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“What?” Silas’s grip on her shoulders increased, his pale brown eyes drilling into her. “You’re supposed to be taking care of her. I heard the reports, I saw the cloud, the storm. I came as soon as I could.”
“They only left a few minutes ago. Lily and my niece. I’m pretty sure I know where they are.”
“Pretty sure? That’s not good enough.” His eyes narrowed and he gave her a shake, as if trying to force the information out of her. “This town, this place…” His gruff voice drifted away as his gaze shot around, as if trying to take in the havoc around them.
A burst of wind, a remnant of the raging storm, tossed her long blond hair about her face. And as she pushed it back, her arm hit his. “If you’ll let go of me, I’ll go with you to find the girls.”
“Let’s go, then,” he growled, dropping his hands.
Josie turned blindly, her own fear and concern mixing with the shame she felt at letting the girls slip out of her sight at such a time.
Irresponsible. Reckless. The words her grandmother often tossed her way now slithered through her mind, resurrecting a wild past that still accused her.
She shouldn’t be in charge of these children. She couldn’t take care of them.
Please, Lord, let them be okay. She prayed through her fear and through the voices from her past that told her she was no good. Worthless and nothing but trouble.
But in spite of her prayers, fear clenched her stomach as she navigated her way over a downed tree. Beyond that an empty car lay on its side, glass strewn over a street still wet from the rain. It had been half an hour since the tornado touched down. While she and Nicki had cowered with the children in the basement of the church, sirens had wailed and horns honked, followed by the roar of the storm filling their ears and minds.
Another tree lay across their path, and as she tried to go over it, as well, her foot got caught in the branches. She would have fallen but for Silas’s strong hands catching her from behind.
“I’m okay. Let go of me,” she snapped. Fear, anger with Alyssa and concern about her grandmother fought with each other as she struggled to free herself from the branches and the grip of his rough hands.
“Just a minute.” Silas snapped a few branches away, vaulted over the tree, then reached up to help her down, but she scrambled down on her own.
“Where are we going?” he asked as she caught her balance.
“If my guess is right, the girls went to my house. Go down Fourth to Logan Street. I live two houses down from the corner.”
Without another word Silas strode away from her. “Watch out for the downed power lines,” he called over his shoulder as his long legs covered ground. As Josie jogged to keep up, her gaze flew around the town taking stock. The Willekers house okay, but the stately maples destroyed. Roof off Klaas Steenbergen’s house. Windows smashed in the next house. The following house, no damage.
Then they turned onto Logan Street, and Josie’s steps faltered.
The capricious tornado had blasted out the windows of the homes on either side of her and snatched branches off the maples that had once lined the street.
And tossed them right into the front of her house.
Her roof was a bundle of sticks and shingles burying the front porch and lawn. One side of the house was ripped right out, exposing her living room and part of the kitchen, which now held only a kitchen chair and her new television tipped on its side.
The sound of sirens approaching broke into the silence that had held the town in thrall up to now. Emergency vehicles on their way.
Panic clawed up Josie’s throat as the demolition of her home dawned on her. Did the girls go inside that mess?
She ran toward the house, ignoring Silas’s warning shout. Please, Lord, was all she could pray.
“Josie. Stop. Now. There’s a line down.”
He snaked his arm around her waist to stop her forward momentum.
A power line sparked only inches away from her feet.
Fear made Josie sag against Silas. For a brief moment she welcomed the strength of his arm holding her up, the solid wall of his body behind her.
Then, above the sound of emergency sirens approaching, Josie heard Alyssa calling her name.
“Wait here,” Silas said, releasing her.
Josie hugged herself, praying frantically as Silas carefully made his way over the downed power line then through the debris on the lawn to the back of the house. He called the girls’ names as Josie prayed. Please, Lord, let those girls be safe.
After what seemed like an eternity, Silas came from behind the house, his daughter on his hip, his other hand holding Alyssa’s.
Alyssa was carrying a plastic bag, but Josie was too relieved to pay it much attention.
She ran toward her niece and swept her into her arms.
“You silly girl. I was so worried.” She dropped to her knees, her hands slipping over her niece’s dear face. “Are you okay? What were you thinking leaving like that?”
Alyssa glanced at Lily, then back at Josie. “I wanted to get something. From the house. For Lily.”
Fear and anger fought for dominance, but relief took the upper hand.
“Why didn’t you ask me? Why did you go without telling me? Do you know what just happened?”
Alyssa looked around and sighed. “The storm left a big mess.”
Her simple, matter-of-fact statement released some of Josie’s tension.
“It was very dangerous to go to the house without telling me.” Josie’s voice trembled.
“I’m sorry. But now I have my present for Lily. I had it ready in the kitchen but forgot it.” Alyssa glanced up at Silas. “Are we going to the church? I want to wrap it there. I have some pretty paper.”
Silas shifted his daughter on his hip, his tanned forearms holding her close as he shot a frown toward Josie. “No. I’m taking Lily home. Now.”
Lily pushed back on her father, her tiny hands dwarfed by her father’s broad shoulders. “I want my present.”
Silas’s angry gaze flicked around the wreckage strewn about the street, as if wondering how his daughter could be so caught up in something so trivial as a present when people’s lives had been upended so dramatically.
“Can you give it to her now?” Silas asked Alyssa.
Alyssa glanced at the plastic bag holding something square. Then as the emergency vehicles converged on their street, red and blue light strobing over the street, she handed the parcel to Lily.
“Happy birthday, Lily,” she said with a wide smile.
Josie saw Silas’s face go blank, then he closed his eyes and pulled his lower lip between his teeth.
The single father had forgotten his only daughter’s birthday.
“Thanks, Alyssa,” Lily said with a huge grin, seemingly unaware of her father’s mistake. Then she turned to Silas. “Can Alyssa and Miss Cane come over for a party?”
Silas shot a glance over his shoulder at the remains of Josie’s house, something she’d been avoiding ever since they turned down this street.
“I think Ms. Cane has other things on her mind right now.” Silas put Lily down, but clung to her hand. He looked around the street as one of the emergency crews ran to the house beside Josie’s and another to hers.
“There’s no one inside,” Josie called out. “We’re both here.”
One of the firemen saluted her, but followed the other man in anyhow.
Guess they had to check for themselves, she reasoned.
She turned away, unable to look at the wreckage any longer. Later she could absorb it, reason what had to happen. For now, she had to find out what had happened to her grandmother.
“We gotta get going,” Silas said, shoving his hand through his hair, as if unsure himself what to do. “Glad that you and the girls are okay.” He gave her a tight smile, then walked down the littered street, leading his daughter by the hand.
Josie watched him go as a hard shivering seized her body.
Shock, she reasoned, hugging herself. She tried to keep her thoughts at bay, tried to corral them into a corner.
But they buzzed past her defenses. Was her grandmother okay? Who else could have been hurt?
“I have to go find Gramma,” Josie said suddenly.
“Do you think she’s okay?”
“We’ll find out.” She was about to leave when a fireman called her back.
“Ma’am, we have to ask you to head back to the church.” He walked over to her full of purpose and determination. “We’re sending everyone there for now.”
“But my grandmother…”
“We’ll be giving out news as we find things out. It’s too dangerous to go wandering the streets on your own. Gas leaks, lines down. Sorry.”
Josie hugged herself again, glancing over her shoulder in the direction of her grandmother’s home.
This storm had changed everything. It had blasted into town, torn up homes, and even though it had happened only an hour ago, Josie knew it had completely rearranged her life and her plans.
Guess she wouldn’t be moving away from High Plains this fall after all.
Two days later
“So what are we going to do, Lily?” Alyssa pressed her mouth close to her aunt’s cell phone, hoping Aunt Josie hadn’t noticed that Alyssa was missing from the classroom in the church. If Aunt Josie knew she was using her cell phone, and why, she would be mad. “If you’re not allowed to come to the after-school program anymore, how is my aunt and your dad going to fall in love like we planned?”
“We need to make a pact.”
“Is that a sin?”
“No, silly.” Lily laughed. “It’s a promise that you and I are going to make to make sure that my dad and your aunt fall in love.”
“Like a pact. A matchmaking pact.”
“Yeah. A pact.”
“But we have to hurry because my aunt still says we’re going to move away. And if we move, they’re never going to fall in love.” Alyssa looked back over her shoulder, but no one was in the hallway. “So we’re going to make a pact and make a plan.”
“Right. And this is what we’ll do.”
Alyssa listened carefully and as Lily told her the plan, she started to smile. This might work. And if it did, she would have a dad again.
And Lily would get another mom.
Chapter One
October 5th
“Lily. Time for school,” Silas called up the stairs, waiting for a response from his daughter.
He heard a thump, then the sound of feet hurrying down the hallway. What in the world was that kid doing? Curious, he took a step up the stairs just as his cell phone rang.
He pulled it off his hip and flipped it open. A modern-day gunslinger, he thought with a touch of irony as he said hello.
“Silas. Orville Cummins here. Not the best news. I’ve got to delay shipping that lumber to you.”
“What do you mean? I ordered it back in June for delivery this month.”
“Yeah. That was before that tornado took your town apart couple months back. I tried to get what I could, but Garrison has been buying up what he can for his lumberyard the last while. You could try to get some from him.”
Silas rubbed his forehead. “He’s only selling it for reconstruction or building new homes.”
“If you can wait two weeks, I’ll get you what you need from Manhattan.”
“I guess that’ll have to do.”
As he was talking, Lily came downstairs, dragging her backpack behind her, a brightly colored gift bag swinging from her other hand.
While he talked he wiped a spot of toothpaste from the corner of Lily’s mouth, then patted her on the head.
“Thanks again, Orville. I gotta run.” He snapped the phone shut and slipped it into his belt holster. “Did you really brush your teeth this morning or only rinse with toothpaste again?”
“I brushed.”
Silas frowned at her ponytail, hanging askew from the back of her head.
Kelly would have put their daughter’s copper-colored hair into tight, fat braids, finished off with ribbons.
But Kelly wasn’t here and his clumsy fingers couldn’t recreate the intricate twists that had come so easily to his wife’s slender fingers. So Lily did her own hair. Today it looked as if she hadn’t even brushed it.
“We gotta get going.” He glanced at the festive bag she was carrying. “What you got there?”
Lily gave him a secretive smile. “You’ll find out.”
