Baggage Check by M.J. Pullen

Author:M.J. Pullen
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781466881914
Publisher: St. Martin's Press

19

Rebecca could not face the house again that day. Once Alex drove away, she took the cleaning supplies out of her trunk, put them on the floor just inside the front door of the house, locked the door, and left. On the drive back to her father’s house, she promised herself she would return the following day to get started in earnest, minus the ridiculous, self-indulgent tantrums. Today would be for phone calls.

Nurse Kathy confirmed that her mother would have a bed waiting for her at Mountainside the following day. Rebecca took down a list of instructions for her father to follow when contacting the insurance company that afternoon. She reviewed everything with Kathy twice. The nurse patiently and slowly repeated each number, code, and phrase Richard was supposed to use when he talked with the insurance company so that Rebecca could write them down. Richard still had not come to the house or the hospital, but he had agreed to advocate for Lorena with the insurance company and to pay any additional bills. Rebecca could only guess how much treatment at Mountainside was going to cost; she tried not to wonder how much her parents had in savings.

She had a short conversation with Suzanne, who was busy making preparations for a big foundation fund-raiser, as well as her public wedding to Dylan, which had finally been scheduled for October. It sounded like being married for real at the beach had freed Suzanne up to allow things to move forward under the glare of the spotlights. She even giggled once or twice after referring to Dylan as “my husband.” Suzanne did manage to ask polite questions about what was going on in Alabama. They avoided the topic of Marci and Jake altogether.

Next, she called Valerie to find that the airline had indeed survived a short absence by one of its more junior flight attendants. “Don’t worry, doll,” Val said. “Take care of your business. We’ll be here when you’re ready.”

After wavering back and forth, trying to consider how her mother would feel about it, she decided that she had no choice but to order an industrial-sized Dumpster, which the company said it could deliver in two days. An old boss of hers had said once that it was “better to ask forgiveness than permission.” Today, she finally thought she understood what he meant. She would give herself the following day to collect her thoughts and prepare, and then she would simply set herself to the task of clearing away the trash. She would have to atone for her mother’s hurt feelings and embarrassment later.

By five thirty, all her calls were made and there was nothing left to do. After picking up the phone three more times and putting it back down, she located her father’s number in the call list and hit Send.

“Hey, Rebecca,” he answered. He sounded tired. “Don’t worry, I got everything worked out with the insurance and your mother is all set for tomorrow. I even gave them my cell phone number in case there are problems.

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