“Not funny,” I hiss just as Bayleigh appears in the doorframe. I stand up. Obviously it’s okay to sit in my husband’s lap—we are married after all—but it still feels weird doing stuff like that in front of my in-laws.
“Hey, there y’all are.” Bayleigh smiles. Her hair is twisted into one of her signature messy buns on top of her head. “What’s so funny?”
“Nothing,” Jett says, clearing his throat. His mom quirks an eyebrow but lets it go.
“Okay so,” she says, pressing her hands together in front of her chest. “I’ve got a plan. You three can have the entire second floor of our house, for as long as you need. You’ll probably get some insurance money for housing, right? But just keep it. Stay with us for free.”
“That would be wonderful,” I say, wishing my heartbeat would slow back to normal. Actually, I wish everything would go back to normal right now. “Thank you.”
She pulls me into a hug, squeezing tightly. “This really sucks but you kiddos are going to be okay.”
“Thanks, Mom,” Jett says, standing and wrapping his arms around both of us. “Damn, when did you two get so short?” he jokes, peering down at us.
I smack him in the chest. Bayleigh scoffs. “You better not talk crap to me or I’ll have your wife beat you up.”
“Psh,” Jett says. “I’m not scared of her.”
I glare at him.
“Okay, maybe just a little,” he says, holding up his thumb and index finger very, very close to show just how little I scare him. He winks at me.
I burst into tears.
”Oh, Keanna!” Bayleigh says her voice full of motherly warmth as she rushes forward. “Honey, what’s wrong?”
”Everything,” I mumble through the tears. I’m full on ugly crying now, sobbing into my hands. Jett and Bayleigh hug me and tell me it’s okay. But it’s not okay.
“Guys I am freaking out! I am freaking out!” I gasp a ragged breath, over and over, because it feels like I’m not getting enough air each time. “Our house is gone! Our stuff is gone!”
“We’ll buy more stuff,” Jett says.
“Harper will remember this for the rest of her life!”
“And she’ll remember how we can overcome anything,” he says.
Bayleigh nods. “You’ve got all of us to lean on. Take some time to freak out if you need to, but we’ll always be here for you.”
“Thanks,” I mutter, drying my tears with the bottom of my shirt. Now my nose is all runny and I feel even more miserable. I just don’t know how everyone can be so calm about this. It sucks. This whole thing sucks.
My phone rings. I don’t feel like talking to anyone right now but I pull it from my phone on instinct, just to see who it is. My brows crunch together at the number scrolling across the phone screen. I know it’s familiar, but I can’t think of how I know it.
“Hello?”
“Hi, is this Keanna?”
I clear my throat, trying to get the sound of all these tears out of my voice. ”Yes.”
“Hey there, it’s Caleb, with Alden K9. I just wanted to confirm that you’re still coming to meet K9 Arko tomorrow at three?”
Oh…crap.
I put on a smile so Jett doesn’t think anything is wrong as I turn to the side and say, “Yes, absolutely. We will be there.”
“Great, he’s been doing really well lately and we’ve got him all ready to meet his new forever home.”
Forever home. My family has looked forward to getting this dog for weeks now. Tomorrow was supposed to be an exciting day of adopting our new dog and bringing him home.
Home being the key word.
