Mammoth Secrets by Ashley Elizabeth Ludwig

Author:Ashley Elizabeth Ludwig
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: christian Fiction
ISBN: 9781611164343
Publisher: Pelican Ventures Book Group
Published: 2015-08-20T04:00:00+00:00

~*~

She struck the match. White flame shot to an orange glow as she replaced the glass hurricane. Shadows pushed to the shelf-lined walls. Jars packed with floating peaches, plums, and jellies glittered behind dusty jackets. Baskets of potatoes rotted where they sat. Must have been a few pastors since anyone had tended this place.

Jake eyed the contents, took inventory of the stock, and scratched his stubble.

“What are you concocting there, genius?”

“Stop calling me that.”

“Furniture?” She shook her head, dragged out a cane bottom chair that looked reasonably sturdy, and sat. “You wanted to move furniture in a tornado warning?”

“I was doing my job.” He glared. “Someone dropped it off.”

“Let’s not fight, please.”

“Do you see a radio anywhere?”

“There should be one.”

Together, they scanned the eight-by-eight room. No sign of a radio amid the clutter. Bibles, texts, and hymnals moldered on the long shelves beneath coats of dust; untouched for an age.

“Everything but, apparently.” He snorted a laugh and dragged a finger through the dust. “And they said I’d have nothing to do here in the middle of nowhere.”

“Everyone always says that about this place.” She observed his profile in the firelight. Something about him being here made her feel warm and safe—even though she knew more about tornados and Ozark storms than he ever would. The thought fluttered, whirled, that she should be the one setting him at ease instead of the other way around. She pulled out the other seat and pointed. “Sit.”

He placed hands on his knees, wiping away nervous sweat from his palms. “Earthquakes, I’m ready for. I thought storms like this didn’t come through until August.”

“Nothing weather-wise is the same anymore, anywhere, right?” She jogged her shoulders up trying to keep things light. “Climate change?”

Jake blasted a laugh, obviously less nervous now. Then, his worried look returned. “Do you think the others are safe? Your sister? Your grandparents?”

Lilah looked in the direction as if she could see through the earth into the spaces she’d spent many storms hiding under Nana’s quilt as a child. In bathtubs, closets, and once even in the windowless hallway. The only one who’d never bought into Papaw’s faith about Mammoth’s trough. But she’d never let Jake know that. “They’ll be fine.”

Jake seemed steadier. Still, the rain had tossed his reddish hair to a wild mane. Lamplight gleamed in his eyes while shadows deepened the crags of his face, the line of his jaw.

They were completely, utterly alone.

Outside the wind sang an ominous, howling tune. A hum and snap as something uprooted.

Storms would bring Papaw to panic mode. She prayed Nana was holding him together. Strong, supportive, brave, and made of sturdy stuff. Her little grandmother had the deepest roots of all. She wouldn’t be toppled in the storm of Papaw’s illness. She would bend just enough to keep from breaking, and no more.

“What now?” His hand outstretched, he waited for her to meet him halfway.

She took it, allowing him to stroke her skin with a calloused thumb. She sighed through the shiver that his touch sent.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.