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

Tags: #Authorartistmomof2#letyourlittlelightshine, #ChristineGilliamHornback, #healthierchoices, #IfOakTreesCouldTalk, #inspirationalstories, #inspiringonedreameratatime, #Love, #Lovestories, #Oldfashionedlove, #Oldfashionedromance, #Romancesuspense#Juvenilefiction