Free The Trouble with Andrew by Heather Graham

sun began to get hot.
    She ran out of film.
    She stopped with Jordan, sinking down to her lawn, watching as some of her neighbors started moving about, as well. Brandon Holloway, lifting palms from his front porch, waved to her.
    She waved back.
    A few minutes later, Drew Cunningham came out of her house.
    â€œYou should be all right now to do a little exploring inside. I pulled down what was about to fall, and the rest of the structure seems to be okay.” He hesitated, seeming worried and confused—and angry. “The structure is still good. The walls are solid inside as well as out. Your windows are blown in, of course … but the house can be fixed. If you want it fixed.”
    â€œIf I want it fixed?” she repeated blankly.
    â€œYou’re insured, right?”
    â€œRight.”
    He shrugged. “Eventually, the insurance adjusters will make it around—probably after the looters, of course, but, when they come, you’ll surely be offered a settlement. You could bail out and move.”
    Katie shook her head. “I don’t want to move. Jordan loves his school. I’ve lived near here all my life. I can remember when this was all swampland. I have no desire to move.”
    â€œGood,” he said softly, and the golden glitter was in his eyes again. “Then I promise you it can be fixed. I’ll see you at my house in a while. I want to look at the other houses that went down and see if I can do anything for anyone else for the moment. Then I’ve got to make some calls. When you get what you want from the house, just bring it over. I’ll help you two get settled for the next few days. Or weeks,” he corrected himself, staring at her house.
    â€œFine. Thanks,” Katie said lightly.
    He left her and walked across the road, hailing Brandon Holloway. There was a big palm down in the middle of the road. Brandon helped Drew drag the downed tree off the street. She could hear them shouting to each other as they cleared the street of palms and debris.
    â€œWant to try the house, Mom? Or maybe we should go help them clear the street.”
    Katie shrugged, rising from her devastated lawn. “Maybe we’d better see if we have any clothes left at all, huh? We’ll start losing these robes if we get carried away.”
    Jordan grinned.
    â€œAnd then everyone would laugh!” Katie warned him.
    â€œThey may laugh, and they may just go, ‘Hubba, hubba!’” her son informed her.
    She tousled his hair. “At me? Or you?”
    â€œMom! I’m a kid. At you.”
    â€œThanks for the vote of confidence. But then again, they may just laugh. Let’s go see if we can’t find some clothing.”
    She started for the house, Jordan behind her. She warned him to be very careful of all the broken glass. Once they were in, she started to salvage the pictures that had survived in the living room. When they were piled up, Jordan left her and went to what remained of his room.
    She went to hers.
    It was so strange. The windows were caved in on her elegant bath. The tub was filled with mud.
    The medicine chest above the commode—which carried a dead bird—hadn’t been touched. She opened it and scooped the things they would need most into a little bag—Band-Aids, aspirin, antiseptic, toothpaste and toothbrushes.
    She still had room, so she added some makeup, then some more. She had lost a great deal, but there were also pockets in her home where things had barely been touched.
    Drew Cunningham was going to start to think that she was planning on moving in permanently.
    A minute later, Jordan came hurrying into her room. “Mom! All my drawers are just fine, can you believe it. My Star Wars collection is fine, and my baseball cards aren’t even damp!”
    â€œThat’s great!” Katie said with forced enthusiasm. Then she lifted a brow. “How about clothing, Jordan? Have you got any of