A Long from the Girl Next Door: The Caldwells of Rebel Creek Book 2

by T M Morris

  Miss Hazel straightened to her full height of five feet. Trying to look insulted, but failing. She laughed. “I’m practically older than dirt and if I want to go braless, I ought to be able to.” She looked down at her buxom chest. “Of course they were more impressive when they weren’t hanging down past my belly button.”

  They all roared with laughter. Miss Addie gasped, “Oh Miss Hazel you are a breath of fresh air.”

  “Give me those scissors.” Miss Hazel panted between gasps for breath between fits of laughter. Once she removed the wires, she went back into the restroom. Lilly and her mother exchanged smiles and tried to settle down, but every time they looked at one another they would burst out laughing.

  Miss Hazel walked out of the bathroom. “Well, I guess that’s better.” She smiled mischievously then she shimmied. “Yeah I guess it’ll do. They’re where they belong and they ain’t jiggling everywhere.”

  None of them heard the doctor come in until he cleared his throat. His face was beet red. “I’m sure they look fine. Would you ladies mind if I have a look at Miss Addie?”

  All three women burst out laughing. Miss Hazel snorted. “Now I have to go home. I just pissed myself a little.” They all laughed some more, except the young doctor. He didn’t know what to do with three hysterical women. Miss Hazel took pity on him. “Don’t worry, son. You can write this in your memoirs. It’ll be a little comic relief between all the sad stories you’ll see.” She lowered her voice to sotto voce, “I’ll give you a bit of advice. Life is too serious as it is. We gotta do everything we can to lighten it up.”

  Even the doctor laughed when she shimmied out the door. Lilly looked at her phone. She stood and went to kiss her mother’s cheek. “I should get back downstairs. Dad will finish up soon. By the way, Mama, Beth said to tell you hello.”

  “Okay, Baby. Bring your dad up here when he’s finished. Okay?”

  “I will.”

  Lilly walked into the physical therapy waiting room and sat down. Picking up a magazine she was pleasantly surprised to see her face on the cover. That particular shoot was ages ago. She looked at the issue date and chuckled. The magazine was ages old too. She heard a ruckus coming from the other side of the clinic door. The receptionist looked up alarmed.

  Lilly groaned.

  Otter hobbled out the door. “Next time I want someone else. That girl was intentionally hurting me. I can’t help it if my son left you for the military. You have no right to take it out on me.”

  Beth was right behind him. “Mr. Caldwell, I assure you, you will feel the same pain from the same exercises with someone else. It’s your prerogative to ask for someone else, but I’m telling you it won’t be any different. Katie,” she turned to the receptionist, “Mr. Caldwell needs to return in two days. He’ll need to schedule an appointment for three days a week until his doctor clears him to return to his usual actvities.”

  Katie nodded. “What time would you like to come in?”

  Lilly mouthed an apology to Beth and grimaced. Beth shrugged and sighed.

  “Will you call me?” Lilly whispered.

  “Maybe.” Beth shrugged and went back into the therapy room.

  Otter having finished making his next two appointments turned to Lilly.

  “You ought to know better than to behave that way,” she said, “Beth is just doing her job. Why did you have to bring Erik up? Can’t you see it still hurts her? Were you trying to be mean?”

  “I just call it like I see it.” He grumbled. “I can’t help it if she’s sensitive.”

  “You could keep your mouth shut. Have you thought of that?” She stopped in front of the elevator and punched the button with a little more force than necessary. “Come on. Mom wants to see you.”

  Otter growled but said nothing until the doors slid closed on them. “I’m tired, and I don’t feel like seeing Miss Addie right now.”

  “She asked for you, Dad, and you’re going to go see her. And you’re going to be polite. You’ve been downright rude to everyone since I’ve got back or have you been like this the whole time?” She stepped off the elevator and held it open to let Otter hobble out.

  He glared at her. “You better watch yourself, girlie. You’re getting above your raising and being disrespectful.”

  She rolled her eyes. “Ugh. Come on.”

  After making slow progress down the hall, they finally reached Miss Addie’s room. Lilly knocked and stuck her head in to make sure it was safe. “Mama? I’ve brought Dad up.” She held the door open for him. “But I have to warn you, Beth wore him out, and he’s grumpier than a bear in spring.”

  “That’s all right. Come in here and sit down Otter. I’ve gotten quite used to your company while you were in here with me. I’ve missed you.”

  Saying nothing, Otter glared at Dusty who happened to be sitting in the seat closest to Miss Addie. Dusty sprang from the chair. “Here, Mr. Otter, have a seat. I was just leaving.”

  Miss Addie beamed. “Dusty, will you be a good boy and take Lilly down to the cafeteria for a coffee so Otter and I can visit a while?”

  Dusty looked at Lilly and tilted his head toward the door. She answered with a minuscule eyebrow raise and the tiniest of head tilts. “I can do that Miss Addie if Lilly is okay with it.”

  “I could use a cup of coffee,” she said as turning toward the door. “Besides, I know when someone is trying to get rid of me.”

  Dusty waved to Miss Addie. “I’ll come by later on in the week when I get a chance, okay?”

  “I’ll be here since they aren’t letting me go home as long as I’m getting treatment.”

  The door closed between the couples. Lilly turned to Dusty and smiled sadly. “Dad was awful to Beth. He was hollering at her as they came out of therapy. Demanded they assign him to another therapist. Swore she was trying to hurt him on purpose because Erik left her for the military. I can’t imagine how she feels now.”

  “Oh, Lord.” Dusty shook his head. “What is wrong with your dad?”

  “I haven’t a clue. You know, I have never heard Dad say a good thing about any woman, except maybe Miss Hazel. I haven’t heard him say anything good or bad about Mama.”

  Dusty pushed the elevator button. “Wonder why.”

  Lilly looked up into Dusty’s eyes. “I never thought about it before. I have no idea why he’s so ornery.”

  They stepped off the elevator and silently walked toward the cafeteria. Dusty ordered two coffees. “Would you like a muffin or something to go with it, Lilly?”

  She looked at the display for a second. “I’ll have the cranberry orange scone, please.”

  Dusty smiled to the cashier. “You heard the lady. One cranberry orange scone and I’ll have a blueberry muffin.”

  The bill paid, coffee and pastries in hand they found a table in the corner away from everyone else so they could talk while they ate. Crumpling his napkin, Dusty sighed. “That was good. How’s your scone?”

  “It’s good. Here try some.” She held a piece to his mouth. He took it into his mouth letting his lips linger on her fingers. Her eyes grew wide and her lips parted. Struggling to regain her composure she stammered, “Um. Uh. What do you think?”

  Dusty, liking her discomfiture grinned. “The scone is good, but your fingers taste better.”

  She had turned away from him in embarrassment but when she registered what he said her gaze jerked back to his. “Dusty, don’t toy with me.”

  “I’m sorry. I couldn’t resist, but I stand by what I said.” He cleared his throat. “Besides, how are you managing all the farm chores by yourself?”

  She let out a gusty breath as if she had been holding it. Dusty’s swift change in subject left the gears of her mind grinding. “I’m managing, barely, especially now that I have to drive Dad in for physical therapy three days a week. I’m looking forward to him getting clearance to drive.”

  Dusty watched her lean back in her seat and yawn. He wanted to pull her around the corner of the booth they were si
tting in and rest her head on his shoulder and let her take a short nap while he held her. Shaking his head he reminded himself that Erik would kill him for even thinking about holding Lilly if he knew. “I guess I could come out in the evening if I don’t have any emergencies and help you out some.”

  Lilly sat up. “You don’t have to do that. You’re busy all day. You need to rest. I’ll get used to it. It’s just that I haven’t done this kind of work in forever. I mean I’m in shape. I worked out all the time It’s just different.”

  “All the same, I’ll come out and give you a hand when I can.”

  Dipping her head in acceptance, she said, “Thank you. I’d appreciate it very much.”

  “What are friends for?”

  Chapter Twenty Five

  Lilly climbed down from the truck cab. Once again she was in a hurry to run to the grocery and pick up a few things before heading to the hospital to visit her mother. She rounded the truck bed and saw Miss Hazel unlocking her trunk to load it with groceries. “Here, Miss Hazel, let me help you."

  Miss Hazel sniffed. "Now child I'm as fit as a fiddle, and I don’t need any help. How do you think I stay in shape? I do all my work. I don't hire out anything. Why last year I painted the whole house, inside and out. "

  "All the same Miss Hazel it would make me happy to help you, and I know how you like to make people happy." Lilly pulled a couple of sacks from the buggy and put them into the cavernous trunk. Did you actually paint the outside of your house, with all that trim?" Lilly marveled at the feat considering it was a two story Victorian with tons of decorative trim and Miss Hazel must be just shy of eighty-six or eighty-seven.

  Miss Hazel tilted her head to on side as if considering what Lilly said. "To be honest, I did have a little help. Dusty wouldn't let me near the ladder. I only did the ground floor as high as I could reach. He and the boys from the youth group did the rest. I would have done it all if he had let me. I was going to do it all myself, but Dusty drove by and caught me in the act. Do you know he called a couple of those boys and told them to get the rest and high tail it over? It wasn’t more than ten minutes before some of them pulled up to the house. Why by the time all those boys showed up my house was painted in less than two hours. I’ll never admit it, but I’m right proud of the young people at church. I made them all dinner and thanked them properly.”

  Lilly nodded as she placed a couple more of the sacks of food into the trunk. She straightened to see Maeve and one of her entourage leaving the store. Both she and Miss Hazel heard her say to her friend, “Would you look at that? She’s trying to get in good with the old biddy. Probably thinks it’ll help her get into heaven or maybe into her will.”

  Lilly gasped. “Why of all the—“

  “Don’t worry about her, Sweetie. She’s jealous.” Miss Hazel gripped her arm with a strength that surprised Lilly. “You can’t say anything to change her mind. You can’t tell those people anything.”

  “But, Miss Hazel, I love you, and I can’t have people being ugly to you.”

  “You’re a gem.” Miss Hazel patted her where she had just gripped her arm so tightly that she wondered if she would have a bruise. “Where are you going when you leave here?”

  “To the hospital, why?”

  “Why don’t you come by the house and let me ride with you? I don’t see all that good at night anymore, and I haven’t been to see Addie this week.”

  “I’ll do that. I’ll see you at your house in about twenty to thirty minutes. Okay?”

  “That’s fine. That’s fine. That will give me enough time to put away my groceries and freshen up.”

  Lilly helped Miss Hazel into her car and watched her drive away before she turned to go into the store. She was just about to the door when Maeve blew her horn just behind her startling her. “What are you doing, Maeve? You scared me?”

  Grinning wickedly, Maeve said, “Just keeping you on your toes. What’s new in the cow business?”

  “Not much. Why?” Lilly tried to figure out her angle. What was she trying to do?

  “Oh, I was just wondering. I stopped by Dusty’s office the other evening before the ice storm, and he wasn’t there. Then I heard he’d been out at the Caldwell farm all night, so I wondered if everything is okay out there.”

  Understanding dawned on Lilly. Miss Hazel was right. Maeve was jealous of her and what she imagined was going on with her and Dusty. “Oh. Yeah. I guess I thought the loss of a calf while it’s being born and nearly losing the cow were normal. Other than that, everything is fine. Dusty helped us save the cow. It was too late for the calf, though. I’m sorry if Dusty missed your appointment because of Bessie.”

  Maeve sniffed, “I didn’t have an appointment.”

  “Oh,” Lilly looked around, confused. “Well, if you’ll excuse me I need to get a few things and get on over to the hospital. I’ll see you later? Have you figured out when we can have lunch?”

  Maeve put her car into gear and shrugged. “I’ll see you later. Not yet. I’ll let you know.”

  Lilly watched her pull out of the parking lot before finally turning to go into the store wondering why she even bothered.

  Lilly squinted and strained to see the road. The weather had drastically changed since she left the hospital and left Miss Hazel at her house. She wished she’d listened to her and stayed with her. But no. She had to go home and check on Bessie. Now, here she was struggling to see to the end of her headlights’ beams. Putting them on high didn’t help in the least. The light just reflected off the snow and blinded her. She couldn’t see, and she felt as if she was crawling down the curvy roads struggling to keep on the road. She was barely going twenty miles an hour.

  Without warning, the truck started spinning, and she scrambled to right it. It finally came to a stop, but Lilly had no idea which way she was facing or if she were even on the road. She let off the brake and pushed on the accelerator. The tires spun, but she didn’t move. She was stuck.

  She put the transmission into reverse and tried to rock the truck out of its dilemma. The tires spun, but nothing happened. Forward and back she tried for a few minutes to break loose. She blew a gusty breath. Putting the machine into the park, she climbed out of the cab to assess her situation.

  Walking around the front end, she tripped over the edge of the road and fell onto her knees. Slipping and sliding she managed to regain her feet. She brushed off as much of the snow as she could manage and followed along the front and on around the other side and to the end of the truck bed where she slipped and slid down a small slope. She grabbed the tailgate to keep from falling again, and the truck rocked precariously. She let go as soon as the truck began to move and continued to slide on down the small embankment.

  Her next step didn’t land on anything, and she was sliding down the steep slope. When she finally stopped, she was, to her best guess, eight or nine feet lower than the road. She needed to get back into the truck and do her best to stay warm and on the road. Something must be hung up under the truck. Otherwise, it should have fallen off the road.

  She wished she knew where she was. She lost track while trying to keep on the road and without being able to see twenty feet in front of her, she hadn’t seen any of the road signs. She rolled onto her hands and knees. She listened for the engine’s humming to get her bearings.

  It seemed that crawling up the embankment was going to be a difficult journey. For each foot she went forward, she would slide back a few inches. Several times she slid all the way back to the beginning. Her hands were nearly frozen. If she had any sense, she’d keep a pair of gloves with her at all times.

  Finally, she reached the road. She followed the edge of the truck until she got to the driver’s side door. She pulled it open and was hit by the heat. It felt wonderful, but it made her hands sting. She climbed in and slammed the door. The whole vehicle rocked. She froze. How was she going to keep from falling on down the embankment?

  She didn’t need to wonder. Whatever was holding the truck
in place groaned and snapped. She grabbed hold of the steering wheel and braced for impact. The next second she was watching the snow fall straight onto the windshield.

  Now, what?

  She decided she would keep the motor running until it ran out of gas. She would also keep the headlights on just in case some other idiot was out on the road and would see them and rescue her. She began to pray.

  She must have dozed off and was dreaming. She could hear someone calling her name, but she couldn’t see anyone. She couldn’t see anything. A cold blast of air woke her completely. “Lilly. Lilly? Dear God, please be alive.”

  “I am. I’m just half frozen.” Lilly yawned. “How’d you find me, Dusty? Never mind it doesn’t matter. You did, and that’s what’s important.”

  “Here. Crawl out while I hold the door open. You’re not hurt, are you?”

  “No. I’m just nearly frozen. I got out to find the reason why I was stuck, and I got covered in snow when I slid down the hill. The back tire was off the road. When I got back in to try to get it back on the road, whatever had been holding it up broke and I ended up watching the snow falling straight down. How long have I been here? Do you know?”

  “Not a clue. I’m just lucky I was creeping along and saw your headlights. What time was it when you slid off the road?”

  “I don’t know. I lost all track of time trying to see my way home. I should have listened to Miss Hazel and stayed with her. I said I needed to go home and check on Bessie. That stupid cow has caused me more trouble than she’s worth.” She slid out of the cab and into Dusty’s arm.

  He released the door and let it slam closed. “Was there anything in there that you might need?”

  “Just my purse.”

  “I’ll come back and get it. You need to get into my truck and start warming up. You weren’t joking when you said you’re nearly frozen. Come on. Let me help you up the bank. I bet if I hadn’t come along you’d have frozen to death. Thank God I had to be in town this evening. Otherwise, I wouldn’t be on my way home, and you would have died.”