Emma Weston couldn’t imagine her mother, who never got sick, having a stroke. Her father sounded as shocked and bewildered as she was.
“Hurry. I don’t think you have much time,” he’d said on his cell phone.
She changed her outfit, climbed into her Honda, and locked the car doors. After praying for protection and guidance, she stepped on the accelerator and backed from her driveway.
When the freeway was open, it would take three hours from Riverside to her parents’ house in Santa Barbara. But on a Friday at seven in the morning, the freeways were like parking lots. They traveled five miles an hour, and sometimes they didn’t move at all. Sure would be nice to own a helicopter.
After a lengthy drive in congested traffic, exhausted from clutching the steering wheel for hours, she drew near her destination and exited the 101 freeway.
What was this? An ancient rusty Plymouth had broken down beside some bushes on the road’s right side. Two muscular men frantically signaled by waving their arms to oncoming cars. A Chinese girl in a tight-fitting dress stood beside them. Ugly tattoos accented one man’s arms and deep pimple scars marred the other’s face.
Emma gripped the steering wheel tighter. Should she help them? It could be dangerous for a single woman to approach strangers. A premonition of danger warned her not to roll the window down all the way, so she only unrolled it two inches. “Don’t you have a cellphone?”
The girl puffed on a cigarette and batted her eyelashes at one of the men. “No, none of us do.”
The smell of alcohol hung in the air, and both thugs stared at her in a way that made her skin crawl.
The pocked-marked man moved close to her door. “Well, hello there, little lady. Let’s get better acquainted.”
“Stay away!” she shouted.
He was so drunk, he stumbled and slipped on an oily patch on the asphalt.
The other brute lunged for her door and tried to get in. Good thing she hadn’t rolled her window all the way down. She grabbed the pepper spray on the passenger seat and sprayed it through the small opening above the car window as the man grabbed and jiggled the car door.
He screamed, fell to the ground, and rubbed his eyes. “She shot me with something. It really hurts.”
The wheels spun as she jammed down on the accelerator and left her would-be attackers shaking their fists at her.
Whew! Close call. Her gut instinct had told her there was something odd about these people. All the other cars had the sense to speed past them. Little goodie two-shoes felt she had a duty to help those in distress, and almost got herself raped, robbed, or worse.
She shook her head. How foolish she’d been to let herself be fooled into stopping for those deceivers and perhaps missing her mother’s last moments alive.
She sped away from the area, picked up her cellphone, and called the police.
When she reached the hospital, she parked and climbed the steps to her mother’s room. If only she’d made it in time to say goodbye.
What a surprise. Dad looked relieved and was smiling. “Emma, a few moments ago, the doctor says she’s taken a turn for the better. I think she’s going to make it.”
Emma’s heart nearly burst with joy. She thought back to the recent close encounter with danger. If she’d rolled her window all the way down, would she have made it unscathed?
The Creator had guided her over the last few hours and even touched Mom.
Time to give thanks.
________________________________
CLICK BELOW TO BUY FROM AMAZON
Light in Imperial Rome Novel Collection
The Potter’s Daughter and The Legionnaire
Inspirational Romance Novella: