by Sharon Sala
“Okay, Mommy. Can I have peanut butter and jelly in my sandwich today?”
Laurel grinned. “May I, and yes, you may. I’ll make the lunch if you finish getting dressed. And I’ll drive you up the driveway to catch the bus so you won’t have to stand in the rain, okay?”
“Yay!” Bonnie cried, and just like that, everything was back to normal.
Laurel was a little bit shaky as she headed for the kitchen, but the knot in her stomach was gone. It didn’t feel good being on the outs with her baby girl.
A short time later they were at the end of the drive in her old pickup, watching the yellow bus as it came around the curve.
“There’s the bus!” Bonnie cried, and started to jump out.
“Wait,” Laurel said. “I’ll walk you to the door. Let me get the umbrella.”
The bus came to a stop. Laurel held the umbrella over Bonnie as she helped her through the mud, then across the blacktop to the bus. The driver grinned as he opened the door for Bonnie to get in. “Morning, Mrs. Payne. Nasty weather we’re having.”
“Yes, it is, Mr. Fisher. Bye, Bonnie. I’ll see you this evening. Have a good day!”
“Bye, Mommy. Can we have pancakes for supper?”
Laurel laughed. “We’ll worry about that later,” she said and blew Bonnie a kiss before running back to her truck.
She was soaked by the time she got inside, but she was satisfied that Bonnie was warm and dry. She drove back to the trailer house and then ran inside, shivering as she went. She changed into old, dry clothes and got busy with chores she’d been putting off.
It was nearing 10:00 a.m. when her phone rang. She pulled it out of her pocket and then frowned when she saw it was from the school. “Hello?”
“Mrs. Payne, this is Mrs. Smith.”
When Laurel heard the first grade teacher’s voice, her heart skipped. “Is something wrong?” Laurel asked.
“It’s not life-threatening by any means, but Bonnie slipped on a wet spot on the floor and cut her chin.”
“Oh no!” Laurel cried.
“She needs stitches, I’m sure. We have her lying down and are keeping an ice pack on the cut, but she needs to see a doctor.”
“Yes, yes, of course. I’ll be right there. Tell her that I’m on the way, okay?”
“I certainly will, and I’m so sorry I had to call with bad news, but I’m sure she will be okay once she gets treatment. Drive carefully.”
“I will, and thanks.”
Laurel disconnected, put the phone back in the pocket of her jeans, and then raced to her bedroom to get her purse. She changed out of her tennis shoes into her old cowboy boots, put on her raincoat, grabbed her purse, and headed for the door. Her hands were shaking as she locked the door behind her and then made a run for the truck, splashing through the puddles as she went.
She was almost at the truck when she saw the carcass of a dead cat about halfway down the drive. She threw up her hands and started screaming and cursing. Of all times for her sorry-ass brothers-in-law to harass her! Why they felt the need to punish her for their brother’s suicide was beyond her. It wasn’t the first time, and she was sure it wouldn’t be the last.
And while she didn’t have time for this, she couldn’t let Bonnie see a dead animal. It would send her into a tailspin. She grabbed the tail and threw it as far across the road as she could fling it. When it landed in the bushes on the other side of the road and out of sight, she ran back to the truck.
Now she was so mad she was shaking as she headed out of the drive. Trying to make up for lost time, she accelerated, and as she did, the truck began fishtailing in the mud. Once she made it to the blacktop, it leveled out. Soaked to the skin, she still breathed a sigh of relief and headed for town.
About a mile up the road, the truck began to pull hard to the left. In a panic, she just kept driving, and was right in front of the Lorde driveway when she had to stop. She knew without looking that the left front tire was flat. She wanted to cry, but now was not the time to lose it.
She jumped out of the truck, saw the flat and groaned, then climbed into the bed of the pickup. She unfastened the spare; tossed it, the jack, and the tire iron onto the blacktop; then climbed out and began loosening the lug nuts before she jacked up the front end of the truck.
The rain felt like icicles down the back of her neck, and it was running out of her hair and down into her eyes, but the first lug nut wouldn’t budge. No matter how hard she tried, she didn’t have the strength to break it loose.
“Damn it!” she screamed, and gave it one last push. When she did, her hand slipped off the lug wrench and she skinned her knuckles on the blacktop. Now she was bleeding. “God help me,” she muttered, and got a firmer grip on the lug wrench and started over.
* * *
Jake’s night had been little more than a collage of bad dreams that were still with him through a morning shower and breakfast. The rain was still coming down, which meant whatever happened today would be inside this house, so he got out a dust mop and began cleaning floors.
He had just finished in the living room and was pushing furniture back in place when he happened to glance out the front window and saw a pickup stopped on the road in front of the house. When he realized it was Laurel Payne, he grabbed a coat and his pickup keys, jumped in the truck, and headed up the drive to see what was wrong.
When he parked his truck at the end of his drive, he saw the flat tire and jumped out on the run. Laurel saw him drive up, and when he ran over to where she was working, she was relieved. “Can I help?” Jake asked.
She stood up. “I can’t get this lug nut loose, and I’ve got to get to town. The school called. Bonnie’s been hurt. They said she’s going to need stitches and—”
Jake gently gripped her shoulders. “Take my truck and go do what you have to do. The keys are in the ignition. I’ll fix your flat and we’ll trade later.”
Laurel was so relieved she began to shake. “Thank you, oh, thank you,” she said as she grabbed her purse out of the front seat of her truck and ran across the road.
Jake watched her drive away and then grabbed the lug wrench and got to work.
* * *
Truman Slade saw Adam Payne’s widow coming into Blessings in Jake Lorde’s red pickup truck and frowned. Jake hadn’t wasted much time striking up a relationship with his neighbor, or maybe they’d had something going on long distance all this time. At any rate, she was driving around town in that shiny red truck like she owned it.
The first thought that went through his mind was, what could he do with this knowledge? And just like that, his good intentions of bettering his life were forgotten at the thought of revenge. He wanted to get back at Lorde for all the years he’d spent in prison. Maybe he’d find a way to hassle the little lady instead. He was fine with whatever it took, as long as it bothered Jake Lorde.
He watched her until she turned off Main and headed down the street toward the school, then he drove away with his groceries, ready to settle in his house and wait for the weather front to pass.
* * *
Laurel was cold and breathless as she ran through the parking lot in the rain, and then dripped water all the way to the office.
Mavis West, the school secretary, saw her walk in and grimaced. “Girl, you are soaked.”
“I had a flat on the way into town,” Laurel said. “Where’s Bonnie? Is she okay?”
“We moved the cot out of the front office this year. She’s in the back. I’ll go get her.”
“May I come with you?” Laurel asked.
“Sure. Follow me,” Mavis said.
Laurel left wet tracks all the way down the hall and then into the little alcove where Bonnie was lying. One of the teacher’s aides was sitting with her, and when Bonnie saw her mother, she started crying all over again. “Mommy, I fell, and it made me bleed all over
my clothes,” she cried.
For a moment, it felt to Laurel as if the walls were beginning to spin. Blood on the clothes, blood on the floor beneath the cot, blood on her daughter’s hand.
Like Adam. Blood everywhere.
Then she took a deep breath and knelt to get a closer look at the cut and tried not to let her concern show. It was very deep, and from the shape of her clothing, she’d already lost a lot of blood.
“I know, baby. I can see. We’re going straight to the doctor and get you all fixed up,” she said, then helped Bonnie into her raincoat, slung the backpack over her arm, and scooped Bonnie up into her arms.
Bonnie recoiled slightly. “You’re wet, Mommy.”
“I know. It’s raining very hard, and I had a flat tire. I’ll tell you all about it on the way to the doctor, okay?”
Mavis handed Bonnie her ice pack. “Here, honey. Keep this on your chin, okay?”
Bonnie nodded, and then they were gone.
Mavis watched Laurel walking away and thought to herself that the young woman was too thin, and then she shrugged off the thought and went back to work.
* * *
They were both wet again by the time Laurel settled Bonnie into the front seat of Jake’s truck and buckled her in.
“Where’s our pickup? Whose truck is this?” Bonnie asked as Laurel got in behind the wheel.
“I had a flat in front of Mr. Lorde’s driveway. He traded vehicles with me so I could come take care of you. We’ll trade back later after we get home, okay?”
Bonnie was mildly interested in the truck, but hurt too much to dwell on it.
“What is the doctor going to do to my chin?” she asked.
“He’ll put some medicine in it to make it numb so you can’t feel what he’s doing, and then he’ll stitch it up, sort of like how I stitch up the hems in your shirts and dresses.”
She moaned and then whimpered. “I don’t want him to do that. I don’t want my chin hemmed.”
Laurel sighed. Chalk up that poor choice of words to how rattled she was.
“It will be okay. I promise. I’ll be right beside you the whole time.”
Bonnie wasn’t convinced and sniffled and cried all the way to the ER. By the time they got parked and Laurel carried her into the building, she felt like crying, too.
“I need a doctor. My daughter fell at school and cut her chin,” Laurel said.
The receptionist’s eyes widened at the sight of so much blood on the little girl’s clothes, then looked at Laurel. She was pale and soaked and visibly shaking. Instead of taking pertinent information first, she made a judgment call.
“I’ll get a wheelchair and—”
“I’ll carry her,” Laurel said.
The receptionist nodded. “Follow me. I’ll get your information after we get her settled.”
Laurel did as she was directed and was relieved when she could finally lay her daughter down. As soon as Bonnie was on the bed, Laurel took off her coat and tossed it on the floor against the wall, out of the way. Even though her shirt was damp and sticking to her skin, shedding that wet, heavy coat felt better.
The nurse was helping Bonnie off with her raincoat, taking off her rain boots as another nurse came and covered her with a clean, heated blanket. The warmth alone was enough to ease some of Bonnie’s discomfort and she finally quit crying.
Laurel stood next to the bed, holding Bonnie’s hand as a doctor came in to assess the wound.
“Hello, young lady. My name is Dr. Quick. What’s yours?”
Bonnie sniffled. “Bonnie Carol Payne.”
Dr. Quick smiled, then glanced at Laurel. “Are you her mother?” he asked.
“Yes, I’m Laurel Payne. Bonnie fell at school. I think she’s going to need stitches.”
Bonnie began to whimper again. “Don’t want you to hem my chin,” she cried.
Laurel grimaced. “That’s my fault. I was trying to explain what might happen and used an analogy that morphed into this.”
Paul Quick chuckled. “I guess there is a small similarity between tailors and surgeons. We both stitch. Now let’s take a look at this marvelous chin,” he said, and motioned for his nurse to wash out the wound, which elicited another round of wails and tears.
Dr. Quick seemed immune to the noise and continued his examination. “Bonnie, I’m going to check your teeth and make sure none of them are loose, okay? And this won’t hurt a bit, I promise. I just need to put my finger on each tooth in front and make sure they are nice and snug in there.”
Bonnie looked at the finger he was holding up.
Dr. Quick grinned. “Yep, that’s the one. Now I need you to open your mouth so I can see your teeth.”
Bonnie reluctantly opened, but not wide. Before Laurel could urge her to open wider, Dr. Quick took care of the problem in a most ingenious way.
“Oh! Hello, tooth! You look quite fine! Oh, you say your name is Martha? Hello, Martha, nice to meet you.”
Bonnie’s eyes widened. She didn’t know her teeth had names. Interested in spite of herself, she relaxed her jaw enough that the doctor checked the first two teeth on the top.
“Ah, hello down there,” he said, as he felt along the teeth on the lower jaw. “I’m Dr. Quick. I’m here to make sure you’re still properly in place. Oh? Really? You say you never get out of place? That you mind your manners very well? That’s wonderful! What’s your name, by the way? You say they call you Miss Helen? So nice to meet you, Miss Helen.”
Dr. Quick glanced at Bonnie. She was totally into the discussion going on inside her mouth now, and so he kept up the patter until he was convinced her teeth were sound. “So, it’s been nice talking to all of you. Most happy to report you are all fine.”
When he took his finger out of her mouth, Bonnie looked at Laurel. “Mama, did you know about Miss Helen and Martha?”
Laurel shook her head. “No, I did not.”
Dr. Quick smiled. “No worries. Only doctors can talk to teeth. All they need you to do is brush them good every day. Okay?”
Bonnie nodded.
Dr. Quick smiled, but knew this moment wasn’t going to last. “Now we’re going to numb the area around the cut and then put you back together, Miss Bonnie. Are you ready to be a brave girl?”
“No, I don’t want to be brave,” Bonnie said, and dissolved into tears.
Bonnie was wailing and Laurel wanted to cry with her. “Just do what you have to do, Dr. Quick. I’ll hold her head still and talk to her while you work.”
So Laurel stood at the end of the bed behind Bonnie’s head and held it still while Dr. Quick and his nurse went to work.
When he stuck the needle in the cut to deaden it, Laurel was already talking to Bonnie, telling her not to move, and as soon as Dr. Quick was through with this one thing, her chin would quit hurting. Bonnie didn’t buy it, and her fears were justified. Her shriek echoed all over ER when the needle went into her chin. It made Laurel sick to her stomach to know her little girl was scared and in pain, and she began talking even faster about Lavonne, wondering if she’d laid another egg, and telling her how kind Jake was to let her drive his truck, and they should make him some cookies as a thank-you.
By the time the numbing had taken place, Bonnie was exhausted. She was teary-eyed during the stitching but had quit crying and screaming, for which everyone in the ER was truly grateful.
Then, finally, they were done. Dr. Quick dropped the needle and sutures on the tray and motioned for the nurse to bandage the chin. “We’re through,” he told Bonnie, as he patted her knee.
“Mommy, I want to go home now,” Bonnie said.
“Soon, honey. We’re almost ready. Just rest.”
Bonnie sighed, her eyes closed, and she fell asleep from the exhaustion.
* * *
Jake soon had the flat in the back of Laurel’s tr
uck and was headed to town to get it fixed. The spare was missing a lot of tread and he hoped he’d make it in before it went flat, too. He couldn’t quit thinking about how frantic Laurel had been and hoped her little girl was okay.
As soon as he reached Blessings, he went straight to Tire Supply and drove up to the garage. After a quick explanation of what he needed, they drove the truck inside, fixed the flat, and put it back on the truck, then put the spare in the truck bed.
Jake watched, and when they started to put the jack and lug wrench in the bed also, he stopped them and had them put those two items behind the front seat instead. He’d tell her later what he’d done, so she wouldn’t think they were missing, but having those loose in the back of a truck bed made them too easy to steal. The spare tire was there in the open, too, but at least Adam Payne had rigged up a system to fasten down the spare with a couple of big wing nuts.
He paid for the flat and drove home, wondering how the Payne girls were faring. Even after he was home, he hovered anxiously at the front windows, watching for that red truck to appear. When it finally did, he was so relieved that he stood and watched them drive by before it dawned on him that he needed to follow. He grabbed his coat and her truck keys and headed out the door on the run.
* * *
Bonnie had fallen asleep and was slumped against the console.
Laurel couldn’t quit shaking and periodically brushed a hand over Bonnie’s head just to reassure herself she was okay. She was all the way past the Lorde house before she thought and then groaned.
“Dang it,” she mumbled, then glanced in the rearview mirror and caught a glimpse of her old truck coming over the hill behind her. Good. He’s following me home.
When she came around the curve and saw their trailer, home had never looked so good. She took the turn down her muddy drive and then drove all the way to the trailer and parked.
Now, with the engine off and the rain still falling, the quiet within the cab was intensified. If Jake hadn’t been so close behind her, she would have burst into tears just from the relief that the worst was all over. When she remembered her house key was on the key ring in her truck, she dug the extra key out of her purse, but she was shaking so hard she didn’t think she could carry Bonnie up the steps.
