Page 88 of The Homewreckers
The driver hung his head out the window, watching in his rearview mirror as he backed the truck up in halting, then lurching spurts, with black smoke spewing from the truck’s muffler.
Mo kept waving and called, “C’mon. C’mon. Plenty of room! Keep coming.”
When the semi gave one final backward lurch, Mo had to dive sideways to get out of the way. There was a thundering bang of metal on metal as the semi crashed into the dumpster, driving it backward until it finally slammed against the trunk of a huge live oak tree. Hattie let out an involuntary scream as the tree shuddered, then slowly toppled backward, landing in the yard.
“Jesus!” Mo exclaimed. He pulled himself to his feet and stood, trying to regain his bearings. He ran over to the cab of the semi, where the driver was slumped over the steering wheel, blood trickling from a gash on his lip.
“Hey, hey. You all right?” He opened the door and shook the driver’s shoulder. The man looked up, dazed.
“Yeah, man. I’m okay. I think I hit my head when the trailer hit the dumpster.”
He climbed out of the cab, leaning heavily against the door. “Something going on with the gas pedal. It like, stuck.” A huge lump wasalready rising on his forehead, but he walked unsteadily around to the rear of his rig.
“Shiiiiiit,” he muttered, clamping his hands on either side of his head as he surveyed the damage. “I’m fucked now.”
The impact of the crash had caused the trailer to crumple in the middle. The dumpster had hit the oak tree at an angle, tipping the container on its side, spilling the contents onto the ground. Amidst it all stood the jagged stump of the decapitated oak tree. Oak leaves fluttered down onto the debris.
Hattie fetched a bottle of water from a nearby cooler and took it to the driver, who was dangerously pale and swaying on his feet. She uncapped it and handed it to him. “Here. Come on, you need to sit down.”
He made a feeble attempt to resist, but finally allowed himself to be led to the shade of the nearest tent, where Mo’s assistant, Gage, was waiting with a first aid kit.
Hattie and Cass went to meet Mo, who stood staring down at the remains of the trailer and dumpster.
“Oh my God,” Hattie said. “I didn’t think things could get any worse, but they just did. What do we do about this mess?”
Cass pulled her phone from her pocket and scrolled through her contacts. “First we call the container company and tell them to hold off on that other dumpster. Then, I’m thinking we’re gonna need a backhoe and a tree company.” She gazed out at the fallen tree. “The good news is, you’ve now got an amazing view of the river from the back of the house. And with any luck, the insurance company will pay for that oak’s removal.”
“I’m gonna go check on that semi driver,” Hattie said. “I’m worried he might have a concussion.”
“What a clusterfuck,” Mo said. “Yeah, let’s make sure the driver doesn’t die on our watch. We don’t need one more thing today.”
41Trouble in the Air
Tug Kavanaugh was not normally an excitable man, but this was an exceptional day.
“Jesus, Mary, and Fred,” he exclaimed, taking off his baseball cap and slapping it against his knee. “Forty years I’ve been in this business, and in all that time I’ve never seen anything like this catastrophe. A fire, water damage, downed tree. What next? Lightning? Locusts?”
“You really don’t like this house at all, do you?” Hattie asked. “But why not? The location is amazing. You’d never find a lot this big on the Back River, not even for ten times what we paid. And the house is solid. We can do this, Dad. You gotta believe in me.”
“I do, but sometimes things are beyond our reach,” he said sadly.
“My mom always said, ‘The harder the delivery, the healthier the baby,’” Hattie said.
She could tell he was surprised by the reference to her mother.
“How is your mom? Have you heard from her lately?”
“I guess she’s okay. She texts me once in a while. With her, no news is good news, right?”
“You think she’ll ever marry the boyfriend?”
Hattie shook her head. “That’s not something we ever talk about. But you still haven’t told me why you’re so opposed to this project.”
He kicked at the tree trunk. “I never cared for those Creedmores. Big Holland was in my class at Cardinal Mooney. He was a bully anda blowhard. Still is, for that matter. Thought his family’s money could buy him anything.”
“So it’s sweet revenge that they couldn’t manage to hold on to a house they’d owned for generations,” Hattie said. “You know what I’m gonna do?”
“Light a match and finish the job?” he said hopefully.
