Page 4 of A Future To Remember

I knew why he was here. He’d been dragging me to workouts the past nine weeks. As the early months without Abby had dragged on, I’d stopped eating and taking care of myself. It all seemed so pointless, but Oscar wouldn’t take no for an answer. He’d literally pulled a gun on me just to get me out of the house.

Not that he’d ever pull the trigger, but I got the message when I stared down the muzzle of his Glock 19 without the protection of a Kevlar vest or a weapon of my own handy.

He’d used the maneuver to show me that I did still care about living, and if I was going to live, I might as well take care of myself.

It’d been a little better for me since then, so the guy had a point.

Opening the door, I was ready to tell him I wasn’t up for it today when I noticed the packed duffel at his feet and the way he was brimming with excitement.

“They found the Tahoe,” he said before I could even get a word out.

I knew exactly what he was referring to, and for a moment, I felt that spark of hope. But then I realized what else they might’ve found, and I searched his face for any sign of sadness or sympathy, but he seemed only enthusiastic.

I knew I had to ask, but I almost couldn’t form the words. “Her body?”

He shook his head. “That’s all I know. I got an email from the Lincoln Sheriff’s Department. All it said was that an SUV with plates matching your rental car was pulled out of the river.”

“Where?”

“Don’t know.”

My mind raced to put together a scenario that would allow me to hold on to my sanity. As much as not knowing what’d happened to Abby was driving me insane, the moment I knew she was gone forever would drag me down into the abyss, and I didn’t think I’d be able to crawl back out of that.

“We gotta go,” Oscar hinted.

I nodded. “Let me call Dave. He can take Tuttle.”

Oscar cocked his head and motioned to Eggy, groggy but awake in my arms. “And the old guy?”

“I’m not leaving him behind again, Oscar. He gets me, or me and Abby, and nobody else for the rest of his life.”

“Understood, sir. I’ll call the airlines and get a ticket for him.”

“You already booked the flight?”

“I did. We’re headed out this afternoon on the 4:50 flight to Seattle. We’ll layover there, then we’re on a plane to Missoula at 7:00 a.m. I rented us an F-150 for the final leg of the ride.”

I opened the door wider and motioned for Oscar to come inside. He entered without another word, and I hustled to call Dave, pack a suitcase, get Eggy’s meds and food together, and finally, I grabbed the folder.

I set out everything on the kitchen table while Oscar made us a meal at the stove. He’d been doing a lot of that too. Grocery shopping, cooking, making sure I had enough to eat. He even hired one of his nieces, who was putting herself through college, to come by once a week to clean.

I used to be a neat freak—Abby’s the slob—but after she’d vanished, I’d taken on some of her old habits. I think I just missed her, so seeing socks on the floor, cups half filled with coffee next to the sink, a bag of chips left open on the kitchen table…somehow, that gave me small comfort.

Setting my luggage by my chair at the kitchen table, I laid the folder down and went to the door at the sound of the bell.

“Dutch,” Dave said, with a nod, when I opened the door.

“Dave,” I replied, with a nod of my own.

We were getting mushy in our old age.

Tuttle waddled over to Dave, climbed up his shin, and whined happily. She and Eggy had both been sad at Abby’s absence too, and Tuttle would spend long hours just sleeping by the door, waiting for my wife to come home.

On more than one occasion, I’d joined her.

“Hey, bugaboo,” Dave said, crouching down for a face full of kisses. “Wanna come stay with me for a bit?”

She wriggled and jiggled around in his arms, and he laughed. And then the strangest thing happened.