Love's Embrace - Part 3

 Good morning!

I'm not sure how many of you are reading this story, but here's the next part. I hope you enjoy it.

Life continues to be busy for me. My birthday is tomorrow, but we're not doing much then. I was supposed to get together with some friends, but some were sick, so we postponed it. My best friend is still with her sister in Canada, so we'll do something after she gets home. Anyway, I won't keep you. Happy reading!

 

 Love's Embrace

Part 3

     “I’ll go check it out and talk to Beauford. You staying here?”
    “Yes.”
    Lindsey watched the man go without really seeing him. The other policeman had called her aunt and uncle? They would probably be mad at having their lunch interrupted. “He didn’t have to call them,” she whispered.
    “They’ll want to know, Lindsey. It will be okay. I promise. Now, I’m going to go find out what the other kids are doing. Are they supposed to do anything?”
    Leaning her head in her hand, Lindsey answered, “Aunt Joy said I could send them to take naps and have quiet time if they weren’t back by one-thirty.”
    “Well, it’s almost that, but . . . I’ll be back.”
    Left alone, Lindsey leaned her head back and closed her eyes, fighting the desire to cry. This was all a nightmare, right? Would she wake up soon and find she had only dreamed the sirens, the firemen and policemen? She had liked living here. It was so much nicer than with her dad and his many girlfriends.
    A car door shut. Her eyes flew open, and she looked out the window but didn’t see her uncle’s familiar blue car. Where they coming home? Why hadn’t she just gone into the play room even though she had a headache? Who got the phone? Surely it hadn’t been Hudson. He was eleven and knew better. They all did actually.
    A familiar blue car turned into the driveway. They were home. A feeling of panic rose up in her. She felt the card in her hand and with shaking fingers tucked it into her pocket, hoping that no one would notice it. She saw her uncle cross the yard and stop to talk to one of the police officers, and Lindsey felt like she couldn’t breathe. Her aunt was coming up onto the porch. She had to breathe! What was it the fireman had told her?
    Roses. Candles.
    She took a breath and blew it out.
    Aunt Joy stepped inside. “Lindsey! Are you okay? Where are the kids?”
    She didn’t sound mad.
    Lindsey was saved the trouble of answering, for Mrs. Quivira entered the living room and started talking.
    “They’re cleaning up in the back room. Everyone is fine. Lindsey is still a little shaken up from it all. She had a bit of a panic attack when the firetrucks and police arrived because she didn’t know they had called. She has the regular phone with her.”
    “They went into the office and got that phone?”
    Roses. Breathe in.
    Candles. Blow out.
    Lindsey tried not to think about the surprise and sternness of her aunt’s voice. She just had to breathe.
    “Sergeant Mulligan talked to them, but I’m sure he’s talking to Isaiah now. I don’t know where Mrs. Judd is.”
    “Thanks, Jessie. I’m thankful you weren’t working today and could come over.”
    “Me too. I’m going to head home now. Call if you need anything. I’m off until Friday.” Mrs. Quivira stepped over to Lindsey. “It’s going to be all right, I promise,” she said softly, patting the girl’s hand.
    Smell the roses.
    Blow out the candle.
    Lindsey focused on breathing as their neighbor left the house. She saw her stop in the yard and speak with Uncle Isaiah and the two policemen. Then she walked away.
    “I’ll be right back, Linds,” Aunt Joy said gently.
    Lindsey darted a glance after her before returning her gaze to the window. When would Uncle Isaiah come in? Would he be mad? She knew her dad would have blown a gasket had she called 9-1-1 for any reason. “But Uncle Isaiah is not like him,” she reminded herself.
    “Sweetheart, are you okay?” Aunt Joy had returned.
    Lindsey nodded.
    “You don’t look very okay. Your face is pale. Let me help you to the couch, and you can lie down. How is your knee?”
    “It hurts,” Lindsey admitted.
    Carefully, Aunt Joy helped her up and steadied her slow way to the couch, then helped her lie down, put a pillow under her knee and gently pushed her hair back from her face. “I’m sorry you had to deal with all this. Have you put any ice on your knee since we left?”
    “No.”
    “I’m going to get some ice for it.” There was no scolding.
    Flinging her arm over her face, Lindsey tried to block out the pain in her head and the worry in her heart. She heard the footsteps of the kids coming, but she didn’t move.
    The front screen door creaked open and then the storm door shut.
    Lindsey cringed.
    “All right, what happened?” Uncle’s voice was calm but firm. “Hudson?”
    “I didn’t mean to call, Dad.”
    “But you had the phone.”
    “It was on the shelf outside the office. I didn’t go in,” the boy protested.
    “So you just decided to play with it?”
    “Yeah.” Hudson sounded embarrassed. “We needed a phone and couldn’t find the one we usually have.”
    “It was lost, Daddy,” Elliot, who was nine, put in. “We looked for it.”
    “Does that give you permission to play with something you aren’t supposed to play with?”
    Aunt Joy settled a towel and an ice pack on Lindsey’s knee without a word.
    “Does it?” Uncle Isaiah’s voice was growing stern.
    “No, sir.” Hudson’s voice was low.
    “Because you decided to break the rules and play with the phone, you called 9-1-1 and then hung up on them, so they had to assume things were really bad and came racing here to help. They came out here and found nothing wrong. And by them coming, you frightened Lindsey, and the police had to call us home from a lunch with some people who are going to be gone for a long time.”

 

Has April been a busy month for you?

Do you want the next and final part of this story next week?

What do you like doing for your birthday?