6

 

Sadie rounded the corner on her way to the homeless shelter and thought about Max, about that kiss. With his arms around her, she’d felt safer than she had since her father’d left. And then last night, instead of dreaming about her father, she’d dreamed about Max. She tried to temper an embarrassing grin as she pushed open the heavy door of the shelter.

Mama Lois stepped out of the small office. “Hey, girl. You’re early today. How’d the appointment go yesterday?”

Sadie signed in and slapped on her volunteer’s badge. “It isn’t going to be cheap, but the insurance should cover it.”

“You see the adjuster today, right?”

“Right. That’s why I’m early. I have to be at the house at noon. Where do you need me?”

Lois jutted her chin toward the room in the back. “Lots of clothes to sort, if you don’t mind.”

“Sure. Any new faces?”

“Nah, nobody who fits your description. Look around if you want.”

Sadie glanced through the glass at the men’s recreation room and smiled at the familiar faces. Most she’d either seen before, or they weren’t the right age.

She sorted clothes in a room about the size of the downstairs of her house, separating them by gender, size, and type. This pile had come all the way from California in the wake of Sandy. Eventually, they’d all get handed out to the perpetually homeless and the temporarily so. Thank God she had a place to live. She sent up a quick thank you for Marjorie’s generosity. She stood from unloading the fifteenth box and rubbed her lower back. It must be time to go.

She broke down the box she’d just emptied, set it on the pile of cardboard in the corner, and headed for the exit. Just as she rounded the corner, a tall man with a gray comb-over and dressed in a well-cut suit pushed open the door and stepped into the cloudy day. He looked familiar.

She approached Lois and nodded toward the door. “Who was that guy?”

“Don Boyle. Haven’t you met him before?”

“Uh...not here.”

“I guess you wouldn’t have. He works a couple times a week, always breakfast, though, when you’re at work.”

“Huh.” Sadie waved goodbye to Lois and left. Why was an opportunistic real estate developer volunteering at the homeless shelter? Weird.

The bus dropped her off at the end of her block, and Sadie hugged herself against the cold as she made her way to the house. She was just unlocking the front door when her neighbor walked up.

“Hey. Did Don find you?”

“Hi, Barb. Yup, I saw him yesterday.”

“Great news, isn’t it?” Barb was about Sadie’s age, still carrying the weight of her last baby and a few months pregnant with her next. “Barry was looking through the real estate listings yesterday, and he said we can get something nicer with what Don will pay us. I can’t wait.” She rubbed her expanding belly. “I just hope that last holdout gives in fast.”

Sadie’s stomach clenched. “Last holdout?”

“Didn’t you hear? Everybody on the block’s agreed to sell except one person. Barry figures it’s that old guy down on the corner. He’s lived here his whole life. But I figure he’s got one foot in the grave already, and there’s that new nursing home. I think it’s that family in the yellow house.” She pointed. “That man, he’s no rocket scientist, you know what I mean?”

Sadie’d never met the man. She nodded, anyway.

“Now Barry, he asked Don who it was, figured he’d help persuade him.”

The knot in Sadie’s stomach tightened.

“But Don wouldn’t say. Told him there wouldn’t be any intimidation. If it goes through, it goes. If not...but you know Barry. He’s gonna figure it out soon enough. You know, if we don’t all sell, none of us gets the money.”

Again, Sadie nodded as if she’d known that. It made sense. He’d need the whole block to build the condos.

“Anyway, it’ll work out. Everybody’s desperate for the money. Nobody has flood insurance. I’m sure whoever it is just hasn’t figured that out, yet. And anyway, if not, they’ll fold like a house of cards when Barry gets ahold of ’em.” She rubbed her back. “I better get back. We’re packing the upstairs and moving the stuff to a storage unit until we get the money. I’m going to give out before we’re finished if I don’t get moving.”

“Well, thanks for stopping by.”

“Sure, sure. See ya.” Barb walked down the porch steps just as a man turned up her walk. “Miss McLaughlin?”

“Yes. Are you the adjuster?”

He approached and held out his hand. “Chuck Fortier.” They shook hands, and then he handed her his business card. “Why don’t you show me around.”

Sadie brought him inside and pointed out the damage. Then, they walked around the outside of the house. He made very few notes on his notebook and said almost nothing. When she’d finished, he headed toward the curb. “I’ll be in my truck. Give me about ten minutes.”

“Sure.”

Back inside, the heavy cloud-cover made the house seem bleaker than usual. She headed to the kitchen and opened the breakfront doors again. She’d pulled out the largest shards of crystal the day before, so she grabbed the little broom and swept the rest, along with a pile of dirt, into a plastic bag, trying not to think about what her neighbor had said. But she kept picturing Barb and her pregnant belly and their two children at home. And the elderly man on the corner who’d needed the neighbors to mow his lawn for him the previous summer, because he couldn’t afford to hire it done. What would he do? What would Barry and Barb do?

But if she didn’t keep the house, how would she ever find her father? She could picture him, walking down the block, looking for the house he’d grown up in, only to see a row of shiny new condos. Would he think she’d forgotten about him? Would she ever see him again?

Mr. Fortier knocked.

Sadie stiffened her spine and met him at the door.

He sighed and ran his fingers through his hair. “You know you don’t have flood insurance, right?”

Her breath whooshed out. She backed up and sat on the bottom stair.

“You didn’t know. Well, most of your damage is from the water, but we can assume the shutters, the gutters, and the loss of your trees came from wind damage.” He handed her a piece of paper, which she studied. After her deductible, she’d clear fifteen hundred dollars. She couldn’t breathe.

“Sorry, lady. You shoulda had flood insurance.”

So helpful.

“What address you want us to mail the check to?”

She swallowed. “When will I get it?”

He babbled for a couple of minutes about how lucky she was to be with his insurance company, because they were rushing through some of the smaller claims. Most of his words were lost in the chill and despair. “I can have it processed in a couple a days.”

“OK. Send it here.”

After he walked away, Sadie dropped her head into her hands. What would she do? Fifteen hundred dollars wouldn’t make a dent in the repairs. With almost nothing left of her savings, she needed money. A mortgage. If she could get maybe forty thousand, she could at least get the biggest stuff done and do the rest over time. But for that, she’d have to get back to work. Fast.

Plan in place, she locked up and headed for the coffee shop to see about that job.