Broken Tears 15

Broken Tears 15

After Caroline had finished telling Mrs. Kingston an the police the information, she slowly walked home and began preparations for dinner for her and her mother. She was not a bad cook but when she considered the fact that she would be working with literally one hand, she opted for warming up a casserole that was in the freezer and a salad. Her mother had never complained when she came home to find a meal fixed for her.

Caroline checked the mailbox that was on the side of the doorway to the front door. She was always amazed how the mailman could stuff all of the mail inside such a small box. It seemed like today, the junk mail beat the regular important mail three pieces to one. The one that she was hoping to see was a letter from her brother from where he was stationed. He could email her just as easily but sometimes when he could not get access to a computer and just had to get something off his chest, he would write to her. He even wrote stories about the country and the nice people he met. She thought that she would save them and perhaps convince Conrad to write more for a book. His writing was so colorful and exciting to read. His observations of the people who were caught in the middle of a conflict brought a new sense of respect to her heart.

Conrad’s latest letter was one that almost knocked her off her feet. He often had a knack for drama and surprises. His letter informed her that he had been thinking seriously about his girlfriend he left behind. And when he returned home, he wanted to ask Julia to marry him. His plan was for Caroline to help him pull off a proposal that might knock Julia off her feet.

Caroline spun around and dropped some of the other mail on the floor. As she bent over she noticed that Grace was in the doorway to the kitchen. Caroline picked up the mail and walked over to Grace. She smelled the telltale odor of gas and immediately pulled Grace out of the doorway.

“Oh no Grace. Why, that is what you were trying to tell me all along. What a good girl you are!” she whispered as she reattached the leash to Grace’s color. “We’ll just go to next door to call the gas company.”

Caroline dropped the mail on the small table and picked up her purse. She carefully closed the door and locked it. Grace trotted down the sidewalk and turned to look at a squirrel as it climbed a tree. “Now Grace. We have to get the gas leak in the house fixed.”

Caroline walked over to Mrs. Shelton’s house and knocked on her door. She heard the mini-pinchers bark run to the front door. Mrs. Shelton finally reached the front door. Her hands had some carrots that she was going to chop up in one hand. The dogs saw Grace and started to growl a little.

“Ollie and Dolly. Go to the kitchen.“ The two dogs ran into the back of the house. “Well Caroline, this is a surprise. What can I do for you?” she asked as she tried to flip her black hair back out of her face.

Nice smells of chicken a la Gwyen Shelton came out of the front door. Her little hallway had a nice little flowery runner on a laminate flooring and small table near the wall. Beside the table was a coat rack matched the wood composition of the table and that had spaces for umbrellas at the bottom. Mrs. Shelton was an impeccable decorator who could tell a real antique from a fake in two minutes flat.

“Oh Mrs. Shelton, I think Grace has smelled a gas leak in our house. May we use your phone to call the gas company?” responded Caroline as she petted Grace’s head.

“Why Grace smelled gas? That sounds serious.”

“I guess she has a gift.” Caroline nodded her head as she waited for Mrs. Shelton to let her into the room where she kept her phone.

“Yes well the phone is …ooh what a kick!” Mrs. Shelton immediately put her hand on her stomach and took in a big breath. She let it out slowly.

“Mrs. Shelton are you all right?” Caroline took another step forward.

“Oh. Um” Mrs. Shelton closed her eyes and took in another breath and let it out slowly. “I have been feeling a little out of sorts today. Maybe I have not been resting enough. I, ow….oooh!”

“Mrs. Shelton should I call the doctor? An ambulance?” Caroline tried to put her hand on Mrs. Shelton’s shoulder to steady her.

“No. I’ll just sit down for a minute. That usually helps.” she responded with a slight smile. “If you could carry these carrots down the hall and put them on the counter in the kitchen. “

“Yes. Of course. And can I get you some water?”

Mrs. Shelton sat down in the closest large chair in the living room and tried to do some relaxing breathing. “I think that the kicking is beginning to stop. I know that soon I really should try to get more rest, but there is so much to do around here and I need to get the nursery fixed up to our dream room for the baby.” She closed her eyes and took a few more breaths.

Caroline did not leave Mrs. Shelton’s side for the few minutes that she felt that her condition could change. Caroline had taken a first aid class in school, but this one did not cover the delivery of babies. She tried to think of all the things she remembered from books and those medical series on TV, but she would have preferred for Mrs. Shelton to be in the hands of experts.

As the women were in the living room, Carline did not notice that her mother had finally driven up to their driveway and stopped her car. Melody felt so exhausted that she did not want to take the time to get out of her car and open the garage door. She noticed that the house had one light on in the kitchen. Usually when Caroline was home, she put the outside light on when she took Grace out for a walk and thought that dusk might come before she got back. There was no front light on. Melody did not like a small feeling in her stomach but got her keys to the house out of her purse and got out of her car. Today was not her best day to remember for events but she certainly did not want to let it make her evening a total disaster also. As she closed the door to her car, she heard a large vehicle stop in front of her house and someone call her name.

“Mrs. MacRae. I have a package for you. Will you sign for it here please?” asked the delivery man. “You are my last delivery and the I can go home.” The tall man in the brown uniform handed her the machine to sign and he handed her the small package. “Have a nice day.”

“You too. And thank you.” she replied as she looked at the small brown wrapped package . She smiled as she remembered her order and hoped that Caroline had taken Grace for a long walk. This was something she did not want her daughter to see, yet. She turned around and walked to her front door.