The next week passed in a haze for John. Molly hardly let him get out of bed. He felt bad for taking the master bedroom, but she insisted say that the twin bed in the guestroom was just fine for her. He was the one that was still healing. What he didn't know was that she was sneaking back into his room to watch him while he slept.
John desperately missed his boys. He hadn't seen them in over a week. He had promised Dean that he would be gone no more than five days and now that promise was broken. He wished that the phone company would just hurry up and fix the phone line so he could call Pastor Jim and let him know what happened. He just wanted to talk to his children.
oooooOOOOooooo
Molly was getting worried. John was healing nicely and now it no longer hurt for him to sit up in bed. He had even been able to walk around the cabin a bit, but he still tired quickly. However Molly knew that wouldn't last much longer and soon he would want to talk a look at her car. He asked on a regular basis about the phone situation. She knew she had better come up with a plan fast.
oooooOOOOooooo
Molly brought lunch into the bedroom for John. It was New England clam chowder. Along with his returning health came his appetite. John was grateful for Molly's cooking. It was the one good thing about being stuck there, but it felt a little odd to be eating another woman's cooking. It just made him long for Mary.
Molly was happy that John enjoyed her cooking. Her mother always said the way to a man's heart is through his stomach. Hopefully this is was the case with John.
"When you're done eating, why don't you let me take a look at your fingers and see how they are doing. Have you been able to get your ring off?" asked Molly.
"I haven't tried to take it off and I'm not going to. I haven't taken this ring off since Mary passed," snapped John.
"I'm sorry, John. I don't want to upset you. I just want to make sure your fingers are healing okay."
"I didn't mean to snap at you. I know you're only trying to help."
"If you don't mind me asking, what happened to your wife?"
"Uh, there was a fire in my son's nursery. I got the baby out, but Mary was trapped inside and didn't make it." After everything she'd done for him, John didn't want to scare her with the truth or have her think he was crazy.
"Oh that's terrible losing your wife like that and now having to raise your boys all alone."
"I don't know what I'd do without them. I never would have survived losing Mary if it weren't for Dean and Sammy."
"You're so lucky you have them." Jack face floated through Molly's mind, but she pushed it away. It was time to move on and John was going to help her.
oooooOOOOooooo
Thanks to the sleeping pill Molly put John's soup he slept for most of the afternoon. She had something she needed to and she didn't want John to catch her.
Molly went outside to her Volvo. She needed to make sure that there was something wrong with her car that John couldn't fix without a new part. It sure helped that Molly's father owned a chain of auto parts stores on Long Island when she was growing up. Popping the hood on the dark blue sedan, Molly looked over the engine. She didn't know a lot about cars, but she knew enough. Using a knife with a serrated edge, Molly cut through the fan belt. She made sure that edges looked jagged, so it would look like it wore out. When she was done she headed back inside the cabin to check one her man. Yep, Molly was already beginning to think of John as her man.
oooooOOOOooooo
That night it rained. There was thunder and lightening. Normally Molly hated storms. She had ever since she was a little girl, but she welcomed this one. With any luck the phone lines would be down for real. However, she did long to crawl into bed with John and have him wrap his arms around her. That's what Jack would do when it stormed . She always felt safe in Jack's arms, but knew it was way too early to try that with John. One day soon he'll love me she thought.
The first thing Molly did the next morning was to check the phone see if it had stopped working. She was releived to find out it was dead. Now she wouldn't be lying to John when she told him the phone didn't work.
oooooOOOOooooo
John walked into the kitchen to find Molly scrambling up some eggs. He poured himself a glass of water and sat down at the table. He felt a little guilty for the way Molly had been waiting on him hand and foot. Well that was going to stop. Today he was going to repay her kindness by seeing if he could fix her car.
"Good morning John, The bacon's all ready, bread is in the toaster and the eggs will be done in a minute." Molly smiled warmly at John.
"This is too Much Molly. You don't have to go to all this trouble for me."
"Nonsense, its no trouble at all. Did you sleep well with all that thunder and lightening?"
"There was a storm last night? I didn't hear a thing. Usually I never get to sleep through a storm because Sammy and Dean would come and climb in bed with me. I hope it didn't effect the phone line."
"I checked the phone this morning, but the line was still down."
"Still down, it's been over two weeks." John was beginning to think it was a little strange that the lines were down that long. He knew they were in the middle of the woods, but come on somebody had to working to fix the problem.
"Well you can check for yourself, but I think last night's storm means that its going to be even longer till the phone lines are fixed."
John walked over to the phone and picked up the receiver. After getting no dial tone, he slammed the phone down in frustration.
"You're right it's still down. God will they ever get it fixed?"
"Sometimes I think the phone company forgets that anyone lives out this far."
"Well Molly I was thinking that I might take a look at your car today. Maybe I can fix what's wrong with it and we can take a ride into town."
"John, are you sure you feel up to it. I don't want you to strain yourself."
"I'm feeling much better and I'm sure I'll be fine."
"Okay, but if you start to feel sore promise me you'll stop. My car's not worth you hurting yourself."
"Don't worry Molly, I'll be fine."
oooooOOOOooooo
After eating breakfast John welcomed the relief of the outdoors. A little time away from that woman would be good for him. While John appreciated everything Molly had done for him, he was beginning to feel a little smothered by her. She hardly let him do anything around the cabin and was always making him stay in bed. It reminds me of the time I sprained my ankle playing softball and Mary wouldn't let me do anything for a whole week John thought. He smiled sadly as his wife's face popped into his head.
Everything outside was wet and the Volvo was no exception. Using the keys Molly gave him, John unlocked the car and reached inside to pop the hood. After he got the hood open he stared at the engine trying to see what was wrong. It had been so long since he worked on a car and he kind of missed it. John had always enjoyed what he used to do for a living and while some mechanics didn't like working on foreign cars, John relished the challenge.
"Okay Mr. Volvo, what wrong with you?" If you were to ask him, John would deny that he ever talked to cars like they were people.
After a few minutes of routing around the engine, John found the problem. A broken fan belt. After letting loose a string of curses that would make even a sailor blush, John headed back inside the cabin. He never noticed that Molly had stood in front of the window and watched him the whole time.
oooooOOOOooooo
After washing his hands, a defeated John went and sat on the sofa in the family. Would he ever get out of this place he wondered. If he did get out of here, how would he boys react? Would the baby even remember him? And Dean would probably be pissed with him for being gone so long. I never should have promised to be back in five days. God I miss them so much he thought.
"So what's the verdict? How's my car?" asked Molly as she sat down on the sofa.
"Broken fan belt." John let out a small sigh.
"Can you fix it?" asked Molly.
"Not without a new one and I can't get a new one without going to an auto parts store. If the phone was working, I could call for help, but it's not and now I'm stuck here," grumbled John.
Molly scooted closer to John and put a hand on his shoulder. "I'm sorry, John."
"For what? It's not like you knocked out the phone lines or broke the fan belt. I don't mean to sound grouchy or ungrateful, I just miss my boys."
More to Come