A Knights Bridge Christmas by Neggers Carla

Author:Neggers, Carla [Neggers, Carla]
Language: eng
Format: mobi, epub
Publisher: Mira
Published: 2015-09-30T14:00:00+00:00

Clare hit send before she realized what she’d typed. She turned off her phone to keep from embarrassing herself further. Surely Logan was too busy to respond.

It was the adrenaline dump from Owen’s escapade, she told herself. She wasn’t thinking before she acted.

“Mom, your face is red,” Owen said.

“It’s this cold weather. Let’s go home and laze around the house. How does that sound? We can do laundry and get ready for school tomorrow.”

He had to check on his bread crumbs first. They were still scattered on the walk in the cold. Clare assured him they would be gone before he returned, which he vowed to do tomorrow after school.

“Not alone,” Clare said.

“You can come with me. Right, Mom?”

She smiled. “Absolutely.”

When they arrived at their sawmill apartment, Louise Frost came down from the Frost mill and met them at the entrance. Water rushed over the dam, but more ice had formed with the colder temperatures. “I love the sound of water,” Louise said. “It’s soothing. Some say that being close to water is good for the spirits. Ions or something.”

“Really? That doesn’t surprise me. I wish I could open the windows and listen to the water at night.”

“That’s one of the perks of being here in summer. I can feel the cold rising up from the water. A good day for soup. Randy and I spent the afternoon cooking after we got back from church. We made chicken-and-vegetable soup. We put some aside and thought you and Owen might like it.” She held up a large glass Mason jar. “Soup was always a good way to get my girls to eat vegetables.”

“Thank you so much,” Clare said. “Owen and I both love soup.”

Louise nodded up toward the Frost mill. “I was in my office just now working on travel plans. It’s not work-work. Randy and I are going to Europe this spring. I swear planning’s half the fun. Have you ever been?”

“I did a semester in Paris in college.”

“Oh, my. That sounds wonderful. For a long time, I was afraid to travel. I didn’t want to drive to the airport never mind get on a plane. It got so I didn’t want to leave town. Just thinking about it set off a panic attack. And my daughters...” She shuddered. “I must have driven them crazy with my anxiety. It was bad, but I rationalized it. My family and friends indulged me. Everyone walked on eggshells to keep me from flipping out.”

“I’m so glad you’re doing well now,” Clare said.

“Me, too. I still have to work at it. At least I’ve stopped blaming myself. Randy told me he mentioned the girls’ car accident to you. I was always prone to anxiety, but after that—well, it got worse and worse and blossomed into a full-blown anxiety disorder. Therapy and medication helped. I’m done with both. Clare, you know what I’m saying, don’t you?”

“Get help if I need it.”

She nodded. “You don’t have to suffer and you don’t have to let anxiety spiral out of control.

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