Page 111 of His Wounded Heart

I don’t recognize the voice, or the face. I fumble with my fingernail file.

“It’s me, Renzo Drakos, Simon’s friend.”

I slump with relief.

“Renzo, get Bella out of the backseat. Make sure she’s okay, then we can worry about me.”

I watch as Bella’s door is opened and Renzo’s concerned expression turns into a smile for my daughter. “Well hello, Miss Bella,” he says, exaggerating his Spanish accent. “How are you today? You sure seem to have gotten into a fix. Did your mom let you try to drive the car today?”

Bless the man’s heart, I hear my daughter give a giggle.

“It’s gerbil day today,” she whispers. “Can you get Apollo? He’s over there.” I watch her point to someplace I can’t see. Renzo leans past Bella and lifts the gerbil’s cage up high. “Your mom let him drive?” he asked incredulously.

“You’re silly.” Bella really giggled.

“Why don’t you stay right here, and I’ll get your mom unstuck. How does that sound?” He puts the cage in Bella’s lap.

“Okay. Thank you, Sir.”

“No problem Cariña.”

I watch as he carefully shuts her door as best he can. He can’t close it all the way because of the damage that has been done to my vehicle. Thank God I always have her sit on the opposite side as me so I can see her easier, otherwise she could have been badly injured. I start to shake.

“Trenda?”

Renzo’s by my side. “Let’s get you out of here, okay?”

“Did you see what happened?” I ask him.

“Yeah, I did. They were aiming to run you off the road into that tree over there.” He points to the big black oak.

My teeth are chattering, and even as he gets me standing by the side of the road, I feel like my knees are made of water.

“I need to get to Bella.”

“You sit in the backseat with her. I’m going to call the sheriff. I’ll also call your brother-in-law.”

“Can you grab my cell phone too?” I ask as I pull open the door to the back seat.

“Look, Mama, Apollo had fun. Even though it was really, really, scary, he wasn’t scared at all.” She puts down his cage and reaches for me. “Were you scared, Mama?”

“I was so scared. I’m always scared when I think something could hurt you. I love you all the way to the stars.”

“I love you too, Mama. You don’t have to be scared, cause I’m here.”

I feel the cool air as Renzo opens the door. “Here’s your purse, Trenda.”

“Thanks, Renzo.”

He shuts the door.

I rifle through my purse until I find my cell phone. I press Simon’s number.

“Hello, Trenda.” His voice sounds so warm and safe. I bite my lip so hard that I taste blood.

“Trenda?”

“I was driving Bella home from school. Someone drove us off the road. Renzo thinks the driver was trying to make us hit a big black oak. When that didn’t work, they turned around to try again.”