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Jedd pulls his phone out of his pocket and fires off a text message as he leads me through the engine bay to my camper.
Once I step through the door, I gape.
The previous destruction of my belongings is gone. The inside of the camper is still as wrecked as it was the last time I saw it, but none of the broken dishes remain. Even the things that fell off the counters in the kitchen space are stacked neatly on the dining table. My bedding is all folded and placed on the foot of the bed. What dishes could be saved are set on the counters in tidy rows.
“Me and Rhett came in early this morning and tried to clean up what we could after Har texted. Didn’t want you to have to deal with it when you were packing up.”
I turn to the gruff voice of Harlan’s brother. The inexplicable urge to cry at the continued kindness of the Calhoun family hits me out of nowhere. They didn’t have to come in and clean my camper. But they did anyway — because it would make it easier for me. I tramp down my first instinct — suspicion at the gesture — and just focus on the gratefulness I feel.
“You guys didn’t have to do that,” I murmur, and then remembering my manners, I say, “Thank you.”
Jedd shrugs. “It didn’t take long, but you’re welcome. Rhett will be back soon to help, Finch too, but they went to grab some coffee and pastries from Jem’s shop. I have to finish up this oil change, and then we’ll help you get loaded. Rhett and Duke are bringing their trucks. Between those and Har’s SUV, we should be able to get you moved into the apartment no problem. You need anything, just holler.”
He raps his knuckles twice on the door jam and the door closes behind him when he steps out.
“Well girly. Let’s get packed up.”
I sort and organize my belongings into packable items. Anything that needs trashing is set off to the side to toss out later. A quick trip to the back of Harlan’s SUV gets me the few boxes that I need for my meager belongings.
“Hey, there, pretty girls.” The sound of another voice behind me in the now open door of my camper makes me jump.
Rhett — I recognize him from the hospital — is standing next to another man, and I assume he’s Finch.
Confirming my suspicions, he says, “This is Finch, my older brother.” Rhett whips his hand to his forehead in a snappy salute. “Reporting for duty and at your service.”
Finch rolls his eyes at his brother. “As he said, I’m Finch. Nice to meetcha.” He’s holding a drink carrier and plucks one of the drinks from the cardboard before holding it out to me.
“Um. Thank you, but I don’t like coffee. Sorry.” The apology slips out, second nature at this point.
“It’s hot chocolate. Har said you’re watching your caffeine while you nurse and that you don’t like coffee or tea, so I hope this is okay.”
“Oh. Um. Yeah. That’s fine. Thank you again.” I take the cup from him, and the heat against my slightly chilled fingers is nice. The creamy warm chocolate is even better when I take a sip.
“You’re welcome.” The brothers skirt around the two boxes and single trash bag I have packed and stacked on the floor near the door.
“Am I late?” Another voice calls from outside the camper, and glancing past Finch and Rhett, I see another man standing in the engine bay.
“That’s Duke. Finch’s twin,” Rhett says before turning around. “You’re always late, but don’t come in here, there’s not enough room for us and you.”
Duke’s head pops through the open doorway. “Nice to meet you, Maisie. Har said you might need some help getting your belongings over to his place.”
“Harlan texted all of you?” The question squeaks out of me. Jedd said Harlan texted “us,” and I thought that meant one or two of them, I didn’t think he was sending his whole family to help.
All three of them look similar enough that it’s easy to see they’re related, but their features differ slightly from each other.
“It’s no big thing, Maisie, we have a family group chat. Harlan said you might need help and most of us have the time,” Finch says quietly.
“Yeah. Most of us are off work today, Jedd’s the only one here that’s technically working, though the shop is closed. Not like we had a whole bunch of things to get done on a Sunday morning. Boone and Jem are meeting with their contractor — they’re building a house right now, otherwise, they’d likely be here too.”
I take a deep breath against the weird pressure in my chest. I can’t remember the last time I had help for something as mundane as packing my belongings — let alone any of the bigger things life has thrown my way.
Warmth spreads through me. I thought that Harlan would see me as nothing but a messy burden after everything that I told him last night, but then this morning happened, and I guess that really isn’t the case.
“Okay. Well, I’m all done. I just need to run that bag out to the trash and we can go.”
“This is it?” Rhett asks incredulously, eyeing the two big boxes of my belongings.
“Yeah. There’s not a lot of space in here, and I don’t need much. Most of it’s Audra’s.” I ramble out the explanation.
