Page 11 of Hope After Loss

Bonus: when I come to shower, my mother cooks for me.

I take a seat at the kitchen island.

“How did things go with Anna this week?” she asks.

“Great. She dived right in and started whipping the office into shape.”

“It needed it,” she quips.

“I know. I didn’t realize how badly until now, but it’s perfect timing to get everything straightened out with the new products coming down the line,” I tell her.

“You should probably hire a couple more people. Perhaps a secretary and an accounting professional,” she advises.

“Hopefully, by this time next year, I’ll be able to expand the building and have space for more office employees,” I agree.

She loads a plate with blueberry pancakes and a side of bacon and slides it in front of me. “I’m glad Anna is fitting in. It was good of you to hire her. She needs a reason to get dressed and out of that house for a bit every day.”

“She seems like she’s doing all right to me,” I say.

“On the surface, but Leona and I were beginning to worry about her.”

I top my pancakes with a ridiculous amount of maple syrup.

“That’s what you and Leona do best. Worry about all us young’uns.”

She swats at me with her kitchen towel. “You guys are lucky we do.”

That’s the truth.

“What are you up to today?” she asks.

“I’m going to go check on the house and go over a few last-minute things with Graham.”

“He’s over at Anna’s house with Corbin,” she informs me.

“What are they doing at Anna’s?”

“A few of the firemen are finishing some projects that Mike started on her home.”

“What projects?”

“When they purchased the cottage, it was in disrepair. Mike was in the middle of renovations. Doing most of the work himself. He replaced the roof, installed new windows, upgraded the heating and air, and pulled out the carpeting to sand and refinish the hardwood floor before he passed, but he and Graham already had plans drawn up to expand the bathroom and half-bath as well as add a porch and sunroom for Anna. The guys want to finish those projects for him.”

“That’s nice of them. Do you think they want any help?” I ask.

“I’m sure they wouldn’t turn down another set of hands.”

I nod. “I’ll stop by there first.”

I pull up to Anna’s house and see the skeleton of a raised porch that stretches across the front entrance and around both sides of the house, linking to a framed room off the back door.

Parking behind Corbin’s truck, I set out in search of my brothers.

Graham and a couple of his men are on top of the new frame with a nail gun, and Corbin is helping Chris, one of his firefighters, lift two-by-fours to them.

“Hey, Cor,” I call as I stand on the ground and watch them.

“West. What are you doing here?” he asks.