The Shell Collector

now you won’t hear Jesse when he wakes up early.”
Hailey grinned. “I will like that.”
“I thought you would. Come on.” They all left the room, and then she closed the door behind them. “Now for the fun part. You two open the fans for me while I get the windows ready.”
The kids wrestled with the boxes in the kitchen while she worked to pry open the windowsill in the living room. It had been painted shut, but after wiggling it, she finally got it free. Unfortunately, the sash wouldn’t hold. It kept sliding back down. She found a paint stick in the hall closet to hold it up until she could get the fan in place.
Hailey and Jesse thrummed on the empty boxes, singing a mishmash of nursery rhymes and country songs. She let them entertain themselves while she slid the fan into the window frame, just about guillotining herself in the process.
Once the fan was snugly in place, Amanda went about setting up the other one across the way, near the kitchen table. She positioned it to blow the hot air outside, creating a steady flow through the house. It was a trick Daddy had used when it got hot.
Refreshing air moved through the house, bringing instant relief. She went back into the living room and started singing into the spinning blades. “Aaaaaa-aaa-aaa-aaa-aaa-aaah.”
She couldn’t resist testing her old robot voice, so she bent toward the fan and her words reverberated as if they were in a blender. “Thaaa-aaa-aaank goo-ooo-oodness this fee-eels soo-ooo gooo-oood.”
Hailey and Jesse abandoned the boxes and rushed to her. “What are you doing?”
“Singin’ in the fan.” Holding a fake microphone, she leaned in closer and continued. “Just singin’ in the fan. What a glorious morning. I’m singin’ in the fan.”
Jesse retrieved his cardboard box from the kitchen and started drumming to the song, sort of.
Hailey joined Amanda and sang along.
In a fit of giggles, Amanda announced, “I expect a concert after dinner tonight.”
“Every night!” Hailey played an air guitar and belted out the words to “Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star” in the fan.
That night Amanda moved one of the fans to her bedroom. She slept better than she had in weeks and even rolled out of bed an hour before Hailey and Jesse got up. By the time they showed their faces, she was already cooking breakfast.
The kids came running into the kitchen together. A first. “Good morning!”
“Great to see my two favorite children so happy.”
Hailey pulled her hands to her hips. “We’re your only children, Mom.”
“Thank goodness.” She kissed them both. “You’re just in time. Jesse, you can separate the tortillas. Hailey, how about you tear up some spinach leaves.”
Jesse’s fingers worked the tortillas until they were about the furthest thing from round. She might have to stack two together to keep the eggs from falling through them, but it was a delight to see him trying so hard.
Hailey handed the bowl of spinach to Amanda. “Here you go, Mom.”
“Perfect.” Amanda dumped the bowl of spinach into the eggs and sprinkled cheese across the top, placing the lid over the pan so it would all melt together. Then she poured cups of milk and set them on the table.
“Okay, we’re ready. Forward march. One at a time.” Her little soldiers grabbed their plates and tortillas and stood in line. Jack had started the tradition, and it still made her happy. She wondered if the kids even remembered why they did it. Did they think of him on these mornings too?
She scooped egg mixture onto the tortillas, and Hailey and Jesse raced back to the table to roll them up.
She made a plate for herself and joined them. As soon as she sat down, they all bowed their heads. They sang, “Thank You, Jesus, for our food. Many, many blessings.”
Their faithful voices buoyed her.
Amen.
“Need some help rolling yours, Jesse?”
“No ma’am.” He gobbled from one end, eggs falling from the other.
He’d figure it out someday.
Hailey giggled but didn’t scold or correct him. “Let me know if you want help, brother.”
“You’re a good sister,” Amanda said.
Jesse shrugged, then scooped the eggs back into the tortilla with his fingers and tried again. This time he held a hand over the end and looked proud of himself when nothing fell to the plate.
They’d gone through a tricky phase for a while when poor Jesse couldn’t make a mistake without Hailey putting him down or boasting about herself. Amanda was glad they’d gotten past that.
“I can’t wait to collect shells,” Hailey said.
“Me too.” Amanda was happy about anything that didn’t require a bunch of gear to carry. “Go get changed. I’ll get some snacks ready.”
As soon as the kids were dressed and everything was packed, they paraded out of the house, with Denali at their heels.
“All present and accounted for. Let’s do this.” Once she had Denali’s leash attached to his red collar, she opened the gate and they all raced over the dune for the beach.
Maybe it was the low cloud cover this morning, but the ocean sounded so much louder today. She had a feeling it would be a brief stay the way the wind was whipping. The kids ran in circles at the shoreline, letting Denali chase them until he needed a break and ran to lie by her feet.
She got up and met them at the water with their pails. “Y’all ready to find some shells?”
They began scouring the sand. She knelt down and picked up a handful of tiny vibrant-colored shells. Most of them were broken, but a purple one caught her eye. She tucked it inside her pocket while the children quickly filled their pails with shells at every step until their buckets got heavy. When she looked up, she noticed they’d walked farther down the beach than they’d ever gone before.
“Let’s head back,” Amanda said.
Denali lay down in the sand.
“We can’t leave him,” Hailey whined.
“He’ll catch up.” At least she hoped so. There was no way she’d be able to carry him.
“Do you want to stop and