Finding Libbie (16 page)

Libbie sniffed and nodded. “I know. It just hurt.”

Jack kissed her lips gently. “I hate that I have to leave, but I’ll be late if I don’t go now. Will you be okay by yourself today?”

Libbie nodded. “I’ll be fine. I’ll probably just sleep a while.”

“Okay. You get some rest and I’ll see you tonight.” He kissed her again and headed out to his truck.

The morning breeze off the lake was chilly, reminding Jack that winter was around the corner. As he drove to work, he wondered how much wine Libbie had really drunk. He knew she’d had more than one glass—she’d been out cold last night. But why would she lie? He decided that it wasn’t a big deal. He couldn’t blame Libbie for wanting to relax after the nasty way Abigail talked to her. By the time he was elbow deep into a car engine, he’d forgotten all about it.

CHAPTER SIXTEEN

For the next two weeks, Libbie tried to forget her mother’s harsh words, but it was difficult. Libbie had always been the good child, the perfect student, the shining star of the family. Being told she was a failure in her mother’s eyes had devastated her.

Making matters worse, winter seemed to be in a rush to hit the north woods. Nights were extremely cold, and the wind off the lake was bitter. Jack started a fire in the woodstove every night to ward off the chill, but Libbie felt cold in bed anyway. She began to dread winter for the first time in her life. Thinking of being stuck there at the cottage almost every day alone depressed her. Carol was busy with school, and so were the girls next door. She could always go visit Bev at the farm, but as soon as the temperatures dipped below freezing, she’d have to stay and keep the fire going at the cottage. She had loved the cottage in the summer, but now she wished they lived in a regular house with a heating system.

The last week in October, Libbie was standing at the stove, stirring rice in a pan for supper. It was five fifteen, and she had a chicken cooking in the oven. She’d make gravy for the rice as soon as Jack came home. The phone rang, startling her, and she ran to pick it up.

“Hello?”

“Hey, hon. I’m sorry, but I need to stay late at work.”

Libbie frowned. Jack had never stayed late at work before. “Why?”

“A man’s car broke down late this afternoon, and he needs it fixed before tomorrow morning. The boss asked if I would stay late and finish up the job. It will probably be two more hours. The good news is I’ll get overtime pay.”

“What about dinner?” Libbie asked. “I have it cooking right now.”

“I’m so sorry, Libs. Why don’t you ask the girls next door to come over for dinner? I’d hate to see it wasted.”

Libbie thought about that a moment, then smiled. That might be fun. “Okay. I’ll save you a plate of food, too.”

“Thanks for understanding, hon. See you in a while.”

Libbie hung up and quickly stirred the rice again, then turned down the burner’s flame. She went out on the porch. It was icy cold outside, but luckily, no snow had fallen yet. She figured that by the first week in November they’d have snow for sure.

She glanced over to the girls’ cottage and saw both cars. Running over there, she knocked on their door. Jackie answered.

“Hey, Libbie. Great to see you. What’s up?” Jackie asked.

“Hi, Jackie. I have a whole chicken in the oven and rice cooking, and I’m making gravy, too. Jack just called and said he’d be late and miss dinner. Would you both like to come over and eat with me?”

“Would we?” Candy said, coming to the door. “Are you kidding? Lead the way.”

The girls followed Libbie back to her cottage, a bottle of wine and one of 7 Up in hand, and they all had wine spritzers while Libbie finished making supper. Libbie had already drunk half a glass of wine earlier, so the second glass made her feel silly and light-headed.

She took out the chicken and made the gravy, then placed it all on the small table.

“Wow!” Jackie said, watching as Libbie served the food. “How do you know how to cook so well?”

“Jack’s mom taught me. When I was growing up, our housekeeper made all our dinners, so I never learned to cook until I started hanging out at the farm with Jack.”

“Housekeeper, huh?” Jackie said. “I figured you must have been a rich girl from the car you drive, but you must have been really rich if your family had a housekeeper.”

Libbie shrugged as she passed out the plates. “I never thought about it. It’s just the way we lived.”

They all sat down and served themselves. Candy had already refilled their wine glasses, using the last of the wine and 7 Up.

“Oh, Libbie. This is delicious,” Candy said. “You can cook for us anytime you want.”

Jackie agreed. “This is amazing. Thanks so much for inviting us. We haven’t eaten this good in weeks.”

The girls talked about school, their part-time jobs, and the boys they’d dated since school started. “You’re so lucky to have Jack,” Candy said between mouthfuls of food. “He’s so nice, and a hard worker. All I meet are guys that think they’ll get sex if they buy me a burger and fries. Can you imagine? It may be the swinging seventies, but that doesn’t mean I’ll give it up for a burger.”

Jackie giggled and Libbie followed suit.

“How did you and Jack meet?” Jackie asked.

Libbie told them her story as they finished eating and emptied their glasses. She felt warm all over, and everything that was said made her giggle uncontrollably. If one of the other girls laughed, she’d start, too.

On slightly wobbly legs, Libbie cleared the table and the girls helped her. She rinsed the plates and stacked them. Her heart was racing wildly and she felt like she had enough energy to run a mile. She liked how happy and energized she felt and she didn’t want it to end.

“We’re all out of wine,” Candy said, tossing the empty bottle in the garbage. “And there’s no more at home, either.”

“Let’s go get some more,” Libbie suggested quickly. “I’ll buy it since I drank yours. The liquor store doesn’t close until eight.”

The girls were more than willing to go. “Can we take your car?” Jackie asked hopefully. “I’ve been dying to ride in it.”

“Sure.” Libbie grabbed a coat, her wallet, and keys. They all piled into the car, with Jackie in the front seat and Candy in the back.

The three talked and giggled on the ride into town and no one noticed Libbie swerving slightly as she drove. She parked at the liquor store and gave Candy some money.

“Can you get two bottles?”

“Sure can,” Candy said. She and Jackie went in and bought the two bottles of wine using their fake IDs. They picked up a six-pack of 7 Up, too. They were out in a flash and Libbie drove the dark streets home.

“I’ll bet this car can go really fast,” Jackie said. “Like a race car.”

“Sure it can,” Libbie said. They were on the dark lake road now. They’d passed her parents’ house already but weren’t at the resort yet. “Want to see how fast it can go?” she asked, and then stepped down on the accelerator.

The girls whooped and hollered in delight as Libbie took first one curve and then another. Libbie squealed along with them. She’d never done anything like this in her life, and her heart raced with excitement.

Just as she hit the third curve, a deer ran out onto the road in front her. Libbie swerved to the right, and her car careened off the road. The last thing Libbie heard was Jackie screaming before everything went black.

Jack drove along the lake road a little past eight thirty. Fixing the car had taken much longer than he’d anticipated, but it had given him three hours of overtime pay, so it was worth it. He was putting a little money away each check to buy Libbie an extra-special Christmas present. She deserved it. He knew that her life had changed drastically since marrying him and that things weren’t always easy, yet she never complained. And she’d also been giving him the majority of her checks from the library so he could add it to their savings for a house. He knew he was lucky to have Libbie in his life, and he wanted to show her on their first Christmas how much he appreciated all she did.

As Jack rounded the last curve before the resort, he saw the glint of a car’s taillight on the side of the road in someone’s yard. Suddenly, two girls came running out onto the road in front of him, and he had to swerve and stomp on his breaks to miss hitting them.

“Jack! Jack! It’s Libbie. Hurry!” The girl with dark hair yelled as he rolled down his window. He suddenly realized that these were the neighbor girls. He looked ahead to where the car was and could see in the beams of his headlights that it was a Mustang, slammed into a thick tree trunk.

“Libbie,” he gasped, as he realized what he was seeing.

He grabbed a flashlight from the glove compartment and jumped out of his truck, running to the Mustang’s driver’s side. The girls were next to him, crying. “She’s stuck behind the wheel and she won’t wake up,” the dark-haired girl said. Jack didn’t know if she was Jackie or Candy. He’d never spent enough time around them to remember who was who.

Jack ran around the back of the car and crawled into the passenger seat, and that was when he realized how badly crushed the Mustang was. The hood was smashed up like an accordion, almost all the way to the front seat. The driver’s side had taken the brunt of the hit, and Libbie was pinned behind the steering wheel, her head against the back of the seat. There was only enough room for him to squeeze in beside her with the passenger seat pushed all the way back. The window had shattered and glass was everywhere.

Jack turned his flashlight on Libbie. There were cuts on her face, and a huge bump was already swelling up on her forehead. “Libbie?” he said softly. “Libbie? Wake up, sweetie. Please wake up.” Tears filled his eyes. He held his breath and strained to hear her breathe. He was relieved when he finally heard her softly inhaling.

“What’s going on out here?” An older man wearing a robe over pajamas came out of his house with a flashlight in hand. He walked up near the car, his face suddenly appearing shocked at the scene before him.

Jack pulled himself out of the car. “Call an ambulance!” he said. “My wife is hurt. She’s stuck in the car.”

The old man didn’t even question Jack. He turned and ran back to his house.

The girls were still standing out by the car, crying softly. Jack turned to them. “Are you two okay?”

The blond girl nodded. “We’re fine. We just want Libbie to wake up.”

The cold night air seeped through Jack, making him shiver.

“Can one of you get the blanket from under my truck seat?” he asked quickly. “And then you two should go inside the truck and sit. It’s warm in there.”

The dark-haired girl nodded, and they both ran to the truck. She brought back the blanket and handed it to Jack. “I’m so sorry, Jack. I really am. We never meant for this to happen.”

Jack just stared at her, unable to process anything other than the fact that Libbie was hurt. “Go back to the truck. It’s freezing out here.”

She ran off, and Jack squeezed his way back into the car. He tried placing the blanket around Libbie as best as he could. She was pinned in so tight he couldn’t get it around her very well.

“Libbie, please wake up,” Jack said, his voice cracking. He carefully picked away the glass from her hair and clothes. “I love you so much, Libbie. Please, please wake up,” Jack whispered.

Libbie’s eyelids fluttered, and she rolled her head in Jack’s direction. “Jack?” she asked softly.

“Libbie. Oh, Libbie. Are you okay?” Jack asked.

“My arm hurts,” Libbie said, before closing her eyes again.

Jack ran the flashlight over her but couldn’t see much of her arm. It was tucked tightly to her body, pinned under the steering wheel. “An ambulance is coming,” Jack told her. “It’ll be here soon.”

The elderly man came back out and checked on Jack, saying the ambulance was on its way. He’d brought out blankets for the girls and took them over to the truck. All Jack could do was sit there beside Libbie and wait.

Finally, the ambulance came along with a police car and a fire and rescue vehicle. After examining the situation, the responders were able to push Libbie’s seat back far enough to lift her out of the car and onto a stretcher.

Jack stood by nervously. “Please be careful. She said her arm hurt.”

The girls came out of the truck and an EMT checked them over, too. Other than a few cuts and bruises, they were fine, and neither wanted to go to the hospital. A police officer offered to drive the girls home in Jack’s truck so Jack could ride in the ambulance with Libbie.

Jack answered the EMT’s questions as the ambulance buzzed into town to the hospital. Yes, she’d woken up for a few seconds. She’d said her arm hurt but didn’t say which one. No, he hadn’t been in the car during the accident.

Once at the hospital, Jack was held back to fill out forms while they wheeled Libbie into emergency. When he was finished, they still wouldn’t let him go back with Libbie. The receptionist told him to wait until a nurse or doctor came out to talk to him.

He paced the hard linoleum floor of the waiting room for over an hour. The lights were harsh and glaring, and it smelled of antiseptic. He couldn’t understand why he wasn’t allowed to be with Libbie. He was her husband, for God’s sake. He should be back there. Finally, a woman in a white uniform and cap came out and walked over to him.

“Are you Mr. Prentice?” she asked.

Jack nodded. “Yes. How is my wife?”

“She’s fine. She has a broken wrist and a large bump on her head, but there is no sign of concussion. The orthopedic specialist will be in tomorrow to set and cast her wrist,” the nurse said. “For now, we’re moving her to a room for the night.”

“I want to see her,” Jack said.

The nurse shook her head. “She’s sound asleep. The doctor gave her a sedative to calm her down. She was pretty shaken up. You should go home and get some sleep and come back in the morning.”

Jack could only imagine how terrified Libbie had been, waking up in a hospital without anyone she knew with her. It broke his heart just thinking about it. “I need to see her,” he insisted. “I need to see for myself that she’s all right.”