"What is this place?" Rachel asked as she reached the bottom.
"Welcome to the bat cave." Alex laughed at the look of wonder on her friend's face. "This is part of the panic room I had put in when I had the house built. I converted this half to a wine cellar about a year or so ago."
"What about the other half?"
Alex shrugged as she looked for a suitable bottle of wine. "Mostly storage these days." She noticed her look of curiosity and said, "I told you Jo stole things from me when I kicked her out, right? It took me a while to get everything back, and when I did, I locked it away for safekeeping. I've just never pulled any of it back out."
"All of your softball memorabilia, right?" Alex nodded. She walked up to her, placed a hand on her arm and said, "Maybe it's time to pull it out again, put it back in the office where it belongs."
Alex shrugged and pulled a bottle from the shelf. "What do you think of this one?"
Rachel's eyebrows rose as she read the label, noting the name of the Italian winery. "I think it's one I'd love to try sometime, but not today. Donna is a lush and wouldn't appreciate such a fine wine. Do you have something a bit less expensive?"
Alex returned the bottle to the shelf and said, "In that case, how about these?" She pointed to several bottles in a cardboard box in the corner. "They were a gift from the carpenter that built the racks for me." She held up the bottles in question and Rachel smiled her approval.
"That's more Donna's speed." She handed them both to Rachel and began the slow climb back up the stairs. Her limp was fairly pronounced and the climb was slow. "Is your leg bothering you today?"
"A little bit. I saw my doctor yesterday. She said that the ache is normal, as is the pain from the nerves firing off, and both may or may not go away completely. We'll just have to wait and see as it continues to heal." She paused on the landing at the top of the stairs, and with a touch, a panel in the wall slid to the side to reveal a flat screen monitor and keypad. She checked the monitor to ensure the hallway was empty before keying in the code to unlock the door. She saw Rachel's raised eyebrows and shrugged. "What? What good is a panic room if everyone knows where it is? Trust me, there was a time when I needed this room." They stepped through the door, and she secured it behind them. "Oh I did get some good news yesterday. My doctor released me from my driving restrictions. I have successfully passed the required amount of time without a single incident of seizures or blackouts."
"Good for you. I'm sure you're happy to be able to drive again, instead of relying on one of us," Rachel replied as she set the bottles on the counter.
Alex pulled the corkscrew from the drawer and began to open one of the bottles. "It's a relief. I hate to keep bothering Dani."
Dani turned away from the discussion between Nikki and her father, and walked over to Rachel. "You're not a bother, Alex. I don't mind taking you places, besides it lets me spend time with an intelligent adult during the day. Please tell me you'll still call."
"Of course. We have to take advantage of the time we have, after all you'll be starting work before you know it." She placed the open bottle on the counter and began to pull wine glasses from the cupboard.
Everyone was startled when Donna interjected into the conversation. "You're going back to work, Danielle?"
Before Dani could respond, Alex handed her a wine glass and said, "Indeed, Donna. You must be so proud of Dani. She managed to land a very good job even though she's been out of nursing for a few years. They are so impressed by her that they are even willing to allow her to wait until Madison goes to school this fall." She watched as Donna filled her glass then turned to Dani with questions. She caught Dani's eye and winked as she turned away from the group to check on Madison. "Hey there, Maddy. How's it going over here?"
Madison sighed. "It's okay. Can we go outside?"
"Of course, piccola." Alex helped her down from the stool and took her hand, allowing her to lead her out the back door. They walked to one of the sitting areas a few feet from the open door and sat down. "What's wrong, sweetheart?"
Madison climbed up into her lap, and Alex helped her get comfortable while keeping her weight off of her left leg. "Who are those people and why are they so mean?"
Alex looked down at Madison and wondered how to explain adults to a four year old. "They really aren't mean people, Maddy, they just don't know us yet."
Madison shook her head and scowled. "No, they're mean. They said bad things about you and Momma when you were gone. I don't like them." She leaned against her and cried. "You and Momma won't leave me will you?"
The question nearly broke Alex's heart. She wrapped her arms around the little girl and held her close as she began to rock in the chair. "No, sweetie. Your Momma loves your Mommy and you very much. She's not going to leave you." She kissed the top of her head and said, "Do angels lie?" Madison shook her head. "Am I your angel?" Madison nodded and wiped her nose. "That's right, and because I'm your angel, I'm not leaving either. So you just dry your tears, piccola, okay?"
Madison threw her arms around
