Cheryl Tardif - Submerged

The thought of leaving the kids made her stomach churn, but she pushed aside her fear. Her sister and brother-in-law could handle anything that came up. Besides, she really needed some alone time.

She glanced down at the checklist in her lap. Snacks for the drive. Coloring book and crayons for Ella. Gas for car. Laundry. Pack the kids’ bags. Clean kitchen and house. Charge cell phones (pack charger). House key to Heidi next door, in case of emergency. Water the plants.

She drove to the Save-On and picked up two bags of salt-and-vinegar chips, and two bottles each of green iced tea and cola. The drive to Cadomin was long, and she’d need the distractions of snacks.

Next, she stopped off at Wal-Mart and picked out a Sleeping Beauty coloring book and a large box of glitter crayons. They would keep Ella well occupied and out of Kelly’s hair, especially while the Trips were napping. It would help keep her calm too—less chance of an asthma attack.

Rebecca gasped, then scribbled PUFF! on her list. How could she forget?

The last time they’d driven a long distance and forgotten Puff, it had almost ended in tragedy. Since Wesley refused to go, she’d driven to Calgary with the kids to see her father, who was in the hospital, recuperating from a triple bypass. The surgery hadn’t gone well. The doctor stated that there were a multitude of complications. For a while it looked like her father might not make it. That thought had eaten at Rebecca for days. She and her father had unresolved issues. Being an adult child of divorce didn’t make it hurt any less.

The drive back from Calgary had started off uneventful. They were about forty minutes away when Ella started coughing in the back seat.

“Can you take care of it, Colton?”

Like usual, her son balked at the extra responsibility. “Ella knows what to do, Mom.”

“Help her.”

With an exaggerated sigh, Colton dug around in Ella’s backpack. “Puff’s not here, Mom.”

“What do you mean, Puff’s not there?”

Colton dumped the contents of the bag on the seat.

“Mommy, I can’t breathe,” Ella cried.

Rebecca’s heart raced as she signaled to pull off the busy highway. “Try to take a slow, deep breath.”

The coughing from the back seat grew hoarse. Then the wheezing started.

“Mom?” Colton said, his voice scared. “It’s not in her bag.”

Rebecca eased onto the shoulder, parked the car and jumped out. When she opened the back door, she nearly fainted at the sight of Ella’s gray face and hollow eyes.

“Oh, Jesus.” She shoved aside the assortment of barrettes and markers from Ella’s open backpack. Then she checked the floor of the car. Nothing.

Ella gasped. “I… can’t… breathe.”

Rebecca ripped off her daughter’s seat belt and gathered her in her arms.

“Found it!” Colton shouted. He held up the inhaler.

“Thank God.” Rebecca released a panicked breath.

Minutes later, Ella’s asthma attack receded, and the color returned to her cheeks. “I was sitting on Puff,” she said, oblivious to Rebecca’s fear.

Rebecca had kept her eye on Ella all the way home. It had been a long drive.

“We don’t want a repeat of that,” she muttered now as she took a detour to the pharmacy.

Get refill of Puff, she mentally added to her list.

A half hour later, with the extra inhaler safely tucked in the glove compartment of the car, Rebecca drove home and unpacked the travel supplies. She threw a load of laundry into the washing machine. In Ella’s room, she stacked folded socks and underwear on the Barbie comforter. Ella would want to pick out her own outfits.

Rebecca meandered down to the basement. It was her least favorite place in the old home, and she made a point of avoiding it when she could. With its stale air and unfinished walls and ceiling, the dingy basement was the catch-all for everything they couldn’t fit elsewhere.

She wove through the piles of boxes and bins until she found the luggage set her mother had given her when she’d married Wes. Had this been her mother’s subtle way of saying Rebecca’s marriage wouldn’t last?

She heaved the luggage up the stairs, then inhaled deeply. “I want a new house. With a finished basement.”

Wesley always said she was a dreamer.

The phone rang, and she picked it up. “Hello?”

“I’m glad I caught you,” Kelly said, panting as if she’d run a marathon.

Rebecca’s heart sank. “Uh-oh. What’s wrong?”

“Measles.”

“Which one?”

“All of them. The Trips.”

“Oh God, Kelly.”

Her sister tried to laugh. “I know. It doesn’t rain here. It pours.”

Rebecca glanced at the clock above the kitchen sink. “I have to pick up the kids soon.”

“That’s why I’m calling. I really hate to do this, but with three kids with the measles―”

“Kel, don’t worry about it. I wouldn’t expect you to take Ella and Colton now. Besides, Ella hasn’t had the measles.”

“I remembered that. That’s why I wanted you to know.” Kelly paused. “So what’ll you do? Mom can’t take them. She’s in Yuma.”

Rebecca groaned. “I’ll think of something.”

“I’m so sorry, Sis.”

“No worries. If worse comes to worst, I’ll take them with me.”

She sure as hell wasn’t leaving them with Wesley.

“That’s what I thought you might do,” Kelly said. “I know Wesley is a no-go.”

Kelly always could read her mind. They might as well have been twins for the connection they shared.

“You worry about the Trips,” Rebecca said. “I’ll have no problems adjusting my plans. The hotel can always add a cot.”

Kelly snickered. “I guess it’s a good thing you weren’t planning a romantic getaway with a handsome stranger.”

“Yeah, I guess.”

The thought made Rebecca sad. She missed having someone to snuggle up to at night. She missed having someone to talk to, share her day with. Sure, she had the kids, but it wasn’t the same.

“One day a handsome stranger will sweep you off your feet,” Kelly said.

Rebecca laughed. “I see you’re still living in fantasy land.”

“Always, Sis. Fantasies make the world go ’round.”

After they hung up, Rebecca stared at the small bag of snacks she’d purchased. She’d need a few more if Ella and Colton were coming with her.

On the way to her bedroom, she passed the hallway mirror. Pausing, she stared into it and thought about her sister’s words.

If a handsome stranger were going to make an appearance, she hoped to God it was on a day when she’d had time to shower and brush her hair.

Today wasn’t that day.

After a late lunch, she finished the laundry. Then she went to work on packing clothes for the trip, including a sleek black dress she hadn’t worn in over a year.

“In case I meet that handsome stranger,” she murmured.

This made her laugh. She was going to Cadomin, a town so small that if you blinked you’d drive right past it. “Yeah. What are the odds?”

Catching sight of her cell phone charger on the nightstand, she unplugged it from the wall. Suitcase or purse? With a shrug, she tossed it in the suitcase. Her phone had more than enough battery power to last the trip. Anyway, she had a car charger in the glove compartment, though she’d never used it.

She headed downstairs and spent the next half hour preparing snacks for the road. She’d have the kids pack them in their backpacks, and she’d keep a small cooler up front.

“Ah, water bottles.”

They usually kept a case of bottled water in the refrigerator in the garage, but when she opened the fridge door, she found the plastic and cardboard wrapping for the case and no water.