1 Falls Forward, 2 Steps Back

Chapter 4

Chapter 4Emery

“The poor thing!” Emery’s mother pulled her chair closer to the table and stirred sweetener into her coffee. “Imagine having an accident in a strange country, and no one with you. You said she did speak some English, though?”

Emery’s parents had been in bed already when she got home the night before, so the story of what had happened at the caverns was shared over breakfast. “Her English was fine, if very slightly accented. I think initially she was in shock and German is what came to her first. Nobody else seemed to have a clue what she was saying, and since I happened to be standing nearby—”

“You jumped in to help. That’s my girl.” Her dad patted her on the arm before digging into his pancakes with gusto.

“I didn’t do anything, really. She seemed pretty shook up. It was odd. One minute the doors were being opened for the tour to begin, and the next, two workers were practically dragging this woman out. I think she was part of one of the singing groups. You know, the one that always dresses in old-fashioned outfits. I saw them going in and wondered even then how they could stand the humidity in there, being dressed like that. She probably developed heat exhaustion and passed out. There was a cut on her forehead.”

“You’ve had that happen on field trips, haven’t you? I seem to remember you describing suddenly feeling really dizzy and out of it till you got some Gatorade in you.” Her mother frowned. “I hate when you go to Big Bend in the summer. It’s too darned hot to be digging around the rocks.”

“It’s fine, Mom. It only happened once and ever since, I make sure I drink enough. Besides, it’s worth it. Big Bend is amazing. I can’t believe that you and Dad have never gone.”

“Well, it was awfully nice of you to follow the ambulance to the hospital. I can’t believe you missed the cavern tour and the singing for a complete stranger, though.”

Emery couldn’t explain her actions either. But the look in the woman’s eyes when the EMTs mentioned taking her to the emergency room was one of absolute terror. Up till then, she’d been calm and soft-spoken, seemingly educated and well-mannered if confused and maybe a little delusional. But as soon as the EMT made a move toward her, she lunged at him in a panic. Maybe she had PTSD or something. Emery thought how horrible it would be for her to wake up strapped to a gurney in some strange place completely alone.

So Emery had followed in her dad’s car. The woman was still totally out of it when they pulled her into the noisy, bright ER and transferred her onto one of their stretchers. The entire episode was so weird. When the woman was led out of the caves, emerging through the parting crowd, the atmosphere had suddenly felt different somehow. Maybe it was her asking if it was heaven, but for Emery, it was like everything and everyone around them blurred except for the two of them. She’d felt lightheaded, dizzy, as though she was the one with a head injury, not the stranger. There was something about the woman. Emery couldn’t put her finger on what it was, but something…intensely familiar. That feeling of déjà vu…She’d never experienced it so strongly.

“That’s the peculiar thing, Dad. She didn’t seem like a stranger. I swear I’ve seen her somewhere before.” She tried to keep her voice from betraying just how shaken she’d been.

“You said she was one of the singers, right?”

“I can’t say for certain, but why else would she be in a costume like that?”

“Maybe you’ve seen her other years when you’ve gone to the caroling.”

Emery racked her brain, but there was no clear memory of the woman from her past visits. Not that it wasn’t a possibility. She’d known an awful lot of women over the years, though their faces didn’t always stick with her. “It’s always so dimly lit, and there are usually about a dozen groups, some with ten or twenty singers. Why would I remember this particular one?”

Her mom smiled. “Is she pretty?”

Emery flushed. “Mom! It wasn’t like that. You know I don’t care about looks.”

“I’m just asking. Making conversation. It’s nice to have you interested in something other than rocks for a change.”

“I’m not interested in her! I don’t even know the woman!”

“But you said she didn’t seem like a stranger. Do you know her or not?”

Emery’s head started to hurt. Why was her mom grilling her about some innocent encounter that meant nothing? She was sorry she’d mentioned anything about what happened. Normally she didn’t share a great deal about her personal life with her parents. This encounter had just felt so odd she had blurted it out. For a few hours the night before, she’d shared some kind of weird connection with this Lina person. But now, trying to explain it, it lost the special feeling and she felt like an i***t.

“She’s just some woman, okay? She was injured; I went along to help out. End of story.”

Her dad raised his eyebrows as he looked across the table at her and her mom tilted her head and raised her shoulders slightly, but they didn’t say anything else, thank God. After several minutes of silverware clanking on dishes and her father’s loud chewing—how had her mother stood that for so many years?—Emery rose from her chair to carry her plate to the sink.

“Honey?” Her mom’s voice was all innocent sweetness.

Emery turned toward the table again and she took in a deep breath and slowly released it. “Yes, Mom?”

“What are your plans for today? I thought we could help decorate the altar at St. Paul’s. Maddie picked up some lovely poinsettias and several of us are getting together to set them up. The church always looks so festive at Christmas. I just love it, but when I was working I was always too busy to help. After that, we can go to UPS and drop off some packages for your Aunt Julie and Uncle Frank in Ohio.”

Emery groaned inwardly. Church and a mile-long line holding packages. What fun. She’d actually hoped to hook up with one of her former classmates from undergrad. They’d reconnected on f*******:, and as soon as Jennifer heard she was going to be back in town, she’d wanted to see her. s*x with her had been pretty decent, so why not?

“Since when do you send them presents anyway?”

“Well, normally we don’t exchange, but with their new grandbaby this year, I couldn’t resist some adorable outfits from Ross, and a couple little toys, and…”

Great. She could listen to her mom go on and on about how wonderful it must be to have a grandchild to spoil, and then how nice it would be if Emery still went to church. She hated being a disappointment, but breeding was never going to be on her to-do list and the Church had not exactly changed its stand on homosexuality the last time she checked. Even if that weren’t an issue, Emery simply was not what you’d call a believer. Science was something you could put your faith in, not something she couldn’t see.

But what was she going to tell her mother? She’d already disappointed Jen with a short text this morning, ironically telling her she had to spend the day with her mom, when in fact, crazy or not, Emery’s plans were to visit a certain stranger in the hospital and maybe drive her wherever she needed to go. She tried not to delve too deeply into why. Emery only knew that she had to see Lina again.