Chapter Twenty-Four

Author's Note: This drabble was inspired by an actual clip on Search for Tomorrow in early June of 1980.

Stephanie: Honey, who taught you how to pack a suitcase?

Wendy: Well, you did.

Stephanie: I did not. You have enough clothes in here to go on a grand tour of Europe. You're only going for a week to visit your grandmother.

Wendy: I know, but I wasn't sure what I might want to wear.

Stephanie: (Stephanie discovers a sweater that Wendy's making in the suitcase) Honey, what's all this stuff?

Wendy: (Shows her mother) Isn't it great?

Stephanie: Kind of complicated, isn't it?

Wendy: That's okay. Grandma Rainey can help me with it.

Stephanie: Why in the world are you making a man's sweater?

Wendy: I am making it for Lee. You know, ever since he helped me get away from those... two men, I've been trying to think of a way to say thank you.

Stephanie: Honey, you wouldn't be developing a slight crush on Lee Sentell, would you?

Wendy: Mother, it's not a crush! I do care about him. He was there when I needed him.

Stephanie: At your age, an appreciation can sometimes turn into an infatuation.

Wendy: I'm not infatuated with him!

Stephanie: Darling, I didn't mean to belittle your feelings about him, but I just don't want you to get hurt.

Wendy: Mother, I LOVE Lee! I think he's beginning to care for me.

Stephanie: Darling, you're growing up awfully fast and I am so proud of you. Soon now you'll meet someone your own age and you will love him and he'll love you and you'll feel protected. Then you'll know what I am talking about.

Wendy: Mom, I know Lee's a lot older than me. But it doesn't matter! Not now and especially not in a couple of years. I know how I feel. I'm in love with Lee Sentell! Nothing could EVERchange it.

Characters in this segment: Warren & Wendy

You'll Feel Protected

It was a night to share their hearts and their secrets as well as passion. After the loving, Warren told Wendy about his troubled past when he lived in Detroit. Bit by bit, piece by piece, he shared his heart with her. She listened as he spilled out his secrets and all of his pain.

She held him close and caressed his skin. She placed tiny kisses on his chest. "I am glad that you feel you can talk to me about what happened to you in Detroit. You've been through so much. I feel honored that you would share all of that with me."

He looked into her eyes. "You talk about your shopping sprees and about what our life will be like when we're married one day, but you hardly ever talk about your past. Was it always happiness and roses?"

Wendy shook her head. "No. Actually, something awful happened to me when I was sixteen. It seems like so long ago, but really it wasn't. I don't usually talk about it, not with anyone... but I feel safe with you."

He caressed her hair as she spoke. "I was walking home from a friend's house. It was dark. I shouldn't have been alone," she said with a heavy sigh. "I took a shortcut down an alley and that's when two men jumped out at me."

Warren tensed as he thought about a sixteen-year-old Wendy. How afraid she must have been during that horrifying experience. "The men were pawing at me and trying to tear off my clothes. I was so scared, but that's when he came... and he saved me."

"Who?" Warren asked.

"Lee Sentell. He showed up out of no where and he beat the crap out of those guys. Because of his bravery, I wasn't violated. I got to go home unharmed."

"You were so young. You must have been traumatized," Warren said, his voice tortured when he thought about it.

"I was for a long time. Still sometimes I think about it..."

Her voice trailed off. "Wendy, what are you thinking about now?"

"Something my mother said. She was right," Wendy said with a little smile.

"What did she say?"

"I had developed this little crush on Lee since he saved me and he kept me from being hurt by those awful men, but he didn't give me a second glance. Actually it was sort of a big crush and I was heartbroken," Wendy stated. "My mother said that someday, I would meet someone, I'd fall in love with him, and then I'd feel protected."

Wendy paused for a moment and then her face brightened in a brilliant smile. She said, "I can't believe it. It finally happened because of you."

She curled up in the shelter of Warren's arms. She felt so safe and cherished in his embrace. "I'd never let anyone hurt you..." he swore as sipped at her lips. Her heart beat with happiness. She believed in him.