Friday morning dawned bright and sunny. Buckey was curled up in the small of her back and his warmth was comforting. Iris never liked waking up alone and cherished those mornings when she woke before Buckey. “Maybe someday I’ll meet that someone special but for right this moment, I’m content.” she whispered as she pet the cat.
Buckey quickly decided he had enough and stalked off the bed and went to sun himself in the window. Iris smiled and lay there, comfortable and silently planning her long weekend’s activities. She wanted to get her office painted, she was very interested in reading some new research concerning petroglyphs in the Tucson area, the roses needed to be dead headed, and she had to go shopping. As much as she hated to admit it, the house was devoid of food and dinner last night had cleaned out her supply of leftovers to reheat in a pinch.
Iris typically devoted one day every couple of weeks to shopping and cooking. She picked up perishable items as required but the majority of her meals were pre-cooked and frozen into individual portions. It was an old trick she had learned growing up, watching her mother do the same only freezing in family size portions.
Iris slipped from bed and made her way to the kitchen. Her movements sure and routine, she made a cup of freshly ground coffee quickly and without thought. As the coffee brewed she toasted a bagel and grabbed her personal laptop from her office. Grabbing breakfast and coffee, she headed for the patio.
The roses were heavy with new buds opening and old blooms shedding their petals. The pale lavenders and yellows contrasted nicely with the blood red roses. Looking at her roses garden Iris quickly decided that she’d tackle the roses this morning, paint this afternoon, and head up to her parent home early this evening. Shopping and cooking could wait until Sunday when she got home.
Iris picked up her cell, “Morning Mom, I’ll be up late tonight. Don’t wait up for me, I have my key and tell Dad to book golf for tomorrow.”
The pleasure was evident in Cathy’s voice as she responded, “Morning Pumpkin and sure thing, about golf. But you know your dad, he will wait up until you are here and safely in for the night.”
Iris sighed, “I know Mom but you’d think that at my age he’d know I’m old enough to take care of myself by now.”
“Well, he does know that but it doesn’t change the fact that he will always be over-protective. Love him for it, don’t resent him for it.” Her tone was slightly chiding and Iris felt guilty.
“I know, just seems silly that’s all.”
“Yep, I agree but someday you’ll understand when you have children of your own. Now go do what you need to do so that we can have the pleasure of your company tomorrow. Love you.”
“Love you too, I’ll call when I leave.” Iris said and hung up. Plans in place, Iris headed inside to brew another cup of coffee.
Heading back outside, Iris quickly located her clippers and leather gloves. The sun was warm on her back as she set forth beginning to work on cleaning up the rose bushes. The work was a labor of love and Iris was methodical, making quick work of the roses.
Pulling off her gloves, she grabbed her coffee cup and sat down to finish the last half of the cup and admire her work. It was just before eight in the morning, but already she felt like she had accomplished a lot. The roses now looked like tamed, wild beauties which made Iris smile.
Deciding to forgo a third cup of coffee, Iris changing into her painting duds and headed for her office. The primer and first coat of paint had already been applied. Iris was now at the decision point, did she leave the room a solid color or did she want to be adventurous and do something different. Buckey wandered in and surveyed the mess. Deciding that it wasn’t meeting his high standards, he stalked from the room and disappeared from view.
Iris laughed, “That cat always has an opinion about everything.” The walls, however, failed to reply to her empty room observation.
Iris had decided to paint the office a pale yellow color but as she stood there surveying the room she began to second guess the decision. The color wasn’t popping and it was boringly predictable. “Well then, time to get busy figuring out how to jazz up this office because no way is my home office going to be dull.” Iris announced to the room.
Walking over to her desk, which was in the dead center of the room at the moment she impulsively grabbed a sketch pencil and walked over to the wall opposite the window. Before she could second guess herself, she began to sketch on the wall.
“If I hate the results, I can always re-prime and repaint the wall,” she thought to herself.
Iris let her imagination take over and just allowed herself to sketch whatever struck her fancy on the wall. Two hours or so later, she stepped back from the wall and went to the opposite side of the room to study the wall.
Unsurprisingly, the sketches had been an eclectic mix of all those things she loved in her life. There was a haphazard stack of books, a vase of flowers in the dead center of the wall, a family of quail heading for the door, a Kokopelli dancing against the setting sun, and cluster of Southwest baskets.
The wall worked for Iris. The pale yellow was a nice neutral to allow the colors of the sketches to pop when painted in and it represented who she was. Sure, she was never going to be a famous artist but hey, who cared she liked it and it was her office. The three remaining walls needed a second coat of paint and then she would add some rustic wainscoting to add character to those walls as well.
“Right, so first things first I need to go change and head over the the paint store so I can paint in the sketch wall.” She said as she made her way back into her bedroom to change into something presentable.
Iris was often in the habit of talking to herself and it never occurred to her that this behavior might be odd. Dressed in a comfortable sundress, sandals and her hair tied back in a pony tail Iris was about to head out when the sound of her cell phone spoiled the mood.
One look at the number and Iris was on high alert. “Iris Douglas, State of Arizona are my parents alright?” she demanded as she answered the phone.
“Morning Iris, your parents are fine I swear,” sobbed the voice on the other end. “We need your help immediately. Can you meet Matt at Carson’s office as soon as possible please?”
“Sally? What happened?” Iris barked the questions, she was trying to be gentle but her professional demeanor had kicked in.
The sobbing increased and Iris took a deep breath. “Sally, tell Matt I will be there in less than two hours. I’m taking a helicopter to Flagstaff and I will drive to Smithson from there. Hang on, I promise I’m coming.”
Iris hung up and made the necessary calls as she changed clothes and headed back downtown. Something bad had happened and she needed more than anything to know what that something was.
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