As he listened to the local minister recount Jack’s life and his contributions to the valley, he envisioned those early days when the Rumsey family, along with dozens of other families, had fought to tame the land-first to provide a living for their families, and then to develop a thriving enterprise.
Nicole stood close to Dan, her arm linked with his as they watched Jack’s flag-covered casket lower into the ground beside his beloved Ellen. The small military honor guard from the Woodland Veterans of Foreign Wars detachment folded and presented the flag to Dan’s mother as Jack’s next of kin. Moments earlier, the honor guard had shattered the peace of the valley by firing three volleys from their seven rifles, in honor of Jack’s naval service to his country during World War II. Protectively aware of his mother standing next to him, Dan breathed deeply and raised his face slowly, scanning the foothills encasing the valley-hills he had roamed as a boy, hills where Jack had taught him to identify the flora and fauna of the valley and tutored him in so many other ways.
His eyes rising higher to the light cloud cover that Jack had always watched in earnest, searching for rain, Dan struggled to retain his composure as this phase of his life concluded. So much of his life was changing in such a short time. Echoes of the violent events of the previous day were reverberating in every city and town in California. Repercussions would haunt them all for weeks and months to come. But for the moment, Dan, along with his mother and father, his sister Kate and her husband, and Nicole, stood silently as the patriarch of the Rumsey family was laid to rest. Tomorrow would be soon enough to re-enter the conflict-to continue the fight that Jack had so adamantly insisted Dan pursue. Dan gave silent thanks that Jack had been spared the necessity of watching his country move toward dissolution after his eighty-four years of working and fighting to establish Rumsey Valley-Jack’s small contribution to the whole.
Leaving his mother’s side for a moment, Dan stepped toward the grave and tossed a small assortment of flowers onto the casket, now in its final resting place beside Ellen.
“I love you, Jack,” Dan whispered. “God rest your soul.”
Chapter 30
Davis, California
Dan woke to the insistent ringing of the telephone on his night table, startled by its intensity and surprised that he had actually slept, soundly it seemed, for at least the past few hours. In spite of the turmoil and lack of sleep over the past few days, he had been unable to drop off the previous night, and the last recollection he had was of the numbers on his digital clock reading 2:33. They now read 6:45.
“Hello,” he answered groggily.
“Dan? It’s Jean Waters. Sorry to wake you so early, but I knew you’d be busy and probably would leave quickly. Got a moment?”
“Sure, Jean. How’ve you been?”
“Probably better than you, Dan. Please accept my sympathy on the loss of your grandfather. When I called your office yesterday, they advised me of the family tragedy.”
“Thank you, Jean,” Dan said, sitting up in bed and sliding his legs over the side.
“Dan, I wanted to let you know that Voices in My Blood is going into a fourth printing. Over 400,000 copies on the shelves, and more importantly, most of those are already in homes. I’m really sorry to have to approach you with business at such a time, but we’ve received a firm offer from MiraMax for film rights. Five million, Dan-fifty percent of which will be yours.”
Dan paused. “Jean, if you think it’s a good offer and the best we’ll get, I’ll trust your judgment. I’ve got to leave that to you for awhile. I’m sorry if I’m not as engaged as I should be, but-”
“Not to worry, Dan. I understand. If that’s agreeable to you, I’ll accept and FedEx you the contract.”
“That’ll be fine. Send it to my legislative office. I’ll be spending most of my time there for the next several weeks.”
“Okay. My regards to your family. I’ll get this off today.”
“Thanks, Jean. Have a good day.”
Dan sat on the edge of the bed for a moment after replacing the receiver and contemplated the success of his novel. From his original $400,000 advance against future sales, he had already earned nearly $750,000, far exceeding expectations, and now $2.5 million for the film! Added to the additional $800,000 advance on his next two-book contract, he’d made over $3.5 million in the past six months on his first literary effort. It all seemed unreal to him, and he shook his head as he rose and headed for the shower.
Jack was gone, and America was slipping further away. Life’s highs and lows never seemed to coincide, but at least they offset one another, and perhaps that was for the best.
After showering and shaving, Dan broke a couple of eggs in boiling water to poach and popped two slices of bread in the toaster. He poured himself a glass of orange juice while waiting for his eggs. A light knock on the door, one which he’d grown to love along with the voice that accompanied it, broke his concentration as he stood leaning against the sink, staring out the kitchen window. The door opened, and Nicole stepped into the room, dressed casually.
“Enough for two?” she asked, smoothing his hair in place.
“Always,” he replied. “Get any sleep?”
“Probably more than you. You’ve got enough bags under your eyes to take a trip to Europe,” she said, kissing his cheek.
He rubbed his eyes with the heels of his hands and then stretched his arms over his head, loosening his back muscles. “My eyes feel like the airlines sent those bags to Dubai while I was headed for Tokyo, but I’ll recover. When’s Connor coming?”
“Should be here any time. He called me on my cell while I was driving here and said he’d be about fifteen minutes. I’ve not mentioned it, but Pug also has family in New Zealand. You have more in common than it appears. He’s not out to trap you, Dan.”
“What’s he want, Nicole?”
“I need to let him make that pitch. Actually, I’m not certain of the extent of his intentions. He’ll tell you what’s on his mind, although he’s pretty careful about distribution on a ‘need-to-know’ basis.”
“Intelligence training, I suppose. Maybe he’s run into a few ‘Turners’ over the years.”
“Could be.” Nicole smiled. “Eggs are ready.”
Stacking the dishes in the dishwasher, Dan heard the doorbell ring and Nicole go to answer it. He wiped his hands on the dishtowel and entered the living room. Connor was dressed in slacks, a golf shirt, and a pullover sweater. Dan hadn’t paid much attention to Connor’s physical appearance when they had met at the armory with General Del Valle, but now Dan could see he kept fit. In his early forties, Connor was just over six feet, trim at about one hundred and ninety pounds, and still had a full head of dark brown hair.
“Morning, Colonel Connor.”
“Good morning, Dan. I’d appreciate it if you’d call me Pug. No need for protocol.”
“Yes, sir,” Dan said, eliciting another smile from Connor. “Have a seat, Pug. Can I get you something to drink? I just made some fresh coffee.”
“That’d be fine, just black please. How are you doing, Dan? It’s been a tough couple of days. And your mom-how’s she holding up?”
Dan poured coffee for Connor and returned, placing the cup and saucer on the table next to Pug’s chair, then sitting next to Nicole on the couch. “Mom’s fine. We’ll all miss Jack a great deal. He was the spark plug in the family.”