Page 15 of Perilous Healing

Her eyes widen and she looks up at the ceiling, then the couch beneath it. “She was in here when it fell?”

“How badly is she hurt?” Caleb asks.

“She’s okay. It pinned her, but I got her out right after it fell. I heard her scream,” I add quickly, not wanting the old woman to read into something that’s not there. She’s known in this town as a meddling matchmaker. The last thing I need is her trying to light a match that’s been doused in gasoline.

“It’s good you heard her, then. How’s that sweet girl of yours?”

“Eloise is good.”

“Well, you bring her by the library if you need to take care of anything. I’ll make some calls and see what I can do about this. Caleb came and picked me up this morning so we could check all the properties.”

Caleb nodded. “This is the worst of them, though. You’ll want to get ahold of a contractor right away. There’s likely other damage, too, and you may have a wait.”

Perfect.“Honestly, I can handle the work.” I’m not even entirely sure why I make the offer. The last thing I want to do is work closely with Bianca. And it’s not as though I have the time. Not with everything else going on.

So what am I doing?

“You sure about that?” she asks.

I guess I am now.“It’ll save you money on the fix, and I used to work contracting with my dad when he was still around. I can do it.”

“Well, you’re hired. But you’re going to let me pay you for your time too.”

“If you could just reimburse the supplies and keep Eloise while I work on it, that would be a fair trade.”

“Consider it done.” She holds out a hand so I walk over and take it. “Let me know what you need.”

“I’ll just make a list of supplies and head over to Felix’s. I can bring you receipts.”

“Have him put them under my account,” she says. “Anything you have to go somewhere else for, I’ll reimburse you directly.”

“Sounds great to me. Thanks.”

“Boy, don’t thank me. Thank you. I better get back to the library, Lance is heading over with some supplies.”

“Let me know if you want an extra set of hands,” Caleb offers.

“Will do. Thanks. Are the roads drivable?”

“Barely,” she replies. “People have been out clearing the roads since the storm broke early this morning, so they’re getting there. I got word that the power should be back on in—” As soon as she says it, Bianca’s porch light comes on. Mrs. McGinley beams. “Well, would you look at that. We have power. Thank you, Jesus.” She closes her eyes, then reopens them and smiles at me. “Call if you need anything, and let me know when you’ll be bringing that sweet girl over.”

“Probably in an hour or so, if that’s okay.”

“That’s perfect. See you then.” She smiles and heads down the porch steps with Caleb at her side.

They’re just reaching the curb when Michael pulls up in front of the house on his motorcycle. He removes his helmet and places it on the tank, then comes up the steps. “This looks rough.” He whistles. “Where’s B?”

“Asleep on my couch with Eloise,” I tell him, trying to ignore the way he arches a brow. “The tree fell on her, so I brought her over there to take a look at her leg, and they fell asleep.”

“I bet they were exhausted. Lot of activity. At least the storm wasn’t as bad as they were predicting.” Michael steps into the living room. “But there were quite a few houses that took hits like this.”

“I told Mrs. McGinley I’d handle the work. I can get it patched by tonight, then do the rest of the work over the weekend.”

“You moonlighting as a handyman?” he asks.

“Something like that,” I reply. My cell rings. “Guess service is back.” I check the readout and see it’s Elijah. Pressing the phone to my ear, I answer, “Williamson.”

“You with Michael?”

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