A Valentine's Day Miracle by Tammy Falkner

Author:Tammy Falkner
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Night Shift Publishing

Emily

I’ve seen a lot of unhappy people, but I’ve never seen a woman look quite so devastated. Lady Humbug sits at her kitchen table, her hands folded demurely in her lap as she stares out the window toward the city. Logan sits quietly next to her, saying nothing. Logan can say more than anyone I ever met without saying a word. His silences have more meaning than ten thousand words that say nothing.

“Is there anyone we can call for you?” I ask as I set a cup of tea in front of her.

She shakes her head.

“No family? A friend?”

She shakes her head again.

Suddenly, she fixes her gaze on Logan. “What’s your name?”

He smiles ever so slightly. “Logan Reed.” He gestures toward me. “And this is my wife, Emily.”

“So lovely to meet you both,” she mutters. Suddenly she stops, her brow furrowing. “Reed?” she asks. “You’re one of the Reed boys.”

He smiles again. “Yes. I’m the middle one.”

“You’re the one who used to be deaf.”

I wince inwardly.

Logan points toward his ears. “Still deaf.”

Logan got bilateral cochlear implants a few years ago, and a lot of people think that cured his deafness, but that’s not the case. Logan will always be deaf. He will always claim deaf culture as his own, above all else aside from his family.

“The surgery didn’t work?” she asks.

Logan laughs. “It worked. I’m just still deaf. Always will be.”

“It’s wonderful that you accept your disability.” I can tell that she’s not trying to be condescending. I truly believe she’s not.

“Did you hurt yourself when you collapsed on the sidewalk?” I ask. “Should I call 9-1-1?”

“I just took a little tumble, that’s all.” She sighs. “My daughter died. The police needed me to identify the body. I really thought that it wouldn’t be her, but it was. It was her.” Her voice catches.

“What was her name?” Logan asks.

“Joy. Her name was Joy.”

I drop the tea spoon I was holding and it clatters loudly to the floor. “Joy Baumgartner is your daughter?”

Logan looks at me, his brow furrowing.

“Was my daughter,” she clarifies. “She’s dead now.”

“Did you know her?” Logan asks me.

I nod. “She helped me a few times.” Suddenly, my knees grow weak too and I sink down at the table to sit next to Logan.

“Did she buy drugs for you?”

My eyes jerk up to meet hers. “Drugs? No. Joy kept girls off drugs. She saved lives. She kept women off the streets. She helped men find jobs. She helped people find apartments and assistance. She was amazing. She helped the homeless in our city more than anyone else ever has.” And I can’t believe she’s dead.

“She was an addict.”

“I heard that she was. She talked about it a lot, and she used her experiences to help other people find their way to sobriety. I can’t tell you how many people she helped detox. How many people she helped get clean. She was a beacon of light on a dark night for a lot of people, Ms. Baumgartner.”

“How would you know?” she snaps.

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