request to a bid on a new project.
Denise eagerly opened the email and looked at the details, then at her
calendar. Could she swing this?
A soft beep brought Denise back from her calculations. “Nora!
Dale! Time to go!” She dismissed the timer and pushed herself back from her
desk. “Let’s go!” she called, walking out of the office and down the hall. The
doors to both of the kids’ rooms were shut. Had they gone from their fake
insults to real ones?
Denise knocked on each. “Thirty seconds,” she warned. When
they’d first moved to this house, she’d set her alarm earlier, giving them all
a five-minute snooze. The kids had too quickly learned they didn’t need to pay
attention to her first call and ignored the others as well. Denise counted to
ten. When no one appeared, she said, “Don’t make me come in there and drag you
out.” She’d never had to resort to such a tactic, but the twins knew she meant
it.
Furious whispering met Denise’s request. Then the door to
Nora’s room opened and both twins came out. Nora closed the door to her room
deliberately.
“I know, I know, no peeking,” Denise said, trying to tease.
“Good,” Nora said seriously, then rapidly walked down the
hall.
What was up with the twins? This wasn’t excitement over the
last day of school. They were planning something.
Denise took a deep breath. She had to trust them. They weren’t
adults, not yet, but the only way they’d get there was if they had her respect.
At the twins’ request, Denise didn’t walk with them to the
bus stop. She watched them walk down the road from the kitchen window as she
did the breakfast dishes. They continued to argue intensely. Nora wanted Dale
to do something. What, Denise had no idea.
After Denise finished the dishes as well as her second cup
of coffee, she went back to her office. She wondered if a storm was
brewing—clouds covered the sky and the wind kept blowing the trees
around.
When the timer went off for the doctor’s appointment, Denise
was ready for a break. She stood and stretched. Maybe she could get a new chair
when she finished this job.
As Denise pulled out of the driveway, a faded brown sedan
drove up. Denise didn’t know the man sitting in the driver’s seat—short,
balding, with an accountant’s black-rimmed glasses. When he saw that she was
leaving, he drove away.
Maybe he was some kind of salesman.
He wasn’t looking for her or her family.
She was just being paranoid.
***
Doctor Jan turned out to be an older woman with close, sandy
curls, a big nose, man-sized hands, and skin roughened and red from being
outside. She also asked Denise more questions than Denise had expected about her
level of stress since moving, her diet, and what she did for exercise.
What surprised Denise the most was that Doctor Jan had the
equipment to diagnose her pacemaker remotely. She attached two cold diodes to
Denise’s chest. The wires ran to what looked like a bar-code scanner.
Doctor Jan frowned at the readings. She came closer and
stood beside Denise so she could also see the screen.
“You see this?” Dr. Jan said, stabbing a fat finger at a
display that looked like a gas gauge, with the needle in the center, half
empty. “That’s your battery. When did you have the last one replaced?”
“Two years ago,” Denise said, equally puzzled. The surgeon
had assured her that it would last for seven to ten years.
“And you haven’t been doing any kind of extraordinary
exercise or anything that would cause your heart to beat quite fast for a long
time?”
“What do you mean?” Denise asked, puzzled.
“Excessive exercising, like training for a marathon, running
for three to four hours a day or more, for months at a time.”
Denise shook her head. Even when she’d been with Chris and
scared, though it had seemed like a lifetime, it hadn’t been for more than a few
months.
Doctor Jan disconnected the machine, put it on a side table,
then turned back to Denise.
Denise eagerly opened the email and looked at the details, then at her
calendar. Could she swing this?
A soft beep brought Denise back from her calculations. “Nora!
Dale! Time to go!” She dismissed the timer and pushed herself back from her
desk. “Let’s go!” she called, walking out of the office and down the hall. The
doors to both of the kids’ rooms were shut. Had they gone from their fake
insults to real ones?
Denise knocked on each. “Thirty seconds,” she warned. When
they’d first moved to this house, she’d set her alarm earlier, giving them all
a five-minute snooze. The kids had too quickly learned they didn’t need to pay
attention to her first call and ignored the others as well. Denise counted to
ten. When no one appeared, she said, “Don’t make me come in there and drag you
out.” She’d never had to resort to such a tactic, but the twins knew she meant
it.
Furious whispering met Denise’s request. Then the door to
Nora’s room opened and both twins came out. Nora closed the door to her room
deliberately.
“I know, I know, no peeking,” Denise said, trying to tease.
“Good,” Nora said seriously, then rapidly walked down the
hall.
What was up with the twins? This wasn’t excitement over the
last day of school. They were planning something.
Denise took a deep breath. She had to trust them. They weren’t
adults, not yet, but the only way they’d get there was if they had her respect.
At the twins’ request, Denise didn’t walk with them to the
bus stop. She watched them walk down the road from the kitchen window as she
did the breakfast dishes. They continued to argue intensely. Nora wanted Dale
to do something. What, Denise had no idea.
After Denise finished the dishes as well as her second cup
of coffee, she went back to her office. She wondered if a storm was
brewing—clouds covered the sky and the wind kept blowing the trees
around.
When the timer went off for the doctor’s appointment, Denise
was ready for a break. She stood and stretched. Maybe she could get a new chair
when she finished this job.
As Denise pulled out of the driveway, a faded brown sedan
drove up. Denise didn’t know the man sitting in the driver’s seat—short,
balding, with an accountant’s black-rimmed glasses. When he saw that she was
leaving, he drove away.
Maybe he was some kind of salesman.
He wasn’t looking for her or her family.
She was just being paranoid.
***
Doctor Jan turned out to be an older woman with close, sandy
curls, a big nose, man-sized hands, and skin roughened and red from being
outside. She also asked Denise more questions than Denise had expected about her
level of stress since moving, her diet, and what she did for exercise.
What surprised Denise the most was that Doctor Jan had the
equipment to diagnose her pacemaker remotely. She attached two cold diodes to
Denise’s chest. The wires ran to what looked like a bar-code scanner.
Doctor Jan frowned at the readings. She came closer and
stood beside Denise so she could also see the screen.
“You see this?” Dr. Jan said, stabbing a fat finger at a
display that looked like a gas gauge, with the needle in the center, half
empty. “That’s your battery. When did you have the last one replaced?”
“Two years ago,” Denise said, equally puzzled. The surgeon
had assured her that it would last for seven to ten years.
“And you haven’t been doing any kind of extraordinary
exercise or anything that would cause your heart to beat quite fast for a long
time?”
“What do you mean?” Denise asked, puzzled.
“Excessive exercising, like training for a marathon, running
for three to four hours a day or more, for months at a time.”
Denise shook her head. Even when she’d been with Chris and
scared, though it had seemed like a lifetime, it hadn’t been for more than a few
months.
Doctor Jan disconnected the machine, put it on a side table,
then turned back to Denise.
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