The Mechanics of Mistletoe - Liz Isaacson Page 0,17
with Sammy. She’d been twenty-five when she’d gotten custody of Lincoln, and she’d only adopted him to make things easier for both of them. Things like registering for school and getting medical care didn’t require so many answers to questions Sammy would rather not be asked. She had nothing to hide and nothing to be ashamed of but speaking about her sister’s and brother-in-law’s deaths was hard on her.
Most people around Three Rivers knew already, and Sammy’s life almost felt normal again.
She picked her way around debris, most of it smaller items like cut-up firewood, roof tiles, a wheelbarrow, old pavers her dad hadn’t put in the path he’d done from the deck to the fire pit, and a couple of bike tires.
The oak tree that stood sentinel on the edge of Sammy’s back yard looked whipped and bruised, but it was still standing. Relief hit her for some reason, though she didn’t have a clear view of the little cottage where she and Lincoln lived.
A few more steps, and the house came into view. The rain gutter on the back corner was gone, the roof looked a little chewed up, and the screen door that allowed her to open the back door and let in a fresh evening breeze without getting the bugs hung sideways on its hinges. Other than that, Sammy didn’t see any broken windows or any terrible damage.
“Doesn’t look bad,” she said, tugging Lincoln to her side again. “You guys okay?” She turned to find Daddy picking his way past the oak tree, his eyes trained on the ground. She waited until both of her parents stood next to her, all of them gazing at the house.
Dread hung like a necklace, making her shoulders tight with the weight of it. Sammy closed her eyes and prayed for a miracle. She quickly amended her demands on the Lord to, Just a place to stay dry and safe from the elements would be nice.
She didn’t need Him to make everything magically better. She just needed one room where she and her family could stay until she could get their property livable again.
“Let’s go,” she said, infusing as much hope and cheer into her voice as she could. She kept Lincoln by her side as she crossed the grass, noting that there was considerably less debris here.
The house had a back porch where she normally kept a patio table with two chairs, all of which was gone. But the deck seemed to be in good shape still, and none of the steps softened under her feet as she climbed up to the back door.
The knob turned easily, and she took a deep breath before stepping inside. The house held dead air, because the power was off and therefore so was the air conditioning. She couldn’t smell anything rotten or moldy though, not that it would be in just a night’s time.
“Not bad,” she said, glancing around. The kitchen she’d entered felt almost normal, though a few of the dishes she’d left on the counter had fallen to the ground. One had broken; the others were fine.
She picked up the whole pieces and said, “Be careful here.”
The kitchen flowed into a dining room of sorts, which held a table with a few chairs. Beyond that, the living room showed hardly any damage at all. Upstairs, she found the three bedrooms and two bathrooms equally intact.
“Okay,” she said. “We can all stay here until I can get Momma and Daddy’s place fixed up.” She’d left her parents downstairs with Lincoln. “The house looks good. I’ll need to repair a few things, but we can live without a gutter for a while.” She looked around, but her purse was still in her truck, which she’d parked at her parents’ house.
“I’m going to go look at your place, Daddy,” she said without looking at him. “And drive down to my shop, if I can. Will you guys stay here with Lincoln?”
“Yes,” Momma said, getting up. “I’ll see what you’ve got in the fridge that we should eat before it goes bad. We’ll be fine here.” She flashed Sammy a smile that held worry along the edges.
“I’ll try not to be gone long,” Sammy said, her need to get to her shop doubling. She hesitated another moment and grabbed her mom in a hug. “I love you, Momma.”
“Love you too, Samantha.” She stepped away a moment later, a sniffle sounding as she went into the kitchen. Sammy hugged her father and then Lincoln, pressing