Pulling my head back, I let out a noise that sounded a bit like a cat eating Tabasco. “Thor in Speedos, that hurts!”
Before anything else could be said, both of our cells started ringing at the same time. His with the tone that I knew belonged to Dave, and mine with Aerosmith’s Pink, cluing me into the fact that it was my sister.
Apparently, it wasn’t just the streets that the storm wreaked havoc on that night. It was also the huge tree beside my house that took the brunt of it when my neighbor's wall gave up the ghost and fell into the side of it. Almost like a domino set up, the wall hit the tree, the tree broke, the tree then hit my roof, and went right through it like a knife through butter into my kitchen. This had caused one of the interior walls to fall across the hallway, and it had gone through my bedroom wall where Olivia’s bassinet had sat when she was a newborn. For a second I wondered if it was because of how many times I’d said the house needed to be knocked down after the spider incident, and then I realized how lucky we’d been. I also realized that we also didn’t have a home now, and that if the exterminator came, it would all go out through the new ventilation system that had been installed.Chapter 8Ellis
Who would have thought that we’d be thanking that freak of arachnid nature for anything, let alone for potentially saving their lives? One of her other neighbors had called DB during the storm to say that the old tree next to Jose’s house had fallen through the roof of the property, and seeing as how she was Tabby’s sister, DB had been the one to brave the storm and go check it out. According to him, damage didn’t even cover what had happened. He’d taken Tabby’s set of keys with him, and the second he’d opened the front door, he’d been able to see the extent of it from where he’d been standing. Not wanting to put himself at risk in case the rest of the roof or a wall collapsed as well, he hadn’t ventured too far in, but he said it was ‘fucked’. This sucked because it meant that Jose would have to go and get whatever belongings she could save once the house was assessed and confirmed to be safe enough to enter. However, this also didn’t suck because it meant that the Harrison women would be staying with me for the foreseeable future, and after what had happened before we’d gotten the call, I couldn’t say this was a bad thing at all.
Jose had kept a distance between us for months, and yes, I understood it and respected that she needed time to heal, but I also wanted more with her. What happened earlier gave me hope that she was now in the same mindset I was, and that I’d get to show her how she deserved to be treated. Scratch that – how they both deserved to be treated, because Liv was absolutely included in my plans. “I told the landlord that tree was a problem, but would he listen? No, he just said it had been there since before they had built the property, and that it would probably be there for a long time after the property disappeared. He failed to factor in the possibility of it being the reason the damn house disappeared now, didn’t he?” she fumed, pacing back and forth, tapping on her front tooth with her nail. If I didn’t stop her, she was going to need a dentist and end up with a hefty bill.
Sitting down on the couch, I patted the cushion beside me, and waited until she walked over and plonked down on it, hissing and lifting her butt cheek off it again momentarily. I wasn’t sure if having that injection really was that painful, but she reacted every time she put pressure on it, so it had to be. I still wanted to know why she’d done it, if it actually meant something, or if she was just being safe… but now wasn’t the time. Pulling her into my side, I pointed out the most pertinent point about it all. “At least the two of you weren’t inside there when it happened, Jose. It doesn’t bear thinking about what would have happened if y’all had been.”
She was quiet for a moment and then shuddered. “I don’t even want to think about it.”
Rubbing her back gently, I felt it when the tension began to leave her muscles. “You know, you and Liv are welcome to stay here as long as you need to, baby. And I swear I’m not lying when I say that this offer has nothing to do with what happened between us earlier,” I added when she tilted her head back to look up at me. “You know that I have feelings for you, and that I love that little girl of yours, but I also just want the two of you to be safe and comfortable, so my home is yours for as long as you both need it.”