Redwood Bend

don’t understand very much about how your company works,” she said. “For that matter, I’m not sure how you work. I thought you’d be coming back to tell me you had to spend six months in L.A. and I’d be doing it again, having a baby alone. And I know you want me to go to Montana to check out where you live for a reason—probably so we could live there. But I’m not sure I’m ready for that kind of change. It bothers me. I don’t want to be six or seven months pregnant, the mother of twins, in a blizzard when I’ve never seen a blizzard and—”
“No,” he said gently. “No, baby, no. When I promised to take care of you, I never considered sticking you out in the middle of nowhere, alone, while I went off to do something else. Katie, I want you to see my home so you understand—I’m not some movie star. I’m a pretty ordinary guy. Let’s not plan any further than that right now. Let’s just plan what you’ll pack. The tickets are round-trip.”
She considered this for a moment. “No movie?” she said again.
He shook his head. “Does that disappoint you?”
“Having you all to myself? I think I can live with that.”
“That’s the answer I’m looking for. You can have all of me in a variety of different places. If that big lug, Conner, makes you feel safe, I guess we’ll probably live down the street from him, but we’re going to have to work on his manners....”
She let a little huff of laughter escape.
“I can’t believe he made me buy him beers,” Dylan said. “He’s such an oaf.” He looked around “Do you have groceries or do we go out to dinner?”
“I don’t know. I’ve been too busy worrying about you being a movie star to pay attention. Go forage in the kitchen and let me know. You’re the cook, anyway.”
“Okay,” he said. “Go play. Let me see what I find in here.”
She went out the door and he dropped his duffel beside her bedroom door and went to the refrigerator. He opened the door and did a quick inventory. They had milk, eggs, bread and sandwich stuff; there was some leftover taco meat and hot dogs. In the background he heard Katie ask her son what he was up to. Then she asked, “Where’s your brother?”
Dylan listened; he heard the mumbling of a small boy.
“No, he didn’t,” she said. “He wouldn’t do that. How long ago did he say that?”
Dylan lifted his head.
“Which way?” she said in a panic. “Which way did he go?” And then he heard her yell, “Andy! Andy, come back here!”
He closed the refrigerator door and went to the porch. He saw Katie kneeling in front of Mitch. She stood up and yelled for the other twin again.
“What’s going on?” Dylan asked.
Katie threw a panicked look over her shoulder. “Andy isn’t in the yard. He told Mitch he wanted to see where the bear lived.” Then she turned toward the back of the house. “Andy Malone! Come here at once!”
“I’m sure he’s close.” Dylan jumped down from the porch and met her in the yard. “You go that way, I’ll go this way,” he said. “Don’t go into the woods. Stay in the clearing.”
They separated, Dylan going down the drive toward the road, Katie going toward the back of the cabin, circling it. He couldn’t imagine anyone, even an adventurous five-year-old, tromping through the thick brush and trees if there was a road handy to walk on. Dylan and Katie were both shouting his name in every direction. Mitch quickly joined in, calling out to his brother. In just minutes, they met back at the front of the cabin.
“He can’t have gone far,” Dylan said. “We weren’t in the house five minutes. How far can a five-year-old go in five minutes? Get Mitch inside and keep calling for Andy in the front. I’m going to look around the back, behind the blackberry bushes, along that trail where you’ve seen the bear and her cubs heading home.”
Katie had a wild look in her eyes. “Dylan, I’ve told him a hundred times…”
“Just stay cool,” Dylan said. “Just look for a sign of a direction he might’ve taken and call out for him. Don’t panic.”
He went around the tree line surrounding the cabin. There were a couple of trails, mostly overgrown, into the forest. He knew that to go in one direction was down the hill toward the orchard. Another direction was up into steeper terrain. Another was toward the road and town. He walked a bit in the more overgrown path, deeper into the bushes and trees because it was tamped down here and there. He heard