Following her visit with the Jacobs, Sheila went back to Orene’s. Her mind was consumed with figuring out a way to help that family.
She walked into Orene’s, surprised to hear Natalie’s voice coming from the kitchen. And even more welcoming, the smell of bacon.
“Good morning.” Sheila poked her head around the corner. “I didn’t see your car, Natalie.”
Natalie and Randy were at the table, and Orene was at the stove pushing bacon across the biggest cast-iron skillet Sheila had ever seen.
“We walked over,” Randy said.
It was kind of nice how walkable things were here. “Your kitchen always has the best smells,” Sheila said, answering a text. “Sorry. The office.”
“I thought you left the team in charge,” Natalie said.
“I did.”
“Then why are they blowing up your phone?”
“It’s fine. No biggie,” Sheila insisted, tucking her phone in her back pocket.
“Thank you. I hope you’re hungry.” Orene looked up from the pan. “You slept in late this morning.”
“No. Actually, I just got back. I went over to the firehouse to check on the Jacob family.”
“That was nice of you. I bet they were surprised.”
“I couldn’t stop thinking about them. I can’t imagine experiencing what they just went through.”
“I hope none of us ever has to,” Orene said. “Let me get you something to eat.”
“I’m not hungry. I’ll just have coffee if there’s any left.”
“Fresh pot just finished brewing.” Orene waved her spatula at the end of the counter. “Everyone eats. House rules.”
Sheila’s phone sounded again. She answered a text and then sat next to Natalie. No words were necessary between them, and the sentiment was crystal clear. Orene had a lot of rules.
Randy said, “I’m personally hoping for your grits and hoop cheese to go with that bacon.”
“I’ve got you covered,” said Orene. “Eggs too. Got to have plenty of protein for the first meal of the day.”
“She was low-carb before keto was cool,” Natalie said.
“Sounds like it.” Sheila poured a cup of coffee and sat at the table.
“Don’t even know what keto really is, but I know how to keep my family fed.” Orene scooped out crispy slices of thick bacon on a paper grocery bag. The grease made Sheila’s stomach queasy. She was more of a one-meal-a-day gal most of the time. Even then, she ate mostly salads, and maybe fish or chicken. Never anything fried.
But when Orene set that big plate of crispy bacon on the table, Sheila couldn’t keep herself from grabbing a piece, and it was so good she ate a second before Orene got the eggs on the table.
“So I was thinking.” Sheila nibbled the bacon. “I know we need to finish planning for the Christmas tree decorating, but do you think once we get that done that we might be able to shop for the Jacob family?”
“Absolutely.” Natalie already had a pen and paper in front of her. “Orene was just saying Doris should have a whole punch list made up this morning.”
“I got it from her while I was visiting.” Sheila spread out the photocopy on the table. “They are going to need a lot of help. Doris is having trouble finding a place that can take in the whole family.”
Orene turned her back to the counter. “I’ve been thinking about that too. I think it would be better if we didn’t have to split them up, especially here at Christmas. I could let them take over the living room and two bedrooms, but it’ll be tight with the Christmas stuff taking up most of the space already. There’s no room for three more adults and four children on top of everything else.”
“I could always go back home,” Sheila said. “It would give you more room here for them.”
“No.” It was an emphatic no, and loud, with all three of them shouting at once.
“Okay. I’m not going anywhere,” Sheila said, shrinking back. Besides, she was kind of looking forward to having a friendly date with the cute fire chief while she was in town.
“I might have a solution,” said Natalie. “They could stay at my cabin.”
“No, and being right on the water would be a nightmare for Diane to keep an eye on those kids.”
“You’re right,” Natalie agreed. “Or?”
“What are you thinking?” Sheila glanced over at Randy. “Or, I could take stay there, and maybe you could stay at Randy’s. Then the Jacob family could stay at Orene’s.”
Natalie held up a finger. “I’m going to ask Paul if he’ll put them up.”
Orene’s mouth dropped. “I don’t—”
“I know.” Natalie closed her eyes. “People think he’s a recluse, and because he’s never let anyone up on that hillside, they think he’s not going to help, but they don’t understand why. He’s a good man, with a huge heart.”
“Yes, he is,” Orene said. “It’s been very nice getting to know him again since you’ve come to town, but I don’t see him being able to handle those kids rousting about his place.”
“I’m not thinking of him putting them up in the castle. The chapel up on the hill is empty. It’s got a bathroom and a small kitchen area. We could set up a regular Christmas camp there for them, and there wouldn’t be a big hurry to get them moved along. We could decorate it, and it might be a little tight, but that could make it fun if we do it up right. I bet we could put some bunk beds in there. It’s got heat and everything they’d need.”
“I’ll be really surprised if he says yes,” Orene said.
“It sounds like a perfect solution to me.” Sheila clicked on her phone, scrolled through something, then said, “I can get two sets of kids’ bunk beds, that would sleep the three older children and provide room for stuffed toys, for less than six hundred dollars, delivered four days from now. I’ll pay for them. And if someone will drive to Richmond to get them, we can have them tomorrow. We’ll need a crib as well. I bet someone has a spare or two in this town.”
“I’ll pick them up,” Randy said. “I have a couple of things to drop off for the guys at the police station back in Richmond, anyway. We can put them together when I get back.”
“If Paul says no, then my place might just have to do,” Natalie said. “We’d have to put some kind of fence up to be sure the kids couldn’t get to the water. That really scares me, but it could work in a pinch.” She pressed her hand on top of Randy’s. “I can stay with this guy through the holidays, or over here with you and Sheila.”
“You’re going to make us fight over you,” Randy said. “Don’t hurt my feelings right here at the holidays, babe.”
“Stop. You know I love you more than anything.” Natalie kissed him on the cheek.
He smiled, blushing slightly. “Yeah.”
Sheila shook her head. “I don’t think the cabin is an option. Don’t share this with anyone, but Diane told me that she and Jack have a twenty-thousand-dollar deductible on their homeowner’s. They don’t have that kind of money. It could take a long while before they are in a position to get that house into livable shape.”
“Oh dear.” Orene’s face blanched. “That’s terrible.”
“With the price of homes going up, we’re seeing more and more people opting for high deductibles to keep the rates down. It can become a problem, though, like in this situation.” Sheila got up and helped Orene with the juice carafe and glasses. They all ate and then Natalie cleared the table.
“I’m going to go talk to Paul. Sheila, do you want to come?”
“Absolutely. I’ll drive.”
Natalie got up and kissed Randy on the forehead and hugged Orene. “Wish me luck.”
“Good luck,” they said, but Sheila doubted they’d need it.
An hour later, Sheila and Natalie were walking out of Paul’s castle house with the keys to the little chapel on the hill.
“He didn’t hesitate one second,” Sheila said. “That man would do anything for you. He really is your family.”
“I know. He’s so good to me. I wish I’d known him when Jeremy was still alive.”
“That would have been special. I bet it was hard for Jeremy to have to leave that part of his life behind.”
“Had to have been. I can’t imagine, but that’s the past, and I try not to ponder over things I don’t control,” Natalie said.
Sheila was pretty sure Natalie wasn’t only thinking about Jeremy and Paul, but putting the past behind her after being conned by that louse too. Then again, if that hadn’t happened, she might never have met Randy.
“Besides, we have plenty to solve without going down a rabbit hole,” Natalie said.
“We do. Let’s go to the fire station and talk to Doris. She’s going to be so relieved.” Sheila headed down the driveway.
“Turn here.” Natalie jiggled the church keys. “I’ll show you the space. We can take some measurements before we go see Doris.”
“Excellent idea. You know, staging is my specialty.”
“I’m counting on that,” Natalie said. “I want this to be the best Christmas the Jacob family could imagine under the circumstances.”
“We can make anything happen together.” Sheila gave Natalie’s hand a squeeze. “Like Thelma and Louise.”
“There will be no darting off cliffs in this car!” She looked over her head. “I doubt it even has a roll bar.”
“Even if it does, this thing cost way too much money for that kind of reckless shenanigans.”
“Take this path here.” Natalie pointed to the gravel road that veered off to the right between two corner fence posts.
Sheila made the turn, and it was only a moment before the little church came into view. It wasn’t old, which was what she’d expected. “Why does Paul Grandstaff have a church on his property, anyway?”
“He’s a little eccentric. He has a good reason for everything, though. When his wife died, he had this built so he could come out here and be close to her. His daughter is buried in the cemetery. He had Jesse build a resting place for Jeremy’s ashes here too. It’s really pretty.”
“You didn’t tell me that. Natalie, that’s good.” Sheila had worried about Natalie keeping his ashes in her house. It just seemed so depressing. “This place is as charming as can be.”
Sheila pulled to a stop. From the outside, the white building with its tall peak looked taller than it was wide. It didn’t look much bigger than some of the supersized sheds people had behind their homes for storage, but she’d seen those things turned into tiny houses for families to live in. It could be super cute with some out-of-the-box thinking.
The front doors were a gentle sage green. Tall pencil-point evergreens flanked each side. It was simple, but the elegant detailing, like the wrought-iron shutter dogs and ornate doorknob, probably salvaged from an old building, gave the place character. A pretty church bell hung in a tower that stretched high above them.
Natalie unlocked the front door, and they stepped inside.
It was chilly. She reached for the thermostat and the mini-split, and the heat started blowing. “We’ll get it warmed up in here.”
The entry was like a hallway. Sheila, being a real estate agent, out of habit, opened each of the doors. A bathroom on one side, and a kitchenette on the other side. “This will work.”
In the main part of the building, only six pews, three on each side, filled the far end near the platform where a wooden bench held a Bible.
“Paul said we can have Jesse get the guys to empty the place and move the pews out to the barn to store them while the family is here.”
“I’d suggest we keep two of them. It’s a lot bigger inside. It looked tiny from the front, but it’s long. We can probably lay our hands on a long table they can use for meals, and put that right over there near the kitchen.”
“Great idea. I know the fire station has a ton of eight-foot tables they use for bingo nights. I’m sure they’d lend us one.”
“We can throw a heavy tablecloth over it and tack it underneath so the kids can’t pull it down, and put something childproof in the center.” Sheila twisted, looking left and right. “A Christmas tree in the corner over there?”
“Yeah.” Natalie marched to the spot, lifting her hands high in the air. “And it can be tall!”
“I’ll find an area rug to anchor a living space. A couch and, ya know, we could use another pew instead of chairs. I think the kids would be fine with a pew to sit on for television, and they can’t mess them up since they’re wooden.”
“True.”
“I’ve got so much stuff at the office for staging. If we struggle to find anything, we could get Randy to stop and pick up some of my inventory.”
“We have a great Habitat for Humanity store and a Goodwill not far,” Natalie said. “We should be able to dress this up pretty easily. They might even be willing to donate or discount some things for us. You’ll be surprised. People will come out of the woodwork to help.”
“That’s so refreshing.” Sheila took a couple of pictures, then used her phone to measure the room dimensions. “We can make this very homey. It’ll probably have to take them through at least spring for the insurance company to pay out and come up with a plan. By then, outdoor-living weather will be here, and there’s plenty of running space for the little ones.”
“I can’t wait to tell them.” Natalie pulled out her phone and placed the call. “Let’s call Doris now.”
She punched in the phone number and put it on speaker. “Hey Doris. It’s Natalie and Sheila. We’ve got great news. We’ve got a place lined up for the Jacobs for the next six months. And it’s free.”
“What? How did you do that?”
“Paul Grandstaff has generously offered to let us turn the chapel on the hill here on his property into a sanctuary for the family. Sheila and I are going to turn this place into a wonderful temporary home for them.”
“They are going to be so relieved.” Doris sounded genuinely appreciative. “Please thank Mr. Grandstaff. Not knowing where they’ll be sleeping is a huge weight on their shoulders right now. They are so thankful to have a roof over their heads, but they feel like they are in the way here. It’s definitely only a temporary solution. They need a place they can consider their home for a spell, and this will do the trick. I’m so grateful.”
“That family captured my heart that night. You hear about things like this, but seeing it, being there, I wanted to help. I’ve been missing that sense of purpose in my life.” Sheila remembered the moment she looked into Diane’s worried eyes. She’d cleared her schedule for the holidays, but now she had a real purpose. Something she could do that could make a difference. “They are going to be okay. We’ll all make sure of it.”
“I can’t wait for Paul to meet them,” said Natalie. “Can you house them at the fire station just through the weekend to give us time to get the place ready? We’re going to get bunk beds for the kids and put this place together so they can settle in and feel like they are home through the holidays, or however long it takes.”
“We can definitely do that. Thank you, Natalie. This is so generous. I’ve got a dresser in my garage. It’s old, but it’ll work. I’ll put together a drawerful of necessities for each of the kids. I have them finger-painting little name tags now. I’ll use those for them to mark each drawer. It’s a mess up here, but they are having fun and the parents are resting.”
“A dresser will be great,” Sheila leaned in and said into the phone. “If you’re taking care of gathering the necessities for the kids, we’ll take care of the linens and everything for the bedding for the family while we’re putting the place together.”
“That’s wonderful. I’m marking those off my master list. This will put their minds at ease, although I don’t even think the full brunt of what they’re facing has really hit them yet.”
“I’m sure. I can’t even begin to imagine starting over like that.”
“I can’t thank you enough for jumping into action like this. I just got off the phone with the food pantry. I’ll let them know we’ll be ready for food on Monday.” Doris sniffled between her words, and that made Sheila and Natalie both raise their hands to their hearts.
“Thank you, ladies,” Doris said.
“Our pleasure.” The joy in Sheila’s heart was like nothing she’d experienced before. Giving of yourself, your time, seemed so small, but was so rewarding.