Willowcreek; Within The Roots

Part Three ─ Not The Reunion She Wanted

If the drive to the estate wasn't long and daunting enough, the driveway leading to the house was twice as so. It created the impression that the original owners wanted to create as much distance from the crazy town and themselves as they could. That, or the town sprouted a pair of legs and moved itself.

Evie had already noticed that there was a recurring theme with the trees and grassy areas. Even on the estate the trees looked scorched and the grass looked brown and crispy, as if there had been a drought over summer. One tree looked like it had been struck by lightning and it was still sizzling away, light tendrils of smoke wisping into the air. But these trees seemed to be a different type. Pine maybe? They had pine cones on them, or there had been pine cones. They now littered around the base of a few trunks, probably removed or dropped by birds and squirrels. Pine cones sprinkling the ground were little brown indicators of fall.

Reaching the end of the driveway, the coniferous trees made way to small bushels of freshly planted green...somethings. Charlie and Evie were not prepared for what they were about to see. The car came to a halt in front of a large, decrepit old Georgian manor house, a decently sized courtyard surrounding them. The two had not expected a courtyard or for it to be overrun by people. Perhaps overrun was a bit of an exaggeration. After the reception they'd received at the diner for just mentioning they were going here, the siblings had thought their father would be struggling to find people to work on the restoration. Evie counted at least a handful, five or six men crowded together, wearing fluorescent yellow vests with silver stripes and neon yellow hardhats. She even counted a few men heading into the building.

Charlie got out of the car, leaving Evie in her seat to continue her silent treatment as one of the workers came over to greet him. He was wearing an orange vest and that, to Evie, signified he was a little more important, the foreman most likely. He shook Charlie's hand, exchanging a short greeting before the man looked at Evie in the car, passing her a smile and waving to her. She ignored him and turned her head toward the manor house.

Her eyes found the stone steps that she'd seen online. Subconsciously, she searched the them for any sign of the girl from the picture, but to her disappointment, there wasn't one. They actually looked slightly different from how they looked in the picture, confirming to her that it had been an edit. She felt ridiculous. But her disappointment and ridicule were short lived as she spotted the only person who could make her smile. Evie's expression lit up as she got out of the car.

"My two favorite people!" Eamon exclaimed as Evie rushed her uncle, running into his arms as he welcomed a hug. His hearty laugh and thick Irish brogue were familiar, unmistakable and warm. Charlie shook the worker's hand again before he joined the two. Eamon didn't hesitate to pull his nephew into the hug, squeezing both of them as tightly as he could. "You two showed up just in time, we were about to send out a search party for you." Releasing the two, the Irishman stepped back, grinning at them, clearly happy to see them. Sean and Eamon had come to the US to start up this business together, which had been a success. Eamon was one of Evie's favorite people, he was there for every major moment in her life. She was thankful for their success but only because it meant he stayed. "Bun, you really had us worrying there for a while," he said as he cupped Evie's cheeks and grinned widely at her. "You've always been a troublesome little tyke," he chuckled and patted her cheeks. "But that's in the past, you're safe and that's all that matters." Those words were why she loved her uncle so much. He always looked on the bright side and that meant she always had a splash of yellow on a grey day.

At the bottom of the stone stairs, Evie was being introduced to the workers who were gathered near a couple of vans with a company name sprawled across the white. 'Adler Construction'. Charlie had disappeared and she guessed that he was off in search of their father. With hopes, he would be working a special kind of magic that to her knowledge only her brother and uncle possessed.