Yuletide Hearts

Peering through a driving November downpour caused by remnants of Hurricane Karl, Matt Cavanaugh surveyed what might be the biggest mistake he ever made as sheeting water sluiced from unprotected roofs. Wind-driven storm rains pummeled gaping window openings. Expensive, irreplaceable topsoil washed down unprotected berms, each muddy water trail sweeping centuries of rich, organic soil into the watershed.

Basically he was watching a large share of his life savings wash away. What had he been thinking?

“I see merit here, son.”

The memory of his grandfather’s reassuring voice eased the tension snaking Matt’s back, crowding his neck. Simple words from a gentle man, an industrious construction worker unafraid to lift a hand to any task, great or small, including the gift of unconditional love to his bad-boy grandson.

Matt clenched his jaw, then realized that would only fuel headache potential. Surveying the muddy mess he’d just purchased with significant help from the bank, he fought the urge to run hard, fast and long when a banging screen door drew his attention to the left.

A boy raced out of the faded farmhouse facing the neglected subdivision. A dog chased after him, a black-and-white spitfire, his non-pedigreed look perfect for the place and the boy, a pair of mutts enjoying the tempest.

Within seconds they were soaked, the rain blurring their features, but the combined excitement apparent even from this distance.

The boy aimed for the uncompleted subdivision, the dog racing alongside. Too late, Matt realized their intent.

The kid dived through a window opening.

The dog followed.

The kid emerged from a door opening.

So did the mutt.

Then back in another window, a little higher this time, the crazy game of follow the leader probably not the smartest of ideas for a kid and a dog around a construction site. Matt left his truck at the now-unnecessary roadblock and raced downhill. “Hey! Hey, you! Kid. Stop.”

Visions of leftover two-by-fours, nails, screws and abandoned tools raced through his head, the innocence of youth unfettered by the hazards of life. As the new owner, Matt didn’t have the luxury of relaxation. Construction insurance rates skyrocketed with a claim, and the kid and the dog were a hospital visit waiting to happen. “Kid. Stop! Now!”

The driving rain swallowed his voice and the thickening mud did a similar number on his feet. The dress shoes he put on for the bank closing weren’t meant for tromping around construction sites.

He lost visual of the quick-paced pair as he neared the skeletal houses, his descent and the rising rooflines blocking his line of sight. He wasn’t sure if the storm made it impossible to hear the kid and the dog or if they were just unusually quiet. Since unusually quiet might mean unconscious, Matt increased his pace. “Kid! You hear me? Come out of there!”

No answer.

Matt continued along the road, mud-slicked shoes slowing his progress. The graveled areas would have been inconsequential in his boots. In worn dress shoes, the rough curves and sharp points of stone reminded him that if new shoes hadn’t been on the list before, they’d gain a spot now, and all because some fool didn’t have sense enough to keep their kid out of harm’s way.

Kind of like his mother.

He refused to flinch at the memory. His mother was no June Cleaver, but he hadn’t been a choirboy either. He had the juvie record to prove his stupidity before Grandpa Gus realigned him with old-fashioned hard work, faith and fishing.

A movement drew his attention left. He darted between two incomplete houses, saw the kid about a house-and-a-half away, yelled again and took off in pursuit. The boy appeared fairly savvy about dodging among the half-built homes, so Matt ducked through a window and raced across the subflooring to the front door of the house, burst through and collared the kid just as he angled toward the house Matt had cut through.

“Hey! Hey! Let go! Let me go!”

“Not until we’ve had a few words, kid.”

“Let me go! Let me go!”

Matt held tight.

The dog raced into the fray, tail wagging, obviously unconcerned about his young owner’s welfare.

“Jake? Jake? Where are you?”

The dog’s tail flagged faster. He dashed to the front door of the house, barked a welcome, then raced back, his gaze expectant, his angled doggie look wondering what was going on.

Which reflected Matt’s feelings to a tee.

A disheveled woman strode through the nonexistent front door, her hair a mess, her shoes not quite as bad as Matt’s, her jeans rain-spattered, her fleece pullover soaked.

“In here, Mom! Someone’s got me!”

“Someone’s got you all right.” Matt sent the kid a look meant to quell and refused to relinquish his grasp, despite the fire-breathing mother striding his way. Her purposeful gait seemed militaristic even though she wore somewhat impressive heeled boots, which meant she’d most likely served at some point in time. If that assumption proved true, she should know enough to keep her kid where he belonged. He raised his chin, noted she almost matched him in height with the shoes on, met her glare and stood his ground, refusing to scowl, letting his stance make his point. “This your kid?”

“Let him go.”

Matt ignored the command. “Do you have any idea how dangerous it is to have a kid running around a construction site? The things that could happen to him?”

The woman’s gaze returned his look, one on one. “I’m well aware, thank you very much, although Jake knows his way around construction sites. Usually.” She leveled a tough, knowing look to the kid, shoulders back, feet braced, her posture adding evidence to Matt’s guess that she’d been in the military at one time. “Were you supposed to leave the house?”

“N-no.”

“And what if something happened to The General?”

The General? Matt frowned, followed her glance to the dog and realized it must be the dog’s name.

The boy snorted, a pretty gutsy act for a kid being collared by an absolute stranger while his mother reamed him out from a few feet away. “The General knows all the enemy hideouts. He’s trained to sniff out snipers and UXBs.”

“UXBs?”

The woman kept her gaze on the boy, her profile taut, worry lines marring a perfect forehead over sea-green eyes. Light brown hair fell to her shoulders, a side clip meant to keep the bulk of it out of her face, but the storm had outmaneuvered the clip’s potential. She shoved the errant hair back, obviously irked. “Unexploded bombs. London. The Luftwaffe.”

“I get the war reference.” Matt switched his gaze from her to the kid as he released the boy’s collar. “What I don’t get is how he gets it. You’re what? Seven? Eight?”

“Almost nine.”

“Which means eight.”

The kid’s glare matched his mother’s, obviously a genetic trait. “You can’t play around these houses. It’s off limits,” Matt told him, his voice stern. He turned his attention to the woman, realizing she was probably chilled through, the November day wretchedly wet and cool. “You’ll keep him out of here?”

“Yes.” Something in her look told Matt she didn’t say things lightly. That quality reassured him. She turned and hooked her thumb toward the door. “Jake, let’s go. The banker’s got better things to do than chase you around where you don’t belong.”

Her words registered as she neared the door, the kid following, head down, chin thrust out, forehead furrowed. “I’m not a banker.” Matt strode forward and yanked down a bill of foreclosure notice attached to the front window. “I’m the new owner.”

Her head jerked up. She stared at him, then the house, then him again, utter disappointment painting her features. Wet, bedraggled, rumpled, cold and wickedly disappointed.

Her look grabbed a piece of him, the air of disillusionment needing comfort and joy, but at the moment, confronted with the enormity of what he’d undertaken less than two hours ago, Matt’s personal comfort level had nose-dived into incredulity.

“Seek and ye shall find. Knock, and the door will be opened, son.”