Free Beyond the Storm: Quilts of Love Series by Carolyn Zane

walked across. The air was hot and damp, like the steam room down at The Pump. She’d soaked up as much as she could with bath towels and then wrung them outside, but that was hard, slow work made even tougher because she had to keep an eye on Robbie at the same time. Lord only knew what the squirt would get it in his head to do next.
    “Okay. Here’s the deal. I’m going to get the fans out of my truck and you’ll need to let them run for a day or two. Then, I’m going to go under the house and see where the water is running. But before that, why don’t we start vacuuming up as much as we can and pump it outside, okay?”
    “Okay.” Heather sighed a huge whoosh of relief. “When we’re done, I need to run get some milk for Robbie’s dinner. Would you mind if we did that while you check the crawl-space? I hear there’s a storm coming and I don’t want to be out in it.”
    “No problem. If I’d have known you were out of milk,” Danny was looking at Robbie now and talking in a silly voice, “I’d have brought you a cow!”
    “Moo!” Robbie shouted.
    “He’s a sharp kid.” Danny tousled the boy’s hair and then ran out to get the fans.
    She watched him muscle his equipment out of the back of his truck with no little envy. Even in air so thick and close, he was such a hard worker for other people. Heather may have been able to get pregnant at the drop of a hat, but Jen Strohacker was the lucky one.
     
    5:55 p.m.
     
    Yielding to Isuzu’s innate fashion sense, Abigail ran upstairs and changed into some business-like slacks and a blouse before she left to meet the guy who was building the food cart. Just for kicks—and because she had a little time to kill—she also restyled her hair and touched up her lipstick. It would be intimidating enough if this guy was even half as good-looking as everyone claimed. Since she’d been such a shrew on the phone, she really wanted to look her best when she groveled and begged his forgiveness. She even grabbed an umbrella on her way out the door, but she’d never admit that to Isuzu. Zuzu was bossy enough.
    Danny’s hardware and lumberyard was over a mile east of Old Town so Abigail opted not to walk. A Quick In Go convenience store at the strip mall across the street from Danny’s had a parking spot right in front. Perfect. The grocery list she’d written that morning was tucked into her purse so after her meeting, she could just pop into the QIG and pick up a package of batteries and some milk for breakfast tomorrow.
    As she got out of the car, the blustery weather grabbed her carefully styled hair and used it to give her face a good slapping. Oh, she was having some fun now. A glance at her watch told her she was late. Her sigh of frustration felt as if it had been sucked out of her lungs by the stiff breezes. So much for the good impression she’d intended. As she trotted across Homestead Avenue, another gust of wind whipped her umbrella inside out and nearly tugged her off her feet. Why had she brought this useless umbrella? The wind was nearly strong enough to turn her into Mary Poppins.
    “From now on, I’m ignoring you, Zuzu,” she muttered under her breath, as she trudged down the sidewalk, across Danny’s parking lot and to the entrance of the hardware store. Once there, she struggled to get her umbrella turned right-side out and closed so that she could pass through the front doors. Maybe the predictions about a storm being on the way were right for once, she thought as she was blown inside.
    Abigail was grateful for the sudden sense of calm the store afforded as she adjusted her clothes. A quick glance around told her that there was nobody behind the desk. He had said six, hadn’t he? She checked her watch. Surely he’d wait five minutes for her?
    “Hello?” she called out. She knew Danny was taking Jen to get an ultrasound and that Handsome-guy . . . wait . . . she dug his business card out of her purse . . . Justin Girard was manning the