The Strange Healing (23 page)

He handed her the soup, but she set it back down while they were talking.  He casually picked it back up and fed several bites to her, talking and distracting her the whole time.  After she'd eaten ten or twelve bites she realized what he'd done and objected.  “Heath, cut that out.  I wasn't hungry when you got here, and now I feel stuffed.”

“
Should I just dump out the rest of your smoothie then?”

“
No, give me that.  I think I can get that down.”

He was grinning as he said, “Stuffed, huh?”  He handed her the smoothie, though, and said, “Enjoy it, Honey.”

She took it and started sipping it immediately.

Smiling at her love of smoothies, he asked, “So what did you do this morning?”

Sara paused just a moment before answering honestly, “Surprisingly, I took a nap.”

“
Why is that surprising?”

“
Because I didn't think I was tired.”

“
Honey, you have mono.  Did I forget to mention that to you?”

Frowning, she said, “I know, but I slept all night.  How could I be tired again this morning?”

He gently pulled her up from her pillows and into his chest, holding her tightly.  “Baby, I know you're frustrated, and I hate that you're going through this.”  At that moment she realized this was just as hard on him as it was her.  He was stopping in every morning, bringing her lunch every day, and dinner every night.  He was going above and beyond the call to be with her and help her through this.  He was proving his love for her in a big way.  She clutched onto him a little tighter.

He felt her grasp tighten and kept his tight hold on her.  “Are you okay, Honey?”

“Yeah, I am now.  I love you, Heath.”

He wasn't sure exactly what brought that on, but he wasn't complaining.  “I love you, too, Baby.”

~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Two weeks later she was going nuts.  She was feeling good.  Heath was now okay with her being out of bed during the day some, as long as she took at least one good nap during the day and didn't do anything strenuous.  She was back to illustrating her books, which made her feel better, like she was getting back to normal in this one way, at least. 

She was going stir crazy stuck in the house, so he stepped in.  He took her out for a smoothie, which she really enjoyed, but she had to admit she was ready to rest when they got back home. 

He still didn't want her to venture out of the house without him, though, and that upset her.  John's stay in Italy was drawing to an end, and she still had to find a place to live.  Heath kept telling her not to worry, he'd help her find something, but she wanted to find something now.

She spent a few days coming up with a plan, and then waited until the perfect opportunity presented itself. 

She had spoken with a real estate agent, who understood what she was looking for and was sending
emails and pictures of places Sara might be interested in.  The agent called to talk with her about a new condo complex she thought was exactly what Sara was looking for.  Unfortunately, though, they were selling quickly.  They were still under construction, but most had already been sold.  She told Sara if she was interested she better go look at them soon, before they were sold out.

Sara knew she'd love these condos and she didn't want to miss them.  She called Heather to enlist her help.  “Heather, is tomorrow the day you only work until noon?”

“Yeah, why?  What have you got in mind?”

“
There's a condo I have to look at.  The pictures and description sound like exactly what I'm looking for, but my real estate agent says if I don't get over there tomorrow I'll probably miss them.  They're selling fast and they only have a couple left.”

“
What would Heath say?  I didn't think he wanted you going anywhere yet.”

“
He'll be okay with it.”

Heather was doubtful.  “I don't know, Sara.  If I take you somewhere and he gets upset about it, we both know what'll happen.  To both of us.”

“Oh, I know.  But he's taken me out a few times.  He took me out for a smoothie just a couple days ago.  He just said he doesn't want me to go anywhere by myself, in case I get too tired.  He doesn't want me to drive anywhere yet.”  She tried to sound confident as she continued.  “That's why I'm asking you.  He has to work all day tomorrow or I'd ask him to go with me.”

Heather thought about it a few minutes.  “He's taken you out more than once?”

“Yes, he took me to get a smoothie a couple times, and to get more paper for work.”  Trying not to sound too desperate, she said, “Come on, please?  It won't take long just to look at a condo.”

“
That's all you want to do, is just look at the condo?”

“
That's it.  I'm running out of time to find somewhere to live, and this sounds perfect.  I don't want to miss it.”

“
Okay, you convinced me.  I'll be over to get you about 2:00.”

“
Thank you so much, Heather.  If I like it I want to buy it, then tell Heath he doesn't have to worry about finding me somewhere to live any more.”

“
So he doesn't know you're going?”

“
No.  The realtor just called me to tell me about it, but she said I have to act fast or I'll lose it.  Heath has to work tomorrow, so I thought I'd call you.  Then if it works out I can surprise him.”

Chuckling, she said, “Okay, we'll show the two big strong guys us two frail girls can do something on our own.  I like it.”

Giggling, Sara said, “Me, too.  Thanks, Heather.”

~ ~ ~ ~ ~

The girls talked eagerly on their way to see the condo the next day.  If Sara liked it they were anxious to tell the guys they took care of this by themselves.  They got to the condo complex, though, and were disheartened.  The sales office was closed on Wednesday afternoon.  They stood staring at the closed sign, when they heard someone yelling. 

Afraid someone needed help, they went to where the sidewalk ended, where they could see behind the building.  They were surprised to see that the gate at the side was open, and beyond the gate were the condos that were still under construction.  Various construction workers were there working.  That was who they'd heard yelling.  No one needed help, they were simply working.  Working on the very same condos they came here to see.

They looked at each other, then grinned.  Heather asked, “Are you thinking what I'm thinking?”

“
Maybe.  If we look at them today while we're here, I can call them and talk to someone on the phone.  I can tell them I've been there to see them, and we can talk price.  If I like what I see and the price seems okay, wouldn't you think they'd hold one for me, or bring the paperwork out to me?  Especially if I tell them I have the money and don't have to wait for loan approval from a bank?”

“
Probably.  You have the cash?”

“
Mom and Dad both had good life insurance policies, and I'm an only child.  Plus the man that pulled out in front of Mom had insurance, and they made a pretty decent offer to me to avoid a lawsuit.  I wasn't interested in filing a lawsuit because it wouldn't have brought Mom back anyway, so I took what they offered.  I don't want a real big or fancy place, so, yeah, I have enough money in the bank to pay for a condo.”

Heather smiled and assured her, “I think if you tell them you can pay cash, they'll be happy to make an appointment for you to sign the papers, and bring them out to you if you can't go to them.”

“Then do you think we should go look at them now, while we're here?”

Heather shrugged.  “I don't see what harm it can do.  I mean, it's not like we're going to hurt anything.  The workers are here so they're not locked.  It looks like the first couple are done, or close enough you can tell what it will look like.  I say while we're here we may as well.”

“I agree.  Let's look at this first one.”  They were happy that the door to the first condo was open.  They went in and walked through each room, commenting on things here and there. 

“
Heather, I love this layout.  What do you think?”

“
I'm with you, Sara.  This is nice.  And I love the kitchen.”

“
I know, I love that kitchen.  And the appliances are exactly what I'd pick out.” 

They finished walking through the first one and Heather asked, “Do you suppose they're all basically the same?”

Sara said, “Oh, you know, they aren't.  She said there's a two bedroom, a three bedroom, and a larger two bedroom with a den.”

“
That must be the two bedroom we saw.  Is that the one you think you'd want?”

“
Probably.  Or maybe the bigger two bedroom.  The den would probably make a nice office, since I work at home.”

“
That's a good point.  Let's go see if one of those is open.”

“
Good idea.” 

They walked around to the back of the building and went into the first condo they came to.  They could tell immediately it was different, so they went further into the condo.  They walked out onto the balcony off the master bedroom and looked at the common areas.  They went back in and attempted to close the door, but it kept catching on something and wouldn't close completely.  Sara made a mental note to tell them about the door the next day when she called.

They started to leave the bedroom when they heard voices in the next condo over.  Heather motioned for Sara to be quiet.  She whispered, “It's probably some of the workers.  Let's be quiet, just in case they'd get upset at us being in here.”  Sara nodded, and they stood still so the floor wouldn't creak, and listened.

They heard two men talking fairly softly.  They had to listen closely, but heard, “Okay, get ready to go.  We'll go over the balcony and back this way while they're all out front taking a break.  If anyone sees us, we're taking these tools over to Building 3.  If no one sees us, just take them to that grove of trees over there.  There's a steep hill right behind the trees and no one will see a thing from here.  We'll
leave them there until it's dark and the workers are all gone.  We'll come pick them up then.”

Another voice said, “Okay, I've got it.  What do we do after we ditch the tools behind the trees?”

“We come back the same way and see what the bozos out front are doing.  If they're all working out front, like they said they would be, we'll go hit building 3.  Did you see how much copper piping and electrical wire they dropped off today?  That stuff will be easy to get to the trees, and it's worth a ton of money.”

Sara and Heather looked at each other, scared to move.  In the next moment the guy that seemed to be the leader said, “Okay, they're on break.  Let's go.”

The girls stood still against the wall, but both watching outside.  Luckily the curtain was shut on most of the door, so hopefully they wouldn't be noticed.  They watched as two men carrying armloads of tools walked across the common area and through the two buildings across from them. 

Still afraid to talk very loud, Sara whispered, “Now what do we do?”

“I don't know.  Phil said they had a report a couple days ago about someone stealing things from a construction site, but they didn't know how they got in to get the tools because the doors were all locked when they got there in the morning.  Maybe it was these same men, and that's how they get in.  They take the stuff out during the day, when the doors are still unlocked.  The workers probably simply go through and lock all the doors before they leave, without looking inside the ones they worked on earlier.”

“
Should we leave?”

“
I don't know.  What if the men come back and see us leaving?”

Sara thought a minute before saying, “You're right.  We're probably safer if we stay right here, but let's hide in a closet.  Then they won't see us when they go past the door again..”

Heather agreed.  “Good idea.” 

They were both quiet a few minutes.  Shaking, Sara suggested, “Heather, we need to call Phil, don't we?” 

“Yeah, I think so, too.”

“
He isn't going to be happy, is he?”

Heather shook her head.  “No, he isn't.  He's going to see this as trespassing, and he won't be happy.”

“And he'll tell Heath, won't he?”

“
Oh, yeah.  We're screwed.”  After a minute she said, “Unless we sneak out and don't get caught and don't tell anyone we were here.”

“
Yeah, that might work,” Sara agreed.  “Or if we get caught we could be in all kinds of trouble.  If the thieves see us we could be in danger, and if the workers see us and call the police, the men will be really upset when we call them to bail us out of jail.”

“
Ooh, you're right.  I hadn't thought of that.”

“
I say we call Phil.  I'd feel too guilty if I try to keep something from Heath, anyway.”

“
Yeah, and Phil can always tell when I'm lying or hiding something.  You're right.  We better call Phil quick before the thieves come back.”