Chapter 12
C liff guided his mother and Jonah toward his car in the ferry parking lot. A few cars had their windshields broken, but luckily his was intact. His mother’s sharp intake of breath at the sight of fallen trees, broken glass, and scattered debris across the area made him reach for her elbow.
“Mother, let me help you.”
She pulled away. “I can manage.” But she gripped Jonah’s arm instead.
He opened the passenger door for her, but she slid into the back seat with Jonah.
“The wind damage looks extensive,” Jonah said as they drove past broken shop windows—the unlucky ones whose hurricane shutters or boards hadn’t stayed in place. A random table rested on its side on the sidewalk. Shop owners were busy taking down shutters to assess the damage.
“We might have some trouble getting through.” He slowly inched the car along, dodging items in the street. “We’ll have to go the long way around.” He pointed to a large tree that blocked their path. “This road is impassable.”
They circled around several other streets, each one exhibiting some degree of destruction. It was like entering a maze. Right, left, right, then a dead end. Backtrack, then left, right, and circle back to the left. They ended up on Jonah’s street.
“Want to stop and check your house?”
“Ellie, is that okay? I know you’re anxious to check yours.”
“That’s silly. We’re here. Go run in and see how it fared.”
She tapped her fingers on the armrest while Jonah disappeared into his house.
He was back within a few minutes. “I’m good. Looks like no damage inside. A tree down in the back. And someone’s lost rocking chair is smack in the middle of the yard, acting like it belongs there.” He slid back into the car. “Let’s go check on Ellie’s house.”
He finally pulled onto Seaside Avenue and neared his mother’s home.
“Oh, no.” Her gasp made him slam on the brakes.
The massive live oak that had graced his mother’s front yard for over a century had toppled onto the wraparound porch, crushing the entire east end. Broken roof tiles created a terra cotta pathway across the lawn.
He parked and hurried around to help his mother from the car, but she was already out and walking toward the house. She stopped at the edge of the yard, her hand pressed to her chest.
“That tree survived every hurricane since before I was born.” Her voice wavered slightly. “Lost a huge section years ago, but it’s still been standing.”
“We’ll get it cleared away,” Jonah reassured her. “I’ll make some calls.”
“My mother used to sit under that tree and read to me when I was a little girl.”
She headed toward the porch, and Jonah took her elbow. “Careful there, Ellie.” They picked their way across the lawn, avoiding the broken tiles and smaller branches.
The end of the porch roof was gone. Splintered wood lay scattered across the yard, mingling with broken roof tiles. Chunks of the porch railing were gone. Pieces of it jutted out at odd angles.
They walked carefully up the steps, gingerly at first. He wasn’t sure if the whole porch might give way with too much weight.
A large chunk of the roofline had collapsed near the front window, taking out some decorative corbels and a whole section of guttering.
He could glimpse a section of exposed roofing.
“Got your key, Ellie?”
She nodded, her attention on the mess of her once-immaculate yard.
Jonah took the key from her outstretched hand and inserted it into the lock. He turned the knob, and they stepped inside. The interior seemed relatively untouched at first.
“I want to look upstairs.” She hurried toward the long staircase that led to the second floor.
He and Jonah followed her up the steps. He glanced up the hallway ceiling. There was no sign of damage there, and the new impact window had held at the end of the hallway.
“Oh, no.” She stood in the doorway of the master bedroom.
He walked up to her and peered inside. Water stains bloomed across the ceiling. A section of the plaster hung down. It seemed the roof damage was worse than he’d anticipated. Water dripped onto the carpet, making a squishing sound when he walked on it.
“Looks like we’ll need to get someone out here to fix the roof,” he said, trying to maintain a neutral tone. No use saying I told you so about the dangers of staying put during a hurricane.
“I’ll take a look around the rest of the upstairs.” He moved down the hallway, checking each room. One of the guest rooms had leaked around the window, and rain had soaked the curtains and pooled on the wooden floor. A section of the ceiling had water stains.
His mother came and stood in the doorway, shaking her head. Jonah appeared beside her. “Lots of repairs needed, Ellie.”
“Well, we’ll get someone started on them right away.”
They headed back toward his mother’s room, and he surveyed the water-damaged ceiling, calculating the extent of repairs needed. One section looked ready to collapse entirely, and he didn’t like the idea of her staying beneath it.
“This is worse than I thought,” he muttered, running his fingers along a crack in the plaster. Water had seeped in along the entire eastern side of the house where the tree had crashed through part of the roof structure.
His mother stood in the doorway, her shoulders slumped slightly as she surveyed the damage to her home. He couldn’t remember the last time he’d seen her look so… defeated.
“I’ll call someone to tarp the roof right away.” He pulled out his phone. “Shouldn’t be too difficult to get a crew out here quickly.”
Jonah stepped forward, placing a hand on her shoulder. “Ellie, you can’t stay here. Not with all this damage.”
She straightened her spine. “Of course I can stay here. This is my home.”
“The ceiling could come down at any moment,” Jonah insisted, gesturing to the sagging plaster. “And the house isn’t weathertight anymore. If it rains again?—”
“I’ve lived through worse.”
Cliff exchanged a glance with Jonah. His mother’s stubbornness was legendary. Once she made a decision, changing her mind was impossible.
“Mother, Jonah’s right.” He surprised himself by agreeing with Jonah. “It’s not safe here.”
She scoffed. “I’ll have a tarp put up and sleep downstairs.”
Jonah shook his head firmly. “Ellie, be reasonable. You should stay with me. My place didn’t take any damage.”
“That wouldn’t be proper, Jonah. What would people say?” She tucked back a lock of hair, avoiding Jonah’s gaze.
Cliff almost laughed. His mother, worried about appearances at a time like this? The town was half-destroyed by a hurricane, and she was concerned about gossip.
“Mother, I think propriety is the least of anyone’s concerns right now. The whole town just survived a hurricane. No one’s going to be talking about where you’re sleeping.”
“Nevertheless,” she insisted. “It isn’t proper.”
Jonah sighed. “Ellie, please. It just makes sense. My place has three bedrooms. You’d have your own space.”
“I agree with Jonah,” he insisted, surprising himself again. “You should stay at his place until we can get repairs done here.”
She looked back and forth between the two men, clearly outnumbered. “Fine,” she relented, though her tone suggested she wasn’t happy about it. “But just until things are cleaned up and enough repairs are made for me to move back.”
Jonah nodded, relief evident on his face. “Of course. Just until then.”
“Now, you two take Winston downstairs. Find more of his food, and grab his bed from the front room. I’ll need to pack some things.”
They headed downstairs, and once she was out of earshot, Jonah turned to him. “Thanks for backing me up. She listens to you more than she lets on.”
He raised an eyebrow, doubtful. “Does she? That’s news to me.”
“She does,” Jonah insisted. “Even when she disagrees with you.”
He wasn’t convinced, but he appreciated the sentiment. He moved to head to the kitchen to find Winston’s food, but Jonah placed a hand on his arm, stopping him.
“Cliff, why don’t you stay with us too?”
The question caught him off guard. “What?”
“Stay with us,” Jonah repeated. “At my place. It’s big enough for the three of us.”
Cliff stared at him, trying to read his intentions. “I don’t think that’s necessary. I can find somewhere else to stay.”
“Where? There’s so much damage, and most rentals will be booked with people displaced by the storm.”
He had a point. Cliff hadn’t thought that far ahead. He’d planned to check on his mother and then figure out his own accommodations.
“I appreciate the offer,” Cliff said carefully, “but my mother and I under the same roof? That doesn’t usually end well.”
Jonah chuckled. “I’ve noticed. But it’s temporary, and I think Ellie would feel better knowing you’re safe too.”
He doubted that. His relationship with his mother had always been complicated. She’d never approved of his choices, his career, or much of anything else about him. The development project had only widened the existing gap between them.
“I’m not sure that’s true,” he said.
“Trust me,” Jonah replied. “She worries about you more than she lets on.”
He considered the offer. Staying with his mother and Jonah would be uncomfortable, but it would also give him a chance to assess the damage to her house, and he could coordinate repairs more easily if he was nearby.
Despite what his mother may think, he did care about the family home.
And Jonah was right—finding other accommodations would be difficult with the storm damage.
“All right,” he said finally. “But just until I can make other arrangements.”
Jonah smiled, clapping him on the shoulder. “Good. I’ll find Winston’s bed, you find his food, then let’s go see if Ellie needs any help.”
They found her in her bedroom, carefully folding clothes into a small suitcase. She looked up when they entered.
“Jonah has invited me to stay at his place too.” He couldn’t help noticing the tentative sound in his voice.
She paused in her packing. “Both of us?”
“Yes,” Jonah confirmed. “It makes sense. We’ll all be more comfortable there than trying to find other arrangements with the island in this state.”
She resumed her packing, not making eye contact. “I suppose that’s sensible.”
Coming from his mother, that was practically enthusiastic approval. He shared a look with Jonah, who seemed pleased by the development.
She finished packing, carefully placing her toiletries in a small travel case. As they prepared to leave, she stopped in the doorway, looking back at her bedroom. “This house has stood for over a hundred years. It’s survived every storm that’s come its way.”
“And it will survive this one too,” he assured her. “I’ll make sure of it.”
She gave him a look he couldn’t quite interpret—surprise mixed with something else. Not quite gratitude, but close.
“See that you do,” she said, but the usual bite was missing from her words.
They made their way downstairs, and Winston trotted behind them, seemingly unbothered by the chaos.
His mother stood in the foyer, looking around at her home. For a moment, he caught a glimpse of vulnerability in her expression—something he rarely saw. Then she straightened her shoulders, and the moment passed.
“Let’s not dawdle,” she said briskly. “There’s much to be done.”
As they left the house, he caught Jonah’s eye. The man gave him a small nod of acknowledgment.
He was going to be living in the same house as his mother again after all these years. Something he’d never thought would happen.