CHAPTER Seven:

   The screen door slammed.

   “Lauren!” Amanda sounded breathless as she looked through the house for her friend.

   “Hello!” Lauren called out from the kitchen. 

    Amanda hurried over to her and enveloped her in a hug. “I heard what happened. I’m sorry.” 

  Lauren appreciated the sentiment. 

   “Can’t stay long, have to help with the chores. You know how dad is. I already pushed back University for a year to help on the ranch, but there’s always more to do.” Amanda looked around the room.

   A frying pan was sizzling on the stove. A bowl of batter sat next to it. Lauren was making pancakes for dinner, at Willow’s request. Of course, she’d snuck shredded zucchini into them. They needed to be used, and Willow looked like she hadn’t had a healthy meal in her life. It was time to start. 

   Willow came bounding through the door, up to Amanda as if they were old friends. Amanda always had that effect on children. 

   “Hello, little miss.”She bent down. “You must be Willow.”

   “Yes, I am!” Willow beamed. “You have pretty hair.” 

   “Why thank you.” Amanda bopped the girl’s nose. “You can call me Mandy. I like your freckles.”

   Lauren turned back to the task in front of her, chopping up a salad. It didn’t go with pancakes, but she wanted one so she didn’t care.

   “I can play the piano. Wanna hear?” Willow bounced up and down on her toes. 

   “Sure.” Amanda straightened. 

   A halting melody began from the living room. Jesus Loves Me, but with some mistakes that nearly sounded intentional. She was a quick learner. 

   “Is there any way I can help?” Amanda turned back to her friend. 

   “You could put a couple of plates on the table.”

   “Ha. Ha.” She crossed her arms. “Very funny. Seriously though, how can I help?”
   Lauren set down the knife. “Well, aside from finding Charlotte and dragging her back here, you could babysit.” 

   Amanda chewed her lip. “Couldn’t you take her to work with you?”

   “I tried that. It did not go well.”

   “Well, I suppose Tuesdays I’m free... Working every other day, trying to save up.”

Lauren glanced over at her. “I’m sorry, I couldn’t pay you.”

   “Pshaw.” Amanda swatted her shoulder. “What are friends for? Besides, I can practice my teaching on her.”

   The red-head had a kind heart. Lauren was forever thankful to her.

   “Gotta run, don’t want to be late getting back.” She backed out of the room. With a flash of red, she was gone. 

   Lauren slid the sliced vegetables into a bowl, then flipped the pancakes.

   “I want to help!” Willow came back and stared up at her with wide eyes. 

   Lauren couldn’t help but melt every time she saw that look, so she handed over the salad bowl. It was light enough for her to carry. 

   “Take this to the table.” Satisfied that it was safe, she turned to the fridge and looked for the bottle of syrup. 

   Willow reached up to the table, and the bowl came tumbling down, clattering on the floor and sending lettuce flying everywhere. Lauren jumped and started scooping it up. 

It would have been easier to do it myself. She tried not to be annoyed, but she couldn’t help it. Something smelled funny. 

   Smoke.

   With a start, she realized the pancakes were burning. She ran over and grabbed the pan. 

   “Ouch!” The handle was hot, she’d touched it too close to the burner. A blister was forming. 

   Sticking it under the tap, she turned the water on to full speed. As she stood there, movement caught her eye out the window. A car coming up the driveway. Not a dark blue one. A black mustang. 

   “Why now?” She dried her hand off and used a hot pad to remove the pan from the heat. 

   Raymond knocked on the door once, before opening it and stepping inside. 

   A haze of smoke greeted him. He fanned a hand in front of his face. Lauren hated his dramatics. But Willow was coughing too. 

   Okay, maybe he’s not being overly dramatic.

   “Is your house on fire, or are you just cooking?” Raymond asked. 

   She glared at him and held back a cough that tickled her throat. “Very funny.” 

   He retreated to the porch. Willow trailed behind, but Lauren shooed her away. Too late. He’d noticed. 

   “What do you want?” Lauren shut the door behind her. 

   “Who is she?” A smug look started coming across his face like he knew he’d stumbled across something he shouldn’t have. 

   “My little sister.” Lauren crossed her arms. The last thing she’d wanted was the Howlands to find out about her. But of course, they had. “Don’t play dumb. Mrs. Jepsen already got to you, didn’t she?”

   He shrugged. “Not working at Chuck’s tonight? You still going to be making your payments with her hanging around?”

   “Of course.” She avoided his gaze. “Why are you here?”

   “You don’t sound very confident.” He leaned against a post of the porch. “I’m here to tell you my offer is still open.”

   “What are you talking about?”

   “You know – we’re still having that party, and I...”

   “No.” Lauren reached for the door knob. 

   The phone rang, and she left him alone while she went to answer it. 

   “Lauren!” Grant’s voice sounded on the other side of the line. “I need you to come down to the shop, and bring the keys. I can’t disable the security system.”

   “Can it wait?” Lauren asked. 

   “It’s an emergency, someone’s been fiddling with it. Please come.”

   “All right.” Lauren hung up. 

   She grabbed the keys on her way out the door. Raymond hadn’t budged. 

   “What’s going on?” 

   “I have to go. Since you’re here, make yourself useful. Keep an eye on Willow, I’ll be right back.” She pushed past him. It would be a foolish idea to leave the girl alone, knowing her tendency to make a mess. 

   “What do you mean? What am I supposed to do with her?” He shouted. 

   “Just don’t move until I get back!” Lauren shouted back and started the truck. 

   The engine rumbled to life, and she avoided hitting Raymond’s car as she drove away. Even though it would have been satisfying. 

   She glanced back in the rear-view mirror. He was standing on the porch with his arms crossed. Let him pout. There was nothing to be done about it. 

   Grant was circling the store when she arrived. Alarms screamed from inside, the front light flared on and off. Lauren jumped out of the truck and dashed over to him.

   “What’s wrong?” 

   “I’m not sure...” He looked around. “The alarms are set off, but I can’t find anyone.”

   After a quick search, Lauren came to the same conclusion. She grabbed her keys and went to the front door. When it opened, the alarm shut off. 

   Grant rest a hand on his holster and entered in front of her, keeping her behind him. The cash register was untouched. They went to the back room, and no one was there either. 

   Every aisle was empty. 

   “What do you think it is?” Lauren asked. “An electrical failure?”
   He ran a hand through his hair. “I don’t rightly know. Something set off the alarm. Didn’t notice the power flickering. Maybe they were trying to break in and failed.”

   They decided to look around back once more. Halfway along the side of the building, they heard rattling. Like someone was trying to force the doorknob to turn. 

   Lauren and Grant pressed their backs to the wall and crept along silently. He held up a hand to signal for her to wait, then peeked around the corner. There was a pause, then he marched out into the open. 

   “Put your hands in the air!” He said in a stern voice. “Lauren, you won’t believe who this is. You can come see.”

   Eyes wide, she moved into the open. 

   What a picture greeted her eyes. A fat raccoon stood on the boxes stacked beside the door. His paw still rested on the doorknob, proving his guilt. 

   “What in the world?” Lauren’s brows rose. 

   “It appears we have found our bandit!” Grant’s shoulder shook with laughter. 

The black rings around the creature’s eyes did make it look like a bandit. It finally scurried away.

   After a good laugh, the two of them walked back to Lauren’s truck together.

   “I’m sorry to have made you come all this way for nothing,” Grant said. 

   “It’s all right.” Lauren smiled. “At least I got my entertain in for the day.” 

   He leaned against the truck and tilted his head back to look up at the sky. “Hope I didn’t get you too worried, calling it an emergency and all. I really thought...”

   “Oh no,” Lauren shook her head. “Nothing could faze me after almost burning the house down.”

   His brown eyes sparkled. “What?”

   “I was cooking.” 

   “Come off it, your cooking isn’t so bad.” He laughed, then looked through the windshield of the truck. “I see you’ve found a babysitter?”

   “Not exactly.” Lauren remembered what had happened and realized she needed to get back. 

   “What do you mean? Where is she?”

   “I was in a rush, and I left her at home.”

   “Alone?” Grant’s forehead wrinkled with worry. 

   “No.” Lauren avoided his gaze. She knew it had been an irresponsible choice.    “Raymond was pestering me again, and he was right there.”

   Grant pushed himself off the truck. “Raymond? You mean Raymond Howland?” He frowned. “He’s still bothering you?”

   “Just reminding me of the debt. It’ll be fine. I’ll go back right now.”

   He shook his head and opened the door for her. “If I had known that, I wouldn’t have made you come.”

   “How long have I been here? Half an hour?” She did up her seatbelt. “That’s not much time.”
   But as she said it, she knew full well it was enough time for disaster to ensue. If not from Willow, Raymond was probably snooping around. 

   Riley came up on the other side of the truck. “Could I get a ride with you? I’m heading your way.”

   Lauren nodded. “Hop on in!”

   While she waited for the girl to climb in, she closed the door and rolled down the window. “Don’t worry about so much, Grant. I’ll see you around.”

   “I’ll try not to, although it’s near impossible.” 

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   The hotel doors closed behind Charlotte, echoing with a finality that left her feeling even more despairing.

   It had been a rotten day, and this was a rotten end to it. She had come for an interview, and they hadn’t even given her a chance. Sometime in the days before, they’d found a cleaning lady. They hadn’t even had the courtesy to let her know. 

She unlocked her car and got inside. It felt like climbing into an oven. 

   “Cheer up. You still have five more interviews.” She said it aloud, but the words didn’t do a thing to lift her spirits. 

   It was quiet. Beauty to her ears. A girl could get used to this. She shouldn’t be so glad about it. But she could miss her daughter while enjoying her alone time.

   She switched on the radio and flicked through the stations. 

   “Do you think your situation looks grim?”

   Charlotte chuckled at the timely question.

   “Did you lose a job? A loved one?”

   “Don’t even have a job to lose,” Charlotte muttered. “And barely a loved one.”

   “You have it easy!” The man’s voice carried loud over the speakers. 

   She waited for some speech about a starving child, in some far corner of the world. 

It never came. 

   “Christ was hated by those in the town He grew up in. He had no home – not even a bed to lay his head on. In His darkest hour, His own Father seemed to forsake Him. But He endured. For you!”

   She shut off the radio and leaned her head back against the headrest. Well, she’d heard all this before. It was relatable. But it would be followed by some passionate speech about how she owed God her life.

   What could He want with her life? It was so terribly broken. He’d have His hands full trying to scrub her clean. She couldn’t even sort out the mess. 

   Besides all that, what was so bad about living for herself? She closed the door and started the car up.

   How was Willow doing? She wondered, but didn’t dare to call – not after the voicemail Lauren had left. They probably both hated her by now. And were probably having the time of their life? She hoped so. 

   Anything to smooth over the stormy welcome she’d receive when she finally got back. 

   A bird landed on a signpost up ahead of her. It was a wren. It had been her dad’s favourite bird. It sang a little song before flying away.

   If only I could follow it, Charlotte thought. But during her life, she’d learned that running away from problems only multiplied them. It never fixed them. They always came back to haunt her. 

   Some would say that she was in the middle of running away. No, she was going to go back eventually. But not without some plan, some hope. Nothing would distract her from her goal – finding a future for Willow and herself. Even if it meant they were separated for a while.