Stevie’s mind ran in circles. All her mother’s things would be waterlogged. The house itself would be a mess. There was no way she could live in there for weeks—if ever.
Two guys got out of a truck and hurried over to the meter in the front yard. One of them used a long tool to turn off the water and then yelled, “I’m so sorry you got flooded, Stevie. This isn’t unusual with the older plumbing in these homes built back in the sixties.”
“What do I do now?” she asked.
“Get what you can out of it. Soon as we get done a block over from you, we’ll bring a pump and suck what water we can out of the house for you. Then you just have to wait until it dries and hire someone to come see if it’s worth repairing,” he answered. “Give us half an hour to finish what we’ve got to do, and we’ll be back. We’ve got both the gas and electric companies over there with us. We’ll bring them along to turn off those utilities. You shouldn’t go inside until we do that for fear of getting shocked.”
“Thank you,” Cody yelled and then turned to face Stevie. “I’ll take you back to the ranch. You can stay in the bunkhouse with me as long as you need to.”
Stevie closed her eyes and gave herself thirty seconds to get over the panic, and then she said, “Back this truck up to the porch. As soon as they turn off the electricity, I’m wading in there. My clothing is hanging in the closet and should be fine, and there’s pictures on the bookcase, and…” Tears began to stream down her cheeks.
Cody took her in his arms and held her tightly. “I’m so sorry, darlin’. I’ll help you and together we’ll load what we can in the bed of the truck. And I’m going to call Jesse. He can bring his truck, and Mia can drive Dad’s. We’ll take care of you, I promise.”
“But your truck, and…” she stammered.
“It’s sat in that ditch for almost a week. Another day isn’t going to matter.” Cody took a white hankie from his pocket and wiped away her tears. “I’m here for you.”
“I can go to a hotel in Bonham,” she sniffled.
“Oh, no, you will not.” Cody shook his head. “After a shock like this, you need family around you.”
Yes, you do. Her mother’s voice was back in her head. Don’t worry about stuff. It can be replaced.
Chapter Fifteen
I don’t think I would be electrocuted,” Stevie argued as she followed him out to the truck. “The water that washed out over us didn’t shock us.”
Cody glanced down at their wet jeans. “We should go back out to the ranch and get into dry clothes and bring rubber boots before we tackle this. Leave the door open so the guys can get in there and start pumping the water out.”
“You are probably right,” she agreed. “I’m afraid the house is going to be like your truck, Cody. Completely totaled.”
“How’s that?” He led her to his truck and helped her inside, where it was still warm. “It might take a while, but if the foundation is still good, it could be gutted and new drywall…”
“It’s more than sixty years old.” Stevie’s voice sounded hollow in her own ears. “And as much as I hate to admit it, the floors have begun to slope a little. I can’t bear to lose it, though. It belonged to my grandmother and then my parents, and it’s the only house I ever lived in. I stayed in the dorms the whole time I was in college, and I lived in a small apartment when I worked at the clinic in Oklahoma City.”
“We’ll cross that bridge when we come to it.” He started the engine, backed out of the driveway, and headed back to the ranch.
“Looks to me like we’ve got a lot of bridges to cross.” She groaned when she thought about the garage. “Do you think the water would have gotten into the garage? It’s attached, but it’s on a slab instead of a pier-and-beam foundation. Mama’s got boxes and boxes stored out there, and her car is parked out there. I haven’t even started it up and driven it since she died.”
“We’ll just have to wait and see,” Cody answered. “And, Stevie, life is full of bridges. Some we burn. Some we cross over with help from a loved one. Some we detour around. This could be a detour. You might just have to live at the ranch until it’s all fixed up again. The upside is that you can make it all yours, and maybe that will be some sort of closure about your mother’s death.”
She sighed and wondered how many bridges she would detour around in the future. For now, she could live at the ranch, which was a blessing, but that was beginning to feel like charity.
Her phone rang, and she was glad to see Mia’s name pop up instead of someone calling about vet services that day. She would have gone out to wherever she was needed, but she wanted a few hours for all this to fully sink in.
“Hello,” she answered.
“How does it feel to be home?” Mia asked.
“Not so good right now.” Stevie’s voice cracked, but she got control of it enough to tell Mia what had happened.
“I’m so sorry, but you can stay right here at the ranch, Stevie. If you’re tired of bunking in with Uncle Cody, you can have my room, and I’ll go stay with Nana and Poppa,” Mia said.
“The bunkhouse is fine, and thank you,” Stevie said. “We got wet when the water rushed out of the house, so we’re on our way back to get into dry clothes.”
“I haven’t gotten the clothes that I loaned you, so there’s stuff there, and I’ll tell Dad that we’re coming to help. He can bring his truck, and I’ll drive Nana’s SUV. We can store what’s salvageable in the corner of the barn,” Mia said.
“Thank you,” Stevie said. “We’re almost home, and as soon as we change, we’re going back to town. Hopefully the electricity will be turned off, and we can get inside.”
“You’ll need rubber boots. I’ve got extras that I’ll bring along,” Mia said. “See you in a little while at your house. Dad does know where you live, right?”
“I’m sure he does, but it’s about a block from the school. If you get to the house before I do, you’ll probably see the vehicles from the city because they’ll be pumping out as much water as they can,” Stevie told her, “and thank you again.”
“Hey, you don’t have to keep thanking me,” Mia said. “That’s what family is for, and just like Maggie adopted Dixie, we’ve adopted you.”
“You are awesome, girl.” Stevie tried to smile, but it didn’t happen.
“I heard her,” Cody said, “and she’s right.”
“Does that make you my brother?” Stevie asked.
“I hope to hell not.” Cody turned in to the lane leading up to the house.
An hour later, three vehicles were lined up in the driveway at Stevie’s house. The city guys were there pumping the water out into the ditch that ran along the front of the place. The electric and gas people had come out, shut off the utilities, and gone on to the next house with problems. When as much water as they could get out was gone, Stevie put on a pair of Mia’s rubber boots and led the way inside. The sopping wet carpet squished with every step, and Stevie wanted to cry when she saw the condition of the sofa, the chairs, and the tables in the living room and kitchen.