He Stood Me Up, so I Married His Brother novel · Chapter 16 of 24

Chapter 16: After the Wind

We were on Highway 17 in twenty minutes.

Tammy drove the second truck with the crew and every tarp we had left.

Thatcher sat beside me with his jaw tight, looking at the trees down along the road.

"Eight of them," he said. "Ashwood's own crews redid eight."

"And mine did six."

"I know."

Riverside Bend looked like a giant had walked through it in a temper.

Fences flat. Swing sets on their sides. Shingles in the street.

I slowed down at every house I'd torn off last fall.

The first one. Holding.

The second. Holding.

The third, fourth, fifth, sixth.

Every one of my six roofs was still on.

Thatcher didn't say anything. He just put his hand on my knee for a second, warm, and took it away.

The cul-de-sac from Tammy's video was at the very end.

Half the roof was gone off the back of the house. It was lying across the white minivan, decking still nailed to it, crushing the windshield.

The young couple were sitting on their front steps in muddy pajama pants. The little boy was asleep in his daddy's lap.

The mama looked at my truck. At the four-foot letters on the door.

"Are you from Ashwood?" she asked.

"No, ma'am. Faircloth Roofing."

"I called Ashwood six times. Their mailbox is full."

"We'll get you covered," I said. "Then we'll talk."

We went to work.

Thatcher and I went up first and walked the rafters left standing. Tammy and the crew hauled tarps.

I crouched over the torn edge of the deck and pulled out a nail with my fingers.

I didn't even need the hammer.

Smooth-shank. Shiny. Brand new.

"They fixed it with the same nails," I said.

Thatcher crouched beside me and took it out of my hand.

"After last year. After all of it," he said. "Same nails."

By ten, a TV van had found the cul-de-sac. The same reporter from the council chamber got out with her notebook.

At ten-thirty, a white truck with an Ashwood Homes logo pulled up behind it.

Two men in Ashwood polos got out with clipboards.

"Ma'am," one of them called up to me. "This is an Ashwood warranty home. You need to get off this roof."

← Chapter 15 · All chapters · Chapter 17 →

Want to keep talking to characters like these? Chat with AI romance characters: AI Boyfriend · AI Girlfriend · Dark Romance · Fantasy Romance · BL (Boys’ Love) · Billionaire Boyfriend · Mafia Boyfriend · Possessive Boyfriend · Hockey Boyfriend · Older Boyfriend · K-Drama Boyfriend · Anime Boyfriend · Vampire Boyfriend · Werewolf Boyfriend · Demon Boyfriend · Fae Romance · GL (Girls’ Love) · Anime Girlfriend · Goth & Alt Girlfriend · Gamer Girlfriend · Tsundere Girlfriend · Fantasy Girlfriend