Over the River and Through the Woods

"I knew Miss Ethyl had a daughter. I used to see here in the store every now and then, but I think she ran off with some guy, and I haven't seen her for years. I guess I also knew she had a granddaughter, but I had no idea there was a great-granddaughter. But, okay. As long as everything's all right," her son said.

"With me, yes. With that house? Not so much."

"Did you make a list?" Wade asked.

"Oh, yes. We've got several things to help out with," she said even though 'we' meant Wade.

He chuckled knowing he'd be spending some of his spare time there, and his mom laughed, too, once she realized what was so funny.

"Anyway, I'll be there in a few minutes," she let him know. "Oh, and there weren't any animals, so thank the Lord for that, right?"

"Right. And no hurry, Mom. I just wanted to make sure you're okay," he told her as another customer walked in and said good morning.

Around 11 o'clock, Wade mentioned he was getting hungry, and his mom knew he'd been up since five, so she told him to go to lunch first. He came back 45 minutes later, and let his mom take her break.

When she came back he told her he needed to grab some tools to take over to the Fuller's house.

"Oh, right. I sure hope he'll be up and around again soon. I'm just glad his son is there to take care of his dad," she said. "So you do that, and I'll be happy to mind the store."

Wade thanked her then pulled off his blue 'Orr Hardware' vest and started looking for everything Mr. Fuller's son had requested to take care of some kind of flooring problem.

He heard the bell ring at the front door but didn't bother looking, knowing his mom had it covered. Just as the customer walked in, Wade went into the back of the store to find something he needed, and could only hear muffled tones from the voices.

As he got back out to the main floor, he heard his mother say, "You feel free to look around, and if you need any help, just give me a holler, okay?"

He still wasn't looking as he grabbed some drill bits and a pack of sandpaper and put them in the bag he was carrying.

He picked up a couple more things, and just as he put them in the bag, he heard a woman saying, "Hey! What do you think you're doing?"

He looked up and saw her and smiled when she said, "Don't you smile at me! I know what you're doing!"

Susan walked up and asked what was the matter.

The woman pointed at Wade and said, "That guy. Right there. He's stealing tools! I saw him putting things in that bag. You can go check if you don't believe me."

A young girl was standing next to the woman, and Wade was pretty sure he'd never seen either of them before just as his mom said, "Him?" pointing to Wade.

"Yes, him!" she said, a look on her face that said 'you're not getting away with this'.

Susan laughed, but not too loudly. She put a hand on the woman's shoulder, then while looking at her son said to her, "He's not stealing, dear. He owns this place."

The blood drained from the woman's face at the same time the angry look of accusation disappeared.

"He does?" she said weakly as the tall, younger man smiled at her.

"Yes, he is. In fact, he's also my son," Susan informed her.

"Oh, my," the tall, pretty woman said, now too embarrassed to even look at the attractive, younger man walking over with his hand extended.

"We haven't met. I'm Wade Orr," he said pleasantly to the woman as he winked at the girl who giggled.

He kept his hand out for a good five seconds before the now-embarrassed woman finally looked up at him. Wade was still smiling, but she wasn't moving, so he moved his hand down to the girl and asked if she'd like to shake it.

She smiled back then shook it, and Wade told her his name just in case she hadn't heard.

"That's funny," she said with a smile.

"What? Wade? You mean like 'wade in the water' funny?" he said while he made a funny face as he bent down until his was right in front of hers.

She laughed again, and although Wade didn't see it, her mother also smiled.

"So...I'm Mr. Funny-Name Guy, and you are...?"

"I'm Emma," she told him.

"And who's this pretty lady standing beside you? Is she your sister?"

Emma giggled again and said, "Uh-uh. That's my mom!"

"Oh. I see," Wade said, his eyes open as wide as he could get them.

He rolled them around and got another laugh before standing back up and extending his hand again.

This time the woman took it and told him she was very sorry.

"Nah, that's okay. It's not the first time someone thought I was stealing from the store," he said very seriously.

Not used to Wade's brand of humor, she got a puzzled look on her face and said, "Really?"

Wade looked at his mom who smiled which made her son laugh.

"Um...that's never happened before, but I do have that 'thief look'."

This time she caught on and said, "Ha-ha. I hope you enjoyed your fun at my expense."

Wade bent back down and said to Emma so her mom could hear, "This one's touchy, isn't she?"

He was nodding his head toward her mom, and Emma laughed as she said, "I don't know."

"Oh, trust me. She's a touchy one, all right."

Susan stepped in and said, "Wade? This is Colby Sellars. She's Ethyl's granddaughter. The one I spoke to this morning? And you already know that other pretty little girl you've been talking to."

Wade stood up again and got serious as he told her how very sorry he was to learn her grandmother had passed away.

Not quite sure how to take this smiling, attractive, younger man, Colby just thanked him. Wade then bent back down and said, "I'm sorry for you, as well, Emma."

"My daddy died, too," she informed him without warning, causing Wade to stop smiling as he looked at her mother.

Colby was surprised but not shocked. Rather than make an issue out of bringing up something so personal to a total stranger she tried distracting her daughter.

"Honey? We need to get our things and get back to Grandma's house."

Wade let it go, smiled again, then looked at Emma, and in effort to lighten the mood started singing, "Over the river and through the woods, to Grandmother's house we go..."

Emma started laughing and Wade said, "Come on! Sing it with me!"

"The horse knows the way..."

Emma joined in and sang, "To carry the sleigh through the white and drifted..."

When they got to the word 'snow', Wade hammed it up big time and added some theatrical moves with his arms, and Emma was unable to keep singing due to laughing so hard she was nearly crying.

Colby couldn't help smile herself even though she wasn't quite sure who this goofy guy was. He was obviously funny, and yes, he was very cute, but he was probably only in his early-to-mid 20s, so not someone she could take too seriously. But Susan did say he owned the store, so perhaps she wasn't being fair.

"Sorry," Wade finally said to Colby. "I was going to ask you if you were here to get things for your grandmother's house."

She wanted to tell him, "No, I'm just here to admire your beautiful hammers and saws," but knew that would sound as ugly as she'd been feeling lately.

"Yes. Your mom and I did a quick walk through, and I thought I'd pick up a few things my grandmother didn't have in the garage."

"Is there anything in need of immediate repair? A broken pipe? A...hole in the roof? A busted window? Anything like that?" Wade asked.

"No, nothing that serious. But the thermostat is sticky and we were freezing until it shot up to 85 and turned into a sauna. It's been on the blink for years, but Grandma never got around to getting it fixed."

"I'll come over and put in a new one for you," Wade offered.

"Oh, I'm...I'm kind of on a budget," she said, knowing that would be way over the amount she could possibly spend.

"No worries. You can pay us a little here and there, but with you and your daughter staying there, and the weather so cold, that's something I just can't let you live with."

Colby looked at Susan who said, "We look out for one another around here, honey. And you're still one of us, so let us do this for you."

"I don't know when I can pay you, but if...if you're sure," she said, now feeling even worse for her 'stealing' comments and thinking such sarcastic thoughts.

"Yep. Sure as sure can be," Wade told her. "I'll stop by in a few hours or maybe right after work, if you're going to be home."

"Oh, we won't be going anywhere," Colby told him. "I just want to get the house in good enough shape to sell and get back to Los Angeles."

"Ah, okay. Small-town life in John Day isn't your thing, huh?" Wade asked with a smile.

"I...we...really like the city."

Wade was still smiling as he said in a very chipper voice, "Sure. Who wouldn't? I mean, who'd want to live somewhere with no smog, no crime, no traffic, and a low cost of living, right?"

Colby was so taken aback she didn't give him the piece of her mind she normally would have. She loved the city, and hated small towns, and she found his comment very...insensitive. She'd gone from thinking the worst to regretting it to wanting to lay into this...kid...in the space of two minutes, and now she didn't know what to think.

"So...let me finish getting the things I need to take to someone else, and I'll see you two pretty ladies later on today, okay?" he said before twinking Emma's nose and getting one more laugh.

Wade went back to 'stealing stuff' while Colby stood there staring.

"He takes a little getting used to," Susan said quietly as they both watched Wade in action.

"Yes. I can see that," she replied just as he bent over. He was wearing jeans, and Colby felt a flash of guilt or something like it as her body reacted to his...backside...causing even more confusion in her already emotion-addled brain.

"I...I should really get what I came for and get going," Colby said as she shook herself out of her visual trance.

"Let me help you, dear," Susan said, and within three minutes, they were checking out.

"I hope that goes through," Colby said when she handed Susan her credit card.

It did, and Susan thanked her then told her how good it had been seeing her again.

"And you, too, Miss Emma!" she told the little girl.

"Are you Mr. Funny-Name Guy's mother?" she asked.

"Well, yes I am," Susan told her.

"Do you have a funny name, too?"

"I don't know. Is Susan Orr funny?"

Emma thought for a second then shook her head.

"No. That's not funny."

Susan laughed then wished them both a good day.

Back outside Colby went to start her grandmother's car again, and...it didn't.

"Oh, great. Not now. Please?" she said before trying it again to no avail.

She sat there on the verge of crying when a tap on the glass by her face scared her so badly she yelped.

"Hi, there. Car troubles?" Wade asked loudly.

"Don't tell me you fix cars, too," Colby replied after recovering and rolling down the window, a blast of cold air hitting her.

"Okay. I won't tell you. I'll just fix it," he said back with that smile of his.

Before she could reply, Wade asked her to pop the hood. Colby found the handle to release the latch and pulled it. Wade disappeared as the hood raised up, and Emma asked what was wrong.

"I don't know, sweetheart. But this...nice man...is going to see if he can fix it."

"You mean Mr. Funny Name?"

Her mother had to smile to avoid crying as she said, "Yes. That's the one."

Just seconds later, she heard Wade call out, "Okay. Try it now!"

Colby turned the key, and to her delight, the engine started. Wade dropped the hood, came around to her door, and smiled at her again.

"Thank you," she told him, genuinely grateful for his help.

"You're welcome."

Colby sat there for a moment then said, "I...I'm so sorry about what I said in the store. You know, about you stealing things."

Wade laughed loudly and said, "It's okay. After all that time in LA, you're probably on the lookout for criminals everywhere you go, so I suppose that makes sense."

Again, Colby went from one emotion to another in an instant.

"Have you ever lived anywhere but this tiny, little podunk town?" she asked with a hint of indignation.

"No, ma'am. Never wanted to. I like knowing who the people I see every day are, and I love saying hello to them and calling them by name. And you know what? They do the same back to me. But I meant no offense. If city life is your preference, then I wish you all the best."

"I just think you shouldn't be so quick to criticize something you don't know anything about," Colby said with a little less edge to it.

With that same smile, Wade said to her, "Okay, but the way I see it, it's like my grandfather used to say, 'You don't have to lick a trash can to know it's dirty'."

Colby was so shocked again, all she could think of to say was, "Unbelievable."

"Not really," Wade replied, ignoring the obvious, and pretending he missed the sarcasm. "Trash cans are dirty, so you really don't need to lick them to understand that..."

"I...I think I need to go now," Colby said, cutting him off when she put the car in gear.

Wade kept smiling, stepped back, then said, "You ladies have a nice day, and I'll see you later to get that thermostat all squared away for you."

"Bye Mr. Funny Name!" Emma called out.

"Bye, Pretty Girl!" Wade told her.

He winked at Colby then said, "And you, too, Pretty Lady."

Colby tossed her long, blonde hair, and said, "Huh!" before rolling the window up and pulling away.

She looked back in the mirror and saw him standing there waving, that same silly smile on his face.

"He's nice," Emma said, interrupting her mother's irritation.

"Oh. Well, I...I suppose he is," her mom reluctantly agreed.

"And he's very handsome, isn't he?"

"What?" Colby asked, not sure she heard correctly.

"He's handsome. Like Daddy was," Emma told her mother.

Her late husband had been very good looking, and she couldn't argue with her daughter. Wade was just as attractive as Johnny had been, but in a very different kind of way.

Again, her mom begrudgingly agreed.

"I guess he's not so bad looking."

"Mom?" Emma said.

"Yes?"

"Do you like him?"

"What? What on earth are saying, child?" Colby asked, now feeling exasperated.

"Well, Daddy's in heaven, and Mr. Funny Name is funny and nice and handsome, so I thought you could like him."

"Emma. Mommy's not looking for someone to like. Especially not here, okay?"

"Are people bad here?" she asked.

Colby had told her daughter many times about 'bad people' to try and help her be aware of anyone who might try and harm her. She hated having to do it at such a young age, but there were plenty of creeps and sickos out there to worry about, and living in the neighborhood where they lived made things even worse.

And that's when she realized that wasn't the case in John Day. Okay, it was possible, but the odds were extremely low whereas in Los Angeles, the odds were 100% in favor of there being a whole lot of bad people, and nearly as high that one day, something bad would eventually happen.

"No, honey. People are very nice here," her mom had to admit.

"I wish we lived here," Emma said, again surprising her mom.

"You do?"

"Uh-huh. Cuz then I wouldn't have to be afraid of bad people," she said the way only a child that age could say.

"But you have all your friends back at our house," her mother countered.

Emma didn't say anything, and that gave Colby cause for concern.

"Honey? Did something happen?" her mom said, now worried sick something very bad had happened.

Emma sat there for some time before answering, but eventually she said, "Ava said she doesn't like me anymore. So now she's best friends with Isabella, and I don't have anyone to play with at school."

Colby knew how vicious girls could be when they turned on a friend. It had happened to her twice growing up. One day, she was best friends with a girl, and the next her former friend hated her guts and got other girls to torment her making matters even worse. Even now, all these years later, just recalling it still stung.

"Then Ava isn't a very nice person, because you're the best friend anyone could ever have," her mom told her supportively.

"Mom?"

"Yes?"

"You're my best friend."

Colby choked up and couldn't respond for several seconds. She blinked away the tears that formed and said, "And you're my best friend, Emma-Wemma."

"And Mr. Funny Name is my second best friend."

All Colby could do was smile and tell her daughter that was very nice.

The weather stayed cold all day with the high temperature only reaching 48 degrees. By the time Wade showed up around 6:30 that evening, it was very dark and down to 41 and falling.

Colby let him in and thanked him for coming after he knocked on the front door.

"I hope I'm not interrupting dinner or anything," he said when she let him inside.

"No. Not at all. We just finished eating, so please come in."

She led Wade over to the thermostat, and that's when Emma came running downstairs.

"Mr. Funny Name!" she said as she ran right up to him.

Wade bent down and reached out to hug her, but Emma stopped and looked at her mom.

"It's okay, honey," she said, again understanding that was the result of many talks about 'bad people'.

Emma gave him a big hug and asked if she could help.

"Sure. Let's get you a chair to stand on, and I'll go turn off the electricity to the thermostat and put in the new one," Wade told her. "Oh, it might get dark in the hallway, so don't scream, okay?"

Emma giggled again and waited while her mom grabbed a chair from the kitchen. Wade went to the laundry room where the circuit panel was located. He quickly found the right breaker and switched it off.

It did shut off the light in the hall, so he handed the flashlight he had with him to Colby and asked if she'd mind while Emma held the box containing the new thermostat and watched.

"Mind? Heavens no. You're here taking care of this for us, so I'm happy to help," she told him.

And there was that smile of his again. And those eyes. And his hair. And his...butt. At once point, she realized the flashlight was shining on it, and when Wade asked what happened she quickly shined it back on the place that needed to be illuminated.

"I really liked your grandmother," Wade said as he pulled off the old unit.

"Thank you. She was more than just my grandmother. She was more like the mother I wish I'd had and also a really good friend to me," Colby said.

"And I loved my GG, too," Emma chimed in with.

"GG. For great-grandma, right?" Wade asked as he took the unit out of the box.

"Uh-huh. I didn't know my great-grandpa. And I don't really know my Grandma, either."

"Oh, I see," Wade replied. "I don't really know her all that well myself. She moved away quite awhile ago, and I never had the chance to get to know her."

Colby came very close to saying, "You're not missing much," but didn't.

"Will she be here for the funeral?" he asked.

Colby had been dreading it, but knew her mom would be arriving anytime. The best she could hope for was her mother would be staying with a friend or at a motel. Were she to show up and ask to stay there, Colby wasn't sure she could deal with it.

"Yes, she will," was all she said.

Wade sensed things were strained and didn't pry as he asked Emma for the new 'thingamajig'.

"My GG used to say thingamajig," Emma told him as she carefully opened the box and handed him the fancy new thermostat.

Wade connected two wires then said, "You're gonna love this thermostat. Digital readout. All kinds of neat stuff. A huge upgrade from that sticky, 40-year dial gizmo."

"As long as it keeps the house at a constant temperature, I'll be very happy," Colby told him.

"It'll do that, all right," Wade informed her as he snapped it into place. "Okay, let me go turn the circuit breaker back on, and we'll be in business."