Sorrow leaned against the counter and blew out a sigh. “I guess all their copious research didn’t uncover how to handle a simple encounter with a black bear. ”
“Sit down, honey. ” Her mom led her to the table. “Your hands are shaking. ”
She shook them out. “I’m fine. I need to call Scott. ” Marlene’s second oldest boy was their local park ranger. If there was a bear foraging through the trash cans of Sierra Falls, Scott Jessup needed to know about it.
She got up to pace, staring out the window as she called. She’d thought she’d fixed the stupid bear box, but it was swinging wide open again this morning, trash exploded everywhere—a veritable bear buffet. Someone must’ve tampered with it. There was no other explanation. Someone tampered with her bear box, knowing it’d summon every bear within sniffing radius. They were lucky there hadn’t been a whole gaggle of them to surprise their lodgers.
“Scott’s on his way,” she told her mom as she put down the phone. “What do you call a group of bears? Like, there’s a gaggle of geese, a murder of crows, and a what of bears?”
“Oh, honey. Relax. ” Her mom foisted a cup of tea on her. “Drink this. ”
Sorrow smelled it. Chamomile.
“Drink it, Sorrow. ”
“Dad’s gonna flip out. ” As she took the mug, Sorrow cast another look out the window. “That couple couldn’t get out of here fast enough. We could’ve used that money. And that mess…”
Her mom pointed to the table. “Sit yourself down for a second. The trash will wait. And your father will survive. ”
She thought about what Billy had said about Dad. Her father was from a very different generation, one that didn’t have therapy or talk through their problems. No Chicken Soup for the Soul for men like Bear Bailey. There were a bunch of ways he could be more vital around the lodge—he just wasn’t seeing them.
“You know,” she said, sitting with her mom at the table, “Dad can’t stand up for very long, but I bet if I dug out his old fishing stool and set him up with his tools, he could fix the bear box. ”
Her mom beamed. “That’s a lovely idea. What a wonderful thing for you to think of. ”
Wow. Gauging from her mother’s immediate and grateful reaction, Billy really had been on to something. “Yeah, no problem. I can think of other things, too. ” Her mind was already spinning with possibilities. “For sure. ”
“Sometimes,” Mom began slowly, “I think your father has given up a little. Be patient with him. His bark is worse than his bite. ”
“I’ll set him up just as soon as I clean up that mess. Ugh. ” She shuddered, just thinking about it. There were chicken carcasses, assorted bones, half-eaten bags of chips—it was a disaster. “Did you see it out there? Do we really have that many leftovers at the tavern? What a waste. I need to talk to Sully about that. ”
Mom stirred honey into her tea. “Where’s your sister? Maybe she can help clean up. ”
“Laura? It’s an emergency, Mom. Duh. For emergencies, Laura is nowhere in sight. ”
Mom reached across and put a gentle hand on hers. “Breathe, Sorrow. We’re all in this together. ”
She blew on her tea, thinking how Billy had said some variation of the same thing. Maybe it was time for her to unclench, ask for help. “Okay, Mom. You’re right again. I’ll wait till Laura gets back to start the cleanup. ”
But a couple of hours passed, and when Sorrow felt like she could no longer wait, she called her sister’s cell. “Where are you?”
“Running errands,” Laura said, and then Sorrow heard her whisper “Thank you” to somebody.
“Where are you? I just needed you to pick up milk and some toilet paper. How long does that take?”
“I drove out to Silver City. ”
Sorrow froze in place. “For groceries? That’s my car you took. If I’d known you were going to empty the tank I wouldn’t have let you borrow it. ”
“My trunk’s not big enough. I needed some other stuff, too. ”
“What other stuff?”
“Looks like I’m going to be staying in Sierra Falls for a while,” Laura said, “but I totally don’t have the clothes for it. ”
Sorrow thought her head might explode. “You went clothes shopping?”
“Yeah. Jeez, Sorrow. Chill out. You have things like hiking boots, why can’t I?”