Randy scarfed down his second bowl of food then headed back to the cabin.
“Is Daddy still sick?” Alex asked as she watched him stumble back to the cabin.
“In more ways than one,” Rosemarie grumbled.
“Yeah, sweetie,” Georgi said. “He’s going to sleep until his stomach feels better.”
“Not this time,” Georgi said. “But we should keep an eye out for things like that at Uncle Levi’s house. Come on, sweetie, let’s get this cleaned up.”
“Can I help with anything?” Neil asked.
“Uh, sure,” Georgi said with surprise. “We’ve got to go get water from the stream.”
“Lead the way,” he said.
“Rosemarie!” Georgi called. “Come with us.”
“Fine,” Rosemarie grumbled. She got up and climbed down the steps.
They walked down the path in silence until Georgi broke the silence. “It's gonna get dark soon. I guess it’s too late for you go get back to where you came from,” she said. “You could stay the night here. I’m sure Randy wouldn’t mind sharin’ the cabin with you.”
“Thanks for the offer,” Neil answered. “But I have my hammock with me. I’ll find a spot in the woods to set it up.”
“You've got a hammock?” Alex asked, bouncing on her toes.
“It’s the best way to sleep,” he said smiling. “High off the ground, far away from any grubby fingers.”
“You plannin’ on sticking around?” Georgi asked.
“Nah, I’m pretty good on my own,” he smiled. “I’ve got my pack, my hammock, and my sturdy legs. I can make it out there, no problem.”
Well dang, Rosemarie thought. “We'll have to go into town at some point. You could wait around until then and catch a ride,” she said.
Neil looked at Rosemarie for a moment and the corner of his mouth curled up. “I could do that,” he said as the grin spread. “Maybe I could help you guys get things squared away here until then. Your place needs work.”
“We’d appreciate that,” Georgi said. “Lord knows we could use the extra muscle.”
The adults carried the water back up to the camp while Alex and Murphy poked in the underbrush along the way. They cleaned the dishes and left Neil to set up his camp.
“Alex, go get ready for bed,” Georgi said as they got back to the treehouse.
“Yes, ma'am.” she sighed as she climbed the steps. She stopped halfway and turned around. “Is Murphy sleepin' up here with us?”
Rosemarie smiled back at her. “Yep, I'll bring him up in a bit.”
After she was out of earshot, Georgi turned to Rosemarie.
“Look, I know you have every right to be angry with Randy,” she whispered. “But if you could try and let it go. We need to focus on survival, not past mistakes.”
“Putting salt instead of sugar in coffee is a mistake. That mother-effer stole my car and covered the inside with puke,” Rosemarie said. “Do you expect me to ignore that?”
“He has military trainin’, he can shoot a gun, and he can fix motors. Yes, he is a pigheaded crackpot, but he’s not going to purposely endanger us. I’m not askin’ you to ignore the fact that he stole your car, just let me deal with it.”
“Come on, Georgi,” Rosemarie threw up her hands. “You know he won’t listen.”
“Maybe not, but what makes you think he’d listen any better to you?” she asked. She sighed and scrubbed her face. “I don’t ask many favors from you, but I’m askin’ you for this. Please. Try to get along with him. I know he pisses you off. He pisses me off, but he's Alex's father. Fightin' with him and callin' him names hurts her.”
“When he's being stupid, do what I do,” she continued.
"Ignore him and write about it. I’ll give you an empty notebook. Just don’t say it out loud. It’ll only make things worse.”
Rosemarie looked at the pleading look in her eyes. “Fine,” she sighed. “I’ll keep my opinion to myself. But he still has to clean up my car.”
“He will,” she replied. “Tomorrow.”
“Right,” Rosemarie mumbled as she grabbed Murphy and climbed the steps.
“There is a silver lining to this whole mess,” Georgi said, following Rosemarie up.
“What’s that?”
“He brought back Neil.” she replied as she pulled the steps up behind her.
A small smile spread across Rosemarie’s face. “There is that.”
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