Daddy On The Doorstep. Judy Christenberry

She’d do anything for Aunt Bess.

      Carefully backing up, she braked and then put the car in Drive. The tires spun and she swallowed her fear. Easing off the gas pedal, she allowed the forward motion of the gear to move the car. Once the tires had gripped whatever solid ground there was, she pressed slightly on the pedal and breathed a sigh of relief as the car moved forward.

      When the dim form of the old farmhouse became visible, Andrea killed the motor and leaped from the car. She wasn’t worried about the rain or the mud, only about Bess. She had to get her to a hospital.

      “Bess? Bess?” she called as she swung open the front door.

      Silence greeted her. Fearing what she might find, Andrea raced to the kitchen, the true center of Aunt Bess’s home, but it was empty.

      From there, she ran to the bedroom. More silence.

      “Bess? Where are you?” Panic rising, she raced back through to the living room and the front door. That’s when she saw the message taped to the panel of glass.

      Andy,

      I persuaded Bess to let me take her to the hospital before you got here. I didn’t think she should wait. Hope I did the right thing.

      Roy Evans

      Andrea slumped against the door, relieved beyond words that Bess was in good hands. Roy Evans was a nearby neighbor who checked on Bess almost every day. Then, concern about Roy’s statement about not waiting filled Andrea and she ran back to the kitchen and the phone on the wall.

      Bess kept her telephone directory on a shelf below the phone and Andrea thumbed through it impatiently, searching for the number to the small hospital in the closest town. As she was dialing the number, concentrating on Bess’s safety with all her heart, she vaguely heard more noise, though it was hard to detect a difference over the roar of the storm.

      “Hubbard Hospital,” a clipped voice answered and then spoke to someone else before Andrea could ask about Bess. “No, sir, you can’t go back there. You’re getting in the doctor’s way!”

      “Please,” Andrea interrupted, “I need to find out about—”

      “Hello? Hello? Is anyone here?”

      Andrea stared at the phone receiver briefly before she realized this new voice wasn’t coming over the wire. It was coming from the front door.

      And she recogized the voice. It belonged to her soon-to-be ex-husband, Nicholas Avery.

      She hung up the phone and hurried to the front of the house, unable to believe her ears. Nick, the last she’d heard, had been missing after he’d gone to Africa on a business trip.

      “Aunt Bess?” he called.

      “Nick?” she questioned even as her eyes confirmed her earlier guess. “What are you doing here?”

      Okay, she hadn’t sounded welcoming, but what did he expect? There was no need for him to frown at her like that.

      “I think that’s my line, isn’t it, Andy? After all, Bess is my aunt.”

      “But you were missing—”

      “And now I’m found. Where’s Aunt Bess?” he snapped.

      “At…at the hospital, I think.” His question had made her remember the important person in their little drama. “She left a note. Her neighbor took her to the hospital.”

      “She’s hurt?” he asked, urgency in his voice.

      “She called me earlier. Told me she was having chest pains and wouldn’t go to the doctor until I came.”

      “A heart attack?” Nick asked with even more urgency. She’d never seen her husband lose his cool. Ex-husband, she corrected herself. Or soon to be. But he seemed close to the edge now. That was one thing they’d always had in common. They both loved Bess.

      “I was calling the hospital when I heard you. I’ll call again.” This time she asked her question as soon as the operator answered.

      “I’ll ring her room, but make your call brief. We’ve got a lot of emergencies and we need to keep the lines open.”

      “Aunt Bess,” Andrea said in relief when a quavery voice answered.

      “Is that you, Andy? Thank God. I was so worried. Where are you?”

      Andrea didn’t get a chance to answer. Nick took the phone from her hand.

      “Aunt Bess? It’s Nick. I’m home. Are you okay?”

      Bess was his aunt, his mother’s sister, so she guessed Nick technically had the right to be the one to talk to her. And she knew Bess would be relieved. She’d called Andrea almost a week ago to tell her Nick had flown to Africa on business and then disappeared. The State Department had been unable to offer any information about his safety.

      She’d talked to Bess each evening, the two of them sharing their fears. That’s why Nick’s appearance had been even more of a surprise than normal.

      “Is she all right?” Andrea asked impatiently, watching his face.

      Ignoring her question, he continued to talk to his aunt. “Yes, I will. Take care of yourself.”

      He replaced the receiver without offering it to Andrea.

      “I wanted to talk to her!” she exclaimed, frustration rising.

      “The operator cut in and asked us to hang up. Aunt Bess is okay. The doctor thinks it was indigestion.”

      “Indigestion?” she questioned faintly. Indigestion. She’d worried herself sick, driven through a major storm, and unexpectedly had to face Nick. All for indigestion.

      And she’d do the same thing again. She wouldn’t take any chances with Bess’s health. “I’m glad,” she whispered.

      Nick made no response, only stared at her. Chilled by the coldness in his eyes, she stepped around him and headed for the front door.

      “Where are you going?”

      “To the hospital.” She didn’t expect him to ask her to stay. He probably didn’t want to talk to her any more than she wanted to talk to him. However, he surprised her by catching her arm.

      “No, you’re not.”

      “What are you talking about?” she protested. “Of course I am. Let me go!”

      “Andy! Listen to me. The bridge is out.”

      “Nice try. I just crossed over that bridge.” And she dreaded the thought of doing so again.

      “I flew in on the police helicoptor. We watched it wash away.”

      The sincerity in his voice almost convinced her. But she couldn’t face the prospect of staying here alone with him. “I don’t believe you,” she insisted, and turned back toward the door.

      He wouldn’t let her go. “Andy. Use your head for once. You can’t go!”

      She wrenched her coat from his hold. “Use my head for once?” she repeated, glaring at him. Then she snapped her mouth shut and ran to the front door.

      He called her name above the storm and she was sure he pursued her. Nick never gave in or admitted he’d been bested. But this time she would do things her way. Tumbling down the steps into the rain, she had to slow down or she’d lose her footing. Too bad she left the car so far from the porch. But she’d been in as big a hurry when she’d arrived, as she was now.

      He caught her just as she rounded the front of the car. She turned to scream at him over the thunder and rain. Before she could say anything, however, he yanked her toward him and they both fell into the mud. Even as she raised up to ask him if he was crazy, a louder noise stunned her.

      She looked up at a roof of sodden greenness. And a deep crease in the roof of her car. A nearby