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Authors: Valerie Hansen
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have a way with kids. Especially Tommy.”
“I wouldn’t go that far but I do know he’s pretty scared,” Gregory answered. “He mostly needs a firm hand and fair rules to follow.”
“Is that the way you were brought up?”
He shook his head. “No. There wasn’t much that was fair or stable in the way I was raised.”
Judging by his apparently grim mood and the way he’d averted his gaze as he spoke, she decided to refrain from commenting. The Garrisons had always had plenty of money. Evidently, that had not been nearly enough to ensure happiness.
Greg wondered why he’d spoken so openly to Maya about his upbringing. It was no one’s business but his own and he seldom revealed even a glimmer of the way he’d felt back then. So why had he told her?
Probably because of the severe stress they were all under, he concluded. That kind of trauma had to have a strong effect on everything, including a person’s emotional stability. Sure, he and the other men had laughed and joked as they’d worked on the cleanup around the old town hall and church, but truth to tell, the circumstances were still so unthinkable they were hard to fully comprehend. Greg figured it would be days, if not weeks, before the total extent of the damage was known.
“Where do you think we should start looking?” he asked to take his mind off his personal reflections.
“I suppose over toward the old Waters cottages,” Maya answered. “I think that was the way the dog was headed the last time we saw him. He could have holed up there.”
“If he wasn’t picked up and blown into the river.”
“If that’s the case he probably didn’t make it,” Maya added.
“Yeah.” Greg knew she was right. He just wasn’t willing to accept defeat. Not yet anyway.
As they proceeded along the sloping, grassy banks of the High Plains River, they had to detour around limbs, downed trees and fractured lumber and roofing from houses that had been ravaged. The farther west they went, however, the fewer signs of the storm’s depredation they encountered.
“Michael had mentioned maybe using some of the old cabins over this way as temporary housing,” Greg said. “And that plan looks workable. The biggest problem is finding Heather Waters and getting her permission to open them up. He’s lost track of her.”
“I think she’s working for a Christian aid agency somewhere. Last I heard, she was heavily involved in that kind of philanthropy.”
“Thanks. I’ll tell Michael.”
Maya pointed toward the bank of small, quaint cottages that had once been part of the popular riverfront resort. “Will you look at that? The windows were boarded up so they couldn’t be blown out and the rest of the place looks almost untouched.”
“Except for a little wind damage and needing a fresh coat of paint.” Greg pointed to some debris. “And that.”
“I think that’s just normal camping trash, notfrom the storm. There haven’t been any renters out here for more years than I can remember. I’m pretty sure teenagers have used the area as a rendezvous.”
When he arched an eyebrow and looked at her she blushed. “Not me, okay. I managed to get into plenty of trouble right around home.”
“You? In trouble?” Greg grinned. “I can’t imagine that.”
“And I’d just as soon you didn’t try to,” Maya replied. “Suffice it to say that my parents had fits with both me and Clay. Jesse was the only good kid in our family.”
“He’ll be all right,” Greg assured her when his gaze met hers and he read her concern. “You’ll be able to phone him soon or we’ll get out that way tomorrow. I’ll see to it. I promise.”
“Like you promised we’d find Charlie?” She sighed and raked her bangs off her forehead with her fingers. “Some things are not within our capacity to control.”
“I thought you were trusting God?”
“I am. I do. That doesn’t mean I’m not worried about my brother and his family. Marie’s just out of
“I wouldn’t go that far but I do know he’s pretty scared,” Gregory answered. “He mostly needs a firm hand and fair rules to follow.”
“Is that the way you were brought up?”
He shook his head. “No. There wasn’t much that was fair or stable in the way I was raised.”
Judging by his apparently grim mood and the way he’d averted his gaze as he spoke, she decided to refrain from commenting. The Garrisons had always had plenty of money. Evidently, that had not been nearly enough to ensure happiness.
Greg wondered why he’d spoken so openly to Maya about his upbringing. It was no one’s business but his own and he seldom revealed even a glimmer of the way he’d felt back then. So why had he told her?
Probably because of the severe stress they were all under, he concluded. That kind of trauma had to have a strong effect on everything, including a person’s emotional stability. Sure, he and the other men had laughed and joked as they’d worked on the cleanup around the old town hall and church, but truth to tell, the circumstances were still so unthinkable they were hard to fully comprehend. Greg figured it would be days, if not weeks, before the total extent of the damage was known.
“Where do you think we should start looking?” he asked to take his mind off his personal reflections.
“I suppose over toward the old Waters cottages,” Maya answered. “I think that was the way the dog was headed the last time we saw him. He could have holed up there.”
“If he wasn’t picked up and blown into the river.”
“If that’s the case he probably didn’t make it,” Maya added.
“Yeah.” Greg knew she was right. He just wasn’t willing to accept defeat. Not yet anyway.
As they proceeded along the sloping, grassy banks of the High Plains River, they had to detour around limbs, downed trees and fractured lumber and roofing from houses that had been ravaged. The farther west they went, however, the fewer signs of the storm’s depredation they encountered.
“Michael had mentioned maybe using some of the old cabins over this way as temporary housing,” Greg said. “And that plan looks workable. The biggest problem is finding Heather Waters and getting her permission to open them up. He’s lost track of her.”
“I think she’s working for a Christian aid agency somewhere. Last I heard, she was heavily involved in that kind of philanthropy.”
“Thanks. I’ll tell Michael.”
Maya pointed toward the bank of small, quaint cottages that had once been part of the popular riverfront resort. “Will you look at that? The windows were boarded up so they couldn’t be blown out and the rest of the place looks almost untouched.”
“Except for a little wind damage and needing a fresh coat of paint.” Greg pointed to some debris. “And that.”
“I think that’s just normal camping trash, notfrom the storm. There haven’t been any renters out here for more years than I can remember. I’m pretty sure teenagers have used the area as a rendezvous.”
When he arched an eyebrow and looked at her she blushed. “Not me, okay. I managed to get into plenty of trouble right around home.”
“You? In trouble?” Greg grinned. “I can’t imagine that.”
“And I’d just as soon you didn’t try to,” Maya replied. “Suffice it to say that my parents had fits with both me and Clay. Jesse was the only good kid in our family.”
“He’ll be all right,” Greg assured her when his gaze met hers and he read her concern. “You’ll be able to phone him soon or we’ll get out that way tomorrow. I’ll see to it. I promise.”
“Like you promised we’d find Charlie?” She sighed and raked her bangs off her forehead with her fingers. “Some things are not within our capacity to control.”
“I thought you were trusting God?”
“I am. I do. That doesn’t mean I’m not worried about my brother and his family. Marie’s just out of
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