Page 33 of Baby Me

“It’s because he doesn’t have a heart. George Connors is vicious like that.” Silvia frowned, talking as if he weren’t in the room, and then leaned over me toward him. “You touch those ducks, George Connors, and I will never speak to youagain.”

“Well, that would be a blessing, wouldn’tit?”

“Mr. Connors, how about I stop by tomorrow and see if we can add something to the garden to deter the ducks? That way you’ll be happy and you’ll have a very grateful neighbor. Right,Silvia?”

“I will do anything to spare the littleones.”

“What do you say, Mr. Connors? I’ll see you first thing tomorrowmorning?”

“All right, as long as you, young lady, will have a coffee with me aswell.”

“Sounds good to me. I’m going to head inside. It’s been a long day.” I kissed Silvia on her cheek, said goodnight to the remaining guests, and headed for the door. On my way out I heard Silvia say, “If you’re trying to make me jealous, George, it’s not going towork.”

As I turned on the lights at Silvia’s house, I wished that Cameron were there. He’d barely left and I already missed him. I missed my mom and Cameron’s family as well, and I would do anything to have them all together at Christmas time. Hopefully Silvia could keep me busy enough to make the time pass by until he returned. Earlier in the day she had volunteers from town who had cleaned all the cages, fed the animals, and prepared for tomorrow, so all I had to do tonight was shower and head tobed.

When I pulled the covers over my body, a feeling of emptiness overwhelmed me, and for the first time in a while, I had thenightmare.

Crack…

Crack…

Crack…

* * *

The soundof breaking bone woke me at dawn, and I shot up in my bed. I smoothed my hand over the empty spot beside me, put on my robe, and went to brush my teeth. On my way out of the bathroom I saw Silvia pouring coffee in the kitchen, and Istopped.

“Good morning. How did last night go?” I askedher.

“George couldn’t stop talking about you coming over to his place thismorning.”

“Oh, he just needs a little attention, that’s all. But he doesn’t know how to go about asking forit.”

“Well, he’s definitely asking for something if he touches one of my ducks.” She pressed harder into the dough she was kneading with her fist. Silvia loved to bake fresh cinnamon rolls. This house would soon smell mouth-watering.

“Don’t worry, Silvia. I’ll have a chat with him when I go over. Any news fromCameron?”

“Charlie called about an hour ago. The jaw is fine, but Cameron’s gotappendicitis.”

“What?”

“He said not to worry and that they’re taking good care of him at the hospital. I have strict instructions to ensure that you don’t go all crazy and go to the hospital to see him.” She washed her hands under the faucet, dried them on her apron and came closer. As if worried that someone would overhear her, she said in a lowered voice, “Because it could be dangerous for you if you did. Cameron should be back home in a couple ofdays.”

A couple of days sounded too long, but with the nightmare still fresh in my mind, I was ready to take all the safety measures necessary. It had been a good call on Charlie’s part to take him to the hospital afterall.

“Thank you. I shouldn’t be long at George’s. I already have an idea how to keep Merrill out of thegarden.”

I kissed her on her cheek, the same way I would have kissed my grandmother, and went outside. Though the sky was clear, the mornings were nippy. The smell of thawing frost hung in the air as I went to the back of the property to check on the fence; and then I saw one of the fawns on the otherside.

“Oh, no. Ts, ts, ts. Come here,sweetheart.”

He looked up momentarily, watching me with caution, then resumed shuffling through the leaves to uncover some grass. I wished I had his bottle of milk to lure him backin.

I took a stepforward.

“Ts, ts, ts. Come here, baby.” This time he didn’t even budge. I wondered how in the world I would get him to come back through the broken fence without a bottle. I contemplated going back to the house to get one, but I didn’t want to leave the fawn on his own. What if I came back and he wasgone?

As if reading my mind, the fawn connected his gaze with mine again and took off into thewoods.

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