Merriton

BZZRKKKZZZRB! Randy could hear the noise downstairs. It sounded like a dentist’s drill on steroids. He ran downstairs, following the noise to the master bedroom on the main floor. Sierra was sanding the blood stain off the hardwood floor. She had already hacked a huge hole in the drywall, removing the blood stain from the wall. How had he slept through that?

Bits of wood flew from the floor and headed toward Randy’s nearly naked body. He flinched away and screamed at Sierra to stop. She turned off the sander and looked up at him. She was clad in full protective gear: gloves, respirator, goggles and overalls. The overalls were brand new and still had creases in the thick material where they had been folded and stored in plastic until Sierra bought them. They were two sizes too big and hung on her like she was a coat hanger. She put down the floor sander and stood up, removing the respirator and goggles in one smooth motion.

“What?” She looked at him accusingly. He could smell warm wood. She looked like crazy woman, but he didn’t know what to say. SHE should be the one to explain, shouldn’t she? He carefully tried to broach the subject, “What are you doing?” She looked at the sander and then looked at him like he was an idiot. “I’m sanding the floor.” Randy nodded and felt his hand reach up to his forehead. He ran his hand from his forehead to his chin in one long movement. “Of course you are.”

He looked at his watch. It was just after five in the morning. Where did that sander come from? Did she get it yesterday? “Did you tell me about this and I just didn’t pay attention?” She looked guilty. He felt a rush of relief as she answered, “No, I rented this yesterday, but just left it in the car. I brought it in this morning.”

He sighed. “She’s not running,” he thought to himself, “She really did go to Emigration yesterday, she just didn’t tell me what for. At least she’s not running.” He looked at the floor. The stain was halfway gone. “Are you going to sand the whole floor, or just where the stain is?” She nodded. He could see the gratitude in her face. She knew she was acting crazy, but he didn’t call her crazy. “The whole floor. I had to go pretty deep to get the stain out.” She kicked at the sawdust on the floor with a Doc Martin boot.

“Want some help?”