Amy went and knocked respectfully on the children’s bedroom door. When no one answered she looked in to see that both of them were sprawled across their beds. “Hey you two, up and at ‘em. You’ve got school today,” she told them loud enough to wake them both. When that didn’t work she turned and walked across the cabin to the back door to let Toby in. “Go get them up boy,” she told the overgrown pup. He didn’t know what that meant exactly but he went, and, discovering the children’s door open went inside. Amy soon heard squeals of childish laughter coming from the room and knew they were up. She heard the shower turn off.
While Abby got dressed, Amy cleaned out the fireplace. She kept checking for any hot coals but hadn’t banked the fire the night before to keep it burning. In winter that was a must and she didn’t clean it for months on end. While she had the opportunity she kept it fairly clean. She laid new wood and kindling for a quick start later that day. She heard Abby go into the other bedroom and get the children rolling. She heard the bathroom door slam as one of them raced inside.
When she got up to wash her hands she saw Heather shuffling into the living room, still looking half asleep, her hair all askew.
“Good Morning, would you like some breakfast?” Amy asked cheerfully.
She got a grunt and she helped the girl to a chair, handed her the orange juice and then got a glare for her offerings of cereal.
“Don’t you have fruit loops or sugar cinamin?” she lisped.
Amy had to remember that Heather was still a very little girl and those sugary cereals were probably a mainstay for the kids. An easy morning meal for her mom and grandmother. But she only ate fairly healthy things and had oat circles and corn squares for breakfast. “You might like these,” she tried to cajole the grumpy girl. She finally convinced her to try the oat circles.
By the time she got Heather eating some cereal and drinking some orange juice Abby came out of the bedroom. “Good Morning,” she greeted her and handed her a hot cup of chocolate.
“We are going to have to get a small coffee maker for me,” Abby confessed.
“You don’t like my hot chocolate?” Amy pretended to be devastated by the news.
“I do!” Heather said supportively.
“See, that’s one vote,” Abby smiled. “I love your hot chocolate but it doesn’t have the caffeine I need to exist.”
Amy laughed. “Okay, today when I’m out shopping, I’ll pick up a small coffee maker.”
“Something that makes more than two cups of coffee?” Abby begged sweetly and leaned over for a chocolate flavored kiss.
“Don’t you guys do that enough?” Bailey asked from the doorway where he stood dripping on the floor in a fluffy white towel.
“Don’t you dry off before you leave the bathroom?” Abby asked him pointedly glancing at the floor where a puddle was forming.
“Oh, sorry,” he said, not sounding sorry at all. “We’re out of hot water,” he announced.
Amy rolled her eyes at this news. She had known that was going to happen.
“How am I going to take a bath?” asked Heather around a mouth of oat circles.
“Finish your breakfast and some of the water will heat up again,” Abby assured her and then spun to look at Bailey. “And you, go get dried off and dressed for school. Then come out here and clean that up,” she said pointing at Bailey’s feet. The boy hurried off to the spare bedroom, slamming the door behind him. “And quit slamming doors,” she yelled after him. She hadn’t missed the bathroom door slam.
“My you do have a way with words Ms. Shipman,” Amy smiled at her. “Here, sit down and eat,” she said pointing at the set table.
“Do we have the time?” Abby checked her watch, then realizing she wasn’t wearing one; she pulled out her cell phone to check the time. “I’m going to need another charger for this,” she commented holding up the phone.
“Well, you are going to have to take the kids to school and arrange the bus for them from now on. We need to know what time they have to be waiting outside on the drive,” Amy informed her as she sat down to eat a bowl of corn squares. She poured them from the box into her bowl and added a sprinkling of sugar over them before she poured the milk.
“Can’t you…” Abby began and then realized that no, Amy couldn’t. She wasn’t their legal guardian. She smiled wryly. Her plans for the day would have to wait until she took care of her parental duties. “I’m going to put you down as their emergency contact and have the school made aware that you can pick them up?” she asked to confirm with Amy who nodded. Abby poured herself some oat circles and added milk to her bowl before she sprinkled some sugar over the top. “Do you have one of the chargers for this in your store?”
“Probably,” Amy answered dryly and then grinned. “We have that one that is a combination wall and car charger that will probably work.”
That morning set a routine for them that would last weeks. The two adults had many responsibilities to take care of but that morning was reminiscent of many mornings to come.
Abby took the kids to school and made the arrangements for the bus and for Amy to be their emergency contact as well as being able to pick them up. She then went to the funeral home to make arrangements for Bonnie’s funeral the following Sunday, after regular church services. Then she went to the newspaper office and arranged an obituary for her mother-in-law. She had never thought writing an obituary would be hard until she tried it, and then she was horrified with how expensive it was. Especially when she had it placed in the local paper and then again across on the mainland. Next she met with law enforcement officials about the fire and the new sub-station they would need.
“We’re pretty certain it was arson. Someone was seen leaving the sub-station before the fire,” one official confirmed from their investigation.
“We don’t think locating the sub-station in your former home was a great idea but that was the last administration, we’re going to build you a small office,” another promised her.
“I’ve heard that before,” she pointed out.
“Well, we’d delayed because the situation was working, why fix it?” he grinned ruefully. “Now we are forced not only to get the new building but pay you for the old one.”
“Pay me for the old?” she asked confused.
“It was because of our police sub-station that you were targeted. Your grandparent’s home was torched. You lost your mother-in-law. We will be compensating you for the loss of your home.”
Abby was tempted to ask if they would be compensating her for the loss of her mother-in-law but held off as they went over many things they would be doing in the interim.
* * * * *
Amy quickly did the shopping, stocking up on nearly three times the amount of things she normally bought for food. She found a small four cup coffee maker and after inhaling the wonderful aromas down the coffee aisle at the supermarket she bought a nice French Vanilla blend for Abby.
Putting away their groceries, including food for the pets, she set the coffee maker time and then the timer, carefully reading the directions as she set it up to make the coffee automatically for Abby the next morning.
She sat down then and made her calls, arranging for wood from Jacob and Johnathan Meyers, buying an extra cord as she now had a family that would burn more wood, or so she reasoned. Next she called Terri about looking at the work that needed doing at the store and then coming out to the cabin the following day, after she and Abby had time to plan what they might need. She also talked to him about bringing the two-twenty volt into the house for the dryer she was expecting.
She spoke to several of her employees, assuring them that The Emporium would re-open shortly and that they still had jobs.
She worked on what she could from home but as her store had all her purchase orders, inventory sheets and such, she knew she would have to go in eventually. She glanced at the clock, determined to be home when the children got off the bus. She had no idea what time they would be home.
She chanced it and drove into town. Unlocking the door to her store she hated the peace and quiet inside. None of the fancy machines she had bought were working, the electricity was off. Even the phones were quiet until that was all hooked back up. She took the numbers for each of the services she provided and called them with her cell, explained what had happened and assuring them she would be up and running in a few days. She crossed her fingers at that.
“Hello?” someone called and she walked out of her office to see the postman delivering the tote of mail for her mail box holders.
“Hello,” she said in reply, pleased to see a familiar face.
“I wasn’t sure you would be open,” he said surprised.
“Well, neither sleet, nor snow, nor fire,” she paraphrased and shared a laugh with him.
“I’m glad you’re still here. This town needs a store like this,” he ascertained.
“Well thank you. I’m glad you like it.”
“Yep, me and the wife have been here many times, it’s nostalgic.”
“I’m glad to hear that too.”
“It’s kind of eerie to hear no music in this place,” he glanced over at the darkened juke box.
“Yes it is but we will be back up and running in no time,” she assured him.
“That’s good to hear. Well, I better make my deliveries,” he said. “Oh wait, do you have any outgoing?” he asked.
Amy checked and there were a few letters in the outbox and she handed them to him with a smile. “See you tomorrow,” she said cheerfully.
As he left, in walked Alex Meyers. “Hi Ms. Adams,” he said cheerfully.
Amy started in surprise. He had been one of the few she couldn’t get a hold of today since he went to school and no cell phones were allowed outside of their lockers. She thought she’d left him a message though.
“I know we aren’t open but I got to thinking about those,” he pointed back with his thumb at the ice cream freezers. “I bet that’s all melted and a mess,” he explained.
“I bet it is too,” she agreed. If they didn’t clean them, and soon, it would stink too.
“I’ll get to pouring them out one by one,” he assured her.
“I hadn’t planned on anyone working…” she began. She was a little depressed from the events of the past few days and being in here alone had allowed her to lick her wounds in private, be alone with her thoughts of what might have happened with the fire.
“Oh you don’t have to pay me,” he assured her. “I just want to do a good job.”
She smiled at his exuberance. “I’ll pay you,” she assured him. “And thanks.”
He smiled, showing the potential man inside the boy as he put his book bag down in the back room and pulled on an apron to work in to protect his school clothes. Amy was pleasantly surprised to see two other of her students come into work to clean as well. She turned to put the mail in the appropriate slots for her mail box holders and then headed back to her paperwork. Having to do things by hand, without the aid of the computers was a difficult task but she managed.
“Um, Ms. Adams?” Alex knocked on the office door.
“Yes Alex, what can I do for you?” she asked.
“We’re done with the first freezer and halfway through the second. Do you want us to go in the basement and empty those?”
“I don’t know how dark it’s going to be down there and without any lights it might be too difficult. Do what you can and then go through the refrigerators and throw out everythan’.”
“Everything?” he asked bewildered.
“Yes, we can’t take the chance that anythin’ has spoiled. Put it all out for the garbage collectors.” She checked the map on the wall for collection days. “The garbage picks up tomorrow.”
He nodded and gave her a mock salute but before he could leave the office another head popped in. “Mr. Lenoir to see you Ms. Adams!”
Not used to hearing Terry called by his last name it took her a moment to place him but she got up and went to see who was there for her and was delighted to see the contractor.
“Boy you were lucky here Amy,” he greeted her with a hug. “Abby got the worst of it,” he assured her but then, she already knew that.
They discussed what needed to be done to clean up the side of the building, the roof, and the make the outside a full outside wall now. They would have to discuss it with Abby since they didn’t know if she would be rebuilding. According to the purchase of the store, their buildings could butt up.
“Make sure you put in for a fire wall then,” Terry advised succinctly and Amy had to agree. It only made sense.
Amy had a full day and Terry agreed to meet her at the cabin in the morning. Her electricity was going to be turned back on tomorrow and he was pretty certain that there was nothing he couldn’t fix in a short period of time for her at the store. The roof would take the longest but he assured even that wouldn’t take long.
.
* * * * *
Terry did have the store back in tip-top shape in a matter of days. With the electricity back on they were able to clean up inside although there was still the faint odor of smoke that would linger for a long time. Terry put siding on the now exposed side of the building and then Amy hired some local high school artists to re-create some ‘nostalgic’ originals from the fifties and earlier to advertise the store. Having a wall that was forty feet long and being paid for their artistry inspired the kids and she gave each of them a ‘bonus’ in the form of a five hundred dollar scholarship for their work. The town was thrilled that she turned the charred eyesore into something useable. The town wasn’t as thrilled at seeing the charred ruin of the house still sitting there after a while though. The investigation had been taken over by the feds and that meant it was taking time. Whoever had set the blaze had used very unique incendiary devices and they wanted to catch him or her. Every bit of evidence they could find was being taken and scrutinized before they would allow the site to be bulldozed.
“So I want a sun room but I also want a bigger kitchen, a bigger basement, and another bedroom,” Amy was expounding out at the cabin and Abby looked on in amusement. She was so feisty and it was a helluva turn-on to the brunette.
“I can build you anything you want but we are going to have to take out a tree or two,” he warned.
“Oh no, can’t you build around them?” she asked naively. She loved her lot with its shaded trees but she supposed if she wanted a ‘sun’ room it would make sense to actually have some sun.
“Not unless you want a tree in the middle of your new bedroom?” he teased as he looked at the sketches she had scratched out for him.
She laughed as Abby did. “What about an extra bathroom?” Abby pointed out as it was glaringly obvious it was missing from the plans.
“Oh, that’s a good idea,” Amy enthused and looked at Terry hopefully.
“Why don’t we add the bedroom here,” he pointed at the sketch. “Make that the master bedroom and let it have its own bathroom?” He was also thinking how nice it would be to utilize the existing pipes from the old bathroom and not to have to run the lines to it all too far.
“That could work,” she agreed biting her lip. Abby watched, fascinated.
“What about digging the basement? We should get on to that before the ground freezes,” he suggested practically.
Abby nodded and Amy after a thought nodded too. “I bet it will be easier to work then after you get the framing done and you can work indoors.”
“Well, the weather is always a consideration and the sooner we start on this project the better. Your police department is going to be mostly cinder block and stucco and I’ll be busy with that too,” he said including Abby in the discussion.
“They finalized that then?” she confirmed.
He nodded. “Yeah, they bought that lot further down, it’s smaller than where your house was and we can get the concrete in and up in no time. It’s the detail work inside that will take a little longer,” he explained.
“Good, because that mobile unit they brought in, sucks,” she said succinctly and they all shared a laugh.
It was nice how friendly and companionable they all were. He said he’d get the plans and the cost estimates finalized for her within a week and Amy was pleased.
“I should buy the rest of your lot from you,” Amy said after he had left the two of them.
“Well, I got paid twice,” Abby considered.
“Twice?” Amy asked confused.
“Yeah, the sheriff’s department was paying to use my home as its sub-station. It got bombed because of that, or at least that’s the official determination. Then the insurance company paid me as well. So, I checked before I cashed either check that it was legit and lo and behold, I’m rich now,” she teased.
“Well, you can’t get compensated for all the stuff you lost,” Amy pointed out knowing how hard it had been for Abby to go through the stuff in their garage. They had to wash all the clothes they found but a lot had to be replaced. A few pictures made it through the fire and one really precious one of Abby’s former wife, but that was all.
“Are you okay with this?” Abby asked seeing Amy looking sad for a moment.
“I love that I have a family and we are expanding,” Amy said taking Abby into her arms. She loved putting her arms around the taller woman and looking up into her velvety soft eyes. People knew they were living together now, and didn’t really care. Some convinced themselves that Amy was merely helping out her ‘friend,’ while others knew the truth; the two women loved each other.
“Expanding?” Abby teased pretending to look down at her petite girlfriend’s frame. “Lucy, you’ve got some ‘splainin to do,” she mimicked with a smile.
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