let him have some fun.”

Matt held both crutches with one hand and knelt to release the leash. Immediately, Stanley shot forward, nearly knocking Matt off his feet. The crutches dropped to the ground and he pitched forward.

Anne grabbed the tail of Matt’s shirt, yanking him back from a certain fate with the ground, as he, too, struggled for his balance.

“Whoa. Thanks,” he said as he righted himself.

When she picked the crutches up from the ground and handed them to him their hands brushed. She nodded, her face warming at the brief touch.

For minutes they both stared quietly at Stanley, a diversion from the awkwardness of the moment. The Lab raced down to the woods, then ran in circles, barking as he chased a bird that soared across the clear blue summer sky overhead.

“That’s one happy dog,” Anne commented.

“We’re renting a house in town with only a small patch of grass.”

“I wish we had a dog to take advantage of this yard.”

“Why don’t you?” he asked. “There are plenty of animals waiting to be rescued and loved at local shelters. That’s where we got Stanley.”

“It’s not that simple. I have a challenging work schedule. I’m constantly on call to back up my team.”