Around five, a few of the Old Ladies started cooking breakfast, and I volunteered to help. I needed something to do other than worry about the status of my home and business. I was trying to wait until the sun was up before asking Grant to drive me home, but it felt like the time was passing at a snail’s pace.
The rain stopped shortly after we finished eating and it was light outside. I couldn’t wait any longer. “I need to go to Stuff It and see if the units have any damage,” I told Grant. According to the news, several tornadoes touched down in our area, leaving widespread damage behind.
He must have picked up on the urgency in my voice because he didn’t argue with me like I’d expected. “Okay. I can take you over there now. Are you ready to go?”
“Let me find Landon and see if he will watch Kalen. Then, I’m ready.”
“I’m right here,” Landon said from behind me. “I’ll take care of the little munchkin. Go make sure we still have a place to work.”
I gasped at his words. The thought of total destruction hadn’t occurred to me. I was hoping for the place to be untouched but realistically expecting there to be some minor damage to deal with.
Landon placed his hand on my shoulder. “I’m sure everything’s fine. And if it isn’t, we’ll take care of it like we always do. Do you want me to go with you?”
“I can watch Kalen until you get back,” Layla offered.
“That’d be great,” I said, not bothering to hide my relief. “I’m not sure how long we’ll be gone.”
She waved her hand dismissively. “I’m not going anywhere anytime soon.”
“Thank you. I’ll be back as soon as I can,” I promised.
After making sure Layla had everything she might need for Kalen, I squeezed into Grant’s truck with Landon, Spazz, Coal, and Drew. Aspen wanted to come with us, but Coal didn’t think it was a good idea, and judging by the look on Aspen’s face, I had a feeling she’d be letting him know exactly what she thought about that when he got back.
It took us at least twice as long to get to Stuff It as it normally would, but it felt even longer to me. I was already anxious to get there, but my anxiety grew as Grant navigated around fallen trees and flooded roads.
Landon reached over and gently pried my clasped hands apart. “Your fingers need circulation to function properly,” he said softly.
“Thank you,” I whispered and rested my head on his shoulder.
“Close your eyes. I’ll let you know when we get there.”
I did as he said. Even though I knew things could be bad in one area and fine in another, seeing the damage along the way was only making things worse for me.
Finally, Landon squeezed my hand as the truck began to slow. “It’s not bad. Maybe a little roof damage, but everything’s still standing.”
I opened my eyes and exhaled in relief as I quickly scanned over the buildings. “Oh, thank goodness. I really thought the place was going to be leveled,” I admitted.
We got out and made quick work of surveying the buildings. We didn’t find anything other than the roof damage Landon pointed out when we first arrived, and thankfully, it was minimal. Only three units were affected—one with a car and some boxes, one with a boat and water sports equipment, and the one containing Ben’s belongings.
I went to the office to notify the customers and the insurance company while the guys covered the roof with tarps. To my surprise, both customers opted to keep their things in their current units, which left me with Ben’s unit to contend with. Since his unit had the most damage and contained items that shouldn’t be exposed to the elements, I thought it would be best to move everything. Unfortunately, I didn’t have another unit available. The only space I had was the empty caretaker’s apartment above the office. It would have to do, but I didn’t know how to explain what I was doing. Grant and his friends wouldn’t think anything of it, but Landon would know something was up. First of all, the customer should be the one moving their items, not us, and certainly not into what should be the personal living space of the groundskeeper.
I jolted when Landon’s voice startled me from my thoughts. “The tarps are up. Were you able to get in touch with the customers?”
“Yes,” I nodded and got to my feet. “Two of the units are fine as they are, but we need to move the contents of the unit on the end to the apartment upstairs until the roof is repaired.”
Landon cocked his head to the side. “Isn’t this the new guy? The one who didn’t want to come to the office?”
“Yes, that’s the one,” I confirmed, surprised by his recollection.
“Blakely,” he said slowly. “What in the hell’s going on?”
“It’s a long story, but I promise I’ll explain later.”
“Okay, but for the record, I don’t like any of this.”
“I don’t either,” I whispered quietly, making sure he didn’t hear me.
With six people helping, it didn’t take long to load the back of Grant’s truck with Ben’s boxes and move them to the apartment. A few of the boxes had gotten wet with rain, so I had the guys place them on the far side of the room instead of stacking them with the others so I could open them and let them dry out some. The first two boxes I opened were full of clothes. The third one had sheets and blankets. But it was the fourth box that had me slowly closing the flaps and using every bit of strength I had to contain the panic wanting to explode from me. Because it was full of guns. Guns that I instinctively knew were not legally acquired. I didn’t want to open the fifth box, but I had to know. Especially since Grant had commented on how heavy it was. I slowly slid the box cutter through the tape and carefully lifted the flap only to slam it back down as soon as my eyes landed on the handle of a pistol. My heart started racing and my hands began to shake.
