Letting Go (Triple Eight Ranch) - By Mary Beth Lee Page 0,13

table. But the napkin dispensers were all over the place.

Shock hit her as she looked around the diner. This was going to take more than a few hours to clean up. She and Bev…

“Bev. She’s at home with her kids. They…” She stopped. Didn’t say live in a trailer because Mackenzie was there and oh God, please, no.

Jed took her hand and kept her moving forward.

And then she was out the front door noticing the sunlight on the sidewalk in areas that didn’t make sense for this time of day, only they did. Because the apartment that used to be above the garage behind Pete’s was gone.

Chapter Four

Shell shocked. That was the look on Clarissa’s face when they stepped into the eerie sunlight. Jed couldn’t begin to imagine what she was feeling right now. Loss, fear, emptiness. He just knew he had to step in to try to make it better.

“You’re coming home with me and Mack,” he said.

“It’s all gone. Everything is gone.” Clarissa whispered the words. When she stepped forward, the volunteer fire chief held out a hand to stop her. “Sorry, Miss. Nothing’s safe right now. Tomorrow morning you’ll be able to start cleaning up. If you don’t have someplace to go, the church has set up a shelter.”

Jed cut him off. “She has someplace to go.” Then he put an arm on Clarissa’s shoulder. “Come on. We’ll come back tomorrow. You can search then.” Although, from what he remembered Clarissa didn’t have much.

Clarissa nodded as if in a daze, agreeing but not really aware of what she was agreeing to, then she stepped forward, wincing as glass from Pete’s big front windows, now shattered, crunched under her feet.

As if the sound shook something inside her, she turned back to what used to be. “Wait. I’ll just look...”

The fireman shook his head. “I’m sorry, ma’am. Let us make things safe first. Then you can search all you want.”

Jed didn’t know what Clarissa had lost, but he’d do anything in his power to find it for her.

“I’ll have you back first thing in the morning. Promise.”

She blew out a long breath, and met his eyes. Hers were empty now. As if she were refusing to let herself feel. He knew that look. Had lived it for months. Around them emergency sirens sounded from all directions. Lights on the vehicles flashed red and yellow and blue. He had to get Mack and Clarissa away from this. Get them to the Triple Eight.

Only his phone wasn’t working, and there were no guarantees that the ranch had survived this storm unscathed. Pain hit him at the thought, but he pushed it away. If nothing else, they had plenty of camping gear.

Mack put her little hand in Clarissa’s and stared around at the damaged square so much a part of her life.

“It’ll be okay, Clarissa. Daddy will make things better. You will, won’t you, Daddy?”

Her words pierced Jed’s heart. He met Clarissa’s eyes and saw that she knew the truth. He couldn’t make this better, and it killed him to realize Mack thought he could.

As if Mack’s assertion clarified the situation Clarissa snapped back to the present. She turned away from him and bent to pick Mack up. “You better not walk right now, sweetie. This glass is...” Clarissa stopped, surveyed the damage around them and finished with the one word that made sense. “Everywhere. The mess is everywhere.”

Pete followed them out of the diner, trying to shine a positive light on the disaster.

“Looks like most of the diner damage is superficial, we’ll be open again in no time.”

Around them others made their way out of broken buildings to survey the damage. Thankfully, Jed’s truck was relatively unscathed. Strange since shards of glass and splintered lumber were scattered everywhere in front of the diner. The only vehicles on the road were those serving as emergency services. It didn’t take long to understand why.

Power was out. The square was damaged, but it looked like the diner’s apartment was the worst of it for the town square area.

Lester Pyle drove up in his tow truck, stopping when he saw Jed.

“You coming?”

Dread hit Jed in the gut and he waited to hear more. Storms like these always meant tragedy.

“The elementary’s damaged some. Fifth and sixth grade wing gone. Power’s out since the lines are down. But west of here, it’s bad. We’re going to dig.”

He didn’t say more, but the look he sent Mack said enough. He didn’t want her to know the truth. They