Love Among the Ruins Ch. 03

They seated themselves at the patio table and sipped their coffees quietly for a few minutes, but voices coming from the street interrupted the peaceful morning air.

Damon walked around to the side of his home and peered over his wooden privacy fence. Bobi came hesitantly up behind, but wasn't tall enough to see over the top.

"My neighbors," explained Damon, describing the events on the street to Bobi. "Looks like folks are trying to figure out what's happened with everyone."

He gazed at the street until the small knot of people gathered in front of his house dispersed.

"I suppose I should be neighborly, but I just don't feel like talking to anyone yet. But I do notice your car sitting out there in the middle of the street, so I should probably go move it. If you give me the keys, I'll park it in the garage. Claire has the other... Um, the other car's still parked at the airport."

Bobi went to retrieve her keys while Damon refreshed their coffees.

"I'll be back in a jiffy," he said, taking the proffered keys and running down the sidewalk before anyone else reappeared.

Coming in the back door from the garage after parking Bobi's car, Damon heard Bobi running down the hallway, then the sound of a cell phone ringing.

"Hello, mama? Oh, mama! My gosh, it is you! Mama, are you alright? Where are you?"

Damon ran to the doorway of the spare bedroom, where Bobi was sitting on the edge of the bed, practically sobbing.

"Oh, thank heavens you're safe, mama! Yes, yes, I'm alright, too."

Pause.

"Uh, well, I was stuck at work for a few days, but now I'm with a... with a friend. Yes, my friend took me in and kept me safe. We've had food and water and everything."

Bobi glanced up at Damon guiltily.

"So who came by? Mr. Moore? And what did..."

As Bobi continued with her conversation, it finally struck Damon that cell service was working again! He lunged for his cell phone and frantically dialed his wife's cell number. Many rings, but no answer, and no voicemail greeting. Damn!

About half an hour later, Bobi was back in the clothes she had arrived in, (which, thankfully, they had washed several days ago), standing by the back door, purse slung over her shoulder and keys in hand.

"Are you sure you'll be alright?" Damon asked her anxiously. "Things aren't going to be completely normal yet. Something could happen."

"Mama only lives about 20 miles out of town. I'll be there in thirty or forty minutes. I'll be fine. And I've got to go to her. I've just got to! I'm the only one she has. She needs me."

"The house will seem empty without you."

Damon offered her a hug, which Bobi accepted distractedly and ended quickly.

"Promise you'll call. Will you promise?" he asked.

"Of course I will, of..."

Bobi's reassurance was interrupted by the phone ringing. Damon looked around for the handset he normally kept in the kitchen, but couldn't locate it. Instead, he punched the speakerphone button on the base unit on the counter.

"Hello?"

"Dad, is that you? Dad?"