He bit them both quickly, saying words over them that Thatcher didn’t understand, nor did he think he ever would. When the small paw, that of a wolf, appeared on both their wrists, Thatcher knew that for as long as they lived, the pack would be theirs to call on. And even though he didn’t know it, Shane would only have to ask, and Thatcher’s destruction would be his to call upon too.
Chapter 7
Jimmy really was enjoying himself. It was nice having a clean bed to get into at night. Food on the table that was healthy and hot. Even Lisha was having fun. And the camper looked spic and span every day and night. They even did their laundry, having a blast at the laundry mat.
Having the money to afford glasses had helped him a great deal. He could read signs before he was up on them. The instructions on how to use things properly so he didn’t break them. And having a nice GPS in the truck had helped Lisha with the driving too. They’d only been on the wrong path twice that he knew of, but it wasn’t so bad now. They were having a good time being campers.
But he was hurting now. His body couldn’t take too much more of the abuse he was putting on it by driving a great deal of the time, and then having to hook up when they stopped to camp. He thought he was doing a good job of keeping it from Lisha, but several days ago, she’d offered to drive. Jimmy took her up on it, perhaps a little too quickly, and went to the camper to lie down for a while. That had been going on for a week now.
He knew it was against the law for him to be doing that—going to the camper and sleeping while it was in motion. So far he’d only fallen out of bed the one time, and that had been when they were parked. Jimmy had gotten up and forgot where he was. So, in addition to the nice nasty bump on his forehead, he had a sprained ankle as well.
Limping to the bathroom, he did his business, as he’d called it forever, and picked up the little cell phone they had gotten several days ago. Telling Lisha he was awake and ready to join her, she would pull over into a rest stop or something. He had learned to brace himself for her stops, but she was getting better at that as well.
When she joined him, he was making sandwiches and she poured the tea. They were both eating better, and he was glad for that. She told him where they were. He had to stop what he was doing to just look out the window. Like that would make a difference as to which state they were in, he thought.
“Really? We’re in Ohio already. I was thinking it would take us a bit longer.” She said that she’d read the welcome sign four times before she believed it. “I’m so glad. And I’ve been thinking about what you said about seeing Rogen. I just want to say I’m sorry to her and Jamie. You can understand that, can’t you, love? And when we talked about our kids, you seemed to think you’d like to do the same thing. I think we owe them that much, don’t you? Plus, I’m so very excited to be living in a warmer state all the time, aren’t you?”
“I am. And while I know that there will be more bugs all the time, the sunshine will be perfect. And living in this thing will let us pick up and go when we want to as well.” She smoothed her hand over the table top. “I can’t believe that no one has questioned us about this. I mean, we’ve been very careful about the money and all. But you’d think that someone somewhere would notice their truck being gone too.”
Jimmy had thought of that as well. They were getting off pretty easily considering that not only had they stolen the camper and the truck, but someone’s bank money too. He’d been meaning to check over the truck, just to see if it had anything in it that would give them a clue, but he’d not been up to it until today.
After lunch it was his turn to drive. But since they were in Ohio, they were willing to go a little slower, and Lisha sat with him while he drove. She did go over the glove box and anything else that she could reach. But there was nothing hidden in it that they could find, so he decided it wasn’t worth getting worked up over.
They had a plan. They were going to stop in little towns, zig zagging across the state asking about the accident. Then when someone knew the family, they had a good idea that perhaps Rogen was nearby.
They’d talked over seeing Rogen. If Jamie was there, then that was all right with them too. They felt as if they’d been given a second chance with their lives. And if Rogen or Jamie wanted to be a part of that, they were great with that. If not...well, they’d not talked all that much about that part of it. They’d fucked up, they both knew it. And while making amends at this stage wasn’t out of the question for them, it may well be for their children. Jimmy knew that they’d done them both wrong, and they had no one to blame but themselves.
The first place they stopped at didn’t know the family. They were fine with that, but decided that they’d eat in the camper from now on. The food was too greasy and too fatty for them to enjoy. Being on a clean like diet had changed a great deal about them, Jimmy was happy to say. And he was having a good time being that way.
By dinner time they were both worn out, him especially. It was getting harder and harder for him to get out of bed every day and to do much more than moan and groan. Jimmy had given up trying to hide it from Lisha. Actually, it was getting difficult not to complain to everyone how badly he hurt. He had one thought, and one thought only—make it to tell Rogen and Jamie how sorry he was.
He’d not been a born again man. Jimmy thought himself too far gone for that. He’d not been a good parent, not even an okay one. Cruel and mean, that’s what he’d been. And he, again, had no one to blame but himself for it. To tell his children that he loved them, that’s what he wanted to do more than anything on this earth.
Making their way to the truck, Lisha said that she’d drive. He had it in his head that he wanted to lay down again, but he was fearful of that, really. What if he didn’t wake up? What if—and this scared him more than anything else—he died while he was driving?
Jimmy was dying. He wasn’t stupid enough to think that because they were now clean living and clean bodied that it would take away the cancer in his body. But he’d like to be able to live longer. Much too late for that, he told himself. Just live one day at a time and get to see Rogen and Jamie.
Every time they stopped, even just to stretch their legs or to get something fresh to drink, they’d ask about the kids. Jimmy had started crying at the last several stops because they didn’t know anyone. Getting desperate now, Jimmy turned to Lisha.
“If I write a note for them, will you make sure they get it for me?” She shook her head. Tears were streaming down her face too. “Lisha, I’m not going to make it much further. We both know that. I’m dying. And I might make it, but in the event that I don’t, I need for you to be sure and give them something for me.”
“I don’t want you to die, Jimmy. I need you. You’re all I have in the world now.” She wiped at the tears. “You write it to them, and I’ll make sure they get it. But please, I’m begging you to please not die yet. I don’t want to go on if you die.”
“I know, love. I do. But I should have taken better care of myself. And of you. I have all these regrets that I can’t make right. And now, I’m going to die without being able to ask my children, who I was the cruelest of all to, if they’ll forgive me. Especially Jamie. We hurt him. More than just trying to kill him, we hurt his heart, and that pain hurts me more than anything. It haunts me, the look on Rogen’s face that day. Every time I close my eyes, I see her face. I was a horrible parent.”
“It wasn’t just you, Jimmy. I was terrible too. We shouldn’t have had kids if we wasn’t going to take care of them right. And thinking that it was Jamie’s fault that we didn’t have more was just stupid. I know that now. None of it was his fault. He was just a baby wanting to come into the world, a world with us. They both deserved much better.” She was sobbing and trying to keep them on the road. “I’m not going to be able to do this. I’m going to pull us over.”
She did, and then sat there in the truck with him, both of them sobbing so hard that it was hard to catch their breath. They were horr
ible people, they told each other, and they were going to hell for it. But it wasn’t anything like the hell they were both going through thinking back on how they’d treated the only people in the world that they should have truly loved.
They decided to rest at the next rest stop. Get out and see the trees, something that they’d been having fun identifying. Also, he needed to get out and move around. It was getting harder for him to simply get up after sitting for so long, and if he’d move around a bit more, then he could sit for longer periods of time.
After taking a nap, he felt better, and Jimmy sat in the truck again. He watched the trees and the homes. Some of them were like his own before the camper, piled high with junk and no one to clean up the yard. He regretted that too. Jimmy and Lisha had been terrible neighbors. There was just no end to how terrible they were to everyone. That night when he went to bed, for the first time in a while, Lisha slept with him. She’d not wanted to make him hurt if she rolled too close to him.
Breakfast was always a lite fair. They didn’t want to be weighed down by food as they drove. He was in a better mood and felt a little better today. When they stopped for lunch, he made his way to the vending machines to pick up today’s paper. And there on the front page was his daughter.
Not that he recognized her. No, she’d just been a mere child to him when she’d left them, but her name, along with the name of a doctor, was there for him to see. She apparently had married, and Jimmy had missed it.