Now, there was some confusion when the last chapter posted. Not only was it not Sheeple, it wasn't even my story. We got that fixed. Also, somewhere along the way, someone thought I had ended the story with the last chapter. No, that's this chapter. Yes, gnash teeth, cry, wave pitchforks. It needed to end. There is a surprise in this chapter. Hope you've enjoyed the story. I'll be taking a break for a bit. It's NaNoWriMo season. Please comment, and vote! I love to hear from you. BTW, there were more comments when it was the wrong chapter than I've had on any story. Sigh...
Jaisen.
~*~*~*~
Spring break was finally over. They hadn't managed more than a few picnics out to the park because of cool weather. However, it gave Eric and Kate a bit of extra time to get life back into a schedule.
Kate hurried into the house from picking up the kids at school. They had heard the phone ringing from the driveway. Kate hoped it wouldn't stop ringing before she got to it. They hadn't replaced the answering machine after the attack and Kate wouldn't get a cell phone. Eric had chided her about getting a cell phone, but she just couldn't bring herself to do so. Kept saying it was too expensive and that she'd never use one. She dodged the dogs at the door and grabbed the phone mid ring.
"Hello?" she said trying to catch her breath.
"Hey Mom!" said a voice on the line.
"Hello Pat. What do you need?"
"Don't need anything. Tammy and I called to tell you we drove to town this morning and got married by the justice of the peace."
"W-w-w-what?" Kate stammered.
"We are married. Today. We decided we couldn't wait."
"Pat, I.... I don't know what to say. I thought you two wanted a big family wedding," Kate was still stunned by the news.
"Well, we decided that we didn't want all that fuss. Tammy's family and all of us. Just too much when all we wanted was to be together. So, we went ahead and did it."
Kate just laughed. "I guess congratulations are in order then. Are you two going on a honeymoon?"
"Yeah. I called your friend Henry. He and Josie are expecting us in about an hour."
"An hour? Wow. I guess you didn't wait. Thats a six hour drive on a good day."
"I know. Tell the rest of the family for me. Okay?"
"Okay. Does Tammy's family know?" Kate wondered just how off the cuff this wedding had been and if Tammy's parents were alright with this.
"Yeah. We called them first. They weren't too happy, but not much they could do. Tammy's mom wants to give us a party when we come home. We said we'd think about it. Gotta go Mom! Love you!"
"Love you too Pat! Kiss Tammy for me."
"I will!" Pat hung up the phone.
Kate leaned against the wall and just smiled. She realized that the dogs were barking again and turned around to meet Eric coming in the door.
"Hello Kate. What's up?"
"That was Pat on the phone. He called to tell me that he and Tammy got married down at the courthouse today and are nearly up at Henry and Josie's for their honeymoon."
Eric stood there stunned. He knew that Kate and Tammy's mom, Sara had been planning a June wedding. He put his briefcase down and hugged Kate. "Are you upset?"
"No, to be honest, I'm rather relieved. It was the first wedding and I was so not looking forward to getting all the kinks worked out of the plans. Sara is a wonderful person, but she stinks when it comes to planning."
Eric just laughed. "Well then, shall we go out to dinner in celebration of your liberation from wedding planning?"
"Yes! Barbecue or Mexican?"
"Barbecue sounds good to me," Eric said as he turned towards the living room. "Mark! Jamie! Want to go out to eat?"
"Yes!" the two of them answered in unison as they came barreling into the kitchen.
"Sounds like we are going to Deke's then for supper," said Kate. "Let me write the others a quick note and off we go."
*
Deke's was a smoke house barbecue cafe that had opened up two weeks ago. It was good food with nice variety. It was almost as big a favorite as the Firefly. The waitress smiled as they came in and set down on the pine picnic table.
I bet you want the usual?" she asked Eric.
Eric blushed and nodded.
Kate just smiled. "Eat here a lot lately?" She knew full well that the hospital computer geeks had a standing lunch order here.
"Yes Kate. It's good. Lots of meat and the sauce is wonderful."
"Okay, then I'll have what he usually has, only make my drink iced tea."
The waitress nodded, took the children's orders and brought out the drinks a few minutes later.
"So, Pat and Tammy are married," Eric commented.
"Yes. Now if we can just convince Zach and Anne to decide where they want to live, I'll be happy."
"I can understand that. They must have changed their minds twenty times in the last few weeks. You'd think they were having a baby or something." Eric smiled.
Kate laughed. After everything last month, Zach's inability to decide where to live was frustrating, but almost trivial.
The waitress brought their food and Kate found that Eric's regular was a small shredded pork sandwich with pinto beans, and potato chips. The small sandwich could easily have fed both of the children. The barbecue sauce was hot and savory.
"Mama Kate, this is so good I could eat it every day!" said Jamie with enthusiasm and a barbecue sauce covered face.
"Yeah, it's pretty good," Mark chimed in.
Kate just smiled. Both children had grown so much over the last year. Hard to believe they were the same two shy waifs she had met almost a year ago. She was so glad that neither child knew what had happened last month. Andy's idea of taking them to the farm out in Levette was perfect, except for the fact that both children loved to go out and help Pat or Tammy clean up the barn. She drifted off in thought as she ate her food. Eric was right. The sandwiches were excellent.
"Kate."
Kate was startled out of her thoughts by Eric tapping her arm. "What?"
"I started to tell you about my interview with James and you didn't answer. Wool gathering were you?"
"Yes. Sorry Eric. Tell me again." Kate could feel the blush creep over her skin.
"James cleared it with the Sheriff's department to have me attached to the Search and Rescue teams. He also approved the process to borrow tracking dogs and the like from their owners. Oh, and Zach is on the team too." Eric smiled, knowing that Kate would pick up on what he was trying to say.
"Ah, so Zach and Max could go out in the field if needed?" she asked with a broad smile playing across her face.
"Exactly. Or, it could just be Zach and I." Eric finished the last of his sandwich and reached for some chips off of Jamie's plate.
"Daddy! Stop it! I huntedted those chips!" Jamie said.
"You did? I thought the waitress hunted those rascally potatoes." Eric teased Jamie as he snatched another chip from her plate.
Jamie reacted by trying to fork Eric's hand with her silverware. "Go eat Mark's tater chips!"
Mark moved his plate back away from his dad's reach. "These are mine."
Eric reached around Jamie and grabbed a chip off of Mark's plate as well. "Nope, I think that this one is mine." He ate the chip and then smiled at Kate.
"There are days I don't know which one of you is the adult and which are the children," she said in mock disdain. Then she reached across and took the pickle from Eric's plate and ate it slowly.
That made everyone laugh.
*
Three weeks later, Kate and the children were driving home from the school carnival when the doe jumped into the road. Kate was startled by the sudden appearance of the doe in the headlights. There was no time for evasive action. Kate hit the brakes, and the doe crashed over the top of the Subaru. Kate pulled to the side of the road and hit the emergency lights. After making sure that the kids were okay, she got out of the car and looked at the damages.
The doe was dead. She was off the road on the shoulder. Her neck was broken and there was damage to her forelegs and chest. Kate then took a look at her car. The windshield was smashed on the right side in a huge spiderweb of cracks. The front right fender and that part of the hood was dented and smeared with blood. There was also a large smear of blood across the top of the car which trailed off just after the passenger doors. Kate thought that it might be alright to drive until she saw that the front right tire was flat. Part of the bumper had bent inwards and pierced the tire. There was no way for her to change the tire because she couldn't bend the bumper back out of the way. She was just walking around the front of the car trying to decide what to do when a car pulled up behind the Subaru.
"Kate! Are you okay?" asked James.
"Yes. We are all okay, except for the deer. "
"Is the car drivable?"
"No. It has a flat caused by the bumper bending into the tire."
"Have you called Eric or Zach yet?"
"No. I don't have a phone. I was just trying to figure out what to do when you pulled up."
"Kate, I'm surprised that Eric hasn't gotten you a phone. Especially after all the fuss a bit ago."
"It's my own fault. Figured that I didn't need on. I think I'm going to have to apologize for that attitude now. He was fussing about it only last week." Kate sighed.
"Don't worry about it. Leanne didn't want one either. I finally just gave her one for her birthday. Let me call the guys for you so they don't worry about you being late. I think I have a tarp for the deer too."
