I'm addicted to flowers. So addicted that I took my camera with me on a hike down to the mailbox last spring and snapped photos of everything in bloom on the the way down and back...
Secrets at Midnight
Leona Palmer Haag
Chapter 42
Chattering birds and
Katie saying, “Toast?” awoke Jenn.
“We don't have any,”
she whispered.
“We have granola
bars,” Matt said.
She opened her eyes to
find a blanket of snow surrounding them and Matt holding out two granola bars.
Jenn unwrapped one. “Katie gets both—one for breakfast, the second for lunch.”
She broke off pieces and offered them to her daughter between sips of icy
water.
Hiking came next. They
picked their way through brambles and along ravines. Snow melted as the sun
rose, creating mud puddles. With knees shaking and stomach complaining, Jenn
wondered how long she’d live. Ahead, Matt pressed on with Katie bouncing on his
back, acting like they were having fun. “Have you ever been camping before?”
Matt called back.
“No, and this isn’t
camping—it’s torture. I do hotels and restaurants.”
He paused, holding a
branch out of her way. “Tell me about your favorite vacation.”
She spoke of Florida,
sunshine, warmth, dining, luxury and ease.
“Then this ranks as
your worst vacation?”
She grunted in reply,
grasping branches for support as they worked their way down a steep bank.
“I should have taken
you to Hawaii, but Montana got in the way,” he joked.
“That’s not funny,”
she muttered.
After several minutes
of silence he said, “I hope you know I love you.” He reached back and she
grabbed his hand and he pulled her up a steep spot. “You do know it, don’t
you?”
She glared at him
before bending to wipe mud from her knees. “You tried to sleep with me last
night, but that hardly counts as love.”
“I didn't try to sleep
with you. I tried to save your life. Big difference. If I was after sex I’d
choose a better place—without a baby.” He pointed to his ring finger. “This
isn’t just gold—it’s commitment. I take marriage seriously—mine and yours.”
“Does that mean you
don't love me?”
He turned his back on
her, heading off without checking to see if she followed. Jenn scrambled to
catch up, panting, “Sorry about the sarcasm. Yeah, I know you love me. You’ve
done a lot for me. Do you remember finding a bike in a dumpster and fixing it
and giving it to me? It was the first present I remember receiving. Thanks.”
“Shawn and I spent
hours working on it. We taught you how to ride. We thought we were super
mechanics. You did too.”
They slogged along in
silence for several minutes. “Are we going to die?” she asked.
He shrugged. “I hope
not. I have a dental appointment next week.”
No appointments dotted
Jenn’s calendar, not even a job, she was sure. Nick might be dead. The only
thing she had back home were memories. That reminded her of taking out the
trash. She stumbled and fell.
Matt turned back. “You
okay?”
She grabbed a low
hanging branch and silently tugged herself up.
“We'll make it once we
find a road.”
“And just like that
hiding, starving and freezing end?”
“No. We start a new
plan—how to evade bad guys.” He grasped her shoulders. “I know you hate me at
the moment and you'd just as soon shoot me, but you need to know I love you and
I'd lay down my life for you. I'd appreciate it if you'd try to preserve mine
as well.”
“How am I supposed to
do that?” she snapped.
“Do everything I say.
We're not even close to the end of this ordeal.”
She shoved past him.
“You ask a lot from me. Pack. Get in the car. Trust me. Save my life. Well, I
have news for you, Mr. J—now it's your turn to follow me.”
He obeyed without
arguing, following her up one hill and down the next. When they came to a point
where she needed to decide which direction to turn she pointed left and he
pointed right. Jenn shook her head. “Sorry. I’m still boss. Got
that?”
“But....”
“Get over it or give
my baby back.” Without waiting, she reached up for Katie. He hesitated, then
conceded and turned left. Almost immediately the terrain grew rougher. She
regretted her decision, wanting to turn back, but pride kept her moving. After
perhaps an hour of hard work they stumbled onto an old road with trees
sprouting in the center.
“Which way now?” Matt
asked.
Jenn didn’t hesitate.
“Downhill.” Around the first corner they began a steep ascent. She’d made
another bad choice. She wanted to sit down and cry, but before she collapsed,
prepared to pound tire ruts with her fists and wallow in self-pity, the road
turned again and wound down the hillside.
“Do you love me?” Matt
asked.
Jenn walked in
silence—steam building.
“There are lots of
kinds of love besides romantic love, you know. Do you love me?”
“You were the rich kid
across the gravel road in the double wide. What's not to love about that?”
He laughed. “We were
both dirt poor—so impoverished the cockroaches chose a better neighborhood to
infest.”
It was a funny
thought—and very true. She almost smiled.
“Seriously, do you
love—no—do you maybe like me?”
“Not today.”
After several minutes
of silence he said, “I thought not.”
They trudged on
without speaking. Minutes slipped past, turning into hours. Katie awoke, then
slept. Finally, Jenn knew she couldn’t go any farther. Sitting in the middle of
the road, she said. “I'm done. My energy ran out ten miles and two days ago.”
Matt squatted beside
her. “Need a break?”
She shook her head at
the man with her sleeping baby on his back. “I want to blink and open my eyes
at home. I wish I was sitting on the back porch watching Katie in her wading
pool and sipping a tall iced tea.” Tears streamed down her cheeks. She wiped
them away with the back of a dirty wrist.
He took her hand and
tugged. “Come on, your porch is around the next bend.”
She pulled free. “I
can't get up. I'm starving. I've got the shakes. I'm freezing. I can't figure
out why I should take another step.” She buried her face against her knees.
He smoothed the back
of her hair. “You've got to do it for Nick and Katie. For yourself. For me.
Please?” He took her icy hand and rubbed the back of her fingers.
She bit her bottom lip
and shook her head.
He rose, pulling her to her feet. Wrapping an
arm around her waist, they silently started off—one footstep, then another,
slipping on wet ferns and mud, stumbling over roots and side-stepping boulders.
End Chapter 42
No comments:
Post a Comment