Chapter 7
Ann picked up the phone and called her employee at home. The woman answered and told Ann that the snow was not as bad there as it was at the cabin although the weather forecast was for one to two inches. The employee agreed to run the shop by herself if Ann couldn't get in. Ann thanked her and promised to make every effort to make it in to the shop on Monday.
Ann hung up the phone and sat with the phone on her lap. She knew that she should let her daughter know where she was in case Brenda tried to reach her at the condo. She dialed the phone number of the apartment that Brenda was staying in with three other girls.
After several tries the line finally became free. One of Brenda's housemates answered the phone and called out for Brenda to pick up the phone upstairs.
"Hello?" Brenda said sleepily.
"Brenda, this is your Mom. Is everything OK?"
Ann heard her daughter yawn, "Sure Mom. I was just trying to get some shuteye. I've been cramming for tests this week, burning a lot of midnight oil. Anything wrong?"
"Oh, I hit a deer and had to be pulled off of the road. It's snowing pretty good here and I ran into a ditch while I was being towed. A man helped me and I'm staying at his cabin so I thought that I'd better let you know where I am."
"So, Mom. You're spending the night in a secluded cabin with some man," Brenda said with a chuckle in her voice, "What does he look like? Would I approve?"
"Ok Brenda. Knock it off," Ann chuckled, "I couldn't drive the car because both of the headlights were broken. It was dangerous leaving the car on the road in this snowstorm. Now my car is blocking the driveway."
"Sure Mom. That's as good an excuse as any. When do I get a chance to meet this man?"
"Brenda, take this number. It's the man's satellite phone. It looks like we're going to be here for a couple of days. The weatherman is saying six to twelve inches or more. We'll have to dig my car out so that we can get out of here."
Brenda paused for a second, "Six to twelve inches of what, Mom?"
Ann began to get defensive, "Knock it off Brenda. You know what I mean. Call me at this number if you need me. I'll be Ok. The cabin is warm and we have everything that we need."
Ann read the number off of the phone and asked Brenda how she was doing with her class work. They talked for a few minutes before Ann told her that she had better get off of the phone before she ran the battery down.
"OK Mom. I'll talk to you later. Don't do anything that I wouldn't do."
Ann was about to lay into Brenda for that remark when she heard the phone go dead. She stared at the phone for a minute and started smiling. She wondered just how experienced her daughter was sexually.
Bob opened the door and entered with a load of firewood in his arms. He turned and went back outside two more times before he was satisfied that he had enough firewood in to last until the snowstorm passed. After he dropped the last load of wood in the rack he shook the snow off of his parka and stomped his boots to get the snow off. He pulled a wooden chair over close to the fire and put the parka over the chair to dry and put the boots in front of the chair.
Ann watched as he walked to the woodstove and opened it and threw two sticks of firewood in the stove. She saw him poke around in the fire for a minute and then close the doors. He turned and plopped down in the chair next to her.
"My god, it's wicked out there," he said. "There must be about seven inches on the ground right now. I haven't seen it snow this hard, this early in the season in a long time. I pity anyone on the roads tonight, I think there's a little ice mixed in with this mess. Did you contact anyone to let them know where you are?"
"Yes, I made two calls," she replied, "I hope you don't mind. I had to let my employee know that I might not make it in Monday."
"And the other call was to the police, right?" Bob chuckled.
Ann felt her face redden, "No, I called my daughter, Brenda. She's in college. She has visions of being a doctor. I'm going to do everything I can to make her dream come true."
"You didn't mention a call to a Mr. Simmons," Bob said, "I take it that there is no Mr. Simmons?"
"No, I'm a widow. My husband died when my daughter was very young and I never remarried."
Ann didn't feel that she owed an explanation about how she became a widow. Bob Long seemed nice enough, but... well she had never discussed her rape with anyone since she had confided in Rosie. Even Brenda, her daughter, had never been told about the rape.
"Oh, I'm sorry. I didn't really mean to pry. Please forgive this inconsiderate fool."
For some reason that she couldn't understand Ann blushed, "That's Ok. It's been a long time now and the pain is just a memory now."
The pain was not really just a memory. She often thought about Ray and how the marriage had disintegrated because of his gambling and lack of discipline when it came to money. How his immaturity had caused him to seek the easy way out of everything. She still had guilt feelings; wondering if there were any opportunities she had missed that would have changed things for her and Ray. She knew now that he had been spoiled as a child and never learned responsibility. She didn't hate Ray; she just put him into a section of her memory where he wouldn't cause her any more pain. Ray was just someone that she used to know.
She suddenly became aware that Bob was talking to her, "I'm sorry. I guess my mind started to wander a bit."
Bob smiled, "I said that you'd better hang your wet clothes up on the rail of the loft. It's warmer up there and your clothes will dry out quicker."
Ann had brought her wet clothes down with her when she had changed into the sweats not knowing what to do with them. She got up from the chair struggling to keep the sweat pants up and gathered up her clothes and started for the stairs to the loft holding up the sweat pants with the clothes in her arms. Bob watched as she walked away from him and saw that, although she was successful in keeping the sweat pants up in the front, her rear was about halfway exposed. He watched as she climbed the stairs knowing that she would be mortified if she knew that her rear end was exposed.
Ann spread her clothes out on the railing of the loft and made sure that they were hung so that the clothes wouldn't get too wrinkled as they dried. She grabbed the sweat pants again, hiked them up and went back down the steps. When she reached the living room she saw Bob pulling boxes out of a closet going through each one and then putting it on the floor. She saw him pull something out of one box and hold it up. He set the article aside and put the boxes back into the closet and walked back to her.
"Here's a pair of sweat pants that might fit you a little better. They were my wife's. I packed up all of the stuff that she left and just haven't gotten around to throwing the stuff away. Go try them on and see if they're any better than those ones of mine."
Ann took the pair of pants that he offered and went into the bathroom and tried them on. They fit much better and she didn't have to keep her hand on the waistband to keep them from falling off.
"Ah, that's much better," Bob said as she walked back into the room.
Ann sat down and smiled at him, "You talk like there is no Mrs. Long anymore. Are you a widower?"
"No. Marge, that's my ex-wife's name, said that I spent too much time on my business and not enough time on her. She's remarried now and I wish her well. I guess that I've got a lot to learn about being a husband."
For a brief moment Ann saw the pain that was inside of him reflected in his face, "Are you sure that it was all your fault?"
Bob's face clouded, "I know that there are a lot of things that I should have done that I didn't. Maybe if I live to be about three hundred years old I'll learn what a husband is supposed to do."
Ann looked down at her hands and they were both quiet for a few minutes, each with their own thoughts.
Bob was the one to break the silence, "How about Mrs. Simmons? How long have you been a widow?"
"I've been a widow about sixteen years now."
Bob Got a quizzical look on his face, "How has a beautiful woman like you managed to remain unmarried. Have all of the men in this state gone crazy?"
Ann smiled, "Thank you but I don't think it's the men. I'm probably just too picky."
Bob could see that she was uneasy with the direction that the conversation was going and changed the subject, "Are you warm enough? The trouble with wood stoves is that you roast next to them and freeze when you move away from them."
"I'm fine," she said, "You said that you spent too much time on your business. What business are you in?"
Ann saw Bob's face brightened noticeably, "I'm founder and majority stockholder of Paladin Security Sources, Inc. If you need protection from terrorists, an armored vehicle or someone checked out we're the ones to call. We have offices and employees around the globe."
Ann started nodding her head, "I've been trying to figure out where I know you from and now I know. I've seen you on television sometimes, haven't I?"
"Yes madam. The cable news networks like to have us so-called experts on to tell people how smart we are. It's also good for business. They call whenever there's a crisis somewhere. I've gotten a lot of business from my television spots."
The satellite phone rang and Bob reached behind him, grabbed the phone and pushed the talk button and held it to his ear, "Hello. Yes, she's here. This is Brenda right? My name is Bob Long. Your mother told me that you're going to be a doctor. That's great. Be a good one. Here's your mother...
Bob held the phone for a minute longer and started to smile, "Sure, I'll do that. Now here's your mother."
Ann took the phone, "Is something wrong?"
"No Mother. I'm just checking on you. Are you behaving yourself? He sounds nice."
Bob got up and put his coat on and headed for the door. When he opened the door the wind blew the snow into the room. He flipped the collar of his coat up and went out of the door.
Ann started to whisper into the phone, "What did you say to him? I barely know this man."
Brenda's voice sounded like she was having trouble keeping from giggling, "Calm down Mother. Why are you whispering? You know that I wouldn't say anything wrong to a man that I just met. Besides, if you won't introduce me to your men I'll just have to introduce myself. How is everything going?"
"What's got into you Brenda? The man just stopped to help me get my car off of the road. I'll be gone tomorrow and probably never see him again."
Brenda still had that lilt in her voice, "I was just checking on you Mother. You know I worry about you. You're not getting any younger you know. I'll call you tomorrow sometime. He still sounds nice though."
The phone went dead and Ann stared at the phone for a minute before
she remembered to turn it off. She started to smile. Brenda had been
trying for years to match Ann up with different men in the
neighborhood. Once, when she was eight, she had walked up to a man in
the supermarket and asked him if he would like to meet her mother. Ann
heard her tell the man that her mother didn't have a husband and she
needed one. Ann hustled her daughter out of the store and had a long
talk with her in the car.