He leaned over and kissed her on the cheek. “I promise that won’t happen, Mom.”
She sighed and headed back to the table. “Then go on and get some sleep.”
He left the room and headed up the stairs. When he arrived at the landing of the second floor, he stopped outside the closed door to the bedroom where Callie was sleeping. He stared at the door for a moment and thought about what his mother had said.
For some reason his final conversation two years ago with Callie had been running through his mind a lot lately, and he didn’t understand why. The more he’d thought about it, he realized she had never really given him a reason for not marrying him. At the time he’d thought it was because of her policeman father’s death—that she didn’t want to run the risk of losing someone else she loved. Now he wasn’t so sure. Maybe there had been another reason. If so, what could it have been?
* * *
Callie awoke with a start and sat up in bed. She’d been dreaming of the fire, and the flames were about to engulf her when she bolted upright. She wiped her hand across her perspiring brow and swung her feet over the side of the bed.
Her stomach growled, and she glanced at the clock on the bedside table. It was nearly noon, and she realized she hadn’t eaten since lunch yesterday. She glanced around the room and spotted several shopping bags next to the closed bedroom door. Mrs. Dawtry must have made good on her promise to go to the mall for her.
Callie hurried over and pulled off the note that was stapled to the side of the bag. She smiled as she read Mrs. Dawtry’s message.
I bought you several pairs of slacks, two tops, some underwear and some flip-flops. Since I had to guess at the sizes, I hope everything fits. Maybe this will tide you over until you can pick out what you’d really like to have.
—Mona Dawtry
Thirty minutes later Callie hurried downstairs and into the kitchen. She came to a stop at the sight of Seth sitting at the kitchen table with a sandwich and a glass of iced tea in front of him. His gaze traveled over her.
“I see you found the clothes Mom bought for you.”
Callie nodded. “Yes, that was so kind of her. I’ll repay her as soon as I can get to the bank and get some money.”
He shook his head. “Don’t worry about it. You have other things on your mind right now.”
She slid into the chair across from him. “Have you heard from the hospital?”
“Yes. There’s no change. The marshals are still guarding him.”
She crossed her arms on the table and leaned forward. “What are you doing here? I thought you’d be at work.”
“I went in for a while this morning, but I wanted to be here when you woke up so I could take you to the hospital.” He glanced down at his sandwich. “Can I make you something to eat?”
She shook her head and stood up. “No, I’ll do it. Then I would like to go to the hospital. Are you planning on working this afternoon?”
“No. Why?”
She sighed. “I hate to keep asking you for favors, but I need to see about getting my driver’s license replaced. Could you take me to the testing center to see what I have to do?”