Watermelon Days and Firefly Nights: Heartwarming Scenes from Small Town Life Read Online Free

minute, and I’ll get you down.” Sarah got a ladder from the garage, leaned it up against the side of the house, climbed to the top, and brought the shaky-legged dog down to safety. Sarah released Georgia into the fenced backyard of the house, then waved at the nosy neighbors across the street.
    Engrossed in a video game, Kevin and Josh didn’t even look up when Sarah walked into the house.
    “Hi, Mom.”
    “Hi, Mom.”
    “What’s for dinner?”
    “Can we go swimming now?”
    She turned off the game.
    “Mom! Why’d you do that? I was way ahead.”
    “Why you got a mad look on your face, Mom? We did our chores.”
    “We cleaned up the kitchen.”
    “Picked up our clothes.”
    “We even gave Georgia her bath.”
    “And where is Georgia?” asked Sarah.
    “Uh-oh.” The twins looked at each other.
    “Just a second, Mom; I need to get something from outside.” Kevin got up to go outside.
    “Too late. I already got her down. Can you tell me how exactly Georgia got up on the roof?”
    “We put her there.”
    “Guys, why would you do that?”
    “You told us to bathe her.”
    “You said she had to be clean when you got home.”
    “So we put her up there to keep her from getting dirty.”
    “Did you smell her, Mom? She smells pretty good.”
    “For a dog.”
    After a moment’s pause, Sarah’s tense shoulders relaxed. The furrow in her brow smoothed. The churning in her stomach slowed. She bent and gave her boys big hugs before allowing that Georgia did indeed smell pretty good.
    For a dog.

    T HERE WOULD BE TIME to correct their misdeed. Time for Sarah to teach her boys yet more stuff about safety and pet care and how they must never, ever climb on a ladder when she wasn’t home.
    But all that would have to wait for another day. On this one, Sarah, like Georgia, was simply going to enjoy the exquisite feeling of having her feet set back on the ground.

3
    L ET H ER E AT C AKE
    “C HAMBER OF C OMMERCE . Yes. Yes. Can you hold on a minute, please?” Faye Beth Newman held her freshly manicured hand over the mouthpiece of the phone. “Mayor,” she hissed, “it’s Windell Minter. He wants to know if you’re still here.”
    “What does he need?” Mayor Tinker already had his coat on. The phone had rung just as he was about to leave the office an hour early, which, forever mindful of giving a day’s work for a day’s taxpayer pay, he never, ever did.
    “Says he needs to talk to you about getting a permit to build a slide of some kind.”
    Shoot. Today was Mayor Tinker’s wife, Tiny’s, birthday. He’d hoped to get home from work before she did so that he could have dinner ready when she drove in. He’d had it all planned since last week. Pork loin, red potatoes, asparagus, sugar-free buttermilk pie. All of her favorites. Taking Windell Minter’s call would mean a delay of no telling how long. Feeling guilty, he shifted from one foot to the other and looked at his watch.
    Ten till five.
    Then without giving Alfred the chance to decide, Faye Beth spoke into the phone. “Windell, I’m sorry, but you’ve just missed the mayor. He had some business to take care of and left early. How about I put you down for first thing in the morning? That will be fine. Okay. I’ll sure tell him.” She hung up the phone.
    “Faye Beth—” the mayor began.
    “Shush. Get yourself out that door. Go on now, before Windell drives by and sees you’re still here. You’ve put in at least forty-five hours this week already—what with city council and library board meetings. It won’t hurt a thing for you to scoot out early. Why, if they paid it, the city would owe you overtime. Go home. Make Tiny a good dinner. Tell her that I said to have a happy birthday. You baking her a sugar-free cake?”
    All the way home, Mayor Tinker stewed. A slide? Whatever did Windell Minter want a slide for? He was a bachelor with no kids. Even if he did have kids, they’d be too old for a slide. Best Mayor Tinker could recall,