The Renewal by Terri Kraus

Author:Terri Kraus
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Renovation series, Divorce, Sobriety, Brownstone
Publisher: David C. Cook
Published: 2012-11-21T05:00:00+00:00

Leslie, startled by the electronic warbling, lurched for her purse, not wanting to wake Ava, then remembered that Ava was not there. She grabbed the phone and snapped it open. “Hello?”

Her heart began to beat fast. No one called close to midnight. It might be the Stickles. Or her ex-husband. Both scenarios, however briefly considered, scared Leslie more than any horror she could imagine.

She repeated, “Hello?”

“Mrs. Ruskin? Leslie? This is Jack. Jack Kenyon.”

His words sounded precise, as if he were trying hard to pronounce every single letter.

“Yes?”

What could he want? Why would he call this late?

“Mrs. Leslie, I didn’t want to bother you and all, but I’m sort of in a pickle.”

She heard what she thought was a muffled laugh, but it might have been Jack coughing.

“I need your help.”

“What sort of help, Jack?”

She heard him cough again, this time a bit longer.

“Jack? Are you okay?”

There was another spasm of muted coughing, then the rustle of something, as if he was holding the phone against his clothing. She waited.

“I need your help.”

Then Leslie knew he had been drinking. She was well aware of the signs.

“You said that, Jack. What do you need?”

Jack coughed again. “I got my truck stuck in the mud. On Route 8. There shouldn’t be any mud there. Too far to walk home. It’s raining. I need a ride. Can you run down to get me?”

For a moment, Leslie was dumbfounded.

Why would he be calling me? Couldn’t he call a taxi?

As if hearing her thoughts, Jack said, “No money for a taxi. I looked. I have three dollars.”

He sounds lost and like he really needs my help. Ava’s next door. I could slip out for a half hour.

“Where are you?”

Jack’s command of precise English began to break down and he slurred the name of the tire repair place.

“On the west side. Not too far. Be here in ten minutes, I bet.”

Leslie stood up, grabbed her purse, and a jacket since it was now spattering rain, and said into the cell phone, “Wait there, Jack. I’ll be there in ten minutes. You just wait there.”

And with that, she hurried down the steps and tried to be as quiet as possible as she started her minivan and headed south along Main Street, then south on Route 8.

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