The Easter Egg Hunt Read Free Page B

do better.”
    “I
hope so.  I hate to see you so ill.”
    “I
know, and I have to tell you that I was even more awful than you think.  I
ate a chocolate bunny, too,” she confessed.  “That’s why I got so sick. 
What makes me think that ‘this time I’ll be able to eat chocolate and get away
with it’?  I don’t blame you for being so upset with me, honey.  I’m
upset with me, too.”   She snuggled
in his arms.
    “This
time of year is difficult for you, especially since you love Easter so much,”
he stated.  “I think perhaps you should get someone else at work to handle
the Easter Egg Hunt.”
    “Nooooo! 
Oh, please, Noah, don’t insist I give that up!  I love planning the Easter
celebration for the children and the adults.  I enjoy it more than
Christmas and I would be devastated if you said I couldn’t do it any more.” 
Her blue eyes were full of tears and Noah felt himself weaken.
    “I’ll
let you try it this year, Meggie, but if we have a repeat of this, then you won’t
be permitted to organize the Easter Egg Hunt next year.  Is that clear?”
    “Yes,
Noah,” she demurred, and then asked, “What are you doing home, anyway?”
    “I
wasn’t about to leave you here alone when you were so out of it,” he said
quietly.  “I am working at home today.”
    “What’s
in the crock pot?” she asked.  “I’m hungry!”
    “That’s
a good sign,” he smiled.  “Sit down and I’ll feed you,” he bossed.
    Megan
was surprised and pleased to find the cushion returned to her chair.  Most
of the time Noah didn’t give it back for several days, but he was trying hard
to be nice to her, and she was really going to try very hard to keep her
promise to leave the chocolate completely alone.
    ********************
    Noah
was pleased when the rest of February and the first two weeks of March passed
without incident.  He checked her daily blood sugar readings and praised
her for doing so well.  She’d gone shopping several times to get plastic
eggs to paint, and she spent hours in the evening making the plastic eggs look
very expensive. 
    When
he got home from work late during the first week of April and Megan wasn’t home
yet, he was concerned.  He called her cell phone and when she answered, he
asked, “Where are you?”
    “Almost
home, Noah.  I’ve been shopping.  Will you help me carry everything
inside?”
    “Sure,”
he answered.  “Do you want me to call for a pizza for dinner?” he offered.
    “Nope,
I have it covered,” she replied.  “I’m turning on our street now; be there
in two seconds.”  She closed her cell phone and he hung up. 
    Noah
heard the garage door going up as he reached the door from the laundry room
that went into the garage.  Megan pulled in and pushed the button to open
the trunk.  Noah shook his head when he saw all of the stuff she
purchased.  “I take it you received your allowance today for the big
Easter Egg Hunt?”
    “Yes,
and I will probably have to make more trips,” she exclaimed.  “I’ll be
filling eggs and Easter Baskets from now until the day we have the party.”
    “The
Saturday before Easter, right?”
    “Yes. 
Ralph Rider agreed to be the Easter Bunny and pass out baskets to the children,
and I have some nice adult gifts, too” she said happily.  “I’ve bought
some nice things, Noah!” She was smiling excitedly.
    Noah
helped her carry in all of her packages and she insisted they take them right
up to her craft room.  It took several trips each, and Noah went out to
close the trunk and check to make sure everything was out of her car. 
That is when he spotted the empty candy wrapper for a Reese’s peanut butter
egg!  After all of her promises, and doing so well, Meggie touched
chocolate again!  While it was only one egg, and mostly peanut butter, the
simple truth was that little bit of chocolate would make her crave more, and he’d
already seen all the candy in the bags upstairs.  He knew she had to