Free Rydin' the Storm Out by Pj Fiala Page B

progress, then we’ll come and help you here for a little while. Is that okay?”
    “Sounds good, Molly. Don’t worry, hon, I’m sure it’s nothing.”
    Molly looked at Tammy and they started walking over to the side of the house where the siding had already been removed. There were probably a hundred volunteers here and Molly was in her element. She began snapping pictures of the volunteers and the bustle of activity around her.
    She took pictures of Joci interviewing Danny on his front porch. Joci planned to add that interview to the end of the DVD. Tammy helped with the video camera while Molly continued taking pictures.
    “Tell me about your time in the service, Danny. Where did you do your basic training?”
    “I did my basic at Fort Benning. After basic, I went to Fort Stewart until I was deployed.”
    “When did you buy this house?”
    “I bought it about 2 years before I went into the Army. I didn’t go in straight out of high school; I waited. My dad was sick and I didn’t want to leave. After he had passed away, my mom told me she would be fine if I still wanted to go. I did, of course, but was concerned about leaving her. Then, I had this house. Mom and my brother, Paul, took care of it for me while I was gone.”
    “Tell me about your family. You mentioned that your father passed away and you have a brother, Paul; any other siblings?”
    “No, it was just the two of us. Paul, he’s so smart and went to college. He’s a veterinarian in town now. He’s married to Grace and they have a baby on the way. Mom still lives in town, close to here, actually.”
    “When did you know you lost your leg?”
    Danny took a deep breath. “I knew almost right away. I couldn’t hear my buddies because of the ringing in my ears and I didn’t know if any of them were hurt.
    “Finally, one of my buddies knelt down beside me and was talking to me. I couldn’t hear what he was saying, but I could tell he was trying to calm me down. Then my other brothers came into my line of vision and I could see they were surrounding me until they could get me to the helicopter. That helped knowing they were there. I settled down so I wouldn’t freak them out. I passed out in the helicopter; on the way to the base, they told me it was gone.”
    Tammy was mesmerized by his voice, his eyes, and his story. He didn’t feel sorry for himself and he actually seemed humbled and overwhelmed with the support he was receiving from Rolling Thunder and the community as a whole. The amount of people who had donated food, materials, tools, and their time to help out was astounding. Danny teared up several times talking about everything. Molly thought he was an incredible human being.
    “How did you meet Jeremiah and the Rolling Thunder crew?”
    Danny smiled. “I called Jeremiah because I needed to see if my bike could be modified to accommodate my new life. I’ve always ridden and didn’t want to stop. Jeremiah started working with me and, from there, the rest fell into place.”
    After they finished the interview, Tammy, Molly, Joci, and Danny walked over to the food table where some local women had gathered with pot luck offerings for all the workers. Danny was standing between Joci and Molly.
    He leaned down and hugged Molly. “Thank you Molly, for taking the pictures. I’m going to keep an album of them.” He leaned close to her ear and said, “I hope everything will be ok with Ryder. I’m sorry I said anything.”
    Molly looked up at him and smiled. “You’re welcome for the pictures. I’ll make you a digital photo album. Don’t worry about Ryder, I’m sure it’s just a misunderstanding. And, if it’s okay, I would like to mention that Tammy couldn’t stop talking about you last night. She’s smitten.”
    Danny and Molly both chuckled. Tammy looked at Molly with her brows furrowed and Ryder chose that time to look over and see them laughing as Danny’s arm rested on Molly’s shoulder.
    ***
    Dammit. She’s his. He was