Page 28 of Catching Dreams

Molly nodded, opened the top drawer of the dresser, and let out a big relieved laugh. “Look, Ty! Look!”

I looked at what she had in her hand and had to laugh, too. “Is that what I think it is?”

“Yes! Your first homerun ball that you gave me!”

“I’m so glad it survived!”

I hadn’t noticed before, but Tanner was shooting video of us going through things. Now, Erick was asking him to walk closer, obviously zooming in on the baseball. That was a great find for their footage. I was really happy that she had kept it safe.

“I’m glad that it survived because, unfortunately, it doesn’t look like any of your stand mixers made it,” Penelope said as she came over to us, holding pieces of Molly’s red and white stand mixers.

“That’s okay,” Molly said with a giggle. It was really good to hear her laugh! “Those things can be replaced.”

We sifted through items for a while longer when I came across something white in the debris and swore when I picked it up. Molly came over to my side to see what had upset me. “Is that my wedding dress?”

I nodded and handed her the pieces of the jersey she had worn when we got married. Next to it was the framed picture taken by the clerk at city hall. It was in pieces and soaked.

“Thank goodness the pictures she took are still on our phones, and we can reprint them,” I told Molly.

She nodded and clutched the pieces of the jersey to her chest.

“You know, I am in the ladies sewing group at Cornerstone Church, Molly. We could take that jersey and make it into a pillow or something similar.” Mrs. James said as she wandered over to us.

“I love that idea!” Molly said and hugged her customer. “I’m so glad you’re okay, Mrs. James! How is Mrs. Hastings?”

The elderly woman let out a heavy sigh and shook her head.

“Oh, no!” Molly cried. “I am so sorry.”

Mrs. James nodded and hugged my girl a little tighter. “She was 84 years old and couldn’t move fast enough to get to shelter. She lived a good, long life.”

“Please, tell us when the funeral is. We’d love to pay our respects,” I told her.

She nodded at me and said she would let us know. She told Molly to hold on to the pieces of the jersey, and when things calmed down, she would make her the pillow.

“Poor Mrs. James losing her best friend,” Molly said as she put the pieces of the jersey in the keep box and moved on to look through more items. “My heart just breaks for her family and Mack’s family, too.”

“It could have been us,” I said and rubbed her back. I don’t know what I would have done if I had lost her and our babies.

Soon, we were joined by my mom and Pen’s kids. They were very excited to tell us about all they had done and who they had helped.

“We found the best thing ever for Nico!” Cam said as he sat down next to his mom.

“Why would Nico need something?” Pen asked, cautiously. She hadn’t said much about him to the kids yet. She knew they were wondering where he was.

“We heard his mommy died,” Peyton said and climbed in her mom’s lap.

“Yeah, honey, she did. It’s very sad,” Penelope said as she stroked her little girl’s hair.

“We found a bunch of kittens in the rubble!” Camden exclaimed. “We want to give one to Nico!”

“The kitten’s mommy didn’t make it either,” my mom said and looked like she was on the verge of tears. “We took the kittens to the shelter but asked them to save one for Nico when they were healthy and ready to go to their forever homes.” Mom then looked directly at the two young children. “And only if his dad says it’s okay.”

“Mom, can we have a kitten?” Peyton asked sweetly.

“We’ll discuss it later,” Penelope said as she placed Peyton down on the camping chair she had been sitting in and began sifting through piles again.

“What would you think about a kitten?” Molly asked me.

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