I rolled my eyes. I blamed my brothers for my inability to maintain a good relationship. They questioned every guy that had ever been interested in me, not that there had been many once word got around that you had to pass muster with the Madison brothers if you wanted to date their sister.
“You’re asking me about the guy Josh says is interested in me, but not about the dead guy I found?”
“The dead guy presents no problem. The hot hunk does.”
“Hot hunk? Have you taken to reading Amy’s romance novels?”
“Not on your life!”
“You should, it might teach you something about romance.” I hung up glad my mom had kept my brother at bay.
I’d had a talk with my mom when I decided to return home to live. I had wanted to set some rules down and one of them was that my brothers stayed out of my love life, if there should ever be one, and treat me like the adult I was. There had been no point in talking with my dad about it since he thought it was great that my brothers watched out for me. Mom, however, had some sway over my brothers and at least could run interference from time to time. And if I didn’t put a stop to this nonsense about the hot hunk being interested in me, my brothers would be at his door running him out of town by tonight.
I smiled, thinking that it might not be so easy for them to get rid of the muscled military guy. Not only was he solid muscle, but he was, after all, a possible suspect in a murder investigation and wouldn’t be allowed to leave town. How could he not be a suspect when he’d been holding a sizeable hunting knife and the dead guy’s throat had been cut? I hadn’t seen any blood on the knife, though he could have wiped it off, but not entirely. If there was blood on it, the crime scene techs would find out if there ever had been.
My cell phone buzzed again and when I saw that it was my brother Thomas, I debated about answering it. He was probably between classes at the high school. He was a math teacher and a good one, and if I didn’t answer he’d no doubt call our dad.
“Are you okay, Pepper?” he asked as soon as I said hello.
“I’m fine. No need to worry,” I assured him.
“I don’t know about that. When Josh refers to a guy that’s interested in you as a hot hunk there’s reason to worry.”
I didn’t bother to answer him. I hung up. I should have known better than to think my brothers would stay out of my affairs, but if they thought I was going to put up with any interference from them they were in for a big surprise.
Their little sister had grown up and she wasn’t going to take it anymore.
3
My office was right off the kitchen, not that I always worked there. I went wherever the mood struck thanks to my laptop. Today my mood was to stick close to Mo. He needed company since he wasn’t feeling well, and I needed my large dog by my side since realizing there was an actual real live murderer on the loose. And though Mo wasn’t up to par, I knew he would never fail to protect me. I joined him in the living room, taking the comfy couch while he spread out on the area rug.
I went to my website... PEPPER THE PREPPER. I’m a prepper. I can’t believe it myself, but sometimes things happen in life that makes you take a second look at how you see things, and the next thing you know—you become a prepper!
My aha moment, though it was more of a clunk on the head moment, came when I got caught up in Hurricane Sandy. To say I wasn’t prepared is an understatement. I lost everything, except for a few things I had packed and taken with me when I was evacuated. When I was finally allowed to return home almost a week later, there wasn’t much left for me to see. The cozy (another word for tiny) bungalow I had been renting while attending Stockton State College, now Stockton University, and working on the Jersey shore had taken a hard hit and was eventually condemned. I salvaged what little I could and was more heartbroken than I ever thought possible.
The experience changed me and after I finished college, I left the Jersey Shore and moved back to my hometown of Willow Lake to stay with my mom and dad until I renovated the cabin that my Aunt Effie left me in her will. After Hurricane Sandy, I swore to myself that I would never be caught unprepared again and I dove into learning about being a prepper. I blogged about it all through college and that led to so much more including podcasts and YouTube postings. It changed my whole life and gave me back some of the security the storm had stolen from me.