Page 161 of Head Room
At the cookout,somehow the topic of the Jardos cabin fire came up while I...happened...to be talking with Tom’s neighbor, Clyde Baranski, another volunteer firefighter.
“It was a weird one, all right,” he said.“The radio was crackling from the start.Miles saying he was lead, Ned saying no, he was.And then it was like a race.”
“Is that usual?”
“Nah.It’s usually understood it’s who can get there first.Miles got a real good start, but you can’t make up the miles.Besides, Ned has more experience.”He shook his head slightly.“Ned buttoned up the scene, left guys there to watch for flares overnight.But they were still wrangling the next day when those folks were relieved.And then they found the body and—”
He’d lost my attention, not because I wasn’t interested, but because Connie had arrived with two passengers — Thomas and Vanessa Burrell, Tom’s parents.
I excused myself and started toward them.
Tom was there first.
I saw no hugs.
As I neared, Connie nodded toward me, he turned and scooped me to his side with one arm around my shoulders.
He made the introductions.Succinct and formal.
His father said, “Hello.”
His mother and I made eye contact.I held out a hand and she took it in both of hers, with warmer phrases.I added my other hand.
After a long moment, we parted awkwardly.
Connie — bless her — filled in with chatter.
My father-in-law slid into a momentary silence to say, “Connie says Burrell Roads business is down.”
Tom showed nothing, which said everything.
Connie rolled her eyes.“I said it had nearly returned to the level it was at before those corrupt—”
She didn’t need to say more because my parents arrive then.Bless them, too.
Their warmth and sociability bridged to the moment when Mike called Tom over to the grill.
By then, old neighbors and friends of the senior Burrells filled in around us.
Jean-Marie arrived, giving her parents hugs, then taking my arm and saying I was needed in the kitchen, which all who knew me knew was a fib.
Inside, I hugged her, but there was no time for more as the gathering’s flow carried us apart.
The first meeting was past.It had to get better from here, right?
CHAPTER SIXTY-FIVE
As the lightsoftened toward dark and with everyone fed seconds and more, I spotted my dad standing by the fence of the closest corral, his back to it, elbows hooked over the top rail, relaxed and serenely surveying the party.
I headed toward him, stopped only a couple times on my way.
“Hey, Maggie Liz.”Then, as if he’d heard my earlier thoughts, he added, “It’ll get better.”
“Will it?”
“Maybe.But you’ll do fine if it doesn’t.You and Tom and Tamantha.Just fine.”
I wanted to beg him to go on in that vein for an hour or two.
