Dead by Midnight - Beverly Barton [172]
“I’m so happy for you.” Lorie hugged Cathy. “You deserve the wonderful life you have with Jack.”
“You deserve a life with the man you love, too,” Cathy told her. “I swear, I want to shake Mike Birkett until his teeth rattle.”
The bell over the entrance tinkled loudly as the front door opened and Nell Birkett followed her grandchildren into the shop. “Hello, girls,” Nell called to them as she came inside and closed her wet umbrella while M.J. and Hannah ran over to Lorie.
“I brought them a little early,” Nell said. “It’s raining cats and dogs out there and I always drive slower when it’s raining. Another thing, I’m going to stop by the farmer’s market on my way back from the dentist if it’s slacked up some and I feel like it. Thank goodness Dr. Springer could fit me in. This tooth is killing me.” Nell rubbed her swollen jaw. “It’s probably an abscess. Sure feels like it. And I sure do appreciate your looking after the kids.”
“No problem. I love spending time with Hannah and M.J.”
“Gotta run.” Nell waved good-bye as she headed out the door, reopening her umbrella on her way out.
“Me, too,” Cathy said. “I’ll call you the minute I leave Dr. Evans’s office.”
“Don’t forget your umbrella.” Lorie picked up the bright red umbrella from the counter and handed it to Cathy.
Left alone with the children and a few browsing customers, Lorie suggested that M.J. and Hannah go with her to the kitchenette in the back. “I have milk and cookies. Or Cokes and chips.”
“Milk and cookies,” Hannah said.
“Coke and chips.” M.J. grinned.
After settling the children at the table, each with the snack of their choice, Lorie told them, “When you finish eating, clean up after yourselves and then start on your homework. I’ll be outside in the shop if you need me for anything.”
“Yes, ma’am,” they said in unison.
On her way out, Lorie overheard Hannah say, “Miss Lorie would make a great mom, wouldn’t she?”
Oh, Hannah, more than anything, I’d love to be your mom.
“If Dad marries her, she’d be our stepmom,” M.J. corrected his sister. “But she wouldn’t be one of those mean stepmothers. She’d be like a real mom because she likes both of us so much.”
I love you both. More than you’ll ever know. I love you because you’re great kids. I love you because you’re Mike’s children. I love you because you were almost mine.
Customers came and went and Lorie rang up several nice sales. Mrs. Webber hurried in for a quick look through the blank invitation cards that were on sale, bought two dozen for her sister’s birthday party, and hurried off. Paul Babcock showed up and took his usual stance at the antique postcard table. Mike called to check on the kids and told her that he’d drop by and pick them up before she closed at 6:00 P.M. One by one, her customers hurried off to their cars, eventually leaving only Paul and a lady Lorie didn’t recognize in the store.
The heavy springtime thunderstorm that had rolled into Dunmore, bringing a torrential downpour along with booming thunder and dangerous cloud-to-ground lightning, grew progressively worse. Concerned about Hannah and M.J., Lorie carried two flashlights with her when she went to check on them. She gave one to each of them and cautioned them to stay away from the single window in the room.
“Keep these with you, just in case the power goes out,” she told them. “With a storm this bad, there’s a good chance the electricity will go out at any moment. During these spring storms, we average losing power at least once a month.”
“I don’t like the thunder and lightning when it’s like this,” Hannah admitted.
Lorie hugged the child, kissed her forehead, and said, “You’re safe in here. I promise. And as soon as I shoo the last of my customers out the door, I’ll close up early and come back in here with y’all until your dad shows up.”
That promise seemed to pacify Hannah. Lorie could tell that although he was putting up a brave front, M.J. was a little unnerved by the incessant thunder and repeated