Read Online Your Chariot Awaits by Lorena McCourtney - Free Book Online Page A

nodded sagely.
    â€œAll kinds of ordinary people use limousines,” I said, with as much indignation as I could muster with chunks of gravel digging into my bottom and Texas throbbing on the back of my head. “They use them to go to the airport or get married or celebrate an anniversary! Kids even go to the prom in them.”
    â€œEmma and I never rode in any limousine.”
    I could hear sirens approaching. I was still sitting beside the limousine door, Tom watching me suspiciously, when a blue-and-white car bearing the insignia of the county sheriff’s department pulled to the curb.
    We were outside the city limits here, so it was the sheriff’s department rather than the city police who’d responded to Tom’s call. Two middleaged officers in brown uniforms stepped out. When Tom wasn’t looking, I struggled to my feet.
    â€œGot a problem here?” the shorter of the two officers inquired pleasantly.
    He introduced himself as Deputy Somebody and the other officer as Deputy Somebody-else, but by now I was so rattled that the names slid by me like fried eggs on Teflon. Down the street, I saw a front door fly open, then another.
    â€œNothing’s wrong.” I yanked my pajama top down, feeling uncomfortably exposed even though everything was modestly covered. At the same time I was halfway wishing I’d worn something more stylish than these daisy-flowered things that were more Old Mother Hubbard than Victoria’s Secret.
    â€œEverything’s fine. I just came out to check on the limo and stumbled and hit my head on the door. My kind neighbor here found me and was concerned for my welfare and called you.”
    I gestured toward my kind neighbor. I realized I was babbling, but there’s something about police officers looking you over that makes you feel you have to explain yourself. It gives you a guilty feeling, as if you’ve probably done something illegal even if you can’t remember what. “But I’m fine, so if you could just radio the ambulance not to come—”
    Too late. The ambulance skidded to a stop behind the deputy’s car. The paramedics rushed to Tom, who, with rub-bery folds of flesh above his thick neck, gray stubble on his jaws, and the expression of a man who’s just eaten a raw squid, apparently looked as if he needed medical attention more than I did. He was also dressed in pajamas, a wild plaid like the pants he usually wore, but he did have a blue terry-cloth robe on over them.
    â€œHey, get away from me!” Tom backed away and waved his hands as the paramedics approached him. By now Moose was in a full frenzy of barking in the Sheersons’ backyard, and I remembered he’d been barking in the night too.
    I stepped forward. “I guess it’s me you came for,” I said reluctantly. “But I’m fine, just fine.” I smiled brightly and bounced on my bare feet to reinforce that claim.
    â€œAnd you are?” the shorter officer inquired.
    â€œAndi McConnell. I live here.” I pointed to the house. “And that’s my limousine—”
    â€œYour limousine?”
    â€œI inherited it a few days ago. Long story,” I said. “Everything’s fine.”
    After some discussion with the officers, with me trying my best to look both physically and mentally robust, the ambulance finally departed. By this time Joella had come out, and other neighbors had clustered and were milling around on the sidewalk.
    â€œWhat’s going on?” Jo was in a robe too, with a wispy nightgown trailing around her bare feet. She reached up to touch my sticky hair. “Andi, you’re hurt!”
    I repeated my mantra. “I’m fine, just fine. This is all just a misunderstanding.”
    Short Deputy was examining the door of the limousine, Tall Deputy circling the vehicle, both of them being very careful not to touch anything.
    â€œWe don’t find anything that suggests you