Sabotage (Powerless Nation Book 3) (21 page)

Unless maybe it was her own mom. So much had changed since the EMP last summer. Dee and her mom were friends now. They’d even talked a few times about Jacob. When her younger brother had died it had torn her family apart. Now they were reconnecting. Her parents sat together across the table from Dee, gently teasing each other.

Her dad had changed too. Dee hadn’t thought Ted would ever like Mason, but the two of them were collaborating on plans to rebuild the barn and pipe fresh water to the house.

Not only were Mason and Ted getting along, her dad had stopped treating her like a child. She thought back to a conversation they’d had a few days ago.
 

Ted had walked into the kitchen where she was cooking dinner. “Something smells amazing. Is it Italian?”

“Spaghetti,” said Dee, stirring the noodles.

“Need any help?”

Her dad didn’t cook. She wondered why he was really there. “I guess you could butter some bread for the garlic toast.”

The slices of bread soaked up the freshly churned butter like a sponge. “I hear you helped can those tomatoes last summer. I wish I could have seen that.”

“I’m sure there will be plenty more this year.” They’d already started growing tomato plants in tiny trays in the house. They would replant them in the garden when the last chance of frost was past.

“Your grandpa told me he’s been taking you shooting.”

This
was what he wanted to talk about. He hadn’t wanted her learning to use a gun. She set down the spoon and stiffened her back. “He was teaching me before Downey came to town. I’m not sure he’s feeling up to it right now though.”

“Maybe you’d like to go with me some time.”

Dee hid her surprise. “So you can show me how to shoot?”

“Actually, I was thinking maybe
you
could give
me
a few pointers.”

“For reals?” she turned away from the cookstove to face him. “Are you joking?”

“Not even a little.” He sprinkled dried garlic on the bread and then set the pan inside the warming compartment of the stove. “Come sit with me. I’d like to talk to you.”

“Just for a minute,” said Dee, sitting beside him on Grandpa’s worn couch. She’d been on the receiving end of her dad’s lectures before and knew how long he could talk once he got started. “If I mess up my first dinner back, I’ll never hear the end of it.”

“This won’t take long,” he assured her. “I’ve had a lot of time to think the past couple of weeks while Downey had me and your mom locked up. I kept hearing about how my daughter and her friends were standing up to him. I was so proud of you.”

“I thought you’d be upset,” said Dee. “What we were doing was pretty dangerous.”

“You showed good judgment in a bad situation. All I’ve ever wanted to do was keep you safe. I never thought it would be
you
keeping
me
safe. I was wrong about not letting you join the militia. If you still want to, I’ll support your decision.”

 
“Can I go with Hyrum to help rescue the kids in Downey’s other recruiting camps?”

“It’s entirely up to you. I’ll worry, but I know you can handle yourself.”

Dee threw her arms around Ted’s neck. “Thanks, Dad.”

A scorched smell caught her attention. “Oh no!” She jumped to her feet and hurried to the stove to remove the bread. Ted and Dee stared at the blackened slices.

“I’ll tell everyone it’s my fault,” he offered.

“They’ll never believe you.” She handed him a knife. “But the black scrapes off pretty easy. Trust me. I know.”

“I do trust you,” Ted said with a smile. Dee was so happy she didn’t care what anyone thought about her cooking. Her dad trusted her. She smiled back at him and began scraping.

After thinking it over for a few days, she had decided not to help Hyrum with the rescue mission. She wanted to, but she didn’t think she could leave Grandpa. She looked over at him and found she wasn’t the only one gazing around the table. She met Grandpa’s eyes and they shared a smile.
 

Of everyone there, Dee worried the most about him. They all knew it was a miracle he’d survived the EMP. His health was already precarious, and the events of the past few weeks had been too much for him. His heart couldn’t keep up with his body and it was taking a toll.

He’d been barred from the clinic, and now spent most of his time in his easy chair, reading, napping, and giving advice.

Dee planned to spend the next months waiting on him, making sure he didn’t exert himself until they found a doctor that could fit him with a new pacemaker. She wasn’t ready to say goodbye to her grandfather.

The thought reminded her of something. “Angela?” said Dee.

“Yes, dear?”

“Do you remember once a long time ago when you got three flat tires on your minivan on your way to church?” Down the table from Angela, Hyrum shook his head and made throat cutting motions at Dee, but it was too late.

Angela tilted her head slightly to the side, a puzzled expression on her face. “Yes, I do. It’s hard to forget something like that.”

Dee pointed to where Hyrum was trying to slink into the kitchen. “Your son has something he’d like to tell you about that.”

Hyrum cleared his throat, and then coughed out a word that sounded like ‘traitor.’

Dee laughed with the others while Hyrum simultaneously tried to confess and defend himself.
 

When things had calmed down, Mason whispered to Dee, “Are you ready for our date tonight? It’s going to be even better than our first one.”

“I don’t think anything can top that,” she whispered back.

“Trust me, you’re going to love it.”

Dee looked into his dark eyes. She thought about how willingly he’d sacrificed himself to save her.

“I already do,” she said.

She leaned against Mason, feeling more at peace than she had in weeks. She didn’t know what the future would bring, but for the moment they were all together and safe.
 

It was enough for now.

Acknowledgements

First and foremost, I want to thank you, the reader! Without you, I probably wouldn’t have continued this series past
OUTAGE
. Thanks for encouraging me to keep telling these stories, and for making this bookworm feel like an author.

I owe my parents a huge debt of gratitude. Thanks for believing in me and teaching me how to work. I also owe you an apology: Sorry about the tires on the mini-van! ;-)

Next, thanks to my critique partners, Tiffany Odekirk and Kristin Arnold, for your friendship and weekly feedback. It’s really shaped and improved my writing. Thanks also for introducing me to LDS Storymakers. I’ve finally found my tribe.

Thank you to Heather Senter, and the dozens more people I’ve chatted with on
kboards.com
for all the times you’ve given me artistic and marketing advice. Another place I’ve found like-minded readers and authors is the Band of Dystopian Facebook page. I love hanging out there. You guys are great!

Thanks to my sister, Lynzee and friends, Doug Woolsey and Margaret Oak, for being my earliest readers. Your insights, suggestions and continuous encouragement mean the world to me.

A shout out to Bruce Beach who really
did
build a fallout shelter made from 42 buses. We’ve never met or spoken, but I admire his hard work and example.

Finally, thanks to my husband and kids for putting up with all the times I’ve left you on your own while I write. You’re always here to welcome me when I come back down to real life. It’s an honor to be your wife and mom.

Thanks again to all of you for reading, and I hope you will leave a review. Good or bad, they always make my day.

About the Author

I grew up in a one-stoplight town in Idaho with the best family in the world. The stories in my books are frequently real things that happened to me or one of my siblings, and the feelings of family closeness I write about are straight from my own experiences.

I live in California with my husband and two kids, along with a cat, a dog and a puppy. The puppy keeps hoping I’ll print out my manuscript so she can chew it up. I’m not a prepper, but I think people should do their best to be prepared for natural or personal disaster.

Connect with me!

Website:
www.ellisabarr.com

Facebook:
www.facebook.com/ellisabarrbooks

To find out the instant I have a new book out, follow the link below to sign up for my new release announcements:
ellisabarr.com/newbooks

Copyright © Ellisa Barr, 2015

All rights reserved. You may not copy, distribute, transmit, reproduce, or otherwise make available this publication in any form or by any means without the prior permission of the author. Any person who does any unauthorized act in relation to this publication may be liable to criminal prosecution and civil claims for damages.

Editing by Felicia A. Sullivan