Laurie's Time (The Fairfield Series) (20 page)

“You haven’t had her parents try to contact you, have you?” Jean asked.

“Goodness, no!” Laurie exclaimed. “They don’t even know where she is, do they? I thought that was in the court order.”

“It is. The Carlsons’ haven’t had anything suspicious either, but keep a watch out. We don’t want her found and snatched.”

Laurie sighed. “You know when I went into elementary education, I thought I would just be teaching the bright little minds that passed through my classrooms. I honestly had no idea that I would have to deal with abusers, kids with alcoholic parents, fires in the school, and the host of other things that cross our doorsteps!”

Jean patted her hand and agreed. “I started out as a teacher and then went in to social work. It is wearying, but satisfying at the same time.” She headed out of the classroom just as it was time to take the children to the playground.

The February day was cold but clear, and the students were running off their pent up energy. Laurie liked to play with them, but her knee had been hurting ever since she got up this morning.
What the hell is going on with me? I am twenty-four and feel like an old woman!

Standing over to one side, she noticed a minivan with darkened windows driving slowly down the road. It stopped off to the side of the playground and sat in the street for several minutes. Ever attentive when dealing with young children and possible threats to them, she stood straighter making her presence known. The van continued on down the road.
Probably nothing. You’re being paranoid; this school is surrounded by minivans!

The cold was seeping into her making her knee even stiffer. Clapping her hands, she herded the children back inside.

“Miss Dodd, why are you limping?” one of the students asked. She noticed that Cindy came immediately to her side, looking up at her with concern.

“Oh, I just have a stiff knee. I’m fine.”

Reassured, the children sat down to get ready for their next activity. Cindy stayed at her side. Reaching down to touch her shoulder, Laurie nodded for her to move on to her chair. Limping over to her own chair, she looked at the clock. Only another hour to go.
I hate that I have no energy!

*

As soon as the children were picked up or taken home on the buses, Laurie headed back to her room. After cleaning and arranging the lessons for tomorrow, she sat heavily at her desk. Her follow-up appointment wasn’t until next week, but she wanted to talk to the doctor anyway.

Calling Dr. Alexander’s office, she spoke to the nurse. “I was just checking on my blood work and to tell her of my new symptoms.” The nurse wrote everything down and said the doctor would call her as soon as she was free.

Laurie spent more time working in her room and then her cell phone rang. Looking down, she was relieved to see it was Dr. Alexander.

“The good news is that you do not have the flu. The bad news is that I am still not sure what is going on with you. I am concerned that you have stiffness in your knee and that your neck is worse. If it was just your neck, I was going to have you see an orthopedist and suggest physical therapy. But with your knee involved, I’d like to see you sooner than next week. Can you come tomorrow after school?”

Laurie agreed and hung up the phone. Feeling frustrated, she headed home.
I don’t want to have something wrong with me, but I’d like to know what is going on. Some kind of diagnosis is better than not knowing. At least with a diagnosis I can be treated and not in the dark!

*

Tom and Jake stopped by the fire station to talk to Mac and Rob about an arson fraud investigation they were working on. After interviewing them about the case, Mac headed off leaving the three friends left to talk.

“How’s Laurie?” Tom asked.

Rob shook his head in frustration. “I just can’t get a good handle on it.”

“She seein’ a doctor?”

Rubbing his hand over his face, Rob looked up at his friends. “Yeah, but so far we don’t know anything new. I don’t know. I just keep thinkin’…I don’t know. I…”

“What the hell are you trying to say, Rob?” Jake asked.

“Look, you all know about Laurie’s background. We’ve talked to her aunt about anything hereditary from her mother’s side of the family and came up empty. So then of course, the doc asks about her father’s side. And we got nothin’.” Rob was silent for a moment, trying to put into words the thoughts that had been going through his mind.

Tom and Jake knew this and gave him time to pull his thoughts together. They waited patiently, years of camaraderie gave them a unique bond.

Sighing, Rob continued. “Fuck, I’m just gonna say it. Been thinkin’ that maybe it’s time Laurie tried to find her dad. She has his name and knows he was in the Army at the time she was born. I think it wouldn’t be too hard to find out if he’s still alive.”

Jake spoke up first. “What does Laurie think of this idea?”

The silence in the room was deafening. Tom and Jake exchanged glances but said nothing.

“When the doctor asked about her dad’s side of the family, I hinted to Laurie later that if she wanted to try to find him, I’d take care of it for her.” Shaking his head at the memory, he continued, “She was pissed. Said she had lived for twenty-four years without him and she wasn’t going to start looking for him now.”

Rob was quiet again for a few moments. “I could find him privately, on my own.” He sighed. “We promised there’d be no secrets between us ever.”

Tom raised his eyebrows at this statement. “Bro, you know what you’ve got to do. You can’t go find this man without her knowin’.”

“What if possibly tryin’ to save her life is more important than keepin’ a secret,” Rob answered.

“Fuck, man, you’re screwed no matter which way you go,” Jake observed.

“Yeah, well, been thinkin’ about this constantly. I’ve hired a private investigator to do some preliminary scoutin’.”

The three friends continued to discuss the pros and cons of trying to find Laurie’s father for a while longer. Vowing to support Rob in whatever decision he came to, they shook hands and went their separate ways for the evening.

*

Packing an overnight bag, Laurie was getting ready to go to Rob’s place. Deciding she needed to hear Emma’s voice she called her aunt. After chatting for a little while, Emma finally asked, “So what’s the real reason you called?”

“I’m so easy to read,” she moaned, plopping down on her bed, placing her aching leg up on her comforter.

“Only to me, Laurie. Well….and maybe to Rob,” Emma laughed.

Laurie and Emma never beat around the bush. Having grown up the way they did, they supported each other in all things. So Laurie dove right in. “Rob brought up finding my father the other day. He thinks I should because he is freaking out since the doctor asked for a medical history and I couldn’t give any information about my father’s side of the family.”

“Laurie honey, what do you want to do?” Emma asked softly.

“I don’t know. I mean, let’s look at this realistically. One, this man may not even remember my mother. If she were a fling, she would have been one among hundreds of nameless faces.” For a second, she closed her eyes tightly, trying to shake the image of Rob with all the women of his past.
Focus, focus!

“Second, if he did remember her, I would be coming out of the blue twenty-four years later as a complete surprise. He may have a wife, other children, it would totally interrupt his world. Third, what if he refused to see me? I’ve told myself that I didn’t miss what I never had, and that was easy when my father was a faceless figure of my mom’s memories. I wasn’t hurt because he never knew about me, so his not being in my life wasn’t personal. But if he rejects me, then that is personal. Aguhhhhh.”

Emma’s clear voice came though the phone as though she were sitting right next to Laurie, with her arms around her. “Honey, you can’t worry about interrupting his life. Yes, if he is married with a family, it would be a great crisis for them to deal with, but you do have a right to know who he is. But it sounds as though you’re not ready to make that decision right now. You’ve said that Dr. Alexander doesn’t feel that it is necessary right now, so you can wait. Don’t rush to make a decision yet.”

Sighing, Laurie leaned back on the bed and smiled. Emma always knew how to read her. She was simply not ready to take that step yet.

“And Laurie,” Emma continued. “Just remember, you have to do this on your time. When you are ready. Not Rob. Deciding whether or not or even when to find your father must be done on your time.”

“My time. You’re right. This has to be done my way, at my pace, at my time. Oh Emma, I love you!”

“I love you too, Laurie! By the way, do you want to hear some happy news?”

“Of course, anything to get me out of this funk!” Laurie replied.

“Well, the Fairfield School Board just posted a job opening for next year for a high school counselor and I applied.”

“Oh my god!” Laurie screamed. “Oh, you must get it! Then we can be together and live in the same town!”

“Well, we’ll see, but I would love to move to Fairfield. It has been so good for you, so who knows? I may just be able to make my home there as well!”

Hanging up, Laurie felt lighter than she had in weeks.

Laurie drove over to Rob’s apartment for the night. Tonight he was on call, so since his apartment was closer to the fire station they decided that she would spend the night there. She knew there was no way she could keep her stiff knee from him but also did not want it to ruin her night.
Maybe I can at least get into his apartment without him seeing me limping from the parking lot.

She pulled her bug into the space and opened her door. Grabbing the door frame, she hauled herself out of the car and leaned against it to steady herself. Reaching back to grab the bag allowed her not to have to bend her knee. Having accomplished that, she shut and locked the bug then began the slow limp towards his apartment building. Thank god, his building has an elevator!

She had barely made it into the lobby, hobbling over towards the elevator, when the door to the stairs was thrown open with such force it banged loudly against the wall. Startled, she whirled around, nearly losing her balance. Looking towards the sound, she saw Rob stalking towards her, fury on his face. Like an avenging angel swooping down, he towered over her as he approached.

“Rob, you frightened me,” she said, then squeaked as she was picked up in his massive arms. She threw her arms around his neck to steady herself, knowing he was furious but not knowing why.

“Rob-,” she began.

“Not a word, babe,” he ordered.

Huffing, she began again. “Rob, I-,”

“Laurie. Not. A. Word.”

Deciding that not speaking at the moment would be the best course of action she allowed him to continue to take her up to his apartment. Once inside, she noticed that as angry as he was, he gently set her down on the sofa, carefully placing a pillow under her knee.

After setting her down, he stood over her momentarily, then began to pace around the room. She continued to sit quietly, knowing that he had to process whatever was going on in his mind.