What About Charlie? by Haley Michelle Howard Read Free Book Online

and gravy, rolls, and broccoli with cheese. Everything was ready except the meatloaf and it would be done in a few minutes.
    Charlie gazed out the kitchen window in hopes of seeing him. She’d worried and worried all afternoon over their confrontation, rehashing it over and over, trying to think of some way to break the impasse. But she feared it was a loosing situation. Her father’s health wasn’t good. Though he didn’t need live in help now, he would in a few years. Maybe she could hire someone to check on him everyday…
    Charlie shook her head. Doing that might ease her conscience, but the main problem would remain. Her father would still demand that she come live with him. She desperately hoped he had cooled down enough to discuss this reasonably over supper.
    Taking a seat at the kitchen table, Charlie continued to watch for him through the window, her nerves almost strung to a breaking point. The need to get this settled grated on her. She wanted to talk and get things settled between them. A few seconds later, unable to take the waiting any longer, she grabbed a jacket and headed out the kitchen door in search of him to resolve this situation one way or another.
    Stepping out the back door, the cold wind seemed to slice through her thin jacket. Stuffing her hands into the pockets, she put her head down and made her way to the machine shed. It was eerily quiet.
    “Daddy?” she called, looking around the corner.
    As she walked around the front of the tractor, Charlie screamed in horror, her hands flying up to her mouth. Henry was lying on the ground.
    “Daddy!” Charlie screamed, running to him and kneeling beside him. His brown eyes were glazed. Without even thinking or feeling, she put her hand to his chest to feel if he was breathing. He was motionless.
    Charlie bent, pressing her lips to her fathers, blowing life-saving breaths into him. She then placed her hands on his chest, compressing it up and down. She paused for a moment. His chest still didn’t move.
    Tears streamed down her cheeks. Her eyes blurred; she tasted her salty tears on her lips.
    Hysteria enveloped her. She gave him several more quick breaths, then pumped his chest again. “You can’t die on me, daddy. You can’t. You can’t,” she repeated in a tortured voice again and again while she gave him breaths and pumped his chest. How long she stayed there trying to bring her father back to life she didn’t know. Time seemed to blur.
    Finally sitting back on her heels, she numbly stared at him. His face had turned blue. Touching his cheek, only then did she notice how cold he was. A sense of finality overcame her. Realizing that he was gone, she took her hand and gently brushed his eyelids closed.
    Shaking, she leaned over him, hugging him to her chest, wishing that for one last time she could feel his arms encircled around her.

Chapter 4
     
    Keosauqua, Iowa was just as Evan had imagined it would be from Charlie’s vivid descriptions over the years – wide paved streets, the historic courthouse in the center of town, and the Des Moines River flowing nearby beneath a majestic silver metal bridge. To him Keosauqua looked like the typical American small town.
    At least from what he could see of it.
    It was well past midnight. He’d been traveling since eight that evening, going well beyond the speed limit to get to Charlie’s farm. Through the entire trip, her tearful voice played like a tape recorder over and over in his mind. It had been weak, barely above a whisper. Barely able to understand her, he finally deciphered that her father had died. Hearing her trembling, grief laden voice, his gut felt like it had dropped to his knees.
    Charlie was alone; she was in pain. She hadn’t asked him to come be with her. Without giving a second thought, however, he had decided that his place was there with her. After reassuring her that he would be there soon, he hung up, got the driving directions to Keosauqua off the internet, threw some