AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“I’m sorry,” Robin mouthed the words through the glass.
Tessa’s heart squeezed in her chest. They just want to play. She ran her hands over her face to quiet the panic and took the final steps up the porch. The door creaked open on her first knock and she felt a rush of anxious relief.
“Hey,” she took a step back, speaking to the man who peered at her curiously from inside the house and smoothing down her hair to be more presentable, “sorry to bother you, but I’m looking for KM7NIC. Is this the right place?”
“KM7NIC what? Some kind of radio name?” The man stepped out onto the porch as his eyes focused in the sunlight, blinking and stunned like he just woke up from a nap, and his tired gaze swept the yard before settling on Old Blue.
“My bad.” Tessa backed up. The man was at least a foot taller than her, almost as tall as Landon, but his shoulders weren’t as broad even under the baggy brown hoodie he wore. “I thought this was 27241 Owl House Road. Would you happen to know which house that is by any chance?”
A look of recognition lit up the man’s eyes as they snapped into focus. “This is the place. KM7NIC you say? Were you speaking with my wife?”
“Maybe.” Tessa exhaled as her foot found the top step. “Well, not me exactly. A friend of mine was. Is your wife here so I can speak with her now?”
“Come to think of it, she did mention someone was stopping by today but I didn’t expect anyone until much later. She’s around here somewhere.” The man chuckled softly, running dirt crusted fingernails through his graying red beard. Tessa stared at him blankly, not understanding the joke.
His features clouded over again as he pushed the door wide open. “She probably went for a walk in the fields, but she’ll be back soon. If you want, you can come inside and wait.”
Stop being paranoid. You need more gas.
“Actually,” her voice cracked as she spoke, “we can wait outside. Would your kids mind if mine played on the swing set for a bit? We’ve been on the road for a while.”
The man was about to speak, but paused as he glanced to the slide in the yard. The horn blasted a second time and they both turned to see Robin restraining Emily’s fists as she wrestled her back to the seat.
He chuckled again, shaking his head. “It’s for the grandkids when they come to visit. Feel free to use it.”
The man left the door open as he went back inside, an invitation if they wanted it. She didn’t want it. Sweat trickled down her back as she raced to the truck.
“Mason, you can go play,” Tessa said as she wrenched the door open. She turned to Robin feeling absolutely mortified. “Can you please keep an eye on him for me?”
“My pleasure.” Robin glanced back at Emily as if she was possessed. Moose bounded out, his nose to the ground as he began to circle Old Blue.
Emily sat on the bench seat wiping snot and tears from her face as she hiccupped through the tantrum. “I… Want… To… Play… Too…”
“Not right now you’re not.” Tessa looked back to the open door of the house, wishing she could keep her attention focused there instead of on this. “Take a deep breath and let’s start to count.”
Emily nodded, sucking in little gulps of air.
“One, two, three, four,” they both began to count together. Tessa waited until the worst of it was over, until the girl’s little body stopped convulsing, and the noise of the too big world with too big emotions fell away.
“Do you want a hug now?” Tessa asked. Emily climbed into her mother’s arms.
“Listen.” Tessa breathed deeply against the girl’s unruly curls. “I know the past few days have been rough and sitting still for this long sucks, but we have to listen to Mommy and we can’t scream or hit like that when we get angry. Use our words, okay?”
“Okay, Mommy.” Emily sniffed, wiping her nose across Tessa’s shirt. “I’m sorry and I promise to never ever do that again. Can I go play now?”
Tessa sighed, releasing the embrace to look into her daughter’s eyes. “I’m not the only one who needs your kind words. Go talk to Miss Robin first and then you can play.”
Emily nodded and jumped down from the truck before skipping across the gravel.
“Come on, Em. I’ll push you,” Mason called out. But the girl stopped next to Robin and stood on her tiptoes with her hands twisting behind her back. Robin leaned down to speak with her. Their conversation was lost to the wind.
She allowed herself a moment of calm before she looked back to the house with the door still wide open. Moose brushed past her leg with his hackles raised as he feverishly sniffed the ground. Tessa frowned. There weren’t any barnyard animals like at Agnes’s house, but the dog must be smelling something just as interesting because he widened his perimeter intent on the new scent.
Or maybe he smells something wrong. She smacked her hands over her face, embarrassed and annoyed at the intrusive thoughts. No wonder the kids are freaking out. She had to hold it together for both their sakes. They could sense when she was worried or stressed. Panicking about what might happen tomorrow wasn’t doing them any good. Tessa glanced at the open door a final time before taking calming breaths and measured steps across the stranger’s driveway to watch her children play.
“So what’s going on?” Robin motioned to the house as they stood side by side listening to the creak of the chains on the swings and the delighted squeals from Mason and Emily.
“I’m not sure.” Tessa put her hands in her pockets, soaking up this moment of normalcy where her kids could be kids. “The man I spoke with doesn’t seem to have a clue that we were coming but I might have just woken him up. He says his wife might have spoken with Arthur and she’ll be back here soon. But with Emily’s tantrum, I didn’t get a chance to ask more pointed questions.” She stared at her daughter’s angelic smile as Mason twisted her around in the swing.
