The Secrets of Rosa Lee (5 page)

M
icah Parker quickly found that seeing the Rogers sisters home was not an easy assignment. The pair decided they had to stop several times and let friends know they were all right. With each stop, the story, with all its frightening details, had to be told. And somehow, each time the telling took longer. Micah finally got them home long after noon. He wrote his cell-phone number on the back of an old card he found on the cluttered kitchen table and left them arguing over what to have for lunch.

He dropped by his office, but felt restless. The shock of the morning lingered with him. A renewed reminder of how one moment could shatter all calm. The possibility that someone had meant them harm haunted the back of his mind. He didn't buy the theory that the perpetrators were youths looking for something to break.

The note in the drill bit made it obvious that someone wanted the house destroyed, but who? The oil company that turned in an offer, of course, but they didn't need to frighten the committee into seeing things their way. Near as Micah could tell, everyone but Sidney thought getting money for the land was a great idea. All the company would have to do was wait a day or two to get what they wanted. Only, maybe they didn't think they had the time to wait. But, why?

Micah had a feeling that whoever wanted the house to fall had another reason.

He sifted through his mail trying to think. Nothing came to mind. Signing out for the afternoon, he wrote simply
hospital visit
on the log. He stopped at the grocery store, an independently owned place with the shadows of HEB behind an already-fading new sign that read Clifton Creek Grocery. The produce looked limp and the meat gray, but the people were friendly. He bought milk, sandwich makings and cat food.

“Well, Reverend?” The checker grinned knowingly as she wiggled the bag of kitten food. “You got a cat living with you now?”

“No, just visiting,” Micah answered, hoping he wouldn't have to explain more.

The lady behind him in line, a once-a-month Methodist, chimed in, “My cat won't eat that dry food unless I pour bacon grease on it.”

Micah couldn't conceive of a lie to thank her for sharing her knowledge, so he just smiled. The two women didn't need him in the conversation; they continued on about their pets. Anyone passing would have thought they were talking about children and not animals. Micah couldn't imagine getting so attached. His parents had moved around when he was growing up. Extra mouths to feed were not allowed.

He paid out and headed for home. After putting up the groceries, he checked on Baptist. The kitten had finished off the last of his saucer of milk.

“You're looking better, little fellow.” Micah poured cat food in a corner of the laundry basket. “That should keep hunger away for a few hours.” The kitten jumped into the middle of the food. “Don't waste time blessing it.” Micah
laughed and wondered if he'd soon be telling stories about Baptist.

He stood, in a hurry to leave. The house always seemed too empty, too quiet when Logan wasn't there. He checked on Mrs. Mac. A game show blared as he opened the dividing door. She waved him away when he asked if she needed anything. He knew better than to hang around talking. She liked knowing that he would be near if she needed him, but she wasn't one to waste time talking when her shows were on.

Halfway to his car, his cell rang.

“Hello.” Micah paused, then smiled. “Yes, Logan, I know it's you. What's up, partner?”

Listening, he climbed into his car and started the engine. “Well, if she says it's all right, I guess it's okay with me. Be sure and brush your teeth and go to bed when Mrs. Reed says.”

He waited while Logan handed the phone to Betty Reed. A minute later, Micah said, “Thanks, Betty, for offering. It was nice of you.” He drove as he listened, then answered, “Yes, I'm a little shaken up. I'm worried about Professor Dickerson. The ambulance took her to Wichita Falls. They're running tests. In fact, I'm on my way to the hospital now.”

Micah paused, trying not to put too much emotion in his voice. “Is it all right if I check in at eight to say good-night to Logan?” He frowned, thinking of how few times he'd been alone since Amy had died. He knew this would happen, first nights at friends', then summer camps and overnight school trips, then college, until finally he'd be fully and truly alone.

“Thanks again, Betty,” he managed to say as if she were doing him some kind of favor.

Turning onto the interstate heading toward Wichita
Falls, he shoved his phone back into his pocket. The hour passed, as time often did, with Micah lost in memories. Sometimes, when he could stand the pain, he pictured what his life would be like if Amy hadn't died. They would have that second child they'd planned. She would probably be staying home like she always said she would, taking care of babies and working on her master's degree. The house would be cluttered with her projects. She loved to grow things and always had some kind of craft going. She could knit, quilt and upholster furniture better than most of those experts on TV. Once, when they were first married, she'd painted stripes on one wall while trying to pick a color of paint and liked the job so much she painted the other three walls the same way.

Micah blinked away tears. Gentle, loving, soft-spoken Amy. How could God let her die when he and Logan needed her so much? He knew the answer. He'd said the words often enough to grieving families. But, his heart wouldn't listen.

Maybe that explained why the note written in Rosa Lee's book touched him. They were the same he'd said to Amy.
I'll love no other in this lifetime but you.
If Fuller felt them as Micah had, how could the man have stood her up that midnight? Or, had Rosa Lee been the one to turn away? Had she left him waiting?

He forced his mind to think of other things. The sheriff had said someone might have been trying to harm a member of the committee. Who? Not him. He went over the members one at a time, but he drew a blank. Not one seemed the kind of person who made enemies angry enough to endanger someone's life.

Pulling into the hospital parking lot, he reached into the back seat for the professor's briefcase. Maybe, if she were awake, he could talk to her about the possibilities. If
she found the book from Fuller to Rosa Lee, maybe she'd found other things. She might not even be aware of the importance of her research. Maybe a deep, dark secret lay hidden in the house, and whoever threw the drill bit was warning them to stay away.

When he climbed from his car, the wind whirled around him, trying to lift the briefcase from his hand. The air smelled of promised rain as he darted toward the visitor doors.

A desk nurse told him Sidney Dickerson wasn't back from X-ray but he could wait in a small room to the left of the elevator on the CCU floor. Micah wasn't surprised to find Lora and Billy there. Lora glanced up from her magazine when Micah walked in. Two chairs down, Billy stretched, looking as though he'd been asleep.

“Any news?” Micah asked.

Billy shook his head. “She's been in there for almost five hours and nothing.”

“One doctor came out and asked if we were family,” Lora added. “I said no. When I suggested I could call them, he said no, not until the tests are all in. I phoned the college to get a relative's number just in case. The clerk said Dr. Dickerson had no listing under next of kin.”

Billy stood. “We figure that makes us her next of kin, so we're hanging around. If it's bad news, she doesn't need to hear it alone.”

Lora nodded her agreement and offered Micah a cup of free coffee that looked strong enough to be motor oil. “Are the Rogers sisters all right?”

Micah relaxed in the plastic chair between Lora and Billy. “I guess, I left them arguing.”

Lora laughed. “They've done that for as long as I can remember. My father mentioned their parents were like that. Never said a word to one another except to yell. He
said when they celebrated their fiftieth wedding anniversary no one in town went because fifty years of fighting didn't seem like something to celebrate.”

“Strange thing is,” Billy added, “I've never known either of them to say a cross word to anyone else. Even when my uncle forgot to put the cap on and oil spilled out all over her engine, Miss Ada May just patted his hand and told him accidents happen. She wouldn't even let him pay for the damage.”

“Do you know of any reason someone would want to harm them?” Micah lowered his voice.

Lora raised an eyebrow. “You buying into the sheriff's idea that someone was after one of us?”

“Not really. Just thinking.”

Billy paced the room. “It's just hell-raising. Nothing else. I'd be the one with enemies if anyone in that room had them, and I can't think of one person who wouldn't face me if he wanted me hurt.” He sat down as a family of ten came into the room in one big huddle.

Micah's heart ripped. Part of him didn't want to see their sorrow, part knew offering comfort was his calling.

Before he could stand, the hospital chaplain, Bible in hand, hurried into the waiting room and directed the family to one of the semiprivate areas in the back.

A nurse stepped in to tell them that Sidney Dickerson was back in her room, and they would be limited to a fifteen-minute visit every two hours.

“You two go ahead.” Micah reached for a magazine. “I'll catch the next time.”

“But don't you…” Lora began.

“I've nowhere else to be, and it's quieter here than back in town answering questions.”

“You've got a point.” Lora shrugged. “Mind if I stay? I'm not sure I can deal with my mother.”

“No way. You're not staying here,” Billy cut in. “We're checking on the professor and heading out for food. I haven't eaten all day.”

Lora shrugged at Micah. “I promised the kid a meal if he let me drive his car over here.”

They started down the hallway. Micah heard Billy add, “I'm twenty. I'm no longer a kid.”

“Well, I'm twenty-four and divorced. That makes me a hundred years older than you.” When he said nothing, she added, “Aren't you going to say anything?”

“I promised not to, remember?” They turned a corner and disappeared from sight. “But, I'm thinking it,” echoed after them.

Micah tried to get comfortable in chairs that offered little. Why were waiting-room chairs always the worst? You'd think somewhere, someone would invent a chair that offered some degree of comfort for all the people who had to wait.

A tall man about forty wearing a Stetson stepped off the elevator. He seemed lost for a moment, then strolled in and took a seat on the other side of the TV. Micah couldn't see his face, but his expensive ostrich boots were visible.

Fifteen minutes later, Billy and Lora returned with lots of details about Sidney. The doctors thought her chest pains might have been something similar to a panic attack and not related to her heart. They would keep her the night anyway, but they seemed to think she'd be fine.

Billy mentioned how the professor had almost cried with joy when he'd handed her the glasses. Once she'd put them on, she'd demanded to see his cuts. Apparently, she'd been so blind without them, she hadn't noticed his bandages.

Though Billy complained about the professor's mothering, Micah sensed he hadn't minded all that much.

Micah thanked them and suggested they get home before the rain hit. Lora offered to bring back takeout, but he refused.

After they left, Micah listened to CNN and acted as if he were reading the paper until the duty nurse returned and told everyone waiting that the fifteen-minute visitation was once again open.

As Micah walked out, he noticed the man in the boots didn't stand. Whoever he waited to see must not be in CCU or was too far gone to bother visiting.

Micah found Sidney sleeping peacefully. Someone had combed out her hair and washed her face. She looked better than she had the few times he'd noticed her around town. The prim and proper line she always held had slipped. He couldn't think of any way to say it but that she appeared more human.

He sat her briefcase where she could see it, guessing she'd want to work if she woke. He couldn't remember ever seeing her when the case hadn't been in her hand.

Leaving without waking her, Micah walked to his car as the day's fading light glistened off the hood. Nothing waited for him at home, so he decided to visit a bookstore. Clifton Creek's rack of top-sellers at the grocery was never enough. He liked the little bookstore on Southwest Parkway. All he had to do was tell the owner what he liked, and the man would start stacking up books he'd also love. Micah never drove over to Wichita Falls that he didn't leave with at least half a dozen books.

He'd read all his life. When he'd been a kid, with his parents moving around, he'd learned to escape in books and now they always seemed to welcome him like old friends.

It was almost eight when he left the bookstore. The hint of rain now rode the north wind. Micah sat in his car and
called to say good-night to Logan, keeping it short and cheery.

As he drove out of the parking lot, he spotted a pet store and decided to go in. A few minutes later, he was lost in the cat aisle. Toys, cages, beds and food lined the shelves. After an hour, Micah settled on one toy and a children's book for Logan about caring for a first pet. If Baptist planned to stay around for a few days, he and Logan better learn a little about the care and feeding of cats.

When he walked back to the parking lot he wished he'd brought a coat. Even after three years, he still had trouble getting used to how fast the temperature changed in this part of the country.

Micah drove home, in no hurry to reach an empty house. At least he had a few new books. Maybe he'd read until he fell asleep. Tomorrow was Tuesday, the day he spent most of his time counseling couples planning to marry. Reverend Milburn required anyone married in the church in Clifton Creek to go through at least six sessions. Unfortunately, Milburn never had time to do the counseling himself, so it had become part of Micah's job description. He would also have to attend the Glory Days luncheon tomorrow and teach a biblical history class at the college.