Samantha turned to her with a smile, but Hazel noticed that the smile looked slightly forced. “Yeah, I’m good.”
“Thank you so much for being such a good sport about this,” Hazel said, giving her a big hug. “It’s an important thing we’re doing, helping a family in need.”
Samantha nodded, but she still looked a little unsure. “I know it would be really awful to have our home destroyed, and I would want someone else to be able to take us in if that happened, but—well, I don’t love the idea of a five-year-old being in my room with me.”
“I understand.” Hazel stroked her hair back. “But remember that it won’t be forever. And Dad and I are here if you feel like you need to talk with us about anything, okay?”
“Okay.” Samantha brightened. “Come on, what are we standing around for? Let’s go meet these people—it’s all you’ve been thinking about since the second we woke up this morning.”
Laughing, Samantha scampered out the front door and Jacob and Hazel followed her, exchanging a grin. The Fishers were slowly approaching their house, suitcases in hand.
Hazel noticed immediately how exhausted Mr. and Mrs. Fisher looked. Shannon Fisher was looking up at the house with interest, her loose chestnut-brown braid slung over her shoulder and her hazel eyes shining with both curiosity and resilience. Beside her, Weston seemed to be stifling a yawn. He had a lean, strong frame and tousled sandy blond hair. He was dressed more formally than his wife, in a button-up shirt and slacks. She was wearing a soft sweater, jeans, and waterproof boots.
Hazel liked them immediately, especially Shannon. She had a feeling that it would be easy to be friends with the other woman, who seemed kind, level-headed, and sensitive. Hazel watched as she turned around and checked on Camille with a tired but adoring smile. The little girl was hiding behind her mother every step of the way, and all that could consistently be seen of her was her little hand holding onto the side of her mother’s jeans.
“Hi, welcome,” Hazel said, stepping off the front porch and greeting the Fishers with a smile. “We’re so glad you’re here.”
Shannon made eye contact with her, smiling gratefully, and Weston shook Jacob’s hand firmly.
“Thank you so much for having us,” he said. His voice was slightly husky, and Hazel wondered if that was what he always sounded like or if the fatigue he must be experiencing had affected his voice.
“Of course, we’re more than happy to help. We’ve got the room, so it’s no trouble at all,” Jacob assured them warmly.
“We’re so grateful,” Shannon said. She turned around. “Camille, honey, say hello to the people who are hosting us. This is Hazel, and Jacob, and that’s Samantha back there.”
A tumble of curly brown hair and one hazel eye peered from behind Shannon and then promptly disappeared again. Jacob chuckled and Hazel couldn’t help smiling. She crouched down so that she would be closer to Camille’s height.
“Nice to meet you, Camille,” she said softly. “We hope you have a lot of fun while you’re here. We have some Disney movies, so maybe we could all watch one tonight. And I made a little gift basket for you, and there’s a teddy bear inside. Would you like to go upstairs and meet her?”
Camille didn’t say anything, but Hazel could see her feet shuffle back and forth a little. Hazel stood up, wishing that Camille felt less trepidatious but unable to keep from finding her behavior adorable. She’d been very shy with strangers herself as a little girl, and she understood that it would simply take some time for Camille to come out of her shell.
“Come on inside,” Jacob said. “We can get you settled into your rooms, and Hazel made some scones in case you haven’t had breakfast yet.”
“Scones sound incredible,” Weston said, and Hazel wondered if they’d had anything to eat that morning.
“I can also whip up some scrambled eggs and bacon to go with them,” she said cheerfully, wanting to make the offer sound like something that would be no trouble at all. “I didn’t really eat breakfast myself, so I’m probably going to do that anyway.”
From behind Shannon’s legs, a small voice said, “Bacon?”
All the adults laughed and Samantha grinned, leaning to the side and trying to get a good look at the little girl.
“Well, that settles it then,” Hazel said. “We’ll show you the guest bedroom and then I’ll whip up a little more breakfast. We have coffee, too, if you’d like some.”
“Coffee sounds divine,” Shannon said, in a tone almost as wistful as the one Camille had used when asking about bacon.
Hazel and Jacob led the Fishers into their home, and Hazel felt proud of their beautiful space. Both Shannon and Weston gazed around in admiration, and even Camille took a few steps from behind the shelter of her mother in order to look at the board game shelves, which offered a colorful display just next to the television.
Together they went upstairs, and Hazel showed them Camille’s place in Samantha’s room first. Camille seemed captivated by the teddy bear, and Hazel gave herself an internal high-five for having thought of it. She knew that stuffed animals could be very useful in helping little children feel safe, since they saw them not as toys but as real little friends to cuddle.
Next, they made their way to the guest bedroom, and Shannon let out a little gasp when she saw how nice it was.
“Oh, it’s just beautiful,” she said. “This quilt looks like the one my grandmother had on her bed when I was growing up. It’s just enchanting—and this gift basket!”
“I’m so glad you like it,” Hazel said, feeling thrilled. “I think everything you might need should be in there but let me know if I forgot anything.” Over Weston’s shoulder she saw Jacob grin ather impishly, no doubt wanting to tease her about all of the times she had double-checked the gift basket.
“It’s so nice,” Shannon said. “We did lose some of our toiletries, because a tree fell on our house right where the upstairs bathroom was. There was all kinds of water damage and broken glass and pieces of drywall and insulation—” She shook her head as if trying to dispel the memories of their broken home.
“That must have been so tough,” Jacob said. “I’m so glad none of you were in there while that happened.”
