29. Chapter 29

Chapter twenty-nine

"Good morning, Mayor Calaway."

I t was election day, and Gage wanted to hide out in his house and forget the whole thing. But he couldn't. He got up early, took some photographs of the sun coming over the Sugar Pine mountain, then headed into the office after drinking a cup of coffee. Today, he might need to indulge and go beyond his two cups.

It was early, and the town was quiet. The café was open. But Remington wouldn't be open for another hour. Gage really wanted his brother's biscuits and gravy, so he'd wait. He parked in his spot in front of the newspaper office and went inside.

Even though it was now April, the nights were cool, and it was cold inside the office. Gage started the coffee machine, then built a fire in the old wood stove that came with the building when Lawrence Ambrose bought it in 1975. His best guess was the stove had been there since the thirties when the fireplace was bricked up. It still worked, though, and it was a beautiful stove. Gage saw no reason to replace it.

When the coffee was ready, he poured himself a cup, then went to his office. He left the door open so the heat from the stove would come in and warm the room. There was a small gas heater, but Gage didn't like to use it unless he had to. The stove would do the job in thirty minutes or so. In the meantime, he left on his coat and sat at his desk.

He turned on his computer and began going over the articles for Tuesday's edition. The top half of the front page was blank until the results of the election were in. Everyone knew what the outcome would be. But Gage didn't want to jinx things by writing an acceptance speech. He'd do that over the weekend.

When he was about ready to leave for the tavern and get some breakfast, the front door opened. A moment later, Sydney came to his door.

"Good morning, Mayor Calaway."

Gage laughed. "Not yet."

She looked at the Grandfather clock in the corner of his office. "The polls close in eight hours. I'll wait until then."

"It seemed like I had so much time when Uncle Duncan first brought this up in February. Now all of a sudden it's upon me."

"How long have you been here?"

"An hour. I tried to distract myself by taking some photos, but it didn't really help."

"Have you eaten?"

"I was just about to head out to get some of Remy's biscuits and gravy."

"Do you want company?"

"Always. If it's you, that is."

They left his office, and Gage put another piece of wood in the stove. Then he put a note on the door saying, ‘Be back in an hour.'

As they walked down the sidewalk, Gage held Sydney's hand. Well-wishers stopped them four times in two blocks.

Sydney nudged him. "Looks like we're going to have good voter turnout."

"As long as they're not filling in someone else's name, it'll be good."

"I'll be glad when this is over and you stop doubting yourself. Don't you think it would've become apparent by now if the town wasn't behind you?"

"I guess. I'm sorry. I'll stop."

"Thank you."

They arrived at the restaurant, and Gage opened the door for her. She shook her head and motioned toward the door. "After you. Today is your day."

Gage went through the door, and they found a table away from the windows. "I want to eat in peace."

Becca came up to them with a pot of coffee. "Have you already had your two cups this morning?"

Gage pushed his cup toward her. "Fill it up."

She filled his cup and Sydney's. "Do you need time? Or do you know what you want?"

Gage looked at Sydney, and she smiled at Becca. "We're both having the biscuits and gravy, please."

Becca grinned. "So cute. You like the same things."

Gage scowled. "Just go order our food, Becca."

"Yes sir, Mr. Mayor."

Becca left, and Sydney reached for his hand. "I still think you should have some sort of celebration tonight."

"I'd rather just celebrate with you."

"Okay. How about after they make the announcement, we come back here for a late dinner?"

"The announcement won't come until after seven. Remy will be closed."

"Pizza then? It hardly seems celebration worthy."

"How about pizza to go? We can eat it at the office."

"That's pretty crazy. I don't know."

Gage laughed. "We'll figure it out."

When Becca returned with their food, she set it down and refilled their coffee. "Remy says he'll keep the kitchen open if you want to come in for dinner after the votes are counted."

Gage nodded. "That would be great. Thanks." She left, and he looked at Sydney. "Better than pizza?"

"Much better. A private dinner."

Gage's hope for a quiet day didn't quite work out. The townspeople were in and out all day to wish him well and let him know they'd voted. He tried to be gracious and thanked every one of them. But he didn't get much work done. And work was what he needed to do to distract himself. By mid-afternoon, he had to get away.

He called Sydney into his office.

"Yes, boss?"

"Can you run interference for me for a while? I'm going downstairs. I need a break from…everything."

"Of course. Go. I've got this."

"Thank you." He stood and went to her, then took her hand. "You're the best." He kissed her. "I couldn't have gotten through this without you."

"Go before someone else comes in."

Gage went downstairs and turned on the overhead lights. The darkroom was a refuge for him. He lit the gas stove, which decided to work. Then got a beer from the old refrigerator. The only two things in it were his unused film and beer. He sat on a stool and drank some beer while he took in the quiet. After a few minutes, he thought about what he'd like to develop. He always had a few projects going besides the photos taken exclusively for the paper. When he remembered he hadn't developed the film from the camera he had on him the morning of his accident, he chose to do that. His memory of the morning still hadn't come back, and he was quite curious about what had brought him out of the house that morning. He was surprised he'd forgotten about it. Perhaps it was his sub-conscious trying to protect him from the memory.

He shrugged. It was time he found out.

He prepared his chemicals, then switched off the overhead light and turned on the red light. He developed the film, then transferred the images from the negatives to a contact sheet. When that was done, he turned on the light over the counter and looked at them with a magnifying glass.

"What the hell?" Owls? I almost died over some owls?

The images were of a pair of barn owls. They were probably in search of a place to build a nest, but the late snows might have confused them a bit. Gage picked out several images and developed them. When he was done, he turned on the light again and studied the eight-by-ten photos. They were beautiful shots of the pair, who obligingly stayed in the spot they'd picked out in a large oak.

A memory floated around in his brain, but he couldn't quite bring it up. It was like an itch he couldn't scratch. He tried to relax and clear his mind of everything else. It was hard considering what was happening today. But after a few minutes, he let everything slip away. The memory lingered on the edges of his conscious memory for a moment, then came crashing into his reality.

"Shit."

Everything that happened that morning came back to him. The sound the tree made right before it fell. The confusion of not knowing where the sound was coming from. Then the reality of being right under it with no time to get out of the way. Suddenly it was on top of him and he was lying in the snow. But the most vivid memory of all was when he realized he was trapped. And he knew he would only last so long in the freezing temperatures and the wet snow.

"Sydney." His last conscious thought was of her. He was dying and the last thing he thought of was her. Was it regret he felt? No. Oddly enough, it was gratitude. He was thankful she had been in his life.

"If that isn't love. I don't know what is. Dammit. I'm in love with Sydney." He smiled. "Well, of course you are, you idiot. She's the last thing you think of before you go to sleep and the first thing on your mind when you wake up. I'm ready. Man. I am so ready."

He took out his cell phone and dialed the office number.

"The Calaway Report."

"Hey. Can you come downstairs for a minute?"

"Who is this?"

"What?"

Sydney laughed. "I'll be right down."

Sydney came down the stairs and walked over to him. When she spotted the half-empty beer bottle, she pointed at it. "Are we celebrating early?"

"No. Just needed a beer." He picked it up and took a drink. "I developed the photos from that morning."

"The tree morning?"

"Yeah." She handed the pictures to her. She looked through them. "Owls? They're so cute. They're posing for you."

"I wish they would've pointed out the tree falling next to me."

"Were they all of the owls?"

"There were a few random pictures from before that day. I remember what happened."

She went to him and took his hand. "Do you want to tell me?"

"I heard the sound. For some reason, I couldn't tell where it was coming from. And then it was falling and I couldn't move out of the way."

She put her arms around him. "Oh, honey."

"I don't remember being scared. Or even pissed. But I knew I was done for."

"I'm so sorry. I would've been terrified."

"I thought of you."

"You did?"

"Yeah. You would've been my last living memory."

She hugged him again. "What does that mean?"

He kissed her. "It means I was given a second chance to stop being an idiot."

"You're not an idiot. Nor have you ever been one."

"I've been a little bit of an idiot. What's going on upstairs?"

"A few more people have dropped by. But I put a sign on the door. We have fifteen minutes."

He handed her the beer. "Have a drink."

She drank some beer. "Are you glad you remembered?"

"I am. It was bothering me. I couldn't understand how I could let a tree fall on me."

"But you couldn't get out of the way?"

"Yeah. It was really weird." He straightened on the stool. "I just remembered something else. I remember looking up at the damn owls. They didn't fly away. They were just there looking down at me."

"Okay. That sounds like a nightmare in the making."

"No. It was cool. I wouldn't have died alone."