I was tempted to post a photo of a cinnamon bun pizza, but I was too hungry. I happen to love flowers so I'm sharing them instead. Happy reading!
Secrets at Midnight
Leona Palmer Haag
Chapter 44
Clouds dissipated and
sunshine poured down. Hope of survival surfaced. Katie awoke and howled,
reminding Jenn of their most immediate danger—starvation.
Lowering the pack to
the ground, Matt said, “You don't mind if I feed your baby this, do you?” He
pulled the wrapper off a water-drenched chocolate bar.
Jenn sank to a tuft of
weeds and shrugged. “Normally, yes, but today it’s okay.”
He pulled out a
pocketknife and cut the candy into tiny pieces. Katie devoured one bite after
another. He handed the empty wrapper to Jenn. “Lick it clean, kid. Katie
doesn’t know how, so it’s yours.”
She pushed it aside,
but he pushed it back. “There are ten calories of chocolate on that thing—the
exact number required to help someone your height and build stand up.”
She licked the
wrapper, savoring her favorite flavor.
Matt hefted Katie to
his shoulders, and immediately the toddler screamed. “What did I do wrong?” he
gasped. “Did I hurt her?”
“She needs to walk,”
Jenn said.
While he released her
daughter from the pack, Jenn pulled out a diaper and held it up. “Do I change
her now or later? This is the last one.”
“You’ll want her dry tonight.”
Jenn whimpered. “But
your back—you’re a mess.”
He shrugged. “I’m
fine. We'll find a whirlpool tub and you'll fix the wiring so the heater works.
I'll take care of it then.”
They continued their
journey, herding Katie down the road, not having to encourage her to run. When
she switched directions they spun her back to face the other way. “Maybe she’d
like playing with Monica's grandchild,” Jenn teased.
“His name is Luke. He
turns two next month—a little older than your perky little tyke, but just as
busy. He doesn’t say as much though.”
“Grandpa Matt.”
He laughed. “Yep.”
When Katie slowed Matt
returned her to the pack. She cried, pulled his hair, chattered faster than
lightning, wiggled and kicked, then rested her head on his shoulder and slept.
Jenn wanted to ask
about Rebecca, but held back. She’d hate answering questions about Gary or
Danny. Unhindered, her thoughts swarmed around her former husbands.
Danny had been sweet.
A guy any girl would fall in love with, especially after Gary. He never lifted
his hand or hurt her, but bestowed gifts. He also never paid for anything. When
the effects of his big spending, big talking, non-bill paying habits surfaced,
she learned the truth the same way icebergs educated the Titanic.
Danny’s web of lies
crumbled along with their marriage. Lisa—his first, completely legal, and still
current wife—materialized in the form or divorce papers. Jenn had tossed the
papers into Danny's lap. “Who is Lisa?”
A mistake had been
made—someone had the same name, he claimed. By then she was familiar with his
favorite excuse. Someone used his name and destroyed his credit, used his name
and bought a car, used his name and stayed three nights in St. Louis, married
Lisa, rented an apartment, and had two kids?
She had called Shawn,
begging him to look into Danny’s past to see if his identity had been stolen.
“I'll call Matt,” her
brother said.
“No! I'll be
humiliated.”
Shawn called anyway. A
week later she sat in her brother’s front room. He handed her papers Matt had
faxed. “Danny has been married to Lisa for four years. They have three kids,
not two. Ages four, two and three-months.”
She had whispered, “Three
months? That means….”
Shawn soberly nodded.
“Yeah.”
Shawn had offered to
forgo the rest of the sordid details—including two other current wives, other bills, debts, homes and two more children—but
she had insisted on knowing. When he finished Jenn announced, “I'm pregnant.
This is baby number six for that stinking liar.”
Matt didn't need to
ask about Danny. He’d done the research himself.
Matt paused to adjust
his load. Jenn continued on, then stopped dead in her tracts. She had
stepped on a wrist a week ago, and now she had stepped on a road—a real road!
“I found something,” she said. She stuck her thumb out. “I'm hitchhiking home.”
He scrambled up
the hill and joined her on the graded gravel road. Tired to the core, Jenn
plopped down. It wasn't like she'd need to move in the next week or two to
avoid being run over.
“We still need to keep
going,” Matt said, grabbing her thumb and pulling her to her feet.
“Life offers so many
tempting bones, but never mentions you have to work for them,” she grumbled as
they pushed on.
It was amazing how
wonderful finding a road felt, and also how discouragingly long it seemed when
each turn hinted it led nowhere. Katie screamed herself into another nap after
drinking spring water stored in the empty peanut butter jar. When the world
fell silent again, Matt said, “You okay, kid?”
She glanced at him and
nodded. Like Katie, she was capable of screaming herself hoarse, but it
wouldn’t give her what she wanted. Nick wouldn’t magically appear, or dinner,
or a bed, or clothes not caked with mud. Matt cradled her against his side,
guiding her on as the sun lowered and cold crept in. They’d spend another night
under a tree. Matt wouldn't light a fire or catch fish. They’d die before
morning.
“Listen,” Matt said. A
motor ground in the distance. “That might mean help, but maybe not. What do you
want to do?”
“I'm already half
dead,” she whimpered.
He gave her a quick
hug, then pulled Katie from his shoulders and shoved her into her arms, nearly
knocking her down. “If they come this way, I’ll flag them down. It might be
someone from the office, but that doesn't mean they haven't defected. Do you
understand that someone I believe is safe might kill me? Maybe all of us?”
She bit her lip and
nodded. Her eyes scanned the trees for shelter.
Matt shoved her gun
into her hand. “Keep this hidden, but close. Use it if you have to. If it's
someone looking for us, you can bet your life they have guns and know how to
use them and will. If you pull yours, don't threaten because you won't have
time—just shoot.”
“I don’t think I can.
I know I can’t!”
“You can, and you
will.” He guided her hand to her pocket and helped her conceal it. He kissed
her forehead, then Katie’s dirty cheek, and turned away.
The moment of truth had
arrived. She’d either fully trust him—or wouldn’t. She’d either protect and
defend him, or kill him, or let someone else. She buried her face in Katie's
matted hair. Her fingers instinctively slipped into her pocket and curled
around the gun.
End Chapter 44
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