The Only Solution (Crowley County Series Book 3)

by T. E. Killian

  “I know. I’m sorry but I want to leave now.”

  With that, they all left together and Jason drove them back to Mike’s house in silence.

  Chapter Thirteen

  At least ten times since Friday evening, Mike had talked himself out of and then back into going to church with Daisy and Lucy on Sunday. He was still wavering when he wheeled himself up to the table to eat his breakfast that morning.

  He looked across the table at his mom and wondered why she was being so uncharacteristically quiet.

  When she did start talking though, he was sorry because of the subject she chose.

  “I don’t see why Daisy has to come all the way over here to get you this morning since we’re all going to the same place.”

  Mike had been so absorbed in his thoughts that he missed the gleam in her eye when she said that.

  “Mom! It’s like a date all right?”

  She giggled. Mike looked at her in almost shock. His mother had giggled? Then it hit him that she had tricked him into saying that. He shook his head and continued eating his pancakes doing his best to ignore her knowing smile.

  When Daisy pulled into the driveway later, he was ready and rolled his chair out to the front passenger side, opened the door, and pulled himself in. He didn’t stand to do it although he could have. He wanted to surprise Daisy later that week by walking with his cane. There was no doubt in his mind that the next time he would be doing just that.

  Daisy came around, folded his wheelchair, and placed it in the trunk.

  As soon as she slid back in under the wheel, he said, “Daisy, could you give me a little idea of what’s going to happen there today?”

  She smiled as she backed the car out of his driveway and said, “Sure. First, we’ll be in Sunday School for about an hour and it will be made up of other single people about our age.”

  “Will I know any of them?”

  “Yes, you will know at least two of them. Jason and Karen are both in my class.”

  She looked over at him to give him an encouraging smile before continuing, “What we do in that class is take one Bible book at a time and study it from beginning to end. We have a little booklet that guides us along the way with weekly lessons. It’s called a quarterly since it has all the lessons for an entire quarter in it.”

  “Okay. What about after that . . . in church?”

  She smiled over at him again. He sure could get used to that beautiful smile especially when it was directed at him.

  “The first half of the service is music. We sing a lot of uplifting choruses that are intended to get us in the mood to worship. Then Gil will get up there and speak about a passage in the Bible. He’ll tell us what it means and how to apply it to our lives.”

  He had to think about that for a minute. Then he realized that all that she’d just said sounded okay and not too threatening in any way. Maybe he could do this after all.

  When they got out of the car, Lucy wanted to push his wheelchair so Daisy let her get between her and the handles to place her hands on them. Daisy guided the chair and applied most of the pressure needed to propel it but Lucy thought she was doing it all by herself. She giggled all the way in.

  He had to laugh about that. Then he realized how much he was growing to like that little girl and especially her giggles. It seemed that she was always giggling about something.

  When they entered the building, Gil and Jo were standing there and greeted them warmly. He didn’t miss the knowing look that passed between Jo and Daisy. At first, it made him angry that maybe Daisy had discussed him with Jo but then as he thought about it, he was okay with that after all.

  When they entered the classroom, he noticed Jason right away on the far left side of the room. Then when he looked to the right, he saw Karen on that side. He had to laugh at that obvious sign.

  Then he was surprised to see Brandi Leonard, the new young science teacher at the high school. As he watched the tall woman with the long black hair, he realized that she was heading straight for him. Uh oh!

  When Brandi saw Daisy pushing his chair, she stopped and looked from one to the other. Then she seemed to recover and continued up to him.

  “Mike, it’s good to see you here. I didn’t know you came here.”

  He ignored her implied question and said, “Brandi, this is Daisy Thomas. She runs the Sparrow Foundation Home here in town.”

  Then he looked up at Daisy and said, “Daisy, this is Brandi Leonard. She’s new at the high school this year. She teaches science.”

  The two women shook hands and Mike almost laughed at the proprietary way that Daisy casually laid her hand on his shoulder. That was very interesting but it also made him feel very good.

  When class was over and Daisy was pushing him down the hallway toward the sanctuary, he threw over his shoulder. “Is that class always like that?”

  She giggled. “I’m not sure what you mean, but yes, it is usually very much like it was today. There are usually the same ones speaking up in the discussion.”

  “Good. I don’t like to be put on a spot. It’s clear that they all know a lot more about the Bible than I do.”

  She didn’t answer but kept pushing him up to where Lucy was waiting for them.

  Daisy stopped the wheelchair and before Mike realized what she was going to do, Lucy jumped up into his lap. That sure surprised him . . . so much so, that he didn’t know what to do.

  Not knowing what else to do, he placed his hand on Lucy’s shoulder to steady her.

  Daisy pushed them on into the sanctuary and stopped at a row that was already occupied by all of the residents of her home and his mother. This ought to be interesting.

  Once the music started, Mike listened carefully to the words and was surprised that he understood the meaning of them perfectly.

  Then when Gil got up to speak, he was shocked that the guy was talking about God's will.

  He turned to Daisy and whispered in her ear, “Did you tell him what we’ve been talking about?”

  She grinned while shaking her head. Then she whispered in his ear, “No. But that’s the way God works. He always knows what each one of us needs and He gives it to us.”

  Mike sat there amazed through the rest of the service. For some reason, he wasn’t too surprised that Gil said most of the same things that Daisy had told him the two times they’d discussed the subject before.

  * * *

  Daisy was nervous. Once she helped Mike into her car after church, she was apprehensive about what he might say about the service. She didn’t dare say anything since she didn’t know what he might say. She waited for him to bring up the subject.

  She was glad she’d made arrangements for someone else to drive the home’s van to church today. Even though they weren’t saying anything, it was nice to have the privacy, which was even aided by Lucy chattering in the back seat. And the best thing was that Mike didn’t seem to mind. He’d even answer Lucy or comment once in a while on something she said.

  Daisy had invited Mike over for dinner at her apartment and she was looking forward to it.

  It was quiet between the two adults on the drive to the home. In a way, she was relieved but still, she would like to know how he felt about his first experience in church.

  Once they were in her apartment and Lucy ran out to see what the residents were doing, he wheeled his chair next to her favorite chair and patted it for her to sit there.

  “How did you know that was my favorite chair?”

  He snorted and said, “Remember, I’m a trained detective.” He pointed at the basket on the floor next to it that contained her current needlework project. “Unless Lucy has taken up sewing, I would say that is a pretty obvious clue. Wouldn’t you?”

  She laughed and said, “I’m beginning to wonder if I’m going to like being around someone so observant to such minor details. After all, I grew up with my dad being that way.”

  He laughed with her then his face grew serious as she sat down and looked at h
im in anticipation of what he might say next.

  He started right in, taking the suspense out of it. “I liked it.”

  When she just stared at him, he said, “All of it. Including Sunday School which I was positive I wouldn’t like.”

  She was so excited that she reached out and clasped his hand. He returned her squeeze and they stared into each other’s eyes for a long moment.

  “Does that mean you would like to go back next Sunday?”

  She thought he tried to keep a straight face but the anticipation must have shown on her face for he grinned and said, “Only if I can go with you and Lucy again.”

  Daisy was afraid to read too much into that statement but still it warmed her and she knew she was blushing again. She sure had been doing a lot of that lately. For a thirty-three year old woman, she felt strange blushing like a teenager.

  He chuckled and said, “I guess you figured out that Brandi Leonard was one of the teachers who was hitting on me the other day.”

  She wasn’t sure how to answer that but tried anyway. “Yes, she seemed to be disappointed when she saw you with me.”

  He really laughed then. “Yes, and did you see the look she gave you when you placed your hand on my shoulder?”

  She was blushing again and he was looking into her eyes. “No. It was okay. In fact, I should thank you for getting the message across to Brandi in such a simple but painless manner. This way she probably won’t bother me anymore.”

  He looked over at the dark TV then back to her before he frowned and said, “I still have a hard time believing that Gil was talking about the very thing you and I have been talking about this week.” He paused and looked closely into her eyes. “You really believe that God did that?”

  She was nodding her head even before he finished. “Oh yes. I know He did. He does things like that in my life all the time.” She smiled back at him. “I think it’s just wonderful how God gives us exactly what we need and when we need it too.”

  Daisy knew she’d gone too far too fast when Mike’s face clouded up. Thankfully, he didn’t say anything right then. So she rose to start putting things together for dinner.

  She’d placed a stew in the crock-pot that morning and all she had to do now was put the biscuits in the oven.

  “Daisy?”

  She turned around and he said, “Thank you.”

  She took a step toward him and said, “For what?”

  He grinned then and it looked very much like a mischievous grin to her.

  “First of all, for being the special person you are.” Before she could even think of how to react, he went on, “And for taking me to church.”

  He shook his head and wheeled his chair into the kitchen area. “I’ve always wondered what it was like. My parents never went when I was a kid. Like I told you before, they didn’t start going until after I left home. And me, in college, I was too busy having what I thought at the time was fun. Then once I got on with the DEA, I was almost always working on Sundays.”

  She didn’t know what to do other than keep smiling at him.

  “I guess what I’m trying to say is that I didn’t know what I was missing.” He shook his head. “I felt good while I was there this morning. No, I felt comfortable there.” He waved a hand in front of his face in frustration and said, “No I think it was more like I felt like I belonged there.”

  Now tears were streaming down Daisy’s face but she had to grab a tissue and quickly wipe her cheeks and eyes when Lucy came running in.

  “When’s dinner Mommy? I’m hungry.”

  Daisy and Mike looked at each other and burst out laughing. Lucy just stood there looking from one to the other with a puzzled look on her face.

  As soon as Lucy finished eating, she raced off to the rec room again saying something about something she wanted to watch on TV.

  Daisy turned to Mike and gestured toward her own forty inch TV. “Our TV is a mite too small for my little girl now. She simply loves to watch the giant ninety inch TV in the rec room.”

  She giggled softly. “But I really think that what she enjoys the most is watching it with some of the residents. She loves them all and they’re all so good with her. I never worry about her when she’s with any of them.”

  He chuckled. “I guess you have a bunch of built-in babysitters.”

  They were still at the table and Mike seemed to be in no hurry to leave it so neither was Daisy. She thought of a question she'd been wanting to ask him.

  “Mike, do you think you’ll be happy with teaching as a career now instead of the DEA?”

  She was sure he wasn’t going to answer at first. He just sat there with a blank look in his eyes.

  Then he turned his gaze on her and said, “If anyone would have asked me that question a few weeks ago, I probably would have said never.”

  He laid his hand on hers on the table. “But now, even if I could go back to the DEA, I don’t think I would. I’ve just realized that I want to stay right here in Crowleyville.”

  He gave her a strange look. “That is as long as you and Lucy stay here too.”

  After that, they both attempted to keep the mood light as Daisy brought out a deck of cards and they played Gin Rummy.

  * * *

  After they had played several games of cards, Mike was ready to go home. Daisy wasn’t sure she was quite ready for the day to end though. She had thoroughly enjoyed Mike’s company.

  Reluctantly, she went out into the game room where she found Lucy watching two of the girls playing ping-pong. As usual, Lucy had appointed herself ball-chaser. Daisy smiled to herself as she watched her little girl scramble all over the room chasing errant balls.

  “Lucy, I’m taking Mike home now. Do you want to go along?”

  Lucy looked from the ping-pong table to her mother and shook her head. “Can I stay and watch Mommy?”

  “Sure Sweetheart. But don’t go anywhere else without telling Wilma. Okay?”

  “Yes Mommy.”

  Daisy turned and almost fell into Mike’s lap since he had sneaked up behind her without her hearing him.

  “I’m going to have to put bells on that chair.” She laughed.

  Mike didn’t laugh. He shook his head and with a determined look said, “No need to worry about that. I’m not going to be using it much longer.”

  Daisy was surprised at the force with which he’d made that statement. Therefore, she didn’t doubt him for a second. In fact, she found herself looking forward to him not being in that wheel chair.

  As they were pulling out of the parking lot out back, Daisy turned to Mike and said, “You haven’t said what kind of progress you’re making in PT.”

  He grinned at her and said, “Oh, I’m making progress all right.” he paused before continuing, “One day this week, I plan on showing you just how much progress I’ve made.”

  She couldn’t get him to elaborate on that vague statement so she concentrated on her driving.

  Mike’s house was in a subdivision on the outskirts of town. It was not far from the high school but could only be reached by a paved county road that went south off the state highway. It was about a mile down that road.

  They were on the county road going around a curve when a pickup came up behind them so suddenly that Daisy was just barely able to see it before it bumped into the rear of her car thus pushing them off the road in the middle of the curve. They went into the ditch so that the whole front of her car was sitting in about a foot of water when they stopped.

  She looked over at Mike and he seemed to be okay. He was looking in the direction the pickup had gone.

  As he pulled out his cell phone he said, “Are you all right Daisy?”

  She hadn’t thought about it until he asked, but her head must have hit the steering wheel and she felt it with her fingers. There was already a small bump growing there.

  “I think I’m okay. I just bumped my head a little on the steering wheel, that’s all.”

  Mike called 911 to report the acci
dent then turned back to Daisy.

  He scooted across the seat and touched her arm. “Are you sure you’re okay? Your head?”

  She nodded. “Yes. I didn’t even notice that I’d bumped it until I reached up to feel my forehead.”

  Two deputies Daisy didn’t know but had seen around town were the first to arrive and Mike did all the talking to them. Rather than get his wheelchair out of the trunk, they talked to him through his rolled down window.

  About ten minutes later, Floyd came roaring up. As soon as he jumped out of his vehicle, he raced up to Daisy’s side of the car so she rolled down her window.

  “Are you two okay?” Then he must have noticed the bump on her forehead for he pointed at it and said, “Whoa, Daisy, you need to get the medics to look at that.”

  Just then, an ambulance pulled up and Floyd directed them to Daisy. She slid out of the vehicle and let them examine her head.

  It took her a few minutes to be able to convince the paramedics that she was fine and since she was a nurse, they finally believed her. She then walked over to where Mike now sat in his wheelchair talking with Floyd.

  As she approached, she heard Mike saying, “I only saw the rear of that pickup but there was no plate on it at all.”

  He shook his head when Floyd grunted. “Other than the fact that it was a very dirty, very battered old pickup, I couldn’t really tell you much. I think it used to be white but it was so rusted that I couldn’t even be sure of that. I think it was a Chevy, but all the markings were either muddied over or gone.”

  “Well that’s just swell Boy. How do you expect me to catch this guy?”

  Daisy grinned at Floyd’s gruff manner and continued to listen as Mike took it in stride too. “Well, if I were you, I think I’d pay a visit to the Hollis place and see if there just happens to be a pickup like that there.”

  He gestured toward the rear of Daisy’s little car. “It should have some red paint on the front bumper.”

  Floyd snorted. “I plan on doing just that but I know the way these boys work. They’ll have that truck closed up in their barn. So unless I can get a search warrant, I don’t think it’ll do me much good. And before you ask, I’m sure Judge Hawkins won’t give me one without something tying them to this little incident.”