answer, and suddenly that took precedence over this silly conversation. He stared out at the darkness and the desolate road ahead. “ That ’ s weird. Momma didn ’ t pick up the phone. That ’ s not like her at all, she just can ’ t stand to let a phone ring. ”
“ Maybe she went out— ”
“ She doesn ’ t drive after dark. ”
“ Maybe some friend came and got her and took her out. ”
“ Yeah, maybe. ” Riley reached for the phone again. “ Maybe I ’ d better try calling once more. Maybe I made a mistake in dialing or— ”
With his hand just inches above the phone, it let out its shrill mechanical ring.
Riley snatched it up. “ Walker here. ”
“ Mr. Walker, good, ” the voice on the other end said in a solemn monotone. “ You don ’ t know me. I ’ m with the county ambulance service and we ’ re in your home. We heard the phone ringing just as we got here and so I called back, hoping I ’ d get you or at least a trustworthy friend we could notify. ”
“ Notify? ” Riley tried to make sense of it all but the man might as well have been speaking another language. “ Notify of what? You say you ’ re in my home? Is my mother there? What ’ s going on? Has something happened to my daughter? To my mother? What? ”
“ Mr. Walker, please. I can ’ t stop and go over it all with you now but your mother has had a bad fall. She ’ s conscious, but dazed and in pain. I ’ d wager she ’ s broken a bone, maybe even banged her head a little. We ’ re on our way to County General Medical Center, now. Can you meet us there? ”
Riley checked his watch. His mother needed him, but Wendy would be waiting for him soon. He ’ d never been in a position like this before. In every other emergency situation he ’ d encountered since he ’ d taken Wendy in to raise as a baby almost seven years ago, his mother had been the person he relied on, his safety net. He had to make a choice now and he did not like it, not one bit. Still, he knew what he had to do. “ I have to pick my daughter up first. ”
“ Well, get there when you can. County General. Do you know where it is? ”
“ Yes. I ’ m on my way. ” Riley pulled his truck onto the quiet road and drove—drove and prayed with all his heart that everything would be all right.
It had to be all right. It just had to be.
Chapter Three
“ I am so mad at Daddy for dying and leaving me in this awful mess that I could just...strangle him! ”
Dixie pushed aside a bulging green and brown ledger held together with a succession of faded red rubber bands, each more stretched to its limit than the next, and every one threatening to snap at the slightest provocation. The movement sent a shower of pink and yellow receipts and bills of lading cascading off her father ’ s huge antique desk.
“ This is just so unlike my father to have things in such disorder. I know he was trying to put some deal together to help get things in order because he mentioned it when we last spoke but I don ’ t know how I ’ d ever find his work on that in all this. ”
“ I ’ ve told you and I ’ ve told you, Miss Fulton-Leigh, you do not have to tackle this all at once. ” Howard, the junior Greenhow of Greenhow, Greenhow, Byson, and Pryor, Attorneys at Law, bent to collect the papers she ’ d spilled onto the deep blue and green, hand-loomed rug. “ Settling your father ’ s estate, getting up to speed on his records, learning about his business, plus tax information, and payroll and personal accounting practices—it ’ s a huge undertaking, Miss Fulton-Leigh. ”
He snatched up a pink receipt then placed it quite precisely on the desk.
Dixie watched as three more papers slid off to take that bill ’ s place.
“ Tremendous, one might say. ” He gathered together a handful of pages in both pastel pink and yellow then added them to the lurching pile with a firm pat as if to warn them to stay put.
Dixie stared at the haphazard
“ Maybe she went out— ”
“ She doesn ’ t drive after dark. ”
“ Maybe some friend came and got her and took her out. ”
“ Yeah, maybe. ” Riley reached for the phone again. “ Maybe I ’ d better try calling once more. Maybe I made a mistake in dialing or— ”
With his hand just inches above the phone, it let out its shrill mechanical ring.
Riley snatched it up. “ Walker here. ”
“ Mr. Walker, good, ” the voice on the other end said in a solemn monotone. “ You don ’ t know me. I ’ m with the county ambulance service and we ’ re in your home. We heard the phone ringing just as we got here and so I called back, hoping I ’ d get you or at least a trustworthy friend we could notify. ”
“ Notify? ” Riley tried to make sense of it all but the man might as well have been speaking another language. “ Notify of what? You say you ’ re in my home? Is my mother there? What ’ s going on? Has something happened to my daughter? To my mother? What? ”
“ Mr. Walker, please. I can ’ t stop and go over it all with you now but your mother has had a bad fall. She ’ s conscious, but dazed and in pain. I ’ d wager she ’ s broken a bone, maybe even banged her head a little. We ’ re on our way to County General Medical Center, now. Can you meet us there? ”
Riley checked his watch. His mother needed him, but Wendy would be waiting for him soon. He ’ d never been in a position like this before. In every other emergency situation he ’ d encountered since he ’ d taken Wendy in to raise as a baby almost seven years ago, his mother had been the person he relied on, his safety net. He had to make a choice now and he did not like it, not one bit. Still, he knew what he had to do. “ I have to pick my daughter up first. ”
“ Well, get there when you can. County General. Do you know where it is? ”
“ Yes. I ’ m on my way. ” Riley pulled his truck onto the quiet road and drove—drove and prayed with all his heart that everything would be all right.
It had to be all right. It just had to be.
Chapter Three
“ I am so mad at Daddy for dying and leaving me in this awful mess that I could just...strangle him! ”
Dixie pushed aside a bulging green and brown ledger held together with a succession of faded red rubber bands, each more stretched to its limit than the next, and every one threatening to snap at the slightest provocation. The movement sent a shower of pink and yellow receipts and bills of lading cascading off her father ’ s huge antique desk.
“ This is just so unlike my father to have things in such disorder. I know he was trying to put some deal together to help get things in order because he mentioned it when we last spoke but I don ’ t know how I ’ d ever find his work on that in all this. ”
“ I ’ ve told you and I ’ ve told you, Miss Fulton-Leigh, you do not have to tackle this all at once. ” Howard, the junior Greenhow of Greenhow, Greenhow, Byson, and Pryor, Attorneys at Law, bent to collect the papers she ’ d spilled onto the deep blue and green, hand-loomed rug. “ Settling your father ’ s estate, getting up to speed on his records, learning about his business, plus tax information, and payroll and personal accounting practices—it ’ s a huge undertaking, Miss Fulton-Leigh. ”
He snatched up a pink receipt then placed it quite precisely on the desk.
Dixie watched as three more papers slid off to take that bill ’ s place.
“ Tremendous, one might say. ” He gathered together a handful of pages in both pastel pink and yellow then added them to the lurching pile with a firm pat as if to warn them to stay put.
Dixie stared at the haphazard
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