Page 121 of Hidden Ties

From his expression, he was in agreement.

As they walked together, he convinced her to let his wife drive her home while he followed. Too tired to argue, she gave in, not really wanting to be alone.

The officer’s wife didn’t offer any conversation on the drive, and she didn’t try to break the silence. When she had been in the emergency room, she had called the bank and credit agencies to block all her cards and freeze her credit. She had done everything she could think of to minimize the damage the mugging had caused.

When they reached her apartment building, she thanked the officer’s wife. Instead of going directly into the building, she opened the trunk to remove the groceries.

“Let us help you with those.”

“I would appreciate your help, if you don’t mind. You can place them in front of my door. I don’t want my sister to become alarmed when she sees a policeman coming into the apartment.”

“No problem. Whatever makes it easier for you.”

It took the three of them to carry the groceries to her apartment. True to his word, the officer and his wife set the groceries outside the door.

Sage unlocked the door with her good hand and stepped into the quiet apartment.

Her neighbor took one look at her and jerked up from the reclining position on the couch.

“What—”

Putting her fingers to her lips, she shushed Tayla. “I had an accident on the way home from the grocery store,” she explained in a muted voice. “I’m fine. It looks worse that it is.”

“Can I do anything to help?” Coming from around the coffee table, Tayla took the bag of groceries she was carrying from her.

“There are four other bags outside the door. If you could bring those in, that would be a big help.”

She set the bag she had carried in onto the counter and started putting the groceries away as Tayla brought the other bags inside.

“Are they asleep?” she asked Tayla, starting to put away another bag.

“The girls were ready for bed after spending the weekend with their grandmother,” Tayla said. “Glory fell asleep about twenty minutes ago.”

“I appreciate your help. I don’t know what I’d do without you.” Opening a drawer next to the fridge, she took out an envelope of cash, which she kept on hand for Glory. She took out two twenties and she handed them to Tayla.

“I don’t want your money …” Tayla started to protest.

“Please,” she pleaded. “It’ll make me feel better. I don’t know what’d I do without you.”

Tayla started unloading the last bag. “You’d make it work,” she said pragmatically. “We’re tougher than we look.”

Sage didn’t disagree with her. She didn’t know how many more times she could keep bouncing back onto her feet. It seemed anytime something good happened in her life, something just as bad knocked her off her feet.

“Can I do anything else for you?”

“No, you get to bed. You have to be as tired as I am. I saw you leaving for work the same time I did.”

Tayla yawned. “If you need me, just call.”

“I will.”

Locking the door after her, she was folding the grocery bags when she realized Tayla had missed one item. She pulled out Glory’s melted ice cream and watched the vanilla bean drip from the carton and onto her hand.

After placing the ice cream soup in the freezer, she started cleaning up drips. She wasn’t upset the ice cream had melted. Her mom had a favorite saying, “When life gives you lemons, make lemonade.”

She guessed Glory would be making milk shakes instead of banana splits.

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