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packing your mother’s things.”
“Chief, she doesn’t have to know about this, does she?” I asked him.
“Suzanne, your mother and I don’t keep secrets from each other.  As a matter of fact, I called her the second we hung up when you dialed 911.  Actually, I’m a little surprised that she’s not here yet.”
At that moment, I heard the front door open.  “Suzanne, Phillip, where are you?”
I had to smile, even though I had little reason to at the moment.  I hadn’t wanted my mother to worry about me, but now that she was at the cottage, I had to admit that I felt a lot better about her being around again.
     
“I never should have moved out in the first place,” Momma said once the two of us were seated on the sofa in the living room.  The police chief was busy patching the window, and we’d decided to give him some room to work, so we’d moved out into the living room.
“That’s crazy,” I said.  “If you’d been here, this could have ended up being much worse than it turned out to be.”
“But Suzanne, if I’d been here, no one would have dared try to rob the place.”
I laughed a little softly before I replied.  “Momma, nobody knows how fierce you are more than I do, but you probably wouldn’t discourage a thief from hitting this place if they’d already made up their mind that we were a target.”
“Nevertheless, I’m honestly beginning to regret my decision to leave.  The three of us would have found a way to cohabitate.”
I didn’t even want to think about the image of Momma, Jake, and me living under the same roof.  Sometimes the cottage felt cramped with just my mother and me.  Adding my boyfriend to the mix would have just served to escalate things that much more.  “Jake’s going to be here in a few hours,” I said.  “Do you honestly believe that I’m not safe with him, even if he does have a wounded arm?”
“No, I know that he’ll take good care of you,” she conceded.
“And I’ll take good care of him, too,” I added softly.
“Of course you will,” she said softly.  “I know I’m being silly, but I’m your mother, so I’m allowed.”
“Then you’re not moving back in?” I asked her gently.
She laughed, which was a very good sign.  “I’m not out of here for a day yet and already you’re trying to keep me away.”
“You know better than that,” I said as I hugged her.  “You’re welcome anytime.”
“I appreciate that,” she replied.
Chief Martin came out of the bedroom with a smile on his face.  “That should hold until you can get it fixed.  It won’t be long, because I called a friend of mine.  I hope you don’t mind.  He’ll be here in two hours.”
I glanced at the clock and saw that it would give me until seven to take a quick nap.  “I appreciate you taking care of it for me.  Thanks.”
“Thank you, Phillip,” Momma added.
He smiled.  “You’re both most welcome.  It was my pleasure.  In the meantime, I’m going to hang around until he gets here.”
“I’ll keep you company,” Momma said.
“As much as I appreciate both of your offers, I’m going to be fine on my own now.”  I said it firmly, without a hint of wavering in my voice.
Chief Martin started to say something in rebuttal when Momma shook her head slightly.  He clammed right up as Momma stood.  “We understand,” my mother said.  “You’ll call if you need us though, right?”
“Of course I will,” I said.
“Let’s go, Phillip,” Momma said firmly.
“But…”
My mother no more than glanced at him, but the police chief decided that whatever he’d been about to say wasn’t going to be worth it.  “I’ll be nearby if you need me, Suzanne,” he said as they started to go.
“Thanks, and thank you for coming so promptly.”
“Happy to do it,” he said, and then both of them were gone.
I started up the stairs for my nap, but I wasn’t sure that I wanted to be so far away from the door in case something else happened.  After