cleanup.”
“Good. That’s a relief. Listen, the cleanup is what I wanted to talk to you about. As the president of Active Equipment, is there a possibility of you making a donation to the town? Maybe a couple of loaders.”
“Absolutely,” Caleb responded, wondering why he hadn’t thought of it himself. “Let me see which dealers are closest, and how quickly they can respond.”
“That would be terrific.”
“Hey, no problem. They can use all the help they can get here.”
“And…uh…Caleb?”
“Yeah?”
“Would you be comfortable with me making the public announcement? I don’t want to steal your PR or anything.”
Caleb got it. “But it wouldn’t hurt your mayoralty campaign any to be the front man on this?”
“Exactly.”
“Hey, go for it,” said Caleb. “It was your idea. You deserve the credit.”
“Thanks.” Seth’s tone was heartfelt.
“Happy to help out. Are you coming into town?”
“I’m going to try. But it may take a while. The airport’s closed.”
“Wow.” Caleb was surprised to learn about the airport. “I’m working on Bainbridge. This thing must have hit the entire town.”
“Get to a television when you can. They’ve got aerials.”
“I’m on the business end of a chain saw for the moment. And I think power’s out all over the place.”
“Mandy’s okay?” Seth confirmed.
“She’s a trouper,” said Caleb, his gaze going to where she struggled with a section of tree trunk that had to be thirty-six inches across. To his astonishment, she smiled while she worked, obviously making a joke to the man beside her.
“That, she is,” Seth agreed. “I’ll be there as soon as I can.”
“Roger, that.” Caleb signed off.
After making a few calls to Active Equipment headquarters and giving them Seth’s contact information, Caleb resettled his gloves and yanked on the pull cord for the chain saw. The action restarted the engine, and he braced his foot on the big log in front of him, ripping his way through the next section of the downed cedar tree.
Working methodically, he made it to the end of the tree, sheering off branches and bucking the trunk into manageable sections. Then he glanced up to see Travis approaching, thirty feet away.
Caleb shut it down again, wiping his forehead. “Where’d you come from?”
Travis glanced around. “Whoa. This is unbelievable.”
“Tell me about it. You should have heard them coming down last night. You here to help?”
“I am now.” He tugged a pair of work gloves out of the back pocket of his jeans. “My original plan was to bring Danielle in to the airport.”
Caleb glanced around but didn’t see Danielle among the workers. “Airport’s closed.”
“We know that now. But she was getting pretty antsy this morning.”
“Where is she?”
“I dropped her off at the coffee bar. She wasn’t exactly dressed for brush clearing.”
Caleb cracked a smile. “I think it would be dangerous to let her loose out here.”
“She might break a nail?”
“She might get somebody killed.”
Travis raked a hand through his short hair. “Yeah, she’s definitely better with a computer than with power tools. She’s making calls to see what her options are for getting back to Chicago.”
“She can take my jet,” Caleb offered, seeing an opportunity to make amends for some of the unfortunate complications of her trip to Colorado.
Caleb retrieved his phone and dialed Danielle’s cell. He made the offer of the jet and asked her to touch base with Seth to make sure the heavy-equipment donation went quickly and smoothly. Then he signed off.
“That’ll give her something productive to do,” he told Travis.
Travis glanced around. “Where do you need me?”
“See the tall kid in the blue T-shirt?”
“At the black pickup?”
“He’s keeping the chain saws fueled and sharp. Grab one, and you can start at the other end of that tree.” Caleb pointed as he moved on. “If we can open up this next
“Good. That’s a relief. Listen, the cleanup is what I wanted to talk to you about. As the president of Active Equipment, is there a possibility of you making a donation to the town? Maybe a couple of loaders.”
“Absolutely,” Caleb responded, wondering why he hadn’t thought of it himself. “Let me see which dealers are closest, and how quickly they can respond.”
“That would be terrific.”
“Hey, no problem. They can use all the help they can get here.”
“And…uh…Caleb?”
“Yeah?”
“Would you be comfortable with me making the public announcement? I don’t want to steal your PR or anything.”
Caleb got it. “But it wouldn’t hurt your mayoralty campaign any to be the front man on this?”
“Exactly.”
“Hey, go for it,” said Caleb. “It was your idea. You deserve the credit.”
“Thanks.” Seth’s tone was heartfelt.
“Happy to help out. Are you coming into town?”
“I’m going to try. But it may take a while. The airport’s closed.”
“Wow.” Caleb was surprised to learn about the airport. “I’m working on Bainbridge. This thing must have hit the entire town.”
“Get to a television when you can. They’ve got aerials.”
“I’m on the business end of a chain saw for the moment. And I think power’s out all over the place.”
“Mandy’s okay?” Seth confirmed.
“She’s a trouper,” said Caleb, his gaze going to where she struggled with a section of tree trunk that had to be thirty-six inches across. To his astonishment, she smiled while she worked, obviously making a joke to the man beside her.
“That, she is,” Seth agreed. “I’ll be there as soon as I can.”
“Roger, that.” Caleb signed off.
After making a few calls to Active Equipment headquarters and giving them Seth’s contact information, Caleb resettled his gloves and yanked on the pull cord for the chain saw. The action restarted the engine, and he braced his foot on the big log in front of him, ripping his way through the next section of the downed cedar tree.
Working methodically, he made it to the end of the tree, sheering off branches and bucking the trunk into manageable sections. Then he glanced up to see Travis approaching, thirty feet away.
Caleb shut it down again, wiping his forehead. “Where’d you come from?”
Travis glanced around. “Whoa. This is unbelievable.”
“Tell me about it. You should have heard them coming down last night. You here to help?”
“I am now.” He tugged a pair of work gloves out of the back pocket of his jeans. “My original plan was to bring Danielle in to the airport.”
Caleb glanced around but didn’t see Danielle among the workers. “Airport’s closed.”
“We know that now. But she was getting pretty antsy this morning.”
“Where is she?”
“I dropped her off at the coffee bar. She wasn’t exactly dressed for brush clearing.”
Caleb cracked a smile. “I think it would be dangerous to let her loose out here.”
“She might break a nail?”
“She might get somebody killed.”
Travis raked a hand through his short hair. “Yeah, she’s definitely better with a computer than with power tools. She’s making calls to see what her options are for getting back to Chicago.”
“She can take my jet,” Caleb offered, seeing an opportunity to make amends for some of the unfortunate complications of her trip to Colorado.
Caleb retrieved his phone and dialed Danielle’s cell. He made the offer of the jet and asked her to touch base with Seth to make sure the heavy-equipment donation went quickly and smoothly. Then he signed off.
“That’ll give her something productive to do,” he told Travis.
Travis glanced around. “Where do you need me?”
“See the tall kid in the blue T-shirt?”
“At the black pickup?”
“He’s keeping the chain saws fueled and sharp. Grab one, and you can start at the other end of that tree.” Caleb pointed as he moved on. “If we can open up this next
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