Free The Fall and Rise of Kade Hart: A Hart Brothers Novel by A.M. Hargrove

here.”
    “I wonder how much snow we have.”
    “Let’s check.”
    We walk to the back and look out the French
doors. The back yard is lit up and the covered terrace is free of
snow. I have an outside fireplace there, but right off the stone
terrace, the snow is piling high.
    “That snow is taller than Ethel. She won’t
be able to go there,” Emmalia says.
    “It’s okay. The eaves overhang the house a
good bit so there should be a place for her to go under there.” I
throw on a coat and put Ethel’s leash on and out the door we go.
Emmalia watches us from inside. It doesn’t take Ethel long to do
her business. She must not like the inclement weather.
    Emmalia laughs when we get back inside. “She
sure was in a hurry.”
    “I’ll say so. But it was good for me that I
didn’t have to stand out in that wind too long. It’s blowing like
crazy out there.”
    I find an old towel so we can dry Ethel off,
but she’s really not very wet at all since I took her in a dry
spot. When we’re done, she crawls in her crate and curls up in a
tiny ball.
    “She’s the cutest little fluff ball I’ve
ever seen. I’m so thankful you’re doing this, Kade. I couldn’t bear
it if they put her to sleep. It’s bad enough we can’t find homes
for all the animals that come in, but this one is extra special to
me.”
    “Yeah, I have to admit, she’s grown on me.
How big do you think she’ll get?”
    “They say about fifteen pounds.”
    “Hmm. Good size for a pocket fluff ball,
huh?”
    She laughs. “You should let her sleep with
you when she’s house trained.”
    “Oh no! Not gonna happen. She has her bed
and I’ll have mine.”
    “Well, if she were mine, she’d be my bed
partner every night. I bet she loves to cuddle.”
    “I’d rather cuddle with something else.”
    I laugh at my comment, but when I glance at
Emmalia, spots of crimson stain her cheeks. I didn’t think about
what I said and now I’ve embarrassed the poor girl.
    “Emmalia, I apologize. That was thoughtless
of me. Forgive me.”
    “No, it’s fine.”
    “No, it’s not. That was quite tasteless of
me.”
    She clears her throat and asks, “So, are we
going to have a singing lesson tonight?”
    “Oh, right! I nearly forgot.”
    After I put her through the usual steps and
we practice, I tell her I see an improvement. She claps her hands
in excitement.
    Then she stops and eyes me suspiciously.
“You’re not just saying that, are you?”
    “No.”
    “That’s one thing Sister Helena will be
happy about. She doesn’t find much use for me, so maybe if I can
sing, she will see me in a different light.”
    “Why doesn’t she find much use for you?”
    “I don’t have what you’d call ‘good nun
skills’.”
    I can’t help but laugh. “And can you
describe what good nun skills are?”
    “You know, teaching, singing, art, religion,
those kinds of things. I can’t even cook properly, and I apparently
don’t do a very good job of cleaning either.”
    “It sounds like Sister Helena only wants to
find the negative in you and not the positive. What about your
gardening skills?”
    “Oh, that. I don’t really garden. The
sisters have me clear out the old garden at the end of each season.
You know, dig out the old dead stuff.”
    I scratch my head. “They give you the dirty
work.”
    She laughs. “Kade, isn’t all gardening dirty
work?”
    “True, but you are delegated the shit
stuff.”
    “But I kill everything that’s green. I’m no
good at growing stuff. It’s better this way.”
    “You seem pretty good in the kitchen.”
    She laughs again. “That’s because we were
only cooking for two and I am a good cleaner upper. Cooking for a
crowd is another story. That’s an epic fail.”
    “But you can follow a recipe.”
    “I’ve tried that. It really isn’t Sister
Helena’s fault. I’m just a loser for the most part.”
    “Emmalia, don’t say that. What about your
computer skills?”
    “There is that, but totally useless in