Page 12 of Frostbite & Mistletoe
Chapter Four
Saturday, November 27
Three hours later, Kymberlie stood in the club’s doorway, watching in disbelief as a caravan of vehicles turned off the highway and rapidly filled up the empty parking lot.
She couldn’t believe how many people were showing up on short notice.
And it wasn’t just the Jacobsen Pack, either. She spotted three Grizzly Creek Ranch pickup trucks, plus vehicles she recognized as belonging to the Ornelas Jaguar Clan and Cougar Lake Sabertooth Pride over in Bearpaw Springs. And she could swear she spotted several of the club’s Ordinary regulars as they pulled in.
“All right, people!” former Bearpaw Ridge sheriff and Jacobsen Pack alpha Bill Jacobsen called out as he emerged from his SUV.“Let’s get a move on. Daylight’s wasting.”
Kymberlie’s older sister Annika strode over, pulling on her work gloves on. She gave Kymberlie a hug.“Kymber, I’m so sorry about your club. Tell me what you want me to do.”
Kymberlie’s vision blurred with sudden tears.“I can’t believe how many people showed up!”
Her older sister Annika had called right after Gabriel had left and assured her that the word had gone out to the pack members that Kymberlie needed their help.
“Fred’s promised to check your wiring and replace anything that needs fixing,” Annika reported.“And the twins are coming too.”
Kymberlie nodded, swallowing the lump in her throat. Senior pack member Fred Barker had been the town’s electrician for thirty-five years before retiring, and his twin daughters, Emma and Sophie, had followed in his footsteps. If anyone could get Kymberlie’s wiring problems straightened out, it was the Barker family.
“Jesus, Kymber,” her younger brother Gage muttered as he surveyed the damage.“How’re you holding up?”
She squared her shoulders.“I’m fine. Nothing that can’t be fixed.”
“And you know we’ll help you in whatever way we can,” he said, giving her shoulder a gentle squeeze.
Behind him, she saw Maggie and Cade marching across the parking lot in work boots and heavy overalls, and behind them, Maggie’s dad Dane and her uncles, Mark, Evan, and Ash.
For the next hour, Kymberlie directed her helpers as they formed a human chain, stripping out stained carpet, large sections of wet drywall, and boxes of ruined food. Every item they carried out to the giant dumpster now sitting next to the club was another dollar down the drain, but she refused to dwell on that.
Keep moving forward. That’s what her dad always said.
Of course, Dad had also called her a damned fool for buying this club. Until last night, proving him wrong had been her goal.
Now she had a new goal: re-open before Christmas and keep her reception booking.
Fred Barker, his gray hair sticking up wildly, poked his head out from the storeroom.“Kymber, come look at this,” he called.
She picked her way around the piles of debris in her dining room, trying not to think about how much all this would cost to replace.
“See here?” Fred pointed to a pair of wires in the exposed wall.“None of this is up to code. Not even close.”
The wires looked nothing like the neat, plastic-sheathed cables she was used to seeing. The two thin, cloth-wrapped wires ran separately along the old wall studs, held in place by white ceramic knobs and passing through matching tubes where they disappeared into the wood.
Dust clung to the fabric insulation, and in places it had frayed down to the copper.
Kymberlie’s stomach sank.“That’s, uh…reallyold, isn’t it?”
Fred gave a dry snort.“Yup. This stuff was already ancient when Elvis was still skinny.”
Micah was wrong. Gabriel wasn’t just trying to drum up business for Swanson Construction.
Kymberlie sighed.“Can you fix it?”
Fred exchanged a look with Emma and Sophie, both of whom were examining another section of exposed wiring.“Fix it? I hate to tell you this, but your place is gonna need a complete rewire, Kymber.”
“Even if this old knob-and-tube wiring wasn’t already everywhere,” Emma interjected, “all the water from the firefighters’ hoses did you in.” She pointed at what remained of the electrical panel.“See this discoloration? That’s not just surface soot. Water got inside the breaker housing—and it was pooled behind the insulation in the wall when we opened it up.”
