Read Online Summer In Stanton (Stanton Falls #3) by Kaci Hart - Free Book Online

when he heard a thump on his roof.  For a second he was afraid
that another tornado was hitting his place.  That would be like nature was
just heaping more coals on the fire but it wouldn’t surprise him in the least
bit.  It wasn’t until he heard old Jake’s voice yell to someone else outside.
 When he looked out of the window, there was a lot of activity going on
outside.

 
    He hopped out of the bed
and quickly dressed before heading down.  When he got to the lobby, he
turned to Libby.

 
    “What’s going on?
  What’s everyone doing here?”

 
    She laughed at him.
 

 
    “Maybe you should ask
Tessa.  She’s outside.”

 
    “Okay.”

 
    He walked outside and
realized much more was going on than he had thought.  He saw Tessa in the
center of all the activity and he went directly to her.

 
    “Tessa, what did I wake
up to?”

 
    “Not much.  Just
the spirit of this town you live in.”

 
    His attention was
diverted when several people shouted out to him.

 
    “Hey Connor.”

 
    Another young person
shouted to him while digging a whole.

 
    “Coach.  What’s
up!”

 
    “Hi.  Hi.
 Hi.”

 
    He wasn’t going to find
out anything standing in the middle of all this so he asked her to follow him
to the side of the house.  

 
    “Okay.  So
explain.”

 
    “I will but first you
have to promise to not get upset with me.”

 
    “Okay.  I promise.”

 
    “Well the other day, I
came to your office to talk to you and I overheard you on your phone call.
 I didn’t mean to eavesdrop but it sounded like you were so upset.  I
talked to Libby and she told me how much trouble the place has been in over the
past year.  When the tornado hit Monday, you had this glazed over look on
your face.  Like you just couldn’t take anymore.  I couldn’t stand
seeing that.  I had to do something.”

 
    “So what?  How did
you convince all these people to come help?”

 
    “I didn’t really have to
do much convincing.  I just went around town and talked to people.
 Before I knew it, I had people willing to give money to help refortify
the place.  The people who couldn’t donate offered their time and
services.”

 
    “But this looks like
half the town is here.”

 
    “Not quite, but enough
to get the job done.  Connor everybody in this town loves you because you
do so much for the town itself.”

 
    Connor couldn’t believe
it.  

 
    “This is amazing.
 I mean, I never would have thought something like this could happen.”

 
    “Well you need to think
differently.  Look at what everyone is doing for you.  Mr. John is
working on the roof, and Dan from the flower shop has some of your students
planting donated flowers.  Ms. Celia has a few ladies helping her quilt
new sheets for the beds, and drapes for the curtains and table cloths.
 Like they say, many hands make light the work.”

 
    “Wow.  I . . . I
don’t know what to say.  You arranged all of this but why?”

 
    “Because you deserve it
Connor.  You’ve been working so hard to keep this place up and running.
 On top of that you volunteer for the school as coach, and you even
cut the church grass for goodness sakes.  If anyone deserves unrequested
help, you would be him.  You’d be surprised how many people were upset
that you didn’t ask for help before.  I had to remind them just how
stubborn you were about doing things yourself.  Of course everyone agreed
that you wouldn’t just let anyone help you so we all arranged to help you out
without asking.  That way you couldn’t turn us down.”

 
    “I guess I have no
choice.  So then what do I need to do?”

 
    “Absolutely nothing.
 Well there is one thing.  Come with me.”

 
    Connor followed her into
the house, and the dining room.  He smiled when he saw her pull the
strawberry shortcake out of the fridge and top it with fresh whipped cream.

 
    “I wasn’t sure if this
day could