Home Again

by Lisa Emme

  “Hmph! It’s not snoring, it’s breathing deeply,” she replied, wiggling off him to scoop up a pillow and whack him with it. Mike laughed and sat up, grabbing his own pillow to wallop her back. Allie fell back on the bed laughing and Mike leaned over her, kissing her again.

  “Can I play too?”

  With a little squeak of surprise, Allie pushed Mike off and scrambled to sit up. Dougie stood at the foot of the bed, looking sleep tousled. Allie stared in surprise.

  Mike reacted faster, scooping the boy up and depositing him in the middle of the bed. “Sure thing, partner.” He picked up the pillow and gave Dougie a light whack on the head. Dougie laughed and tried to catch the pillow.

  Allie sat back and smiled, watching the two trade feather-filled blows to a chorus of Dougie’s giggles. Thank goodness she had insisted that she and Mike both wear some form of pyjamas to bed.

  Whack! Dougie hit her with a pillow. “Come on Mommy. Play too!”

  Allie grabbed the pillow from him. “Alright mister. You’re in trouble now.” Dougie squealed in delight.

  The game ended when it evolved into an all out tickle war and Dougie suddenly leaped up, running for the bathroom. Allie laughed and with a kiss on Mike’s cheek, grabbed her robe and followed Dougie out the door. It was definitely time for some coffee.

  Allie let out a long, slow breath and, trying not to wake Mike, rolled slowly to lie on her back to look at the ceiling. She sighed again. What a week! Between running after Dougie, running the farm and running to the hospital to visit her uncle, she was feeling run out, or was that run down?

  Mike had been a godsend, in more ways than one. She didn’t know how she could have managed without him. It was amazing how easily they just seemed to fit their lives together, and if it wasn’t for the dark cloud hanging over her head, she would have really been enjoying this taste of domestic bliss. But she couldn’t enjoy it, not totally. She was worried about her uncle; worried about her mystery stalkers, or whatever she was supposed to call them; and most importantly, worried about the meeting she had this afternoon with the bank. Would they give her a mortgage?

  Thankfully, the insurance company had finally come through with her settlement cheque. In the end, they had paid out the full amount of her claim, minus the deductible of course. It made for a substantial down payment, but would it be enough, especially since she didn’t have a regular job?

  It had become even more urgent to find a way to hang onto the farm after Elaine and Russ were offered the next available condo in the new complex in town. It was the perfect set up for them and exactly what they had been hoping for. The unit was a duplex bungalow with a small, fenced yard. Elaine could still have a garden but everything would be on one floor, so no having to climb up and down stairs. The unit was too good to pass up, and they had quickly accepted. Allie was happy for them, but it really put the pressure on her to figure out what she was going to do.

  “Will you keep it down? I’m trying to sleep over here.” Mike sighed dramatically.

  “What? I’m not doing anything.” She gave him a playful nudge in the ribs with her elbow.

  “Oof! Yes, you are. You’re thinking very loudly. I can hear it from here.” Mike rolled over to face her, propping himself up on one elbow. “I know you. You’re lying there stewing about the meeting at the bank.” He reached over and brushed the hair from her eyes. He leaned over and kissed her on the forehead. “Now stop it.” Another kiss on the nose. “Right now.” He caught her under the chin with a finger and leaned over to kiss her soundly.

  Allie pulled away with a look of annoyance. “I’m not stewing, I’m just thinking.”

  Mike snorted. “Over-thinking, is more like it.”

  “Now you sound like Lori.”

  “So? I’m right though, aren’t I? You’re worrying.”

  Allie frowned. “Well, so what if I am? Don’t I have the right to be a bit worried after everything that’s happened? I mean it’s not like I have the best track record in the luck department.” She gave Mike a shove and sat up.

  She looked at the clock, 6:45 a.m. Might as well just get up. Swinging her legs over the edge, she started to get out of bed until Mike grabbed her around the waist and pulled her back.

  “Just where do you think you’re going?” he asked pushing her back down to lie beside him. He loomed over her, an arm on either side of her head.

  Allie sighed again. “It’s time to get up. Our little human alarm clock will be up any minute.”

  “Then let’s make the most of that minute,” Mike replied, a glint in his eye.

  Allie tried, less than successfully, not to smile, but how was she supposed to resist? She reached up and pulled him down to her, kissing him deeply. Mike growled and tangled his tongue with hers. Allie groaned, relaxing into the kiss, giving herself to the passion. If only all her problems could be solved by Mike’s kisses.

  Pulling his mouth from hers, Mike propped himself up above her again. “Why don’t I come with you to the bank?”

  “What? Why?” Allie’s brow furrowed.

  “Well, if you needed it, I could co-sign -”

  “Oh no. No way.” Allie gave him a push and scrambled out from underneath him and off the bed to stand beside it, hands on hips. She frowned pensively and then looked up apologetically. “I mean, no thanks. I appreciate the offer but...”

  “But?” Mike looked at her expectantly.

  “But, don’t you think that’s kind of a big, uh…commitment?”

  Mike shrugged. “Not if we were going to get married.”

  “Excuse me?” Allie’s eyes were round with surprise. “Are you proposing?”

  Mike shrugged again. “Yeah, I guess I am.” He grinned. “Allison Daniels, will you marry me?”

  “No.”

  “What?” Now it was Mike’s turn to look surprised. “Why not?”

  “You listen to me Mike Finn. I love you but I’m not going to marry you after some sort of pity proposal.” Allie scowled, grabbed her robe and shoved her arms in the sleeves. Wrapping the robe around herself, she yanked the belt tight and stalked from the room.

  ***

  Mike fell back on the bed and cursed. Well, that didn’t exactly go as planned, not at all. Of course it would have helped to actually have a plan. He climbed out of bed with a sigh and walked over to the dresser. Allie had cleared out one drawer for him to use and he yanked it open to rummage around under his stuff. He pulled a small, blue, velvet box out and flipped the lid. With another huff of breath he sat on the end of the bed and looked at the diamond engagement ring. The antique, art deco style ring had been his grandmother’s. When Marty, his older brother, had gotten married, he had opted to buy his future bride a rather large and ostentatious new ring rather than use the more modest family one. Mike had been more than happy to inherit it as a result; he had always liked the ring with its millegrained setting of white gold. It had one large stone surrounded by many tiny ones, the finely jewelled pattern continuing down the sides of the band. When he thought the time had come to propose to Madeleine however, he had looked at it and known that it wasn’t the ring for her. Rather than rush off and buy something bigger and more expensive though, he had began to doubt his relationship with Madeleine. If his grandmother’s ring didn’t suit Madeleine, then maybe she didn’t suit him. He had held off proposing and less than a week later he had caught her cheating on him. He cringed at the thought of the mistake he had almost made.

  Now Allie on the other hand, Allie fit the ring to a 'T'. Beautiful, elegant, unique, yet understated and far from ostentatious – the words described the ring as much as they did Allie.

  Damn! He had really blown it. He had been planning to propose when the time was right. He just wanted to come up with a romantic way to do it. Well, that sure as hell wasn’t it.

  With a growl of frustration, Mike
slipped the ring back under his things in the drawer. He grabbed his clothes and headed for the shower. He’d have his work cut out for him now if he was going to convince Allie to marry him, but first he had to get himself out of the doghouse.

  ***

  Allie busied herself around the kitchen, avoiding eye contact with Mike. Mike sat beside Dougie eating a bowl of cereal. Dougie was doing the same, his little head swivelling back and forth between Mike and his mom. The little guy knew something was up, even he could tell. Smart kid.

  Mike opened his mouth as if to say something, then closed it again, for the fourth or fifth time.

  “I’m done, can I be excused?” Dougie pushed his bowl across the counter.

  Allie smiled at him. “Sure thing, little man. Don’t you want any toast?”

  “No thanks.” He hopped off the stool and retreated hastily to the living room.

  Allie gathered up Dougie’s bowl and juice glass and took them over to the sink. Scraping his own bowl clean, Mike rose from his stool and carried it over to Allie, setting it on the counter beside the sink with the other dirty dishes. Allie busied herself at the sink, still ignoring him.

  Running his hand through his hair, Mike sighed. “Look. I know you’re mad.”

  “I’m not mad,” Allie replied quickly, clunking a bowl a little too hard against the old porcelain farm sink.

  With a snort, Mike took a step closer, coming to stand right behind her. He wrapped his arms around her waist and rested his chin on her shoulder. Allie continued to wash the dishes. Mike eyed the bowl in her hands. She’s going to scrub the pattern right off the damn thing.

  “Okay, so I know that you’re….something. And, it has to do with me totally blowing things this morning. I get that.” He nuzzled up to her neck and then nipped at her ear.

  Huffing out a breath, Allie shrugged her shoulder, trying to fend him off. Nothing, if not persistent, Mike tried again. He caught her earlobe between his teeth then gave her a quick peck on the cheek. “We can talk tonight, okay? I have to get to work.”

  “Yeah, sure.” Allie’s calm reply seemed forced.

  Frowning, Mike turned to leave, taking several steps across the room before he stopped, hands on hips. “To hell with this,” he muttered and shook his head. Abruptly, he turned and strode back to the sink. He grabbed Allie and dipped her over his arm, catching her mouth with his for a mind-blowing kiss. “I love you too,” he whispered breathlessly a moment later.

  He set her back on her feet and without another look, left the kitchen.

  ***

  Allie stood stunned for a minute. Wow! What a kiss. A small smile crept across her face. How could she stay ticked off at the man after a kiss like that? And he said he loved her. She felt like having a Sally Field moment. He loves me, he really loves me! That was much better than that lame-ass excuse for a proposal earlier.

  Allie looked at her watch, two-thirty. Almost time to start getting ready for her appointment. She looked over to where Dougie was playing with his trucks in the new sand box and smiled. He was hard at play, oblivious to all else around him. At least he had gotten over having to let the puppies go back to the barn for a feed and a nap. Allie shook her head. It looked like there was going to be a dog in her future. Sure the puppies were ‘loaners’, but come on, she knew better. There was no way they were going to be able to let Spike go when the rest went back to their owner to be sold. She chuckled to herself. She’d just keep pretending to be set against the dog for a while longer. Dougie’s campaign for a puppy seemed to include being on his best behaviour whenever he remembered he was supposed to be ‘softening her up’. Might as well milk that for all it was worth.

  She looked back down at the row of potatoes she had been digging out. Almost done. She should have time to finish up before they had to go inside and get tidied up.

  She was immersed in her task a few minutes later, so immersed that she didn’t notice Bella barking at first. Suddenly alerted by the sound, she stopped and looked up. Where the heck was Dougie? He must have gone around the side of the house for something.

  “Dougie?” she dropped her spade, pulled the gloves from her hands and let them drop beside the discarded tool. “Dougie?”

  Bella’s barking suddenly stopped. Allie paused, listening. She couldn’t hear a vehicle or anything. What on earth could that dog have been barking about this time? Concerned, she hurried around the corner of the house. When she reached the far side of the house, she stopped short in surprise. What the…?

  “Just what do you think you’re doing?” Allie gaped at the helmeted man standing beside a white panel van.

  “Mommy!”

  Allie turned toward the barn to see another, taller man, also wearing a helmet, striding from the barn, a struggling Dougie under his arm.

  “Hey! Let go of my son!” Allie started towards them, but ‘Shorty’ moved to intercept her. She stopped, staying out of reach.

  The tall man holding Dougie shifted him, wrapping the wriggling boy in a bear hug. “Ow! Lemme go!” Dougie wailed. “Mommy!”

  “Shut up you brat!” The man put a meaty hand over Dougie’s mouth.

  “Stop that! Leave him alone.” Allie took a step towards Dougie but the man suddenly dropped him, cursing and shaking his hand. Dougie started to run towards her.

  “Mommmm-eeeee!”

  Before Dougie could reach her, the second man stepped up and plucked him off his feet.

  “You fucking brat. You bit me.” The tall man strode towards Dougie, his hand raised to strike.

  “No!” Allie lunged between the two men, putting herself between Dougie and the blow. The open-handed swat took her right across her cheek, knocking her off balance. She landed in a heap at the shorter man’s feet.

  “Fucking bitch. Serves you right. Now get up and get in the van.”

  She was grabbed roughly by the arm and pulled to her feet. He started to pull her towards the vehicle. “Stop. Stop.” Allie tried to shake free of the stinging grip, but it only made the man grip tighter. “What do you want?”

  “Just get in the van,” said the man holding the still struggling Dougie, “and you won’t get hurt.”

  “Yeah, get in the fucking van,” the second man agreed, giving her a shake and then pulling a gun from his waistband. “We really only need one of you.”

  “Alright, alright,” Allie put up her hands in surrender. “Just don’t hurt us.”

  She climbed into the back of the van, a crying Dougie dumped in beside her. The door slammed shut, plunging them into relative darkness. She pulled the boy to her protectively and wrapped her arms around him. “Shh! It’s okay, baby. Mommy’s here.”

  She rocked Dougie, comforting him. “Shh, baby, shh!” She strained to hear what was going on outside the van. The men seemed to be arguing. She heard the word ‘gun’ and ‘no one is supposed to get hurt’. Well, that was a relief hopefully.

  Dougie’s wails quieted to sniffling. Allie wiped his tears from his face gently. “Don’t be afraid, Dougie. Mommy is going to take care of you.”

  “I’m not 'fraid, but I think Spike is,” replied Dougie, pulling open the neck of his shirt. A little black and white head popped out.

  “Spike!” Allie gasped in surprise. “Oh Dougie.”

  “I’m sorry, Mommy. Spike wanted to play with me.” He sniffled again.

  “Shh, it’s okay. It’s just that Spike should be with his own mommy. Poor Bella’s probably worried about him.” Dougie’s face scrunched up in a frown. “Oh sweetie, it’s okay,” Allie added quickly. “Lucky Spike just gets to come on this adventure with us. Won’t his brothers and sisters be jealous?” She hugged Dougie tight as the van fired up with a roar. There was a lurch and then they were in motion, crunching down the gravel driveway to the road.

  “Where are we going, Mommy?”

  “I wish I knew,
little man. I wish I knew.”

  ***

  Mike walked quickly down the sidewalk and jogged up the stairs into the bank. He had been stewing all day about Allie’s appointment with Mr. Mason, the bank manager, and had decided that whether she wanted him there or not, he should be there. Even if it was only for moral support and to watch Dougie while she talked business with Mr. Mason.

  He took a quick look around the cavernous interior, but there was no sign of her. He turned to the offices and saw Mrs. Hildahl waddling towards him.

  “Dr. Finn, so nice to see you. How are you today?” She beamed up at him.

  “Good afternoon, Mrs. Hildahl,” he replied looking over her shoulder to try and peek through the double doors to the waiting area.

  “Oh dear, now call me Margie. Everyone does.” She fluttered her hand at her throat.

  “Sure, Margie. Have you seen Allie, I mean, Allison Daniels?”

  Mrs. Hildahl’s face crinkled up in a look of distaste. “No, I have not. And, Miss Daniels has missed her appointment with Mr. Mason without so much as a phone call to apologize.” She huffed in disapproval.

  “Really? That’s not like Allie. Maybe she’s just running late.” Mike’s face was lined with worry. He pointed to the exit. “I’ll just go and see if I can find her.”

  “Well, she’ll have to reschedule now. Mr. Mason is a busy man. He won’t just sit around waiting for her you know.”

  “Of course. Sorry for the trouble. We’ll reschedule.” Mike turned and hurried out of the bank, pulling his cell phone from the holster at his belt. He stood on the top of the stairs looking up and down the street, but there was no sign of Allie’s SUV.

  He tried the farm first, but there was no answer. He cursed and wished that Allie had a cell phone. Who doesn’t have a cell phone? He shook his head and then punched the number to speed dial Becky and Brian.