Page 25 of Born a Hero

“My goodness, Charlene, why didn’t you tell me? I feel terrible now for the number of times I urged you to come in the pool and made a big deal out of your refusal. I’m so terribly sorry, honey.”

Charlene looked at Sonja, seeming shocked at the woman’s tender words. Then her eyes filled before she lowered her face again. Tears glinted from the patio lights which bored a hole right into Sonja’s conscience. Why hadn’t she given this girl a chance?

“I’m a grown woman who’s a big wuss. I hated to admit I was terrified. And… I find it ridiculously hard to share my wretched past. I’m sorry. Please don’t feel bad. It’s my own fault.”

Sonja moved quickly and found herself crouching beside her daughter-in-law. “Hey, don’t fret. I should be shot for not seeing there was more to the story.”

Charlene’s shock at being the center of attention wasn’t faked. She sincerely didn’t seem to know what to do and appeared to turn to Dena for help. Instinctively knowing it was her proximity that had started the discomfort, Sonja tried to rise, until the liquor turned her knees to rubber, and they refused to hold her. Over she tumbled onto her butt.

Instantly making a joke so as not to upset the other two, Sonja grumbled, “Damn knees. As soon as they’re built and on sale, I’m getting me a muscley robot dude to help me stand up.”

First, Dena cracked up and then Charlene joined in, leaving Sonja sitting on her backside wearing the fake frown. When she saw her joke had been taken in the way it was meant to be, she flipped over to clutch the table and using it for balance, tried to hop up but didn’t quite have the right position and plopped down again.

“Sure, go ahead and laugh you pretty young things. It’ll be your turn soon enough.”

“Are you putting a spell on us you old witch?” Dena’s quip came at the perfect time to start them all laughing again. “Listen, before you fall again, could you tell us more about the storm.”

Charlene went to rise as if she needed to help Sonja get up, but Sonja waved her away. “I’ll just stay here for now, honey. It’s less far to fall when I have another refill.” So saying, she crawled closer to the table, picked up the half-full pitcher, and topped off all three glasses again.

When Dena threw her a pillow, she made herself comfy. “Right, let’s see. We had Justin tucked into the bed, and I was keeping him amused. By then, Bryce had finished his shower and used that old sweatsuit of my husbands. He never minded that the arms and legs were too short, or the writing was washed out. That made me adore him more.”

Without knowing why she added the next sentence, she was glad she did after seeing Charlene’s reaction. “You’ll love him honey when you meet him. He’s a peach.”

“A peach!” Dena’s laughter came in gales, and Charlene doubled over. “A peach?” When they’re hands began waving at the joke, they clutched each other’s, saying the same line over again as if they’d never heard anything so funny. Understanding that the margaritas were doing their job, Sonja pretended anger.

“Oh, stop it you two. What can I say? He’s handsome, intelligent, sympathetic, has a good sense of humor, and… he’s a doctor. What more could a woman want? In fact, I warned him if I’da been forty years younger, I’d go after him myself. So, I stand by my adjective… he’s a blasted peach. Or is it a noun?”

That broke the girls up again and more laughter resonated.

“Stop that moronic giggling.” Sonja pretended more anger but all the while smiling cheerfully. She’d never seen Charlene so relaxed or happy. For the first time, she understood what her son saw in this woman.

And if she’d been a little less insecure herself, a lot less judgmental, she’d have seen it too. Disgusted with her previous behavior, she swore there and then to try harder to get to know this fairy-like creature who had flaws in the same way as everyone else.

Finally, Dena composed herself and started in on the story once again. “Okay… tell us what happened after you saw that the water was rising to take over the area you were in?”

“Well, it was Mr. Peachy who began to set things in motion. Before I knew what was going to happen, he had me packing everything I thought we might need into the closet where the opening to the attic was. He hauled most of the gear up there himself. Again, never a complaint though I knew it had to have been misery for him. Finally, we brought Justin up with us and not a minute too soon.”

They all calmed at the idea of how fortunate they were that there had been the safe attic area to depend on. “We were thrilled to have that space and with the windows. Both if us blessed Jamie and Hank for installing them and laying the flooring. You know, many others weren’t so lucky.”

“Like Liam, Rose, and their twins.”

Charlene piped up, “I know them. They introduced themselves the last time Jamie and I came to visit. Wasn’t she pregnant?”

“Oh yeah, she still is. Eight months.”

While Dena picked up on the story of how Bryce saved her and then the neighbors, Sonja rose quietly, took the pitcher with her, and came back with a refill and the rest of the bag of chips.

If it took liquor and junk food to get through to her daughter-in-law, she’d be happy to comply. She’d never had so much fun with the mother of her grandkids and was determined that before the night ended, they would be a lot better friends.

Chapter Twenty-four

Charlene hadn’t gotten a minute’s respite from the fear for Sonja’s safety until she actually saw the woman with her own eyes. Even though Sonja had assured them on the phone she was fine, Charlene kept telling Jamie, “Your mother would never complain if she wasn’t fine… especially then. And think about it. Her whole life is upside down now. I’d be frantic myself, and I’m a lot younger.”

Jamie wrapped his arms around his soft-hearted wife and nodded. “I know. But you don’t understand. I’ve told you before that my mom is a fighter, and a winner. She doesn’t crumble over things that could bring others to their knees. She just gets on with whatever she can do and figures in time the rest will be okay.”

“Like her son. Fine and good, Jamie. But this isn’t a fallen tree or a broken-down car. It’s her whole existence. Her house is underwater. Thank God, she isn’t too.”

“Calm down, baby. Look, we’ll go together. She’s a fighter… you’ll see. The fact that she got up in the attic and took shelter speaks for itself. And remember what she told us. She wasn’t alone going through the flood. She had others with her.”

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