Safe Haven

Chapter 4

Tank's SUV bumped along the unpaved dirt road. They'd driven past the Ponca State Park entrance more than twenty minutes ago. His cabin was about ten minutes away, hidden behind acres of lush fields and dense trees.

Hayley turned around and looked through the rear window. "No one else is traveling down this road."

"That's why we're here. I couldn't think of anywhere more remote than my grandfather's cabin."

"It doesn't look as though anyone maintains the road."

"We're on private property."

She peered through the trees surrounding them. "It's so pretty. I thought a lot more people would live here."

"There are four other houses along this road, but you can't see them." That was one of the reasons he'd brought them out here. He had good neighbors, but each of them valued their privacy as much as he did.

"Are those oak trees?"

He glanced at the lush green canopy they were driving under. "They're cottonwood. But there are oak trees in the park. My granddad used to take us to an oak tree that's over three hundred years old."

"How did your granddad end up owning a cabin out here?"

"My grandma told me he won it in a poker game. If you asked him, he'd tell you it was a sound property investment."

"Did all of your family stay here?"

"Usually it was just my granddad and my brother and me. Dad and Granddad didn't get along. It was easier if they weren't in the same room." He could still remember the arguments when they were together—the sheer stubbornness of the two men who meant the world to him. "When Granddad died, he left the cabin to David and me."

"Why has it been so long since you were last here?"

"I stayed in the cabin for a few months after David died. When John offered me a job in his security company I left and never came back."

"That's a shame," Hayley said softly as they rounded a bend.

He looked in his rearview mirror at Alice. She hadn't said much since last night. "Is Alice okay?"

"She's unsettled."

The frown on Hayley's face worried him. They had limited resources out here. If anything happened, they were on their own. "She's probably feeling the after-effects of what happened in the mall."

"Maybe, but I think it's more than that."

"You think it might have something to do with her Alzheimer's?"

She nodded. "Even before we met you, Mom started getting frustrated again. If you weren't here, I don't know how she would be today."

He glanced once more at Alice, then focused on the road. If he'd had a choice, this would be the last place he would have brought them. Alice needed specialist care in a secure environment.

"We'll have to be careful your mom doesn't wander off."

"I'll be with her the whole time. Where's John going to send the supplement?"

"There's a general store about fifteen minutes drive from the cabin. I've asked him to send the supplement there."

His breath caught when he saw his granddad's log cabin. In the last five years, it hadn't changed. The wide, golden logs were still as imposing and solid as ever. Even the shingle roof looked as good as the day he'd left.

His granddad had named his property, Safe Haven. It had been Tank's refuge and now it would provide a safe place for Hayley and her mom.

"Wow," Hayley said as he parked the SUV in the front yard. "I thought your cabin would be a small, rustic, hideaway, but it's gorgeous."