Page 28 of To Match A Dragon's Fire

Harper was playing with dolls on my dad’s old bed. Their suitcases were half open, ready and waiting to be unpacked and settled in.

“Do you know how to turn on the stove?” Willow poked her head out from the kitchen.

“We don’t until I can get the propane hooked up.” I turned off the burner on my way to the back door.

“How are we supposed to cook?” Willow wrung her hands as she followed along behind me.

I pushed open the screen door to the back porch, silently counting my blessings that the wood stack was still full under the awning. “We’ll use the wood stove for now.”

“What happens when the power goes out? Will the well work for the plumbing?” Willow grew a bit paler with each worry she stated.

“We get power outages all the time up here,” I smiled to reassure her, feeling a sense of pride at the measures we did have in place. It wasn’t like the city where everything was hooked up to electric. “The hand-pump feeds directly from the creek in the laundry house and we have the generator to power the well pump. We’ll keep using the wood stove for now so we can save the propane for emergencies.”

“And what happens when the food runs out?” Willow whispered, standing next to me as we looked at the overgrown plot where the garden used to be.

We’d gone over this all before, but I knew she worried and needed to talk things out to ease her racing mind.

“The creek is full of trout.” I purposefully turned my back on the eyesore property, hoping Mr. Trespasser wasn’t a sport fisherman who’d fished out my honey holes. “I’ll go hunting if I have to. We’ll start a summer garden.”

I grabbed Willow’s hands in mine. “Everything is going to be okay.”

“I know.” She nodded, looking over her shoulder as Riley pushed open the kitchen door. “I just want to get started fixing this place up. It’ll help me feel more in control.”

“Then let’s go.” I released her and walked to the shed.

There was an extra bit of lightness in my steps. Despite the earlier drama, being here brought me a sense of peace I hadn’t realized I was missing. It felt good to be able to address all of Willow’s worries about the future.

We would be okay.

Things were coming back to me fast. I’d need to flush the pipes and check the septic tank. The wood wouldn’t last all winter, but we’d get some cut from the mountains soon.

I had this.

The padlock and chains rattled on the shed door as I tried to open it.

Anger flushed my skin as I tried again.

“If that jerk thinks he can lock me out of my own—”

“Do you need the keys?” Riley called from the back porch.

Oh.

The keys.

I’d forgotten they were always hanging on the hook right by the kitchen door.

“Yes please.”

I was bound to make a mistake every now and then. None of us were perfect.

Riley brought over the keys, still nursing the bottle of wine. “Are we getting started on the garden?”

Willow nodded. “The sooner the better.”

I unlocked the shed, mentally making a to-do list.

So much for relaxing when we arrived. My book would have to wait until tonight.

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