Evans Creek Book 2: In Good Hands

Prologue II: Rowdy

Last year-middle of April

Rowdy Baker sighed as he looked at Mama's room. It looked the same as it always had, except that somehow... it didn't.

It was the same soft floral wallpaper on the wall. The same braided rag rug was on the floor near the bed. The Amish-sewn wedding ring quilt that had been a wedding gift still graced the bed. The framed picture of his father in his uniform—signed: With Love, Randall—still sat by the lamp on the nightstand. 

 It was the sappiest thing he had ever known his father to do.

God, he missed Dad.

Rowdy shook his head and turned to the task at hand: Mama's bags. The nurse took Mama to work in the garden so Rowdy could pack a suitcase or two. Turning to the closet, he opened the door and wanted to cry. Mama was neat, almost to the point of being obsessive about it. But this untidy, haphazard collection of clothing and miscellaneous items was anything but.

Rowdy began his search for clean clothing and his thoughts turned back over the events that led him to this...

Two years ago, Rowdy came home on leave to attend Dad's funeral. He noticed his mother seemed a little forgetful, but chalked it up to grief. His parents were married 42 years. He was heartbroken and he only knew Dad for half of that time. He couldn't begin to imagine how his poor mother must grieve.

When leave ended, he secured a promise from is best friend, Dennis, to keep an eye on Mama. It didn't ease his guilty conscience much, but he promised himself that he would not re-up when his tour was over. Mama wouldn't move to town, and his brothers both had their own families in California and Texas. He hated thinking that Mama was all alone in Baker House.

When he came home last year, he was at odds as he settled into civilian life and worked to make it through the academy. With Dad's long illness and his own absence, Baker House fell into disrepair.

...except for Mama's garden's which were always immaculate.

There was so much to do.  At the time, there were days that Rowdy didn't know if he was coming or going, so he didn't think twice about his mother's absent-minded ways.

But then Mama set the iron board on fire.  She set the iron to high started ironing a blouse and just left it to go for a walk.

Rowdy shook his head and tried to focus on finding clothes for the suitcase but as he went through her things, his thoughts wandered back to that awful day.

Rowdy heard about the fire from Joanie, at dispatch.

Mr. Grant, the mailman, called from the Baker's kitchen. He was delivering the mail at the box on the porch when he thought he smelled something burning and looked around. That's when he noticed smoke coming from a window. He ran inside, but no one was home so he used the fire extinguisher on the kitchen wall to put out the fire.

Joanie called Rowdy right away, but he was responding to a domestic violence call—children were involved—and he couldn't divert.

Mr. Grant said the damage was minimal, and no one was home. Rowdy worried that something might have happened, so he asked Joanie to notify the other officers to keep an eye out for Mama.

By the time the drunk was finally handcuffed and safely in the backseat, Rowdy sported a split lip and bruised jaw. At least he lifted his chin in time to avoid taking the blow on the nose.

Joanie called them as they drove back to the station to tell him that Mama was fine. Mama wandered into the woods behind Baker House. The nurse hadn't noticed the iron, and she had trouble finding Mama.