Any Day Now. Робин Карр

she came home from work on Thursday afternoon, Frank was sitting on the porch with Molly. Sierra parked behind the cabin and walked over to the store. When she came around the corner Frank told Molly, “There she is, girl.” Molly burst out at a dead run and nearly tackled Sierra, jumping on her, licking her face, half barking, half crying as if Sierra had just returned from war. It brought Sierra to her knees. She crooned to the dog, “I’m home, I’m home, I love you, too.” And then she let Molly lick her face until she was covered with slobber.

      “She scratch you or something?” Frank asked when she came up on the porch.

      “No,” she said, wiping her wet face. “No one’s ever been that happy to see me.”

      * * *

      Tom Canaday was seen around Timberlake all the time since he lived in the neighborhood. He was as involved in the kids’ school activities as much as his schedule would allow and all the local businesses knew him even if he did travel a bit farther for most of his building supplies to get the best prices. He stopped in the diner now and then, maybe for a cup of coffee or slice of pie. Really, he was a very sociable guy without a lot of time on his hands to be social.

      “Hey there, fella,” Lola Anderson said. “Haven’t seen you in a while.”

      He sat up at the lunch counter and she automatically poured him a cup of coffee. “I didn’t know it was your day,” he said.

      “I’m working at Home Depot tomorrow and the next day,” she said, speaking of her second job. “You have a day off?”

      “I’ve been putting in a lot of time at Cal’s barn. I took the day to catch up on a few other things since Cal’s spending the day in Denver with Maggie. Her car’s in the shop and he drove her in on Wednesday and will bring her back tonight. While they’re there, they’re looking at tile, carpet and flooring.”

      “It must be coming along nicely,” she said.

      “Looking good. And pretty much on schedule. How’s school?”

      “Slow and steady, but I only take a few credits a semester and I’m taking the summer off from classes. I have a kid starting at community college in the fall—I can’t believe that.”

      “Tell me about it—Jackson’s twenty already and Nikki starts in the fall.”

      “Pretty soon we’ll be empty nesters,” she said, leaning on the counter.

      “Not for a while,” Tom said. “I’ve got younger kids at home. But if we ever get caught up, we should try meeting for a movie or an ice cream or something. Something adult but without kids.”

      Lola smiled patiently. “I’ve heard talk like this before,” she said.

      “I mean it. It’s just finding the time, that’s all.”

      Lola shifted her weight to the other leg. “How’s Becky?”

      “Fine,” he said. “Great.”

      But Becky was neither fine nor great, he thought. And he knew exactly why Lola had brought her up. Tom and Becky had been divorced for years but everyone was of the opinion they were still a couple, that Tom was never going to be finished with that relationship. It was his own fault. He’d been letting Becky come around, visit and stay with him and the kids and people just assumed they were not quite divorced.