“Where is it?”
I looked toward the pile but there were no remnants left.
“It was before the fire. I was frustrated and just threw it in the pile. It’s gone.”
“Fuck.” It wasn’t just frustration lacing his tone but fear as well.
I remembered then what I had come out here to do. “The cameras!”
I ran out the doorway, hopeful the box was still intact after I dropped it in my rush to get in here. Thankfully, it looked to be just fine.
“Cameras?” Calvin asked, coming up behind me.
I showed him the box, and together we unloaded everything. Setting up each camera to have a secure view of the rail house gave me a sense of safety amidst the new discovery. At least now I would know for certain who was coming around my property.
The note, the fire. Someone may not have been targeting Stella directly, but they were attacking everything she had worked toward, and I wouldn’t stand for it.
“Fuck, she didn’t tell me about a note,” Patrick said.
“That’s because she thought it was from me,” I admitted shamefully to my best friend.
I couldn’t even blame her either. I had beenhorribleto her.
“Hey, don’t hold it against yourself, man. We’ll figure this out.” Even in the moments where my belief in myself had run dry, Patrick stayed relentless in his pursuit to make things right. I guess that’s what made him the best police chief our little town has seen in decades.
“Thanks, man, I appreciate you.”
He was moving forward with the investigation, but because there wasn’t any more that could be recovered within the rail house, he gave us the go-ahead to resume work.
Stella was thrilled. Even though her plans had literally been torched, she found ways to pivot and adapt to it all.
I couldn’t even say I was surprised to see the whole town follow suit, too. Her relentlessness had worn off on everyone.Stella found and hired a local construction company to help alongside some of my crew members while we got the lumber ready for her to rebuild.
Crew members who had returned. Frank, Carsen, and Oscar all came back with their tails tucked between their legs saying that the job in Utah was indeed too good to be true and it all fell through as soon as they had arrived. Something having to do with not as much funding as they had expected, but I didn’t question much as I honestly didn’t care. I was happy to have my guys back, instead of having to train new employees.
It was no secret that Stella was putting us to work, so it was all-hands-on-deck. She also had no understanding of howthings worked as she laid out her specifics, but I wouldn’t be the one to tell her no. I’d find a way to make whatever she asked for.
The only member of my crew who hadn’t been back to work was Carter. Mom said he hadn’t taken the news of being let go of very well, and none of us had been able to get a hold of him to tell him the situation had changed. I wasn’t even sure if he had family in the area, but we were doing just fine without him, and I was keeping too busy to even stop and think about it.
Besides, we still had so much help. Mel and Olivia showed up every day after work to help clean up debris. Gloria and Grandma Trixie came with lunch and a thermos of hot coffee for everyone. Garrett helped out as much as he could, and even Patrick tried, although his focus was more so on the investigation. Simon was regularly bringing new supplies from the hardware store up to the rail house, and when Stella offered to pay him some sort of delivery fee, he looked offended.
Seeing everyone’s smiling faces as they helped one another out reminded me of Grandma Trixie’s words. It felt good to not only show up for others, but to also have those people show up for you.
It warmed my heart to see our little community coming together for this woman I loved so dearly, and to have thefreedom to tell her that every single day was something I would never take for granted.
“Will I see you this evening for supper?” I asked Patrick. Our family suppers had a few more people at our table lately with so many working long hours to get the rail house up and running.
“Wouldn’t miss it,” Patrick replied.
I left the police station to head to The Tool Box. I needed a new rotary blade for one of my saws so I could continue with all the special cuts Stella had requested. Even though our timeline took a hit, the quality of what she expected didn’t.
As I passed by Vintage Vows, I noticed it was dark inside. I hadn’t seen Valerie since the day I explicitly asked her to leave me and my family alone. There was a slight pang of remorse at how publicly I made that declaration, but I couldn’t bring myself to fully regret it either.
Just as I was about to enter the hardware store, the satellite phone I always carry with me started ringing. Strange, we rarely ever used these unless it was hunting season, or we knew someone was going out hiking. I carried mine with me always for emergencies, and I hoped and prayed that wasn’t the case as I looked at the number displayed on the phone.
“Melody?”
“Calvin.” My sister’s usually strong and assertive voice sounded small and broken. “It’s Stella. She’s gone.”
