Phone Calls and False Alarms

My cell phone doesn’t ring much. I’ve never been a real chatty person, especially on the phone. It’s getting worse as I get older. As much as I hate to admit it, I don’t hear as well on the phone as I used to.  I’d like to blame it on my old phone or the poor connection we sometimes get in the country, but whatever the reason, I end up saying “Huh” and “What was that” a lot more often than I’d like. When my phone rings, I’m usually in Wal-Mart, and David is calling from the automotive or electronics department wondering when I’ll be ready to check out. So yesterday when my phone rang, and the caller ID showed a number with the area code where Mom lives, a jolt of apprehension twisted my stomach into a knot.