“Be nice and quiet and maybe she won’t notice if we snitch a few pieces of bacon.”
Callie turned, her heart hammering, at the whispered voices, to see Jack and Jonathan sneaking in the back door. Jonathan’s bare feet were covered in dirt and Jack was smudged in a few spots too. She didn’t care. They were the most beautiful sight she’d ever seen.
“Oh, God, where have you been? I’ve been worried sick. You saw Victor was here.” She rushed and scooped her son from the floor to hold him tight. Kissing his precious face, she checked to make sure there was nothing more than dirt on him.
“Luckily he left a message on your machine before he showed up. It gave me enough time to get out. Barely, but we made it.” Jack’s face held a wry, cautious smile. Did he think she was mad at him? Victor showing up was hardly his fault. Although the danger aspect of Victor’s visit certainly was.
Jonathan leaned out of her arms trying to reach for the plate of bacon she had cooked. She allowed him to grab a few pieces then deposited him on the floor. “Sit in a chair, Jonathan, and you can eat that. I’m making some scrambled eggs to go with it.”
Moving to where she had left the bowl on the counter, she began to stir again. But relief at their returning safely caused her hands to shake and she dropped the fork. Jack moved up behind her, settling his hands on her shoulders.
“Are you okay, Calico? We were fine. I took Jonathan into the woods behind the house. He was chattering like a little magpie and I thought Victor might hear him so I kept moving farther away. I checked back a few times but Victor was still here so we had to stay there.”
She nodded her head but she wasn’t okay. The reality of what could have happened if Victor had seen Jack here began to set in and her whole body shook. Jack turned her around and she immediately fell against him. When he pulled her close to his chest she absorbed the strength and warmth that had been missing from her life for so long. His arms wrapped around her trembling form and she relished their support.
“Shh, it’s all right, Calico, we’re good. Everything is fine.”
But it wasn’t fine. As long as they had to live like this, it wasn’t fine. But for now, she would absorb as much comfort as she could from Jack. She wasn’t sure when she would be able to get it again.
