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I silently pray to the spirit of Jane Austen that post-apocalyptic zombie romance thrillers don’t become a new genre. We’ve already got Amish vampires and NASCAR romance, and those are bad enough.
Although a case could be made that NASCAR romance has some serious potential.
I frown at her outfit. “What are you doing?”
“Going to your house?”
“Wouldn’t it be easier to just rent a hazmat suit?”
“Owen said we should dress for a mess,” she says.
I’m sure my frown deepens. “Owen said what now?”
“In the group text,” she says. “Didn’t you get it?”
“No.” I pull out my phone. Nothing.
“Oh.” Mom, with the gloves on, carefully pours coffee into a giant travel mug. “That’s weird.”
I shake my head. “What’s going on?”
“Well, shoot. I’m not sure I’m supposed to tell you,” she says.
“I think it’s a little late for that.”
She hesitates a moment before saying, “Owen organized a clean-up day. At your house. To prepare for the restoration company.”
“I’m meeting him over there this morning, but he didn’t say anything about anyone else.”
“Well, if this text is any indication, it’s going to be a whole crew.” She holds up her phone and I scroll back to see Owen’s first text to a large cluster of numbers.
Owen
Hey everybody, it’s Owen Larrabee.
I got most of your numbers from Reagan and my mom.
You heard about Emmy’s house, and I thought it would be nice if we could help her go through things to prepare for the restoration company.
I’m meeting her there at 9 a.m. Friday morning if anyone is available. Oh, and wear long sleeves, long pants and gloves.
I’ll bring masks from the station.
Let me know if you have any questions.
I see a series of replies, most of them heart emojis and “Aww, Owen, how sweet!”
I glance up and find Mom watching me. “His captain probably made him do it.”
She frowns. “Why would you think that?”
I shrug. “It’s why he walked me through my house the day after the fire. It’s part of his job.”
She takes her phone from me. “It doesn’t feel like this would be in his job description.”
“Let’s not read into it, okay?”
Because my heart can’t handle it.
