The Crying Bridge

The Crying Bridge--Chapter 19

 By 6:30 Sunday evening, the three new window units were busy cooling off the little house. Del and Evan were on the porch sipping Pinot Grigio while Evan grilled the chicken breasts and basted them with barbeque sauce. They ate the chicken breasts with a lot of mixed greens and finished the meal with some raspberry sorbet.

When they were finished, they took their wine and sat once more on the swing.

"I have to leave earlier than usual tomorrow and it'll be a little later when I get back," Evan said. "There's an open house tomorrow at the youth center and there will be a fair amount of clean up after."

"I can pack the rest of the egg salad for you if want it for your lunch," she offered.

He smiled and kissed her temple. "Thanks, but they cater this affair, so there will be plenty to eat there."

She turned to him and without warning, began kissing him ardently.

"Hey," he said. "I'm kinda liking this."

"Me, too," she said and resumed kissing him.

His hands began to roam over her body and she pressed closer to him. That's when the crying began.

It was different this time. For one thing, it was early and there was still some light in the sky. Always before, it had been dark, late. For another thing, the crying wasn't far away, it was everywhere and it was loud. It seemed as though there was a wailing baby right there next to them.

Evan stood up looking around. He had goosebumps on his arms. He had never felt spooked with what was happening here until now. He looked at Del and she looked back with a helpless expression on her face. Evan reached back and Del grabbed his hand fiercely. She stood up next to him.

"What do we do?" Evan asked

"I don't know!" Del cried. "Emma! I don't know how to help you. I don't know what you want! You have to help me help you!"

As suddenly as it had started, the crying stopped. Both Evan and Del were motionless for a long time. They finally both released the breath they'd been holding.

"That was intense," Evan said.

Del could only nod.

"Are you okay?" he asked.

"I guess," she said. "It's just so hard to hear a baby crying like that, even a ghost baby. It's just so damned unnerving."

"That's an understatement. That was actually sort of scary."

Del nodded again. "And it's only 8:30. It's never happened this early before."

Because they didn't know what else to do, they sat back down on the swing but didn't resume their previous activity. They were both still a little freaked out and expected the crying to resume any minute.

When another thirty minutes passed in silence, they went inside where it was blessedly cool from the new air conditioners. Evan took their wine glasses to the kitchen and washed and dried them while Del brushed her teeth and washed her face. She climbed into bed and waited for Evan to complete his bedtime routine.

He turned off the light and crawled in next to her. She snuggled close and let him wrap his arms around her tightly. He held her like that, stroking her hair for a long time.

"Evan?" she whispered.

"Hmm?" he asked.

"Let's make love," she said.