The Milk of Human Kindness by Lori L Lake

Author:Lori L Lake
Language: eng
Format: azw3, epub
ISBN: 9781935053644
Publisher: Launch Point Press
Published: 2004-02-05T05:00:00+00:00

LATER IN THE afternoon Mel walked out of the doctor’s office picking at the sticky tape holding down a piece of gauze in the inside crook of her left elbow. She’d never expected to become such a pin cushion. If the cops ever arrested her, she was sure they’d think she was a junkie and not the law-abiding owner of an art gallery in Lowertown St. Paul.

She wandered out into the hot parking lot, her mind full of thoughts about her mother’s comments regarding her father’s strokes. He didn’t appear unhappy, and except for when his wife nagged at him, he seemed content. Yes, he was 79, but he looked just fine physically, though today he had been a bit bleary-eyed. His cataract surgery five years earlier had been successful, but Mel thought he might need the procedure again.

She got in her Honda Accord, started it up, and adjusted the air conditioning vents. The warm, humid air quickly cooled. With it blowing on her, she actually felt too cold and turned it down to low.

All the way home she worried about her father, and when she walked into the townhouse she shared with Calli, she felt tired and wrung out. She found Calli in the kitchen assembling a salad.

“Hiya, sweetie,” Calli called out. “Thought we could have something to eat, then go see what’s playing at The Lagoon.” Mel stepped into the kitchen, and Calli wrapped her in her arms. “Bad visit, huh?”

Mel sighed and pressed her lips against Calli’s soft neck. “Yeah. No fun at all.”

The phone rang, and Mel let go to look at the caller I.D. “Hey, it’s the Venture Capitalist.” She picked up the phone and said, “Nate! What’s happening? How are you, bro?”

Her brother’s voice sounded guarded. “We’re fine here, just fine.” He cleared his throat. “I called to let you know that I just talked to Mom.”

She leaned against the fridge and watched Calli set the table. “Oh, so she told you about the strokes?”

“Ah, well, yeah. That came up. Actually, she asked me to tell you that Dad had a little accident in the car today.”

“What! I was just there at noon! Is he okay? What happened?”

“Slow down, Mel. He’s fine.”

“Is he in the hospital?” Her heart raced in her chest, and she was glad to be leaning against something.

“Nope. Home resting already. He wrapped the Buick around a tree. Lucky that old boat is so huge. He was on the way over to the market and must have had a dizzy spell. He ran up on the sidewalk and into a maple in someone’s yard. Bumped his head a little, but he’s fine.”

Relief spread through her at the same time that she was struck by the circumstances. “So she called you in California to report this?”

“Yeah, sorry about that. She said the docs gave Dad some meds for pain that will make him sleepy. She wanted me to call you and Izzy to tell you what happened and ask you both to let them be.

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