Chapter 9 #3
When Amy Wall’s face appeared on screen, Lilith pointed. “I watch her all the time. I can’t believe you are actually on air with her.”
Tate watched the interview, taking close notice of what was cut out and what the reporter chose to air, but all in all, he wasn’t mad about it. It wasn’t until she mentioned his warning about the stalker and how it had saved her life that he saw his future unfolding before him.
* * *
Mariah had spent a whole day in a motel trying to decide what to do before she crumbled and decided to go begging to Roger, then spent the next day driving halfway before stopping for the night.
She was lying on the motel bed with a bottle of cheap wine at her bedside, drinking from a plastic cup, when she heard the news announce film about Star Ridge.
The moment she heard the name Tate Bandy, she cursed out loud and turned up the volume and braced herself.
By the time it was over, she had a sick feeling that she was going to be persona non grata at home.
She fell asleep with a knot in her stomach, and woke up the same way.
The drive home the next morning was a living nightmare.
She wasn’t prepared for the actual sight of devastation as she drove into Star Ridge.
And in typical Mariah fashion, her first thought was about her beautiful home, and not the people she’d left behind, and she went to see for herself if there was anything left.
Driving through their neighborhood wasn’t encouraging, and when she reached the house, she had to park in the street because of all the vehicles in the driveway.
At first glance, she couldn’t see any damage and was about to convince herself that Roger had exaggerated, until she saw strangers carrying things out of the house through the garage.
Her first thought was looters, and she began running when she got out.
But when she ran past a truck with a cleaning service logo, she realized Roger was likely in cleanup mode, calmed herself down, and went in the front door.
* * *
Power to the city had been restored yesterday, and cell service with it.
Rita, was back at work in her father’s office, which had given Briar the freedom to be home for the tradesmen coming and going.
Briar was standing on the bottom step of the stairs with a clipboard in her hand and her hair up in a messy ponytail.
She had on an old T-shirt, faded jean shorts, and old sneakers as her uniform for the day, and was issuing orders and fielding phone calls when she heard a high-pitched screech of horror.
“Great. Just great,” she muttered, and turned to see her mother walking toward the kitchen.
Mariah had just come face-to-face with the plywood wall where the sliding doors had been. A stranger with a wheelbarrow full of pieces of sheetrock and old carpet padding was rolling through the kitchen on his way to the garage.
“What in the hell is happening here? What has happened to my home?” Mariah cried, and started after him.
Briar’s eyes narrowed angrily. Without hesitation, she came off the stairs in one leap and grabbed her mother by the arm. “What do you think you’re doing?”
“That man is carrying off my—”
“He’s cleaning up debris, as ordered. Did you not get a phone call about the tornado?” Briar asked.
Mariah yanked herself free. “Yes, of course I did, and take your hand off me! How dare you—”
Briar lunged at her, stopping only inches from Mariah’s face.
“You want to talk about dare? Fine. How dare you raise your voice to me? You nearly killed me. You and your damned locked doors. How dare you wait three freaking days before you decide to show your face here? So, what happened? Did you run out of money, or run out of booze? Is that what it took for you to drag yourself home? You want to know what’s happening here?
A tornado took out the back half of the house.
Please follow me for your guided information tour. ”
Briar took off through the foyer and into the kitchen, dragging her mother with her by the arm.
“Mind your step. We’ve been sweeping up glass shards for days and still don’t have it all.
” Then she gestured to the wall of plywood where the sliders used to be, like Vanna White turning over vowels on Wheel of Fortune.
“Here is where I was standing when the tree limb came through the kitchen. It was a limb from the live oak in the backyard—all twelve feet of it. I dropped to the floor when the glass began flying. I had to crawl out over broken glass to get out from under the limbs, as the tornado continued to blast rain, wind, and hail inside the kitchen.”
Mariah winced at the anger in Briar’s voice and reached toward her, but Briar shrugged away from her touch and pointed to the water stains on the overhead ceiling instead.
“Here…we have an exterior roof issue. Plastic tenting is covering the rafters above the ceiling because that part of the roof is missing. Follow me, and step aside for the crew as they come and go.” Then she led Mariah down the hall.
“To your right is what’s left of the primary bedroom.
It’s being stripped down to the subfloor because when the window was shattered, rain and hail came in.
Between that and the glass embedded in everything, there was nothing left to save.
Your husband has requested engineered wood rather than carpet to replace it.
Of course, the draperies were destroyed too. ”
“What about all my clothes?” Mariah asked when she saw the empty closets.
Briar shrugged. “When the window blew out, the storm came in. Everything in the bedroom…clothing, bedding, furniture…it was all full of glass, soaking wet, and ripped off the hangers, scattered about the room and over furniture and the light fixture. It was beginning to mildew in this heat. Everything in this room has been trashed. Even the sheetrock had to be removed because it was full of splinters and glass.”
Mariah moaned, but Briar ignored it. “One more stop to illustrate the disaster,” she said, then grabbed her by the wrist and led the way to the basement door.
“At the time the primary bedroom was going under, I was here, beating on the door, trying to kick it in, crying, and praying to God, because I wanted into the basement, but silly me. I had no idea I’d been locked out of the only safe place to be.
It is also why I wound up in the kitchen at the heart of the worst of it, because I was looking for the extra set of keys we always keep on the hook… in the kitchen.”
Mariah’s face was ashen, and her voice was trembling. “I never thought… I only wanted… I didn’t intend to hurt you,” she mumbled. “What about your room? What about the upstairs?”
“It’s intact. I sleep there. Dad sleeps on the sofa in the living room and we share my bathroom.
And since you had zero interest in my feelings when you left without so much as a goodbye to me, and zero interest in making sure I was safe while you were gone, I’m sure you can understand where I stand with you, Mariah.
You need to talk to your husband regarding your feelings and decisions, because I have zero interest in placating you ever again.
If you intend to stay here during remodeling, you can always sleep on the living room floor.
The floor isn’t so bad. I slept on the floor beside Tate’s hospital bed before I came home.
When you love someone, you care for them first, before you worry about yourself. ”
Mariah was past shock. Between the TV footage she’d seen, and now this, she knew her usual rage and blame was never going to fly under this roof again.
“I’m so sorry Tate was hurt,” she said.
Briar’s voice sharpened. “Well, you’re really not, but that’s also your fault too, because if I hadn’t been in danger, he would have been in his own storm shelter and not driving into the face of a tornado to save me.
Just so you know, I am in charge of repair and restoration here, and with Dad’s blessing and permission, because I’m good at it.
He’s at the office, overwhelmed with the paperwork from all of the insurance claims resulting from this storm.
Either sit yourself down in the living room and stay out of my way, or find someplace else to be. ”
A man shouted from the back of the house. “Briar! Hey, Briar!”
“Coming!” Briar shouted back, then gave her mother one last glare. “The chair or the door,” she snapped, and walked out, leaving Mariah too shocked to move.
After a few minutes, she turned and walked out of the house, got back in her car, and drove straight to Roger’s office.
But it didn’t take long for her to realize he wasn’t going to have time for her either.
She could see the line of people waiting inside the office to talk to him, so she never went inside.
She reached for her phone to call Jeanette, but the banker’s wife didn’t answer, and it went to voicemail. Then it dawned on her that their house might have been damaged too.
She drove to Sparks Grocery, bought a couple of snacks and a cold Coke from the cooler, and drove to the park. She sat down in the gazebo feeling sorry for herself, then opened her chips and let the crocodile tears flow beneath bites.
About an hour later, one of Roger’s clients was about to leave the office and, as he stood to leave, just mentioned in passing, “I guess you’re glad Mariah is back from visiting her family now.
Too bad she had to come home to this mess.
I just saw her sitting in the park on my way here.
Probably trying to stay out of the way of what’s going on with repairs and all. ”
Roger’s heart skipped. Damn it. “Yes, there’s a lot going on at the house, for sure. Don’t worry about your situation. Your policy covers full restoration.”
“Good to know,” the man said, and walked out.
Roger glanced at the time. “Hey, Rita! We’ve worked right through lunch. How about we lock up for an hour?”