Page 5 (1/2)
She checked her watch "I’"
He ushered her into her seat, a true gentle?"
"The historical society"
"Of course," he said "The Spring Fling women The last festival happened just before I o to end"
"If there even is a festival," she gru for more explanation, so she continued, "We’re broke I swear, so We can hold bake sales and bingo nights till the cows coh to cover our expenses"
He leaned against the open door, looking thoughtful "Well, if there’s any way to save the tradition, my money’s on you ladies to find it"
Marlene set needed to include one of those strength testers--she bet their new sheriff would be one of the feho’d be able to pick up the sledgeha that bell
Five
Sorrow sat on one of the attic trunks, ignoring the flurry of activity around her She’d been sneaking peeks at the letters allsnatches of lines here and there She couldn’t wait to dig in that night The one she was reading looked like a love letter, written to someone who’d left her ancestor behind
She could certainly relate to that--her siblings and just about everyone she’d gone to school with had left town, abandoning her in Sierra Falls
Scooting her feet out of the way of one of the roofers, she flipped through the stack Were they all love letters? It was so frustrating--all she wanted to do was curl up with a cup of tea to read theuys instead
A horrible sla across the attic, hunching so as not to hit her head on the low sloping ceiling "No! I uys had shown up like bats out of hell, Jack Jessup’s crewa care with any of the Bailey family possessions She stood protectively in front of the dollhouse fros aside, if you don’t mind"
Apparently the men did mind, as they continued to barrel up and down the stairs, hout the place They’d cut away the da wet cluht into an opened trunk Sowind and all the activity, her neat stacks were in sha the letters inside her jeans at the srabbed an are dresses and hustled them to her rooone through, and she restling it to the far corner when Damien’s head appeared at the top of the attic stairs
"Bailey," he greeted her, but his eyes went straight to the roof and widened "Holy crap, you weren’t lying The roof caved in"
"It didn’t cave in," she snapped "A dead branch crashed through And your guys are doing a bang-up job at destroying the rest of it"
"Whoa, whoa, whoa" He practically leapt up the re the distance between them to pull her in his arms "Easy, babe What do you need? You want me to help clear this stuff out of the way?"
Sorrow let herself sink into hiue--Da one firle trunk, suitcase, and box downstairs He pulled her out of the way as they jumped into action Naturally, the place cleared before her eyes
She put a hand on his chest, pushing away to look up at hi for a lovely lady in distress And they’re not uys, and they’re doing et out of here as fast as you do"
He hugged her close, then pushed back again, snaking his hand up the back of her sweater "Whatcha hiding?"
She playfully swatted his ar on "Come downstairs I’ll put on a pot of coffee and show you"
The Bailey fa stove that probably broke all ha that was in need of a modern renovation, but it was Sorrow’s favorite room in the house, and if anyone wanted to touch it, they’d have to go through her first Good thing her dad didn’t like change
Of course, it had undergone soes since she was a kid The tavern was separate froe, and to keep up with codes, they’d needed to revamp the restaurant kitchen in the nineties
Sorrow had been er she’d seen her opportunity, and had convinced her dad to upgrade a few of the fa on the tavern Their avocado-green Ae became a nice GE one with ice and water in the door, and the ancient stove had becoriddle option
It was her refuge