Free The Happy Housewife (Samantha Sherman Book 1) by Kate Cooch Page B

for her response. As Aircraft Commander, the ultimate decision and responsibility were hers. Lt. Lee knew that her decision was an important one and that she needed to ‘make the call’ NOW. She took a slow breath in and out and counted to five, her usual method of forcing calm, slowing her heartbeat, and clearing her head. With the confidence of youth and optimism, she made her decision. She told the crew to take a hard look outside and see if they could spot the last man. Lt. Lee had seen an outcropping of rocks behind them before and now told the crew that they would maneuver the helicopter over to those, take a look behind them and then head for the hospital. In the end, none of the crew saw the actual wreckage of the boat, about a mile away, because they were erroneously looking behind the rocks.
    The sound of the television pulled Sam back. Absorbed in thought, she found herself at the bottom of the stairs approaching the kitchen.
This
was not THAT. This was not life and death. It was just a conversation with an old woman. This was something she could easily complete. She took a deep breath in and out and walked into the kitchen.
    Mrs. Thomas looked up as she entered and, appearing every bit the grandmother contentedly hanging out with her family, said, “Hi, hon. Is Lindsey tucked in?”
    “Yes, Mrs. Thomas.”
    “Oh good, I didn’t want to get in the way. I guess I’ll head up myself. You said you had books in your study?”
    “Yes, absolutely, and you’re welcome to any of them.
Um,
before you go though, do you mind if we chat for a minute? There was something I wanted to ask you about.”
    “Sure, hon. I’m not that tired anyway after that nap.” Mrs. Thomas fiddled with the remote control and jabbed slowly a couple of times at the power button before the television finally went blank.
    Sam moved into the family room and took a seat on the couch to the right of Mrs. Thomas. She settled in and smiled at her. It was probably best just to go for the straight forward approach. “Well, I feel a little silly talking with you about this but I have a concern.”
    Mrs. Thomas suddenly looked worried, “This is your house. I would never want to do anything to upset you, so please tell me whatever it is. By the way, please call me Helen. I know you didn’t feel comfortable when we first met but we’ve known each other for a year now and after all that has happened today the switch just seems right.”
    “Okay. Helen. Yesterday when I was at your house your photo album fell and a bunch of pictures spilled out. I tried not to look because it wasn’t any of my business but I couldn’t help seeing a few. I saw some peace signs, pictures of your family, and, I think, a picture of you dressed in black with a beret holding up three fingers. I figured you were a hippie or something. However, when I was looking up those ELF and ALF groups that caused the fire out in Loudoun County, I saw a reference to the Weathermen, some radical group from the 60s. I was curious and did some additional research on them. They were domestic terrorists, they did horrible things, and Helen, I found an explanation of what that three finger salute meant. It was a sign of support for Charles Manson.”
    Sam had said all of this in one breath and she paused for a second and took a big gulp of air. Helen wasn’t responding with outrage so she continued, “I like you a lot but it made me realize that I don’t really know you that well. Normally, I would have never asked you about it but given that you are staying in my house I have to ask.” With that she stopped and from the look on Helen’s face she didn’t feel as foolish as before.
    “My,” was Helen’s only response for what seemed like a couple of minutes. She looked as if Sam had just punched her. This wasn’t being nosy, Sam reminded herself, this was protecting her daughter. Doug would want her to do this. Actually, Doug wouldn’t have invited Helen to the house but,