Tag Archives: #ChristineGilliamHornback

Part 47 If Oak Trees Could Talk!

20 Jul

Part 47 If Oak Tree Could Talk     

I don’t know about you, but time seems to be marching way to fast on this end of the screen!  Here we are in the middle of summer already! As always I am so grateful  that you’re here, and with all of my heart I want to thank you again for either reading along with me or listening to my Video Blog of my Romance/Suspense novel If Oak Trees Could Talk each week.   We will be winding the novel up in a few weeks, so my hope is that you will continue to stick in here with me until the end!

I am excited because I’ve been working on a brand new book entitled:

5 Steps to Birthing your Dream (A Spiritual Midwife’s Manual)!  As an author, this for me is such a release of creativity and overwhelming joy!  I pour my heart and soul into each of my books. The expectancy of them really touching the hearts of my readers is something that is difficult to explain!  I once heard it said and I am sure I am not quoting it exactly, “Being a writer is both an egotistical and a humbling thing, it is an egotistical person who would think people would actually want to read what they write, but again, it is also a humbling experience to think of people actually wanting to read what I write!”   I know I probably botched that quote, but my point is that I am truly humbled that many of you have followed my blogs every week.  I honor you as my guest today and wish I could set across from you and sip on a tall glass of sweet tea or maybe a cup of coffee and simply visit with you.  I would love to hear what you aspire to be, or what you’ve already achieved.  Maybe as we shared with one another, we would realize that we both bring a lot to that table and can really help one another!

Today we pick up back up in Chapter 21 The Final Plan

Another knock at the door came on the heels of Mr. Hodges leaving.  Amelia again answered it.  This time it was Nurse Applegate.

            “Hello, Nurse Applegate, Amelia said rather loudly so if perhaps Mr. Hodges was listening she did not want to let on that she knew Nurse Melba on a first name basis. 

            When Nurse Applegate was inside, Amelia shut the door.  She immediately asked Nurse Melba if she could meet with her and Mr. Henderson at her house.  Melba agreed.

“Oh, Mrs. Tyler, before I forget, therapy is looking for you. I did not want you to be alarmed when someone knocked on your door.”  Nurse Applegate stated.    “They went into your old room several times yesterday.  I think they assumed that you had gotten released to go home since you have just a few more sessions to go.”  Nurse Applegate explained.  “It is okay Mrs. Tyler they are the same therapist that you’ve always had!”

            “Momma and Daddy, I have some more errands I need to run before this evening.  If you need me I will be home around Six o’clock.  She then turned to Nurse Melba, if you’re off early, then who will take over for you?”  Amelia said with concern. 

            “I will order their dinner and medication before I leave.  Nurse Warren will be at the desk again, so if they need anything, all they will need to do is buzz her via their on-call button and she will assist them.  Will you be okay with that Mr. and Mrs. Tyler?”  

            “Whew, finally Helen, some alone time if you know what I mean!” Henry said as he winked at his sweet Helen.  What’s the sense in having our own room and double bed if we can’t use them?”  He continued with that familiar grin.

            Nurse Applegate just smiled.  She thought that Henry was talking out of his head.  She never knew anyone that still had relations after they were senior citizens. 

            Helen flashed Henry a gentle smile, however she was weary. She wanted this to come to an end.  She, like Henry found something at home that she had lost.  She was ready to reclaim it.  She remembered back again when Henry was in the service.  He was wounded as he rescued many men from his battalion.  In return for his bravery, he received the Purple Heart for his service, but Helen didn’t want Henry to prove he was a hero again.  He was her hero already.  She just wanted both of them home where they could enjoy and really live the rest of their lives together. She never wanted to waste one more moment being in Glenview. 

            Amelia seen something in her mother’s face that she had never seen before. Not even when she first had her stroke and had to work so hard to regain her speech and mobility.  No this was something else altogether.

            “What is it Momma?”  Amelia asked as she was very concerned.  Go see the lawyer Amelia. I am ready to leave this place now! I’ve changed my mind about being in here.  I don’t want to wait.  We can do what we have to do on the outside.”  Helen stated.  When she was that direct, Amelia knew that her mother meant it, so she determined to see Mr. Howard, her parent’s lawyer on the way home.

            Henry in the meantime thought it a wonderful thing that Nurse Applegate or no other nurse would be checking on them.  He felt like tonight was the night that the Ghost did his thing!  He had rehearsed what he was going to do.  He mentally memorized all of the details down to even the black uniforms that were lying on the shelf in the cafeteria’s supply closet.

            “I will see you later on in the evening Mr. and Mrs. Tyler to get your dinner orders! If you need anything before then, just buzz me!”  Nurse Applegate said as she headed toward the hallway.  “I will see you after while Amelia.”  She whispered as she was now in the hallway.

            “Daughter, please stay with your mother for just a little while longer.   I need to go somewhere really quickly. I will be right back!” Henry ordered.

            “Daddy, I don’t want you out where Mr. Hodges can see you.  If you get into more trouble, I hate to think what he would do to you!”  Amelia tried to convince. Listen, I know that you both feel like you’re in imprisoned, but why don’t you go to the activity center and visit with some of your friends.  At least get out of this room and try to enjoy yourself a little.

            “I’ll be right back, gals.  It won’t take me but a second.  Now stop treating me like I am a little boy Amelia!”  Henry scolded.

            “Henry, there is no sense in speaking to Amelia that way!” Helen said. “I don’t want you to go out there either!  I know that you are the hard headed man that I love, not some little boy.  We are concerned for you!”  She continued as she softened up every harsh word.

            Henry was determined to do what he felt needed to be done.  He opened the door to look out.  He spanned the hallway.  He stepped outside and instead of taking a left to go toward the front desk he took a right in the opposite direction.  Henry needed to find a way to get to the cafeteria without having to walk past Nurse Warren.  He really didn’t want to run the risk of running into any of the staff.  The staff, however knew that Henry was an amnesia patient and could be a wanderer.  After all, he had just come back from a trip where he wandered all the way home.  He walked down to the end of the long empty corridor.  At the last door was a sign in bold red letters that read stairs.  Henry opened the door and went inside.  It was a stairwell to every hallway on that floor.   When Henry followed it through to the end, he realized that the hallway actually ended a door down from the cafeteria.   He needed, however, to check out where it ended if he went up a flight of steps to the next floor which is where Mr. Hodges’ office was located.  While Henry was climbing the steps he realized just how noticeably out of shape he had gotten because he was breathing very heavily.  He thought to himself when he got back home he would fix that problem.  He would start working in the gardens or mowing lawn again.  Henry would get back into shape not only physically but also mentally as he loved his gardens for they were good for his soul. When at the top of the steps there was an exit door to the second floor.  Henry opened it slightly and looked out.  This hallway was much busier.  As he continued to watch he saw Mr. Hodges.  He was standing at another nurse’s station.  There wasn’t anyone down at the end of the hallway where Henry was so he opened the door just slightly more to get a better view.   He noticed that this floor seemed to be busier than the floor he and Helen were on.  As he continued watching he realized that this was the floor that the really sick residents lived.  When he moved to the extreme left he could see a patient who was hooked to several machines that beeped. He watched Mr. Hodges until he moved from the nurse’s desk.  He walked to the end of the hallway until he disappeared into a room to the right.  Henry concluded that this was Mr. Hodges office.  It was as he had estimated earlier on his trip with Nurse Applegate.  Mr. Hodges’ office runs parallel with the cafeteria.

             Henry quickly found his way back to his room after he was satisfied that he knew the layout of Glenview’s building and most importantly where Mr. Hodges’ office was located.  He would move tonight as soon as the cafeteria closed.  He too was ready to leave Glenview, but he wanted to leave knowing that he had done all that he could to help his friends and neighbors that had  no choice but to stay at Glenview. 

            When Henry returned to his room Amelia was obviously upset that he took so long.  “Now, Daddy, you are worrying me and Momma. Please forget about what you think you need to do.  I will take care of everything, I promise.”  Amelia pleaded, but she and Helen knew that it was a waste of good time and energy.  When Henry set his mind to doing something, he was going to do it or die trying, no matter what he ran up against. Amelia just hushed and squeezed her Momma’s hand. 

            “Okay, now that you are both back together I am going to say good-bye.  Do you need anything before I leave or do you need me to bring you back anything?”  Amelia asked. I sure wish you were coming with me, she said in all sincerity.

            “We will be home very soon dear!”  Helen whispered. “We will!”

            Henry shook his head in agreement as Amelia hugged them both.  She looked at Henry, and ordered, “Daddy, please stay out of trouble.”          

Thank you once again for “tuning in” or reading along with me!  It is my hope that you have been enjoying my Romance/Suspense novel, If Oak Trees Could Talk, for it has been my pleasure to share it with you!  As always I would love to hear from you.  I want to thank all of you that have begun following my WordPress blogs.  Please continue to “tune it” as we are moving right along through the book.

If you are interested in obtaining your own copy of If Oak Trees Could Talk! or any of my other books, please visit my Amazon Author Page here!  Also If you are new to my Video Blogs and would like to catch up on the story from the beginning please check out the archives in this blog or simply Subscribe to my blogs or to my  Youtube Videos as they are numbered and in order!  When you Subscribe to my WordPress Blogs, I have a wonderful free gift for you as my thank you! I am also a weekly contributor to The Lakeview Times.   All of my videos are published each week at http://www.lakeviewtimes.com

5 Steps to Birthing your Dream

17 Jul

Excited to announce my Upcoming book 5 Steps to Birthing a Dream!  This book was a long time coming but determination will take you a long way!  Women, you don’t want to miss this  book.  If you’ve ever dreamed a dream that you never have seen come true, this book is for you!  This book will take you from a place of brokenness to a place of breakthrough

It will be available in a few weeks, but until it’s ready to put into your hands, please accept my free gift of my Ebook,   Tell the Enemy to Scat!  The free gift  is simply evidence of a twenty year long dream that did come true!

Let  me Encourage you…please….just don’t give up.  If you’re not seeing your dreams come the way that you wanted them to, maybe you can try a different approach!  Maybe, you just need a different plan not a different dream!  Too many times we get it in our minds that things have to work out exactly like this….but what if it won’t or doesn’t?  Do you give up on the dream altogether, or do you realize that you must come up with new options and strategies?   Would love to hear from you!

 Steps to Birthing Your Dream

A Spiritual Midwife’s Manual! IMAGECOVER1 - Copy

5 Steps to Birthing Your Dream!

A Spiritual Midwife’s Manual

Do you have a passion to see your dreams fulfilled?  If not, do you remember when you left your passion to pursue other things?  Do you need a spiritual midwife to help you give birth to your dreams? Are you expecting your dreams to be fulfilled?  Christine offers you a Step by Step guide to help you go from a place of barrenness to breakthrough! However, Christine gives a big red Warning!

“Birthing, although the most natural and beautiful thing God gave women to do, is not a pretty little job whether in the natural or spiritual,  No Mam, it is a dirty, messy job!  It requires you to pull strength out of a place that you never even imagined you had.  It also means that you will sweat and wrestle within and without to get relieved of the thing that you longed to see and hold more than anything just hours before labor.  It is a process where there is no turning back baby!  You will give birth to that “Holy thing”!  After you deliver, Oh my, how your whole entire world is rocked forever.

Please click here to get your free gift!

 

Part 46 If Oak Trees Could Talk!

14 Jul

Part 46 If Oak Trees Could Talk!

Welcome! I’m so glad that you have chosen to join me as I continue my Video Blogs of my Romance/Suspense novel If Oak Trees Could Talk! We only have a couple of chapters to finish.  I cannot stress enough how grateful I am that many of you have stuck in here with me with each posting!

We continue to today in Chapter 21 The Final Plans

“So I see they brought in all of the things from the other room!  It looks nice in here.  I love the fact that both of you are together. It makes me feel a little better about things.” Amelia stated alluding to Mr. Hodges threats.  “How do you like the room?  “How do you like Nurse Applegate?”  Amelia asked as she found her to be very sweet and attentive to her parents needs the day before.

            “We like it. Of course it sure wasn’t like being home!  It is a little confusing for your Daddy as it has the gardens out back.  He sometimes thinks he might be home, but then he realizes that he’s not. Oh and Nurse Applegate seems to be really sweet.   She’s not Nurse Wanda.  Nurse Wanda knew us and we never had to ask for anything, or order anything.  Nurse Wanda knew what we liked.  We know that this new little nurse has big shoes to fill and she is trying.   We feel good about her.  She let Henry go with her last night to the cafeteria.  He also went to his old room and found his old friend.”  Helen answered.

            “I like her to. I feel bad for her though.  She has sadness in her eyes.”  Henry commented. 

            “Is the enemy here?” Henry asked knowing that Amelia would know exactly who he was speaking of.  I have to give you something Daughter.”  Henry whispered.  He was referring to the new medication that had been assigned to him.  He wanted Amelia to take it and find out what it was. Neither Henry nor Helen was willing to take any new medications until they found out what they were for. 

            “Yes, He was in the lobby with some poor souls who doesn’t know how evil he is.   He stared me down after I pushed Sheriff Eugene out of the entrance way to even get into the building. I don’t like that man or trust him.  I don’t like this Glenview at all either!  I want to know why you insist on staying here.  We can go see a lawyer and deal with the legal issues of leaving.  You have the right to leave this place.  You are not prisoners for God’s sake.  Will both of you just consider coming back home.  Daddy you are so much better. I know that you will get completely well if you come home!”  Amelia convinced. “I don’t like this place anymore.  It is not safe.”

            “Give me a little time Amelia.  The Ghost is going to do his work and then I will be ready to leave.”  Henry stated again with his impish grin. 

            “Daddy, are you okay?” Amelia asked because she honestly thought that Henry was talking out of his head again. She looked at her mother to see if she had anything to add as to why he was saying what he was saying.   She then asked about their medications.  “Has any new medications been subscribed to either of you?” Amelia whispered.

            Helen answered, “Show her Henry.  Hurry, before someone comes in!”  Helen ordered.

            “Henry pulled a little bag out of his pocket.  On the inside was a small pill cup that had two white pills.  He whispered, “I’ve never taken these before.  I don’t know what they are or what they are for! I thought you could take them and get them checked. I pretended to take them.  I am not going to take anything else. If I never needed it when I was really bad, surely I do not need them now!”  Henry concluded. 

            “I agree Daddy, hurry give them to me!”  Amelia ordered.  “So Nurse Applegate has already been in this morning?” Amelia asked casually because she really wanted to speak with her about coming to her house to meet Mr. Henderson.

            “Yes she was in this morning.  She ordered our breakfast and gave us our medications.  She said that normally she would take us outside and let us enjoy the gardens but it was written on our charts that Glenview has recently discovered that Mr. Tyler has horrible allergies and that he is being treated.   Now who do you think wrote such lies on our charts?  Everybody who knows us knows that we have beautiful gardens at home. If we were allergic to everything, would we have gardens?”  Helen asked.

            “Momma, it was Mr. Hodges, he said that you would not be able to go outside because he is afraid that you and Daddy would try to escape again.  That is why I feel he has someone watching you guys.  He may not, but it would surprise me if he didn’t.  So Daddy, I ask that you please do not do anything with this ghost thing that you’re talking about. Okay, I don’t want us to spoil our visit by talking about Mr. Hodges all day.  Tell me how you felt being at home!”  Amelia said.

             Helen and Henry told her how liberated they felt.  They felt young again and knew that they gained back something that they could not find while being cooped up here at Glenview.  Henry said that he knew he could not or would not stay at Glenview when Helen went home.  When Mr. Hodges told Henry that he would not be able to go home for a long while, Henry then panicked and went home to visit his old friend. 

            “I know it sounds crazy Amelia, but when I look over there on the wall at my old friend.  I know that I have everything I need to get better!  I am coming out of here.  In a few days or it might not be that long!”  Henry stated plainly because he knew his plans for Mr. Hodges.  He needed to tweak his plan just a little and then the Ghost was ready to move! 

            “Well, again I don’t like it Daddy, but I’ve never tried to force you guys into doing what I thought was best.  Just know that I have a plan as well.  We are going to get this guy!”

            Just as the words came out of her mouth, there was a hard knock at the door.  Amelia walked over to see who it could be.  When she opened it, she was surprised to see Mr. Hodges. 

            “Yes, may I help you?”  Amelia asked.

            “Yes, I wanted to clear up our little misunderstanding from yesterday!”  Mr. Hodges replied.

            “Which misunderstanding are you referring to, Mr. Hodges?  Amelia questioned as she saw evil in the face.  She knew that he was up to something.  She never trusted him.

            “I hope that you realize that it is highly out of the ordinary that we let husband and wife stay in the same room.  I was going to put your parents further away only because I did not want the other patients or their relatives to find out about them staying in the same room.  If I show favor to one, than you must understand that others will want to stay together as well.”  Mr. Hodges tried to convince.

            “Very well, I guess I can understand your reasoning.”  Amelia said to appease him.  “I appreciate that they have this room now.”   

            “Yes, well, I just thought that we needed to bury the hatchet so to speak so that we can continue to provide your parents with the best care that Glenview has to offer.  It was unfortunate that Nurse Smith had to be dismissed, but she was very negligent in her duties.  How is Nurse Applegate working out for you?”  Mr. Hodges continued to ask as though he really cared.   He may have totally deceived Henry and Helen once, but it would never happen again.

            “Nurse Applegate is doing a good job, she just doesn’t know my parents yet the way that Nurse Wanda did.   But in time, I am sure that she will be wonderful.”  Amelia said as to convince Mr. Hodges that she had not gotten to know Nurse Melba or that she was going to meet with her again as soon as possible to try to indict him.   Amelia also led Mr. Hodges to believe that her parents were going to stay at Glenview for a while, but they weren’t.  She actually decided to leave Glenview early and go see her parent’s lawyer before going back home.  She needed to make for sure that she had everything in order just in case that Mr. Hodges or any other Director at Glenview would try to keep her parents legally bound to Glenview.

            Mr. Hodges grinned and proceeded to tell the Tyler’s to have a nice day as he left their room.  He was feeling pretty confident that Amelia and her parents bought his apology.  He, however, was determined that Henry Tyler would pay for the embarrassment that he caused him and Glenview.  He was feeling pretty smug.

Thank you once again for “tuning in” or reading along with me!  It is my hope that you have been enjoying my Romance/Suspense novel, If Oak Trees Could Talk, for it has been my pleasure to share it with you!  As always I would love to hear from you.  I want to thank all of you that have begun following my WordPress blogs.  Please continue to “tune it” as we are moving right along through the book.

If you are interested in obtaining your own copy of If Oak Trees Could Talk! or any of my other books, please visit my Amazon Author Page here!  Also If you are new to my Video Blogs and would like to catch up on the story from the beginning please check out the archives in this blog or simply Subscribe to my blogs or to my  Youtube Videos as they are numbered and in order!  When you Subscribe to my WordPress Blogs, I have a wonderful free gift for you as my thank you! I am also a weekly contributor to The Lakeview Times.   All of my videos are published each week at http://www.lakeviewtimes.com

Part 45 If Oak Trees Could Talk!

6 Jul

Part 45 If Oak Trees Could Talk! Have you just had something to come up that prevented you from doing something even though you really wanted to do it!  That was the past week when it came to doing…

Source: Part 45 If Oak Trees Could Talk!

Part 45 If Oak Trees Could Talk!

6 Jul

Part 45 If Oak Trees Could Talk!

Have you just had something to come up that prevented you from doing something even though you really wanted to do it!  That was the past week when it came to doing my regular Video Blog of   If Oak Trees Could Talk!  Both my husband and I ended up catching a mean head cold or a series of allergy attacks.   Needless to say I sounded like I was talking through my nose and was hoarse because my nose ran and I coughed so much.  I was sure that you wouldn’t have wanted to hear me squeak through as I whispered through the Video blog of my book!

So even though I have coughed and sneezed, and blew my nose a hundred or more times, I’m here and am determined that I am going to deliver another Video Blog so that we can ease closer to the final dot and tittle of  my Romance Suspense Novel  If Oak Trees Could Talk!    My sincerest gratitude goes out to all of you as you stick in here with me!  Today we began in a new Chapter!

 

Chapter 21

The Final Plans

The morning came in bright and cheery as Amelia’s feet hit the floor.  She paraded off to the shower to get her day started.  When she came out of the bathroom, Robert was still lying in bed asleep.  Amelia looked at him with such love.  He was her rock.  He supported her in everything that she had ever wanted to do.  As she stood just staring at him, he opened his eyes to her tender smile.  He yawned and stretched and smiled back.

“Good morning, was I drooling or something?  What’s so funny that you were looking at me with that Henry Tyler grin of yours?”  Robert asked as he chuckled a little.

Amelia walked over to the bed and climbed in.  She sprawled him as she bent over and kissed him. Robert shivered as her long cold dripping hair touched his chest.  She laughed out loud as Robert let out a yell.  He then rolled her over onto her back and tickled her unmercifully until she begged him to stop. He tenderly kissed her.  He rolled back off of her and lay beside her.  They held hands as she told him of her plans for the day.  She was going to go immediately to check on her parents.  After that she was going to speak to Mr. Henderson about coming to their house.  She was going to invite Nurse Melba Applegate to come to their house as well. Amelia wanted Melba to be able to share with Mr. Henderson about all that she knew about Mr. Hodges and the Scioto County Nursing Home in private.

“What time will you come home, then?”  Robert asked.  “I would like to be here to hear all that is said, so that I can help us figure out our next move!”  He continued.

“I will try to be home when you get home from the Hardware store! How’s that!  I need to make up a few appetizers for our company!  I just do not want to set the meeting in town in case Mr. Hodges has more people like Sheriff Eugene working for him.   I want this to be top secret until Mr. Henderson can present the evidence we have to the Attorney.  I am just hoping that we will have enough on Mr. Hodges to go forward and that he is immediately arrested.  If not, then my parents along with Nurse Melba’s father could be at great risk.  Robert, I can’t believe this is going on right here in Mason Creek.” Amelia said with a sad sigh.  “If I didn’t know it to be true, no one could have convinced me that this was happening.  One thing I can say about Mr. Hodges is that he knows how to direct Glenview very efficiently as to not draw any unwanted attention to himself.  He’s never presented Glenview as being anything other than a top of the line care facility which may be, until you cross him.  I guess I just wonder why others have never came forward?  Surely others suspected wrong doing at times.   I mean if suddenly my father who has never slept all the time, started sleeping or was zoned out all the time, I would be finding out what was going on?   I realize many of the older folks in there are really sick and weak.  Maybe their loved ones can’t tell the difference between their sicknesses or a medicated state.   It is a sad day in Mason Creek.    The news of Glenview is going to rock our little peaceful community. You know we’ve just always have had such loving and caring folks here!  Who would have imagined someone like Mr. Hodges living here under such pretense?

“Well Honey, unfortunately, I guess it is a sign of the times that we now live in.  Things have changed so much since we were youngsters.” Robert stated.

“Speak for yourself Old Man Steele, but I am still a youngster!” Amelia teased.

“Your parents are still youngsters for sure! Heck, they’re younger than we are!” Robert said with a chuckle. “I need to learn some of your Daddy’s romantic tricks if you know what I mean!”  Robert said as he gently stroked down Amelia’s wet hair and then her bare shoulder.  He gently pressed against Amelia and kissed her passionately.

“Oh Baby, believe me, you have all of the tricks that you need!  Amelia stated,” but I am so sorry dear, you won’t get a chance to use any of them this morning!  I’ve got to get up out of this bed and get dressed.  I’ve got to get the kids up for school and drive to Glenview early.  Maybe you can think of some romantic tricks to use on me later!  I’ll look forward to them!  Amelia promised with another kiss as she sprung up out of the bed and ran to the bathroom. 

“See, I obviously do not have the kind of Romantic tricks that your Daddy has.  He is how old?  He always has your Momma smiling!”  Robert continued to tease.

Amelia came and stood in front of Robert at the foot of the bed. She then smiled ear to ear!  She laughed out loud as she ran to the bathroom to dry her hair. 

“I am determined that I will make that smile of yours real!”  Robert promised.

          Amelia didn’t style her hair.  She just blew it dry and let it go natural.  She rushed to get dressed so that she could drink at least one cup of coffee before waking the boys.

          “Do you want anything for breakfast?”  She asked as she was rushing toward the hallway.  “I’m putting on coffee before I wake the boys!” 

          “Nope, thank you, coffee is fine. I have an early meeting at the Hardware Store with Joe Bentley from Bentley Farm Supply this morning around Nine o’clock. Thought I would bring in Elma’s Biscuits.   Meet you down stairs in a few!”  Robert answered.

          Amelia loved being a wife and a mother.  She also loved working at the Hardware store while her boys were at school. It gave her great joy to hear so many of their customers who were mostly neighbors and friends speak adoringly about her parents.  She appreciated Mr. Thomas helping out while she was taking care of her parents.  Closing the store was never an option with Amelia.  She grew up in the hardware store. When she was little, her father had built a nice little cubby or nook for her.  He built it right under the stairs.  It was her little secret thinking place, or at least when she was small she thought of it as a secret. Amelia wanted to pass the Hardware store on to her children and grandchildren, but as Robert said times were changing so with the world, she only hoped that the boys would want the business when they were grown.

          Amelia woke the boys up and pulled out some cereal from the cabinet.  She placed the milk and some fresh fruit on the table and waited for the men in her life to come into the kitchen.  In the meantime, she opened the kitchen window over the sink and listened to the glorious sounds of the birds singing.  It was already quite warm outside.  It was sure to be another scorcher today in Mason Creek.  Amelia however, had no idea just how hot things were going to get until she went to Glenview. 

          When the boys came in, she kissed them all.  She ran to her car, so that she could get ahead of all the elementary buses.  When she got to the Glenview’s parking lot, low and behold who was there but Sheriff Eugene. The thoughts of having to deal with him made Amelia sick to her stomach.  She however, refused to be intimidated by him.  As she walked up the sidewalk to the entrance of Glenview, Eugene acted as if he would block the entrance.  She looked him straight in the eye and continued to walk forward.  He just barely moved out of the way, but not before blowing cigarette smoke in her face.   Amelia’s face burned as she had never wanted to punch someone so hard in her life.  She was furious, but held her tongue and pushed by him. She felt sorry for his parents. She wondered to herself if Eugene knew about all that Mr. Hodges has been doing and if he was party to it.

          When she walked into the lobby of Glenview, immediately she saw Mr. Hodges as he was undoubtedly lying to some unsuspecting family about a precious loved one.  She wanted to run to them and scream for God’s sake take them somewhere else.    She totally refused to look into his evil eyes although she could feel his eyes glaring at her.  Amelia walked around the corner to the hallway where her parents were.  She knocked on the door to hear a sweet voice on the inside say, “come in please!”

          “Good morning sweetheart.  How are you this morning?”  Helen asked as she held out her arms for Amelia to hug her. Both of her parents were sitting at their little quaint bistro table drinking coffee and eating breakfast.

          Amelia walked to her parents and hugged them both!  I am fine.  What are you having for breakfast?”  She asked, “Yummy, it smells like grapefruit and what else?”

          “Oatmeal and toast for Henry, just the fruit and toast for me.” Helen answered.

          “How are you Daddy?  Did you sleep well?”  Amelia asked as she noticed Henry was smiling at her. 

          “I’ve got something for you, Amelia!”  Henry said, “But I can’t give it to you yet.  The nurse is supposed to be back in here in a minute and I don’t want her to see anything.”  Henry continued.

          “Oh okay Daddy, Amelia said.  She had no clue what he was speaking of.  As she looked around she noticed Henry’s old friend was hanging on the wall.  She also saw a special quilt that once belonged to her grandmother that was lying across the foot of their bed.  The bed was all made up and her parents seemed to be alert and fairly well considering all of the changes that they had gone through in the past few days.         

Thank you once again for “tuning in” or reading along with me!  It is my hope that you have been enjoying my Romance/Suspense novel, If Oak Trees Could Talk, for it has been my pleasure to share it with you!  As always I would love to hear from you.  I want to thank all of you that have begun following my WordPress blogs.  Please continue to “tune it” as we are moving right along through the book.

If you are interested in obtaining your own copy of If Oak Trees Could Talk! or any of my other books, please visit my Amazon Author Page here!  Also If you are new to my Video Blogs and would like to catch up on the story from the beginning please check out the archives in this blog or simply Subscribe to my blogs or to my  Youtube Videos as they are numbered and in order!  When you Subscribe to my WordPress Blogs, I have a wonderful free gift for you as my thank you! I am also a weekly contributor to The Lakeview Times.   All of my videos are published each week at http://www.lakeviewtimes.com

 

 

I need your help!

17 Jun Proberbs:Proverbs 13:12 Hope deferred makes the heart sick, But when the desire comes, it is a tree of life!

Hey Everyone, I am so excited, my ebook  Tell the Enemy to Scat is sitting right now at # 13 in Family…and # 21 in Religion and Spirituality in Amazon’s Rankings .I really need your help! I need 13 or 21 friends to please go in and get my book! It is a totally free Amazon download, will not cost you a dime….and it will mean that I finally hit # One…in 2 catagories! Thank you in advance….Love you guys!
https://www.amazon.com/…/B00II2Q5…/ref=zg_bs_8624167011_f_21

Part 42 If Oak Trees Could Talk!

25 May #inspiringonedreameratatime

Part 42 If Oak Trees Could Talk!

Welcome back to my Video Blogs of If Oak Trees Could Talk!  I hope that you are having a wonderful and productive week!  My week has been awesomely blessed to be able to do what I do!  When your passion and your profession meet there is such a wonderful coupling to walk in.  I hope that as you read along with me or “tune in” that you are enjoying this story!

Today we pick back up in Chapter 19 Henry the Spy!

Nurse Applegate was startled.   She had read Henry’s charts which read that he was diagnosed with amnesia.  Henry’s amnesia was also classified as amnesia with functional causes which meant that his type of amnesia was psychological in nature.  Henry’s type of amnesia occurred because his brain put up a defense mechanism to forget the painful and traumatic experience of Helen’s leaving him. The good thing about Henry’s type of amnesia however, is that his type could possibly mean a full recovery.   Earlier today when Nurse Applegate had met and talked with the family Henry seemed much more alert.  She considered his actions now to be caused by a lack of his medications.

            “Mrs. Tyler, I will bring Mr. Tyler his medication back first, before going to the cafeteria, as it seems as though he may need them now.”  Nurse Applegate stated.

 Helen agreed with Nurse Applegate even though she didn’t really understand what Henry was up to.   She was as surprised herself when Henry suggested that he go with Nurse Applegate.  Helen didn’t like it. She never wanted Henry to leave her sight again for his safely, nor did she want to be alone without him for hers.

“I’ll go with you, Nurse, Henry stated.   Henry rose up immediately from the bed.  He walked around the side of the bed and was ready to go with Nurse Applegate to get his old friend which was his picture of course, that Amelia had gotten for him.  Nurse Applegate did not know about his friend.  Henry thought that it would still be in his old room.   He wanted to go and get it to assure that it would not be lost. However, once he had gotten this reaction from Nurse Applegate, he decided to take full advantage of the opportunity to let the staff at Glenview continue to think that he was not at all well.  Henry knew that he wasn’t completely well, but he was well enough to know exactly what he was doing now and what he needed to do to try to trap Mr. Hodges in his dirty dealings.  It worked out exceptionally well since Nurse Applegate did not know him.   She assumed he was talking out of his head, which played right into what Henry hoped would happen.  He wasn’t going to reveal that he had gotten a lot of his memory back to her.  He intended for Mr. Hodges to still think he was very ill. 

As Nurse Applegate walked out of Henry and Helen’s room, Henry went in the opposite direction pretending to not know where he was.  He then turned and followed along beside of her.  Nurse Applegate tried to carry on a conversation with him but he let on that he never understood her.  It was actually very difficult to act, for Henry knew that he was in a dark place like the one he was portraying for far too long. He was ready to talk, whether it was to a stranger or not.  He longed to shout and let the world know that he was coming out of a dark tunnel into the marvelous light. Henry never enjoyed deceiving anybody, but he felt this gave him an advantage over Mr. Hodges.  It let him roam and investigate without really drawing a lot of suspicion.

Soon he and his new nurse rounded the corner to a corridor of rooms where he and his sweet Helen had lived for what seemed an eternity.  He ran into his old room ahead of Nurse Applegate to find his old friend hanging right where he left her!  He grabbed the picture off of the wall and began laughing like a school boy.  “There you are my old friend!  I am so glad I got to go home and see you in person.  You helped me so much!”  Henry said as he was hugging the picture like it was a real live friend.  Just as he was hugging the picture Nurse Applegate come in.  Yes, again she concluded that he was definitely an amnesia patient or at the very least a mentally challenged patient.  Henry wanted to explain to her that he wasn’t crazy, well not as she considered him to be crazy, but again it was best if he let her assume that he was.

“Want to go on with me to the cafeteria?”  Nurse Applegate asked, “Or do you want to walk back to your room first?”

Henry just shook his head, as he thought he needed to investigate the cafeteria area to see if there was anything in there that he could possibly use or need to get into Mr. Hodges office.   He walked along beside her and never said a word.  Occasionally he would look up to the ceiling for no reason because he had seen other mentally challenged patients do it a lot in Glenview.  Nurse Applegate pushed open a set of double doors and Henry followed.  He judged from the distance they walked that the cafeteria was almost parallel to Mr. Hodges office.  There was one long hallway of patient’s rooms that separated them.  He looked up to the ceiling again, but this time it was to see if he could find any heating or air conditioning ducts running through the ceiling.  Sure enough there was.  Henry took note of where they were placed, how many of them there were.  He also noticed that in the far wall there was a huge built in pantry shelf with a huge ladder to make the top shelves accessible.  Perfect he thought.   He could actually use that to do what he needed to do.  He noticed the cafeteria staff.  All of them that worked the line were wearing white.  They were all women, however as he walked through the line with Nurse Applegate, he noticed the workers in the back who were wearing black and most of them were men.  They were loading supplies from a back door into a back room that must have served as a supply closet.  He could see what he thought was extra uniforms folded neatly on the shelf in the entry way of the supply closet.  He felt like he had seen enough to at least formulate a plan to find out what Mr. Hodges was up to.  Because he was looking around so intently he never drew any attention from Nurse Applegate.  She knew that patients such as Henry were prone to look confused.  His trip was very productive indeed, Henry thought!

“Are you ready to go Mr. Tyler?”  Nurse Applegate asked as Henry walked forward but was still looking back.  She had no clue that he was actually counting how many steps it took him to get to the door.  Again she just assumed that it was the behavior of someone with his problem. Every step represented seconds. Henry calculated how many seconds it would take him to get from the door to the counter.  He was spying out the land so to speak and without any suspicion.  Of course Henry was still carrying the picture of his old friend with him and it somehow seemed perfectly natural to all of the staff at Glenview.  He was grateful that he could remember what he learned when he was in the service. He was overwhelmed and grateful that he wasn’t just another patient at Glenview, but that he was going to help his neighbors and friends who had been placed in Glenview for various reasons.  Henry thought it sad that their families probably were deceived by Mr. Hodges just as He and Helen were.  He hoped that he could help get Mr. Hodges out of Glenview before anyone of them would ever have to find out how ruthless he was.

When Nurse Applegate left the cafeteria she then walked a little distance down the hallway to a closed room with windows to where you could see everything and everyone inside.  This was the room where all of the medications were housed. She took keys out of her pocket.  She turned to Henry.

“Mr. Tyler, you must stay out in the hallway.  Do you understand? You cannot follow me in here.”  Nurse Applegate tried to explain, but Henry did not let on as to whether he did or didn’t understand.  He pretended as though he would go in with her, but had no plan to really follow her. Nurse Applegate put her hand out and placed it on Henry’s chest as he acted as though he would go in.  She held him back and he obeyed her.  He then waited patiently until she came out.  He was becoming a little nervous as he did not want to be caught out in the hallway by Mr. Hodges.  He had no clue what time Mr. Hodges left for the day.  That was something he made a note of in his mind that he needed to follow up on.  Nurse Applegate opened the door and she and Henry walked around the corner and down the hallway where he and Helen was now staying.  As they had walked, Henry surveyed the front desk in proximity to their room, then to Mr. Hodges hallway, and then the distance to the cafeteria.  He was formulating and calculating as he walked merrily along with Nurse Applegate.  She was none the wiser and neither was anyone else. The “Ghost” roamed the hallways of Glenview!

 

Thank you once again for “tuning in” or reading along with me!  It is my hope that you have been enjoying my Romance/Suspense novel, If Oak Trees Could Talk, for it has been my pleasure to share it with you!  As always I would love to hear from you.  I want to thank all of you that have begun following my WordPress blogs.  Please continue to “tune it” as we are moving right along through the book.

If you are interested in obtaining your own copy of If Oak Trees Could Talk! or any of my other books, please visit my Amazon Author Page here!  Also If you are new to my Video Blogs and would like to catch up on the story from the beginning please check out the archives in this blog or simply Subscribe to my blogs or to my  Youtube Videos as they are numbered and in order!  I am also a weekly contributor to The Lakeview Times.   All of my videos are published each week at http://www.lakeviewtimes.com

Part 40 If Oak Trees Could Talk!

12 May #inspiringonedreameratatime

Part 40 If Oak Trees Could Talk!

 

 

As Mother’s Day has just past and Father’s Day is coming next month, the characters of Henry and Helen in If Oak Trees Could Talk remind me of my own parents who have now both passed and went on to be the Lord, but will forever live larger than life in my heart! In writing this book, I wanted to honor my parents who not only gave me life, but taught me about how to live life!  Once again thank you for reading along with me or “tuning in” to my video blogs of If Oak Trees Could Talk!   I really hope that you’ve enjoyed this book as it is very dear to my heart!

We will finish Chapter 18 The Detectives!

Soon the boys were finished eating and helped clear the table.  They went outside to play as Robert and Amelia cleaned up the kitchen.  Amelia told Robert of the day’s horrible events.   He now understood why his wife was so upset.  He became angrier as Amelia told him what Mr. Hodges had done and attempted to do with her parents. 

“He is pure evil, Robert!”  Amelia stated as chills ran through her.  “I fear for my parents, but they insisted on staying there.  My Daddy is going to play detective which is even more terrifying to me.  Mr. Hodges is not playing here!  He is out to save his reputation and the facade of Glenview no matter who he hurts in the process.  I felt like I was in a nightmare today and just needed to wake up.  This is like a horror movie, but it’s not a fake movie, it is very real and right here in Mason Creek!”

Robert could see that Amelia was very scared.  He again pulled her into his loving arms and just held her.  He assured her that he would not let anything happen to her or her parents.  “We will get them home!” Robert promised. “I will go get them now if you want me to!”  He declared.

“No, Robert, Mr. Henderson has to have a little time.  He’s going to the state attorney in morning, in the meantime I need to go and meet with Nurse Applegate to see if she can tell me more about what is going on.  She seems to be legit.  I can only hope that she is!” 

“I’ll go with you!  We can drop the boys at my sisters!” Robert suggested.

“I don’t think that is the best thing.  Nurse Applegate is probably as afraid and untrusting as I am.  She may just close up and not share anything if you come.  I believe I need to go alone.   Don’t you?”

“Maybe you’re right, but I don’t like it.  I just want you to be extra careful.  If you suspect anything, I want you to promise me you will call me immediately to let me know!  I will come to you, okay?”  Robert ordered.

“I promise Robert! I love you with my whole heart!”  Amelia said as she leaned into Robert to kiss him tenderly.

“I love you Mrs. Steele!” Robert replied and gently kissed Amelia on her nose.

They laughed and went outside to be with the boys.

            Soon Amelia kissed the boys and Robert as she sped out of the driveway.  She wanted to run by Glenview and check on your parents one more time.  As she arrived in the parking lot she glanced up to Mr. Hodges office.  She could see lights on, so she assumed that he was probably still at Glenview.  She became nervous as she once again thought of her parents being harmed by him.  Amelia practically ran to get inside the building.  Once inside the nurse at the station was on the telephone, so Amelia smiled and went on toward her parent’s room.  She gently tapped the closed door.  However, there was no answer.  Amelia almost in a panic, immediately pushed the door open to find both her parents snuggled up tightly. They were sound asleep. She watched them awhile. Her parents seemed so peaceful.  Amelia thought to wake them, but instead she smiled tenderly and backed out of room.

            When she backed out of their room, she headed down the hall when Nurse Applegate came around the corner.  “Well, hello again!” Nurse Applegate said with a friendly smile.

            “Hello, I was just checking on them! They were sound asleep.  I couldn’t bring myself to wake them to let them know that I came by to check on them. They just looked so sweet and peaceful” Amelia stated.

            “Yes I know, they seem to be exhausted as I checked on them a short while ago. They were resting. They are so sweet. I noticed that they were all snuggled up together.”

            “Nurse Applegate, you will never find another couple so in love as my parents are with each other!  They act like teenagers!  They can’t keep their hands off of one another!” Amelia said with a chuckle.  “I am glad that they are together.  If they weren’t I would move in here myself whether Mr. Hodges liked it or not!” Amelia stated rather defiantly.

“Don’t worry, Ms. Steele, I will take good care of them!  I promise!” Nurse Applegate said as she too seemed a little defiant.

“Thank you so much.  I feel a little better knowing that they have someone as caring as you!  Amelia replied, as she found herself really liking Nurse Applegate.  She then whispered, “How soon will you get out of here? I have a few errands, but will be at the place we talked about.”

“My shift ends at around Nine o’clock. I will meet you as soon as I can get there!”

“That sounds wonderful!  Again I want to thank you for taking good care of those two lovebirds in there.  They are two amazing people. I would love for you to get to know them better!  Maybe after all this mess is over, you can!”

“I would love that!” Nurse Applegate agreed. “Go, get out of here and run your errands.  They are fine!”

Amelia smiled as she came around and corner. Immediately her smile left as Mr. Hodges was at the nurse’s desk.  At first Amelia was going to wait to see if he left, but then she thought to herself that she wanted him to see her.  She wanted him to see that she was on her guard.  He would not be able to do anything without going through her first. 

As she walked down the hallway to the nurse’s station, she never stopped.  As she kept on walking both hers and Mr. Hodges eyes met.  The glares from both of them were cold. Soon Mr. Hodges’s developed an evil glint as he grinned a devilish grin while Amelia walked by him.   She never slowed up and acknowledged his presence. She continued walking out of the sliding glass doors, down the sidewalk to the parking lot.  She could barely put her key in the door because her hands were trembling so badly.  However, once inside her car, she took deep cleansing breaths and calmed herself down. 

Thank you once again for “tuning in” or reading along with me!  It is my hope that you have been enjoying my Romance/Suspense novel, If Oak Trees Could Talk, for it has been my pleasure to share it with you!  As always I would love to hear from you.  I want to thank all of you that have begun following my WordPress blogs.  Please continue to “tune it” as we are moving right along through the book.

If you are interested in obtaining your own copy of If Oak Trees Could Talk or any of my other books, please visit my Amazon Author Page here!  Also If you are new to my Video Blogs and would like to catch up on the story from the beginning please check out the archives in this blog or simply Subscribe to my blogs or to my  Youtube Videos as they are numbered and in order!  I am also a weekly contributor to The Lakeview Times.   All of my videos are published each week at http://www.lakeviewtimes.com

Press Forward!

4 May

Press ForwardOpportunity!

Part 38 If Oak Trees Could Talk

28 Apr

Part 38 If Oak Trees Could Talk! Hello Everyone, I am so glad that you chose to join me again on my Video Blogs of my Romance/Suspense Novel If Oak Trees Could Talk!  I love all the new people that…

Source: Part 38 If Oak Trees Could Talk