Page 53 of Chasing Stars
A moment later, I hear her padding down the stairs and then she’s at the entrance to the kitchen, wearing my black T-shirt from earlier, Pete at her heels. I’m momentarily distracted by the sight of her, but her shriek brings me right back.
“Oh. My. God,” Jenna cries. The ceiling in the kitchen is…gone. It collapsed, likely from the heavy rain. Wet plaster and drywall cover most of the kitchen floor, and there is a gaping hole in the ceiling. Other parts of the ceiling sag under the weight of the water, telling me that the saturation is extensive. “What the fuck happened?”
“Danny did say you needed a new roof,” I start slowly. “Looks like the damage is worse than we anticipated.” I pull Jenna into a hug. “It’s going to be okay.” I rub her back.
“How, Miles?Howis this going to be okay?” She pushes away from me and covers her forehead with her hand, pacing around the only part of the floor that isn’t covered in wet plaster.
“I’m not sure at the moment,” I admit awkwardly. “But we will figure it out. I’m here for you.” I inhale sharply and look around the room. “This is some clean up.”
“Yeah. You think?” Jenna retorts, batting at her tear-filled eyes. “This house is such a fucking money pit. I just want to sell it as is and run away.”
Selfish fear fills my chest and comes up like bile. I swallow hard, willing myself to calm down. “You don’t mean that,” I say, my voice hoarse.
“I might,” Jenna huffs. Then, her face crumbles, and she walks over to me, falling into my arms. Her back shakes with big heaving sobs.
“Shh.” I stroke her back. “It’s going to be okay. We will figure this out tomorrow, I promise.”
“We have to stop the leaking now,” Jenna wails. “I’m so tired.”
I nod, tucking her head under my chin. “You’re right. Do you have any buckets?”
“There are two in the laundry room. And a couple of pots in the cabinet.” She gestures to the kitchen cabinet on the otherside of the mess. Her expression crumples again and a new round of tears begin to fall.
“Okay, okay.” I wrap my arms around her and lead her out of the kitchen and over to the couch. “You rest here. I’ll take care of the leaks.”
Jenna sniffles, shaking her head. “No, I have to help.”
I tip her chin up so she looks my way. “No, you don’t. You lie down. I’ve got this.”
“Are you sure?” she asks, but she’s already snuggling into the couch, eyes threatening to close.
“I’m positive,” I say, passing her the blanket that’s draped over the back.
“Thank you, Miles,” Jenna says sleepily, settling in the fetal position with the blanket around her.
I pat her leg and then I get to work, putting buckets and pots around the room where there is active dripping. Then, while I’m at it, I take the big pieces of drywall out to the trash, grab some old beach towels from the laundry room, and sop up as much of the water as I can. I’ll need a shop vac in the morning though for sure. “Oh man,” I say aloud, walking back toward Jenna.
When I reach her, she’s curled up under the blanket, sleeping peacefully. She looks so beautiful, I can’t resist staring at her for a few moments before scooping her up and carrying her back up to bed. I will fix this for her, and for the first time since we’ve met, I actually think she wants that.
I tossand turn before eventually falling into a fitful sleep. It doesn’t last long though and I’m awake early. I let Jenna sleep and sneak out of her room to survey the damage from last night in the daylight and maybe call Danny.
It’s worse than I thought. The kitchen doesn’t have a floor above it, so the hole in the ceiling directly exposes the sky. I’m sure we can get on the roof and tarp it, but with the weather getting colder, it might be a good idea if Jenna stayed somewhere else.With me.That may be wishful thinking though.
I pull out my phone and take some photos of the damage, quickly sending them off to Danny. He calls me immediately.
“What the fuck happened?” he says when I answer the phone.
“Uh…the roof caved in,” I say, as if it couldn’t be more obvious. “You said she needed a new roof.”
“Dammit. Well, now she definitely needs one. And fast.” Danny groans like he’s suddenly awake.
“Are you still in bed?” I scoff, running my fingers through my hair.
“Yeah, man. The party went late,” Danny grumbles. “What do you need from me?”
“Let me FaceTime you and then maybe you can tell me the answer to that.” I hit the video call button. Danny picks up, lying shirtless in his bed with his wife, Kristen, who’s snoozing next to him.
“Miles, what the fuck!” she moans when she hears the call and opens her eyes.
