Kentucky Home

Chapter 7

Cash

Henry and I managed to board up the hole in the roof to keep rain out over night. I rounded up a crew to help with the damage tomorrow. Henry left a few minutes ago leaving only Emma and me.

"You might as well go ahead and pack your bags because you're not staying here until this is all fixed." I say sternly. I can already tell she's going to put up a fight.

"Ha! That is absolutely not going to happen." She says, shaking her head, laughing.

"That's what I thought you'd say and normally I wouldn't argue, but that windmill could easily collapse through the house even more. You staying here would only be dangerous. Plus, I can't imagine you taking too well to the gaping hole in the side of the wall. Who knows what could get in there-snakes, spiders, bobcats-."

"Okay! Okay! Fine, I'll go pack my bags." She says, throwing her arms up in defeat.

I laugh as she retreats into the house. I figured that would get her.

"I've got to go pick Cady up from her friends house. Thankfully, she was over there when the storm hit." She shakes her head in agreement but stays silent.

"What's up with you? The whole seventy two hours I've known you, I've never seen you this quiet."

She doesn't say anything for a moment looking out her window. Then, she turns to me with a curious look on her face. "How did you know I was still at the house?"

"Oh! Um, your parents came by the house before they left this morning."

"Why would they do that?" She furrows her eyebrows.

"I know it's hard to believe, but they just had to say goodbye to me one more time." I said, sarcastically.

"You're right. That is hard to believe. So, what's the real reason?" And she says I have my head up my ass.

"Your dad wanted to make sure somebody knew you were staying. You know, just in case you didn't know to seek shelter when a tornado is coming towards you."

"Ow!" She slaps my arm with the back of her hand. "I was kidding...kinda!" She laughs at my making fun of her.

"I'm sorry. I'm just giving you a hard time, Emma." I look over at her. She catches my eyes and gives me a small smile that reaches her eyes. "I know." She says, simply.

When we pull into Cady's friend's driveway, Cady is already outside waiting on the porch. When she spots Emma in the passenger seat she starts running with excitement. Pulling the door open she climbs up and shoos Emma to scoot towards the middle. When she gets in she wraps her arms around Emma surprising her. "You stayed. I heard Miss Karen's house was damaged in the storm. Does that mean you'll be staying with us?" Cady asks, hopefully.

"Actually, it does." Emma replies.

"Yes!" She does a fist pump. "This is gonna be awesome. Huh, Cash?"

"Huh? Yeah. Awesome." I reply a little less than enthused. "Hurry up and buckle so we can get home. I'm wore out, kid."

When I hear the click of her seat belt I put the truck in reverse and back out of the drive way. When I hit a dip in the driveway, the truck bounces roughly, sending Emma up about six inches landing her closer to me. She steadied herself by grabbing the closest thing she can—my thigh. She immediately looks at me in horror, but fails to remove her hand. I laugh it off, and she quickly gets embarrassed moving her hand to her lap and scooting closer to Cady.

Used to the road home, I take the curves a little too fast for her liking. As I drive around a wide curve that circles right, Emma slides right into me, once more steadying herself, grabbing my arm tightly.