Free Love Finds a Way by Wanda E. Brunstetter Page B

love me. He’s been seeing Vanessa
.
    “Lorna! Can you come over here?” Evan’s urgent plea broke into her thoughts, and she reeled at the sound of his resonating voice.
    The earthquake was over now, but Lorna knew from past experience that a series of smaller tremors would no doubt follow. She made her way carefully across the hall and into the room she’d seen Evan enter only moments ago.
    She stopped short inside the door. In the middle of the room lay a young woman. A bookcase had fallen across her legs, pinning her to the floor. Lorna gasped as she realized the woman was holding a crying baby in her arms. The sight brought tears to Lorna’s eyes. Covering her mouth to stifle a sob, she raced to Evan’s side and dropped down beside him. She noticed beads of perspiration glistening on his upper lip. “Is she hurt badly? What about the baby?” Tears rolled down Lorna’s cheeks as she thought about the possibility of a child losing its mother, or the other way around.
Please, God, let them be all right
.
    “The woman’s legs could be broken, so it wouldn’t be good to try to move her. The baby appears to be okay.” He pointed to the sobbing infant. “Could you pick her up, then go down the hall and find a phone? We need to call 911 right away.”

    The next few hours went by in a blur. A trip to the hospital Lorna nodded numbly. As soon as she lifted the child into her arms, the baby’s crying abated. She stood and started for the door. Looking back over her shoulder, she whispered, “I love you, Evan, even if you do care for Vanessa Brown.” in Evan’s car, following the ambulance that transported the injured woman … Talking with the paramedics who’d found some identification on the baby’s mother. Calling the woman’s husband on the phone. Pacing the floor of the hospital waiting room. Trying to comfort a fussy child. Waiting patiently until the father arrived. Praying until no more words would come. Lorna did all these things with Evan by her side. They said little to each other as they waited to hear of the mother’s condition. Words seemed unnecessary as Lorna acknowledged a shared sense of oneness with Evan, found only in a crisis situation.
    The woman, who’d been identified as Sherry Holmes, had been at the college that morning looking for her husband, an English professor. He’d left for work without his briefcase, and she’d come to deliver the papers he needed. Professor Holmes wasn’t in his class when she arrived. He’d been to an early morning meeting in another building, as had most of the other teachers. Why there weren’t any other students in the hallway, Lorna still did not understand. She thought it must have been divine intervention, since so much structural damage had been done to that particular building. Who knew how many more injuries might have occurred had there been numerous students milling about?
    Lorna felt a sense of loss as she handed the baby over to her father a short time later. She was relieved to hear that the child’s mother was in stable condition, despite a broken leg and several bad bruises.
    “You look done in,” Evan said, taking Lorna’s hand and leading her to a chair. He pointed to the paper sack lying on the table in the waiting room, where Lorna had placed it when they first arrived. “You never did open your present.”
    She nodded and offered him a weak smile. “Guess I’ve been too busy with other things.” She pulled it open and peeked inside. A sweet banana aroma overtook her senses, and she sniffed deeply. “I’m guessing it’s a loaf of banana bread.”
    Evan smiled. “It started out to be, but in the end, it turned out to be a kind of blueberry surprise.”
    She tipped her head and squinted her eyes. “What?”
    Evan chuckled. “It’s a long story.” He motioned to the sack. “Try a hunk. I think you’ll be pleasantly surprised.”
    Lorna opened the bag and withdrew a piece of the bread. She took a tentative bite,