Part 30 If Oak Trees Could Talk!
Hello again! I hope that you’ve had a great and productive week since the last video blog post of my Romance/Suspense novel If Oak Trees Could Talk. My week has been very productive! I am thrilled to say that I have been making some really great progress on a sequel to my Juvenile fiction novel Caleb’s Cereal! People ask me all the time about being a writer. Probably the number one question is “Why do you write?” I would love to have some deep answer for them, but honestly my main reason is that I personally get to go on journeys and do things through my characters that I probably would never get to do in real life! That is why I am doing these videos blogs each week! I hope to take you with me on a few of my characters adventures. It is my hope that you will come along with me and enjoy the journey!
Today we pick back up in Chapter 15 The Cruise!
Chapter 15
The Cruise!
Henry began whistling, Amelia had not heard her Dad whistle since before her Momma’s fall. He was truly coming back, Helen thought and a peace like a robe simply came over her. She listened to her Mom and Dad talk about this neighbor and that neighbor as he drove them down their neighborhood street. He honked the horn at this one and at that one when he would see them out in their yards. He knew perfectly well where he was going and had no problem maneuvering the car. He then turned right onto Harper Street. His face beamed when he saw his beloved Hardware store. He whipped the car into the side street and threw it into park.
“Let’s just drop in here for a minute okay Amelia?” Henry said.
Amelia knew that this trip was totally out of her hands. What could she do about it anyway? She only prayed that Sheriff Eugene would not see them out on their cruise through the town when they needed to be back at Glenview.
Amelia and Robert ran the Hardware store very efficiently. With everything that had happened with Amelia’s parents they hired a very loyal worker to help them out in the store. Mr. Dewey Thomas was a close friend to Henry and loved helping the family out. He was an older gentleman and appreciated the fact that he could go to work and be useful. He had been a good neighbor who had grown up on the same street as Amelia and her parents. When Amelia was busy outside of the store with her parents or children, Mr. Dewey Thomas helped keep things running. When Henry, Helen, and Amelia walked into the store, Henry was very surprised to see his friend and neighbor behind the counter. His old friend was just as surprised to see Amelia and her parents walk through the door. He ran from behind the counter and shook Henry’s hand and hugged Ms. Helen.
“Oh my, when I saw you people coming through that door, I thought I was hallucinating. It made my legs get all wobbly. Man, my old friend you are looking good! When are you coming back to work?” Mr. Thomas went on. “Goodness, where are my manners ladies? Hello Ms. Amelia, please, you and Ms. Helen come behind this counter and have yourselves a sit down right here. I will visit with my old buddy!”
Henry was a little overwhelmed with Dewey. He knew him, but yet he didn’t know him.
“Amelia didn’t tell me that we had someone helping out in the store.” Henry stated. “I am glad that she does though.” Henry continued as he stared intently at Dewey. He was trying to place who he was. He wondered how he knew him. Had he worked at the store before when he ran it? The answers seemed not to come.
“Ah, it’s nothing Henry. I was glad to do it. How are you Ms. Helen? You sure are looking fit?” Dewey stated. He still had not realized that Henry didn’t know who he was.
“I am just wonderful Dewey. How about Dolores, how is she faring these days?” Helen asked.
“Oh she is doing pretty well. We can’t complain. The Lord’s been good to us Ms. Helen.” Dewey replied.
“Yes, he’s been good to us as well, Dewey.” Helen stated. Finally Helen thought she would try to refresh Henry’s mind about who Dewey was.
“Henry, do you remember when you and Dewey were in the service together? You were the two locals from Mason Creek that were placed together. He and Dolores always come over to our house and played Canasta. Do you remember?”
“Yes, I think I might, at that! Weren’t you the one that bought that old motorcycle with the sidecar? When we were in the service, they let you drive that old thing and I could ride in the sidecar. I remember all of the dust you made me eat because of that piece of junk! Thank the Lord we had on a helmet and goggles or I would probably be blind today!”
“Yep, Henry that was me!” Dewey said with a deep chuckle. “Man, I had not thought of that cycle for ages!”
“I don’t blame you, that fool thing was a death trap waiting to happen!” Henry said as he grabbed Dewey and gave him a big old hug. Henry became rather emotional because, again this just proved that he was coming back, he felt like he had just gotten another breakthrough.
Both of the veterans stood in the middle of the store until other folks started coming in. One by one the crowd lined up shaking Henry’s hand and welcoming him back. Some he recognized and some he didn’t. Henry fed on the atmosphere of his Hardware store. It gave him back some of his pride that he felt that he had lost.
Amelia was getting nervous. Who else was going to walk through that door? She was sure that the word had gotten out that her Daddy was in the Hardware store. She feared that Eugene would come walking through the door at any moment. If Sheriff Eugene came in, then what would happen? Would she be carted off to jail and her parents hauled back to Glenview? She loved seeing her Daddy in his element again, but knew that she had to get him out of the store as soon as possible. She told Eugene that she would have her parents back to Glenview this morning. Time was running out. It was almost Eleven o’clock and she had not produced them. She then told her mother about Eugene.
“Oh, how are Eugene and his parents? They are such sweet people. They’re just like all of these folks coming in here today showing such love to me and Henry. We just live in a wonderful little town. Don’t we, Amelia?” Helen said as she watched the line of people gathering into the store to say hello to them.
“Folks, Folks, I need to get your attention, please! Amelia shouted over the roar of men and women laughing and talking. Listen, I was ordered to get my parents back to Glenview before Noon today. If I do not get them back in time, I may possibly get into more trouble than I am already in. So, no offense to anybody, for we are so thankful that you all came out, but we need to cut this reunion short until next time okay?” Amelia shouted!
“Yes Ms. Amelia, we understand!” The crowd all agreed! They then made a path, some on the right and some on the left of the main aisle to the door for Amelia and her parents to walk through to the front door. As they made their way through the aisle, the crowd smiled and patted them on the back as if they were heroes that had come home from a war. Amelia would not necessary describe what her parents had been though as a war, however, she would say that they had fought a fierce battle. They deserved every cheer and every pat on the back that their neighbors and friends had to give to them.
“Well that was fun!” Helen said when the three of them had gotten back into the car.
“Hurry get down, get down now!” Amelia shouted, as she saw Sheriff Eugene drive by. She prayed that he didn’t recognize Henry’s car. It had been a long time since it had been out of the garage. On the other hand, Amelia thought that Henry’s car may be the very thing that would stick out like a sore thumb and gain them the unwanted attention. She slowly raised her head up to see if she could see where the Sheriff had gone. She did not see him, but was sure that he would be back. There was way more cars parked in front of the Hardware store than usual which also drew suspicion.
“Daddy, I hate to tell you this, but you’re going to have to get out of here rather quickly before the Sheriff circles around to check out why all of these cars are here! Would you please just let me drive us now?” Amelia pleaded.
“Are you kidding me? I can surely out run the Sheriff if I had too. Let’s just hope that it will not be necessary.” Henry stated as if he weren’t the least bit concerned about going back to Glenview. Maybe he seriously wasn’t. He treated his escape from Glenview like it was a summer vacation. He had definitely had a busy twenty-four to thirty-six hours of freedom. If he kept a record of all he had done since walking out of Glenview’s doors it would read as follows: He walked naked up and down streets to get home, climbed an Oak tree, had a romantic picnic, danced with the love of his life in the moonlight, swung in a swing, walked through gardens and the yard, ate lots of his favorite food, slept in his own bed, spent time with his daughter, grandsons, and son-and-law, and finally, Henry was united and visited with most of his friends and neighbors at the hardware store which was one of his favorite places. What better way to spend time on the outside 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.
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