Chapter 19

** Thanks ObsessedwithChance for the updated new cover. Love ya!!

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As Avi and Kirstie make their way down the ladder, they meet Esther coming through the living room with Tim's clothes.

"Good morning." Esther smiles. "The power is back on. I had to dry Tim's clothes so that he would have something to put on."

"Wait. He doesn't have any clothes on?" Avi asks, giving his sister a weird look.

"Uh, no." She smirks as she heads to her bedroom.

"Sis." Avi says in shock.

"Sweetie." Kirstie giggles taking his hand. "She's a grown woman. They are both adults."

"But.. but my sister is seeing your brother naked." Avi says, scrunching up his nose.

"Well." Kirstie giggles as she blushes a bit. "Like I said, they are adults and they are attracted to each other."

"Ewweeee." Avi chuckles, shaking his head as if trying to get the image out of his head.

"You have been trying to get Tim and Esther together for so long. Why is it such a surprise?" Kirstie laughs.

"I don't know." Avi shrugs. "It just didn't occur to me that they would ... you know."

The bedroom door opens and Tim and Esther emerge fully dressed.

"We're fixing to go to town to see how much damage was done." Tim says as he fixes him a cup of coffee that Esther had already had made. "And I need to see what I can salvage of my stuff. Do yall want to go?"

"Sure." Avi answers quickly.

"Are you alright?" Kirstie asks as she rubs her brother on the back.

"Yeah, I guess. Last night was just a bit scary." Tim says.

"I have that extra bedroom. You can stay there." Kirstie says.

"I appreciate it." Tim smiles and kisses his little sister on the head.

"Oh, man. Look at your truck." Avi says as they walk out of the house.

The windshield was busted and a huge dent in the hood.

"Yeah, it's even more heartbreaking in the daylight." Tim says as he looks at his truck.

"But you have insurance, right?" Esther asks.

"Yeah." Tim nods.

Tim and Esther go to her truck and Avi and Kirstie would follow them in her car.

The closer they get to town the more damage they begin to see. Trees down. Electric company working on down power lines or snapped utility poles.

"This is horrible." Kirstie says as she and Avi take in the view. "I hope the diner wasn't damaged too bad."

"Wow." Was all Avi could say.

They stop first at the diner. Ben's car was parked in front.

"BEN!" Esther calls out as she and Kirstie run inside the diner. Tim and Avi follow behind them.

Ben walks out of the back room with a man wearing a suit and carrying a clipboard. Probably from the insurance company.

"Hey, girls." Ben says with a smile. Happy to see that the four were not harmed. "What a night, huh?"

"So, what's the verdict?" Esther asks as she looks around.

"Roof damage, water damage, a few broken windows." Ben says with a shrug. "It should be repaired in about a week. Hope you girls need some time off."

"A week?" Esther says with a worried look.

Tim slips his arm around her waist.

"Yall will be fine." Tim says softly, kissing her on the temple.

She sighs, knowing what he meant.

"Honey, you can't worry about me and Avi. You have enough to worry about." Esther says.

"I heard the school was hit pretty hard." Ben says.

"The tornado hit Tim's house too." Avi says.

"I'm so sorry, Mr. Foust." Ban says.

"At least I made it out alright." Tim shrugs. "We're heading over there now just to see had bad it really is."

"Well, girls, try not to worry. We'll be open as soon as we can." Ben says as he follows them to the door. "And again, Mr. Foust, I'm so sorry about your house."

"Well, he's not homeless." Kirstie smiles.

"Yeah, thank God for sisters." Tim smiles.

~~

"Oh. My. God." Esther says as she stares at what used to be Tim's home. "It's a miracle that you even got out alive."

The four of them stand in the yard, amongst the insulation and other debris as they stare at the ruins.

"How did you make it out of that?" Avi asks.

"I really don't know. It's all such a blur." Tim says as they begin to walk up the steps leading to the collapsed home. "It all happened so fast."

"Bubba, I don't think you're going to be able to salvage too much." Kirstie says, tightly gripping Avi's hand as they step over boards and bricks.

"I don't think so either." Tim says, staring down at the turned over sofa almost covered in bricks. He shakes his head as he begins to remember some of the events. "I remember. I rolled off the couch onto the floor, covering my head. The sofa blew over on top of me."

"Protecting you from the falling bricks?" Esther says. "Wow."

"Yeah, I guess so." Tim says with a sigh and a shrug of his shoulders. "Well, I do have to try and find some of my clothes."

They began to dig around in the debris, looking for anything such as clothes or family photos.

"I think I found your closet." Avi announces as he throws a few boards aside.

They started to pull Tim's clothes from the rubble. They were dirty and soaked from the rain but at least he had clothes. Kirstie was gathering any photos that she could find. Esther found his dresser that was damaged but still in one piece. She begins emptying the contents into a garbage bag, such as socks, boxers, etc.

"Wow, Mr. Foust, are you all alright?" Someone asks from the sidewalk.

Tim looks up to see the superintendent of the school district.

"Yeah, considering." Tim answers, glancing around at his home. "Just trying to see what I can save."

"Uh, the schools were damaged pretty bad. It'll take at least a couple of months for repairs." The superintendent says sadly.

"Was anyone killed last night?" Kirstie asks.

"Not that I've heard. There were several injuries though." The man answers. "Avi? Is that you?"

Avi smiles and waves at the principal.

"It's good to see you." The principal smiles. "We've missed you in school."

"Well, if you would put a lease on the bullies at the high school, he would probably still be in school." Esther says as she angrily stuffs some of Tim's tee shirts inside the bag.

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