Chapter 25 - Callie
Everyone was on edge, including me. We'd eaten dinner and I'd bathed Josiah. Dad was still upset from earlier, and although he was watching television, I could see his heart wasn't in it.
I busied myself washing up the dinner dishes and cleaning the kitchen. Otherwise, no one spoke and the house was quiet and dark, except for the glow from the television.
I walked out to the barn to check on the horses; I knew I couldn't sleep right away. They were fine, but I thought I heard something rustling through the high grass on my way back to the house. I went inside and locked the door.
"Shhh... we may have company," I warned. Dad flipped off the television. I went to the bedroom window and looked out. I saw movement. There was definitely someone out there. The movement took on the shape of a man then. He was older - I could tell by his lack of agility. I drew in my breath as I saw he was holding a gas can in his hands. Looking over his shoulder as he worked, he poured a trail of the flammable fluid over the flowers and shrubs that hugged the house. He stood back then, and I saw him pull a small object from his pocket. He fiddled with it and then a flame was lighting his features.
"Now!" I cried, and the front door burst open as Michael and the detective sprang through the front door of the Stephenses' house where they'd been hiding. They caught the man - Michael's dad, of course - just as he was bending to lay flame to the gasoline he'd laced around our stone cottage. As I watched from the window, there was a brief struggle, but it ended quickly with the detective leading away Mr. Shannon in a set of handcuffs.
Michael flew back in through the door. "Everyone okay?" he shouted. Josiah awakened to the noise.
"We are now, thanks to you, Michael," Dad said as I headed in the direction of the nursery.
I came out with Josiah in my arms. It was the first time Michael had ever seen him. I could tell by the look on his face that he'd been curious about Josiah, and now, faced with a flesh and blood baby, he took a couple of steps backward and the whoosh of his expelled air could be heard across the room. I set Josiah down and he took some steps in Michael's direction, then began to cry and toddled over to Dad's chair and climbed up.
"Michael, what if you hadn't thought ahead? What if he'd come while we were in bed over there and burned us alive?"
"Let's not go there now. You're all fine, and it's only a matter of less than a half hour and you'll never have to worry about him again, I swear. I'm so sorry that he took it this far. He needs medical help."
I nodded. "I think so, too. Let me make us some coffee while we wait. Dad, you okay?"
"Just fine, Callie. Michael saw to that."
I retrieved a bottle of juice from the fridge and handed it to Josiah, who immediately quit crying and drank the sweet liquid, gurgling with happiness. "Da-Da?" He was trying to learn to talk, and he heard me regularly call my father "Dad." That would be his first word, apparently.
Michael was staring at Josiah, a look of wonderment on his face. I knew he was imagining having a child with me. If only he knew, but I couldn't tell him. Not yet.
We sat down with our coffee, and before long, the clock over the mantle was chiming twelve times.
"Happy birthday, Michael," I said and wrapped my arms around him to give him a kiss.
"Happy birthday, Michael," Dad called from his chair.
There was a knock at the door and Michael rose to answer it, just as he'd planned. He opened the door wide, and a group of men entered the room, carrying out boxes and luggage that contained all our belongings.
I took the baby and Michael pushed Dad's chair. We were met outside by a limousine and were safely put inside. That's about all I knew about "the plan." I was content to hear the rest later.
A small moving truck followed us down the drive, followed by a pickup hauling a horse trailer with Hector munching safely inside. We didn't have far to drive and pulled into the entrance of the gated driveway just ten minutes later. A guard came out and looked us over, signaling the guard inside the small building with a thumbs-up. The gates slid open smoothly and our caravan pulled through. The pickup with the horse trailer went in the direction of the barns, while the moving truck and our limo went up to the door.
As we pulled up, the front door opened and the light framed a woman and a man.
Michael took the baby and then handed him to the woman, who promptly turned and went inside. The man, who Michael introduced as Rodney, helped Dad out of the limo, and the group of us walked into the entry hall of what had to be the most beautiful house I'd ever been in.
"Welcome home, Callie," Michael said and kissed me.
"Are you sure?"
"I keep my promises, remember?"
I nodded and hugged Dad, who looked exhausted. "Please, can we get Dad situated first?"
Michael signaled Rodney, who wheeled Dad's chair to an elevator at the side of the entryway. I watched as it opened onto the upper mezzanine, and Dad waved as they disappeared down the hallway.
"I'm beat. Are you sure the people you hired will look after the Stephenses' place until they get back and we get this all resolved?"
"You have my word on it."
"Good. I'm tired. Where's my room?" I asked, looking around.
"Well, you have your choice of two," he grinned with a wink.
"I'll take the one that lets me sleep alone," I said with authority.
"As you say, lassie. Follow me."
We ascended the broad stairway and turned the opposite direction from where Dad had been wheeled. "We'll be staying in this wing," Michael told me, and I followed him down the hallway.
He stopped at a door and opened it, reaching inside the doorway to trigger a light switch. The glow of a dozen lamps spilled over the carpets and upholstery of a female dream come true. A cherry four-poster bed with matching bedside tables dominated the room. There was a huge floor-to-ceiling window with an arched top, and before it waited a pair of loveseats and a lounge chair for reading. The walls were covered with closet doors, and a bathroom filled with white tile and a crystal chandelier hanging over a Jacuzzi tub were to my right.
"You want a shower?"
I smiled and winked. "Yes, but I think I can handle it myself."
"As you say, lassie. You'll find clothes in the closets and dressers. I gave them your size. I'll see you in the morning, and we'll talk about where to go from here." He bent and kissed me softly but firmly. "Don't worry about anything. There are a dozen guards outside this house and the entire property is surrounded by a ten-foot wrought-iron fence. You'll see it all in the morning."
I nodded, and he turned to leave. "Michael?"
"Yes, lassie?" he looked over his shoulder.
"Happy birthday."
"Now it is, lassie. Now it is."