Page 73 of Dear Henry, Love Edith
“Say you’ll call her. Now excuse me. Time for my therapy session, though Lord knows why. I’m fit as a fiddle.” She lifted her walker, all four tennis balls hovering above the ground, and waddled past Henry to the exercise room.
Heaven help Lance. He looked down at the business card again.Heaven help me.
Henry skipped lunch and drove straight to where his crew had been hired to build a garage. The familiar sounds of buzz saws and hammers brought him a brief respite from the constant barrage of backslaps and congratulations that had followed him around town like an eager puppy.
He had obviously underestimated the level of enthusiasm this town carried when it came to weddings. Or the rapid wildfire spread of a rumor once it took off.
Edith’s stomach growled. She slapped a palm over it before the noise had a chance to wake the baby. That’s right, a baby. Part of her couldn’t believe it. Not a fern, not a toddler, but an actual living, breathing baby boy. With a mighty set of lungs she did not want to invoke the power of ever again.
Edith grabbed the baby monitor and tiptoed out of his room, trying not to make a peep as she creaked down the stairs. After all the screaming and wailing and gnashing of gums he’d done the past hour and a half, she imagined the baby could potentially sleep the rest of her shift, if not the rest of the week.
So. Much. Crying.
Edith paused on her way to the kitchen and patted the waxy green leaf of a peace lily. “I never knew how much I appreciated you until now,” Edith whispered to the plant.
In the kitchen, Edith set the monitor on the counter and opened the pantry door. At least the past few hours had served to keep her mind off her ravenous appetite.
The clock on the wall tweeted with the sound of a cardinal. Eight o’clock. When she’d told Henry she didn’t mind eating a late dinner, it was under the assumption she wouldn’t be missing lunch. It was under the assumption she could set foot in the grocery store without hearing people shout, “Here comes the blushing bride!”
Edith had immediately turned tail for Kat’s house and locked herself indoors for the rest of the afternoon. She wasn’t venturing out into public until she and Henry came up with a solid plan that squelched this rumor for good. Hopefully without causing too much disappointment.
Because that was the thing. It wasn’t just that Edith had never seen so many people excited over a wedding. It was the fact, in all her life, she’d never experienced so many people excited overher.
Goodness, a man she didn’t even know stopped her outside the grocery store and gifted her with a balloon animal. She wasn’t sure, but it might have been a monkey.
She closed the pantry door, her stomach growling in protest. “I know you’re starving, but we’ve waited this long.” Might as well keep waiting. Both the night worker and Henry should be arriving any minute.
“Stella!” A distressed male voice jarred Edith from herthoughts. She peeked out the kitchen window. Maybe there was a rehearsal going on in the town square forA Streetcar Named Desire. Kind of late in the day but—
A fist pounded on the front door. “Stella, get out here! I know you’re in there!”
“Oh, my goodness.” One hand over her heart, Edith looked toward the ceiling. God help the man on the other side of the door if his racket woke the baby. She lifted the baby monitor to her ear, hearing the soft white noise from the sound machine next to the crib and one tiny whimper.
“Stella!”
Edith rushed to the front door, grabbing her phone off the entry table on the way past, and jerked the door open. “Knock it off or I’m calling 911.”
“Where is she?” A giant man with dark shoulder-length hair and an unruly beard stood in the doorway. Between his bloodshot eyes and the slurring of his words that paired nicely with the subtle swaying of his body, Edith guessed he was intoxicated. “I want to see her.” One whiff of his breath and Edith no longer had to guess.
“Who?” Edith gulped, her bravado quickly fading.
“Stella. I know she’s here.Stella!” He shoved open the door, knocking Edith backwards onto her rear end. Her phone flew out of her hand and skidded across the floor as he staggered inside, heading for the stairs.
Edith clambered to her feet and raced after him. “Stop.Stop!There’s no Stella.” But there was a baby. And Edith wasn’t about to let this man anywhere near that little bundle.
He stumbled his way to the top of the stairs and paused, looking each direction. Long enough for Edith to shove past,run to the baby’s room, and slam the door behind her. A tall oak dresser sat to the right. She shouldered it in front of the door, knocking a lamp and two succulent plants off the top in the process, before scooping the screeching, red-faced baby out of the crib and clutching him against her chest.
“It’s okay, baby. It’s okay,” Edith murmured as the man stomped from room to room, slamming furniture aside and punching walls like a grizzly bear.Oh, God, help us.Edith eyed the dresser. It was pretty solid, but still. She’d prefer a few more barricades between them and the lunatic outside. Especially when she heard his footsteps approaching. Was there any point in hiding in the closet?
She clutched the screaming infant tighter, bracing herself for the oncoming barrage. But instead of pounding, she heard a shout from below. Then the slurred speech of the man outside the nursery door hollering a reply.
The police?
“Edith, are you okay?” Not the police.
Henry.
“Don’t come up here. Call the—” That was all she got out before the sound of fists on flesh followed by several grunts and more than a few swear words filled the air. Edith covered the baby’s ears, wishing someone would cover hers.
