Hometown Ties Read online

  “What about their appointment?”

  “Oh, they should be done with that by now.”

  “We’re on the wharf, out on the dock past the tuna boat. It’s the fishing boat on the end with the pirate flag,” Caroline said weakly. “You’ll probably see a small crowd of spectators and police standing nearby.”

  “See you in about five minutes.”

  Caroline closed her phone and looked down to see that her mother was still soundly sleeping. She was probably exhausted from trekking nearly two miles with no clothes or shoes. Or had she slowly disrobed along the way, dropping clothing like Hansel and Gretel’s crumbs? Was she hoping to use them to find her way back home? And why couldn’t she have left her shoes on? More than these questions, Caroline wondered why. Why, on a day when the temperature was barely sixty degrees, would an eighty-four-year-old woman want to walk naked through town? Why would she come clear down to the docks?

  Alzheimer’s was a mysterious disease plagued by a long list of unanswerable whys. Caroline hated to admit it, but perhaps it was time for her to seek some serious help in caring for her mother.

  Chapter 2

  Janie

  The drive from Janie’s house, or what was slowly becoming Janie’s house, was only a few minutes from the wharf. Janie turned on the Bluetooth, then hit Abby’s number on her speed dial as she drove down a back street. Abby barely said hello before Janie cut her off. “I’m on my way to the wharf right now. Caroline’s mom pulled another stunt—walked down there with no clothes on and—”

  “Oh my!”

  “Mrs. McCann threatened to jump, then hid on a fishing boat. Caroline has her subdued, but she needs assistance in getting her off there before the police intervene.”

  “Paul and I were just having coffee,” Abby said. “But I’m on my way.”

  “Can you swing by McDonald’s?”

  “What?”

  Janie quickly explained.

  “Okay, if you think it’ll help.”

  “Caroline seems to think so.” She gave Abby specifics about where to find them on the wharf.

  “And I’ll call Marley, too,” Abby said. “Just in case she’s around.”

  “See you in a few.” As Janie set down her BlackBerry, she realized she’d gotten pale blue paint on the front of it. She’d been painting a bedroom in her house when Caroline had called, and Janie dropped everything, including a paint-soaked brush on the hardwood floor. No time to think of that now; she was already turning in to the wharf parking lot. Seeing Caroline’s SUV as well as a couple of police cars, Janie pulled up and got out, hurrying past a small crowd of curious onlookers. She was stopped by the police barricade next to the wharf entrance.

  “No one goes past here,” a young man in uniform told her.

  “I’m here to help Ruby McCann,” Janie explained.

  He gave her a puzzled look. “Who?”

  “The naked old woman on the fishing boat,” Janie said impatiently. “Mrs. McCann.”

  “That’s right.” An older male officer joined them. “Mrs. McCann is the one on the boat. But her daughter’s with her. Who are you?”

  “Janie Sorenson.”

  “And your purpose?”

  “She wanted to go onto the dock,” the young policeman explained.

  “To see Mrs. McCann,” Janie told him.

  “Are you a doctor?”

  “No, but Caroline McCann, Ruby’s daughter, called me to come over and help.”

  “To help?” He looked puzzled. “How do you plan to help?”

  Janie suppressed her exasperation. “I’m her attorney.” Okay, maybe that was a stretch, but hopefully it would work. “Caroline called for my assistance.”

  “Oh, right.” He peered curiously at her, as if he questioned whether she was legit. “You’re an attorney?”

  She glanced down at her paint-speckled overalls, then forced a smile. “Yes. I’m an attorney who happens to be painting a bedroom today. Now if you’ll excuse me, I’ll go find Caroline and her mother.”

  “Janie!”

  Janie turned to see Abby just getting out of her car and waving. She had a brown paper bag in hand and was jogging toward them.

  “I came as fast as I could,” she huffed at Janie. “I even pushed my way to the front of the line at McDonald’s—told them it was an emergency, and they put a rush on my order.”

  The older officer scratched his head. “What?”

  “For Caroline’s mom,” Abby said with irritation. “Now let us past here so we can go help her.”

  He pointed to the McDonald’s bag. “But what’s in that—”

  “Look, Steve.” Abby put her face close to his. “We all know you’re a good policeman and you’ve been on the force for years, but this isn’t exactly a bank robbery going down here. Please, step aside and let us help our friend, and nobody gets hurt, okay?”

  He shrugged, then stepped back. “Hey, you gals get that old lady safely off the boat and you’ll hear no complaints from me.”

  “Thank you.” Abby grabbed Janie by the arm now. “Let’s go!”

  “Nice work,” Janie said as the two of them hurried down the dock.

  “Yeah, I even surprised myself by taking cuts in front of a mom with two toddlers who were whining for Happy Meals.”

  “No, I meant nice work with the police.”

  “Oh, that’s just Steve Pratt. He was a couple years behind us in school and I’m still pulling rank on him.”

  Janie started to laugh but realized they were near the boat now. “We should probably be quiet,” she warned Abby. “We don’t want to startle Ruby.”

  “Here.” Abby handed her the bag. “Why don’t you go first with our peace offering?”

  Janie nodded and took the bag, quietly stepping onto the boat and cautiously looking around. A cheerful bit of yellow and white fabric sticking out beyond the side of the cabin seemed just a bit out of place on this crusty old fishing vessel. Tiptoeing around, she found Caroline sitting on a bench with an oversized cocoon nestled near her. A relieved smile washed over Caroline’s face.

  Janie pointed to the bundle. Your mom? she mouthed.

  Caroline nodded.

  Janie held up the bag, and Caroline’s eyes lit up. “Thank you!”

  The cocoon rustled, and Janie handed Caroline the bag before stepping back around the other side of the cabin and out of sight.

  “Good morning, sunshine,” Caroline said cheerfully.

  “What—where am I?” growled a hoarse voice. “Who are you?”

  “Here’s your lunch, Mom. A cheeseburger, fries, and a vanilla shake.” Caroline’s voice was calm and even, as if she served her naked mother meals on strange fishing boats every day.

  “Lunch?” her mom growled.

  “Smell this,” Caroline said sweetly. “Mmm, french fries. And they’re still warm.”

  “Huh?” Her mom sounded interested. Janie heard sounds of paper and munching and hoped this meant they were moving in the right direction.

  “Have a sip of your milkshake, too,” Caroline urged. “You had a long hike out here this morning, Mom. I’m sure you’ve worked up an appetite.”

  “Apple … tight?” her mother mumbled with what sounded like a full mouth.

  Janie rounded her forefinger and thumb to make an “okay” symbol for Abby, who was now sitting on a wooden crate on the dock next to the boat, looking surprisingly peaceful and relaxed considering that there were several police officers as well as a small crowd of spectators still hovering.

  Janie pantomimed eating motions for Abby, pointing back to where Caroline and her mom were still presumably dining. Abby nodded, then reached into her purse to remove an emery board and promptly began filing one of her fingernails.

&nbs
p; Janie quietly returned to the front of the cabin and leaned back against it, looking up at the sky. The morning fog had nearly burned off, and it looked like it was going to be another perfect day in the small sea town of Clifden. Once again she marveled at her decision to transplant her life back to her childhood home—such a different world from Manhattan. And yet she was deliriously happy to be here. She just hoped she wasn’t experiencing some kind of honeymoon phase. It had been only a couple of weeks since she’d moved back.

  The breeze blew her long hair away from her face, and she stretched her arms out wide, loosening her shoulders, which were still feeling the burn from all the painting she’d accomplished yesterday. She was restoring her parents’ old ranch-style house, getting ready to live in it. She had only one more bedroom to paint, and she’d be done with the bulk of the messy work. On the inside, anyway. The outside was still waiting for a new coat of paint. Abby had assured her there was plenty of time to get to it before foul weather set in. “Don’t you remember how September-October is the best time of year on the Oregon coast?” Abby had reminded her just a few days ago. “Savor it.”

  Janie took in a long breath of fresh sea air and decided to do just that. Really, what was so bad about being on a docked fishing boat, wearing paint-splotched overalls, and waiting for your friend’s senile mother to decide it was time to go home? What was the hurry?

  “My friend is here, Mom,” Caroline said loudly, as if to warn Janie that she was trying to make the move to get her mother safely off the boat. “Remember Janie from grade-school days? Her family only lived a few blocks away from us. Her first name is Linda too.”

  “Linda?” came the gruff voice. “Linda Caroline.”

  “Yes,” Caroline said happily. “I’m Linda Caroline. Remember me? Your little Linda Caroline.” Her mom said the name again, this time with more confidence. “And my friend was Linda Jane.”

  “Linda Jane?”

  “Yes,” Caroline continued in a bubbly voice. “Linda Jane. And there was a Linda Abigail and a Linda Marlene as well. We made a club called the Four Lindas.” Caroline was coming around the corner now, leading the way. “And this is Linda Jane right here,” she announced.

  “Hi, Mrs. McCann,” Janie said gently. She pointed to the sky now. “Isn’t it a pretty day?”

  Caroline’s mom looked up with a quizzical frown, then nodded as if she agreed. “Pretty. Pretty day.”

  Now Janie came along the other side of Mrs. McCann, who was still draped in a white and yellow cocoon. “Let me help you off of this boat,” she said calmly.

  “Yes,” Caroline cooed. “We had our lunch on the boat, and now it’s time to go home.”

  “And there is Linda Abigail,” Janie continued with Caroline’s list of Lindas. “That’s three of the Lindas.”

  “Linda,” Mrs. McCann said gruffly as Caroline and Janie practically lifted her from the boat and onto the dock.

  Abby followed along behind them, and although Mrs. McCann was starting to resist her three-Linda escort, they continued slowly moving down the dock, walking and talking and cajoling the old woman along with each step.

  By now there was an ambulance and three police cars. Janie figured a naked old woman about to leap from the dock must be a big occurrence in a small town like Clifden. In some parts of New York, such a thing would scarcely turn a head. The foursome was about halfway down the dock when Janie spotted Marley pushing past the police and coming toward them. Worried that Marley’s rapid approach might unsettle Mrs. McCann, Janie attempted to tighten her grip, but the comforter made this tricky. Plus, Mrs. McCann was beginning to squirm. Her lunch must’ve revived her. Caroline looked at Janie with worried eyes, and Janie imagined the old woman breaking free and jumping naked into the cold bay waters.

  “Want to carry her?” Janie suggested.

  “Yes,” Caroline agreed. “Hurry, Marley,” she urged. “We’re going to carry her.”

  And just like that, as if it had been choreographed, the four of them grabbed various parts of the squirming yellow and white comforter and wrapped Mrs. McCann securely, slowly transporting her toward the wharf entrance.

  “She’s not very heavy,” Abby commented.

  “Especially with four of us,” Janie said.

  “Where do we go from here?” Marley asked.

  “To my SUV,” Caroline instructed. “I’ll take her home.”

  “A couple of us better come with you,” Janie said. “To keep her subdued while you drive.”

  “Let us through,” Janie commanded when they reached the police barricade. “We need to get Mrs. McCann to a safe place.”

  “But what about the report?” Officer Steve asked as the four women pushed past.

  “Does it look like this is a good time?” Abby shot back at him.

  “Come by my house, if you want,” Caroline told him over her shoulder. “I need to get my mom home and into bed.”

  “But we have an ambulance,” someone called out. “And EMTs ready to assist—”

  “She doesn’t need an ambulance,” Caroline told them. “She just needs her own bed and some rest.”

  “Oh, great,” Marley muttered as they toted their wriggling bundle toward Caroline’s SUV.

  “What?” asked Janie.

  “Looks like the press is here.” Marley nodded over to a short balding guy who was snapping photos like he planned to sell this to the New York Times.

  “Oh, that’s just Harold from Clifden Weekly News,” Abby said in a dismissive tone. “Don’t worry about him.”

  It was a bit of a struggle, but they soon had Mrs. McCann, still fairly snug in her yellow and white cocoon, wedged between Janie and Marley in the backseat, while Abby road shotgun with Caroline at the wheel.

  “I feel like we just pulled some kind of bank heist.” Janie giggled as she buckled the seatbelt around Caroline’s mother, pausing to smooth the fuzzy white hair a bit.

  “Or kidnapped someone,” Abby suggested.

  “Or saved some old lady from getting locked up,” Caroline said sadly. “But I appreciate it, you guys. Thanks for your help.”

  Janie was thinking that Mrs. McCann might be safer if she were locked up somewhere. In a good place. But she didn’t want to say as much because she knew Caroline’s mother was desperate to remain in her own home. She also knew how hard Caroline had been trying to keep her there, caring for her mother, cooking and cleaning and hoping against the odds that she could somehow bring the old woman back to her senses. Caroline’s theory was that, with love and kindness and good nutrition, her mother’s mental health would improve. Unfortunately, and as today proved, her theory had some holes in it. Janie thought Mrs. McCann’s future looked somewhat bleak, and the sooner Caroline figured this out, the better off both she and her mother would probably be.

  “Don’t look now,” Marley warned, “but you’re being followed.”

  Janie glanced back to see one of the patrol cars tailing them. “Well, at least you have your legal counsel with you,” she assured Caroline.

  “Do you think I’m in trouble?” Caroline asked as she turned down her street.

  “I don’t see why,” Janie said. “No one’s been arrested. And they didn’t charge you or your mother with anything. Not yet anyway.”

  “Will they?” Caroline sounded worried.

  Janie considered this. “I don’t see how it would do anyone any good, but you never know which way it might go with law enforcement. Some small-town police forces seem to have a code of their own.”

  Mrs. McCann was mumbling something, and when Janie listened more closely, she realized the words coming from the old woman’s mouth weren’t of the nice variety. In fact, they would be considered rather offensive in most circles. But somehow, hearing them from a yellow and white cocoon topped by a fluffy head of white hair seemed oddly
humorous.

  “Mother,” Caroline scolded. “Be quiet.”

  That only seemed to egg her mother on, and Mrs. McCann began to curse even more loudly. Janie, despite herself, started to giggle. Then Marley let out a chortle. And, although Caroline kept telling her mother to knock it off, the foul language only intensified. By the time Caroline pulled into the driveway, the old woman was swearing like a logger.

  She kept it up as Janie and Marley worked to unbuckle her and extract her from the backseat of the car. Then, as the four of them began to lug the thrashing and swearing bundle toward the house, Officer Steve and his female partner got out of their cruiser and joined the women in time to witness this little ordeal.

  “You ladies need a hand?” Steve asked as he followed.

  “Thanks, Steve,” Caroline called pleasantly through clenched teeth. “We’ve got it pretty much under control.”

  Fortunately, Mrs. McCann calmed down once she was inside her own house. They set her back on her feet, and the familiar surroundings seemed to soothe her. She looked around, taking everything in with a surprised expression, as if she had expected never to see it again. Janie wondered if the poor old woman’s deluded mind had tricked her into believing it had all gone up in a puff of smoke.

  “See, Mom?” Caroline took her mom’s arm. “I told you we’d get you home safely.”

  Marley remained in the living room while Janie and Abby helped Caroline guide Mrs. McCann into her bedroom, which was cluttered and messy and smelled a bit dank. The bed, however, was clean and neatly made, probably thanks to Caroline. Nestled on a pillow was a fluffy white plush dog with a shiny black nose. Mrs. McCann stared at the toy with grateful eyes, as if it were a long-lost friend.

  “I can handle Mom from here,” Caroline said as she reached for a pink flannel nightgown. “Thanks for your help.” Janie, not eager to see Caroline dressing her mother for bed, backed off. But Abby remained, gently setting the old woman on the edge of her bed and helping to unravel her cocoon as if she were caring for a small child, probably the way Abby would assist her young granddaughter. Of the four diverse friends, Abby seemed to have the strongest domestic side, as well as a soft nurturing way that felt slightly foreign to Janie—especially after spending most of her adult life practicing law in a city where toughness was considered a strength and softness a weakness.