Page 65 of Together Is Where We Belong

I took a chance and sat on the edge of the bed, placed both of my hands on her shoulders, and shook harder.

“Come on, Carolina. Wake up,” I said a little louder hoping it worked.

Something was terrifying her, and I hated seeing her this way. So fragile and broken.

She jolted awake and scurried away from me. I had to reach out and tug on her foot before she fell off the other side of the bed.

“Get away from me,” she screamed.

“Carolina, it’s me, Leo,” I calmly told her, not wanting to frighten her even more.

“Leo?” she questioned, her voice groggy from sleep.

“You were having a nightmare,” I explained, not sure if she’d remember what had her so scared.

“How’d you get in here?” she asked as she began to calm and slumped into the headboard of the bed.

“I was on my front porch and heard a scream. I rushed over here and Luke met me at the door crying because you were screaming and wouldn’t wake up,” I relayed to her.

“Oh no, Luke. I didn’t mean to scare him,” she said as she frantically shot across the bed and out of the room to find him.

I followed closely behind, trying not to notice that she was only in a T-shirt.

“He’s in the living room on the couch,” I told her as we exited her room and her eyes searched between his door and down the hallway.

She ran down the hallway and over to the couch where she sat on the floor. I was sure her knees hurt with how hard she fell to the floor, but she didn’t even flinch as she rubbed her hands over Luke’s head and whispered to him words of reassurance.

I leaned against the wall as I watched their interaction.

“I’m so sorry, sweet boy. Mama didn’t mean to scare you,” she said as she pulled him into her arms and into her lap.

He looked up at Carolina; his tiny hands went to her cheeks and wiped what I assumed were tears away.

“You screamed so loud, Mommy,” he said as he looked into her eyes and his hands stilled.

“I know, baby. It was just a bad dream. I’m okay now,” she told him as she pulled him in for a hug and rocked him back and forth. His arms went around her neck, and his head burrowed into the crook of her neck as she soothed him.

“How about I go get you settled back in bed?” she suggested as she stood. His legs wrapped around her waist as she walked. When she passed me, I contemplated following, but decided against it, giving her the space she needed to tuck Luke into bed.

I walked over to the couch and waited for her to return.

About ten minutes later, a frantic Carolina rushed down the hall and opened the laundry room door.

“I have to check. I can’t live like this anymore,” she whispered to herself as she pulled the stepladder out and carried it over to the kitchen.

Turning around to watch her, I stayed on the couch as she flipped the light switch, and the brightness of the kitchen light illuminated the room.

She set the ladder up under the light fixture in the kitchen. Her legs shook as she climbed the ladder and began to loosen the bolt that held the fixture in place.

“What are you looking for?” I asked, hoping the sound of my voice didn’t scare her.

“I just have to look. Can you help me look?” she said as she looked into the glass globe. She screwed the bolt back into place before she held on to the back of the ladder and climbed down.

“What are we looking for?” I asked as I stood and cautiously walked into the kitchen.

“The officer told me to check the light fixtures and the lamps,” she explained, not making any sense. At the mention of an officer, I went on high alert and wondered what she meant and what really caused her to return to Haven Valley.

“What do you mean? What officer?” I asked but she was a woman on a mission as she came into the living room and looked under the lampshades and behind the television. She got on the floor and looked under the television stand.