Page 13 of A Christmas Duet

“Are you hurt? Is the raccoon gone? Will he be back? Is there anything I need to do?” The questions gushed out of her like water from a broken pipe.

Raising his hand to stop her, Jay smiled. “One question at a time, please.”

Nodding vigorously, she inhaled a huge breath to center herself. Once she felt composed, she asked, “Were you hurt?”

“Not a scratch.”

Her shoulders sagged with relief.

“That isn’t to say that your rabid raccoon took kindly to being ousted from his cozy quarters. But I managed to get him to leave, which took a bit longer than I expected. Have you been standing out here all that time?”

Teeth chattering, she nodded.

“Come inside. I’ll get the fireplace going and you’ll be warm soon enough.”

“But the raccoon…Will he be back?”

“Not a chance,” Jay said in a clear effort to reassure her. “I found where he came in and have temporarily blocked the entrance.”

“Temporarily?” Her eyes widened with the question.

“No worries. The intruder won’t be a problem fortonight. That hole will need to be repaired, but that doesn’t need to happen until later.”

“Later? How much later?” Hailey couldn’t imagine facing Rocky Raccoon again. He’d frightened her out of her wits the first time. She wouldn’t welcome a second introduction.

Hailey’s mind whirled at tornado speed, wondering who she could find to complete the work. Should she connect with Katherine’s family, or had they already left for their skiing vacation? The only way she could reach them would be from town, since she had no cell coverage at the cabin. She hadn’t anticipated any of these problems, and they felt overwhelming.

Jay must have sensed her anxiety, because he added, “I’ll take care of it first thing tomorrow morning.”

Jay was willing to do that for her. Hailey hardly knew what to say.

“Let’s get you inside. I promise it’s safe. I’ll get the fire going and the cabin will warm up in no time.”

“Can I help?” she asked, eager to do something to prove she wasn’t completely useless.

“Can you light a fire?”

“Sure.” It couldn’t be that difficult. Her parents had a gas fireplace and it worked with a handy remote. She’d been in Girl Scouts for a time. Her father had uprooted the family for another move before she had a chance toattend camp. All it took to light a fire was paper and a match, right?

“There’s kindling by the fireplace; go ahead and get it started while I carry in a few logs from outside.”

Earlier, Hailey had noticed a stack of firewood a few yards in the clearing before the forest. Happy to be given a task, she immediately went to work. The kindling was in a wooden box on the right of the stone fireplace. She guessed the rounded rock that made up the fireplace must have come from this area. She found matches and faded newspapers there as well. She was in business.

Crumbling up the paper, she placed those items down first. Next, she set the smaller pieces of kindling in a nice teepee to be sure the flames would catch. She was rather proud of her efforts. Brushing her hands free of grit, Hailey felt infused with the frontier spirit. Thelma, Jay’s mother, implied she would last only a few days in these rustic conditions. Hailey was determined to prove the older woman wrong.

Leaning forward, Hailey was about to light the match when something brushed over her head, mussing her hair. Breathless, she fell back, landing on her haunches.

At first, she assumed whatever had dive-bombed her head was a large flying bug. Then it dawned on her. This was no bug.

That was a bat.

Scrambling, she struggled to a standing position and flew out the door and screamed for Jay.

He came running up the steps with a load of firewood in his arms, which he promptly dropped as he raced to her side.

With her throat closed off, Hailey found it difficult to speak. Instead, she raised her arm, aimed it behind her at the open door, and managed to get out the lone word: “Bats.”

“In the chimney?”

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