13. Chapter Thirteen
Chapter thirteen
"If You’re Going Through Hell," Rodney Atkins
T he jolly mood is instantly gone, and the anxiety of the storm is here.
I don’t move, I don’t know where to move. I can’t see five inches in front of me. I’m gripping the pool table to ground me to something while I try to not let the panic set in.
Two strong hands come down on my arms, just above the elbows. “Stay right here at the table, I’ll pull out the emergency lanterns.”
“How long does the power usually stay off?”
“I’m not sure, this hasn’t happened before.”
Trying not to let that little tidbit of information cause me to tailspin in non-helpful places, I do as I’m told and grip the table for dear life. Eric’s shuffling is easily heard across the room, and there’s no other sound. It’s then that I remember I have my phone, and therefore a flashlight of my own.
The light hurts my eyes but soothes my anxiety almost immediately. In the silence, the rain is easier to hear, but it sounds heavier than it should.
The corner of the room lights up and I can see Eric holding two lanterns, walking my way.
“You’ll want to conserve your phone energy. Here, take this instead.”
Taking his advice, I pocket my phone, checking to see the battery is a little under a quarter, and that increases my anxiety marginally. “Is the rain always this loud? I didn’t notice it before.”
“Nope, that would be hail. I was hoping it’d skip us, but by the sound of it we’ll have a good bit of work to do tomorrow to repair everything. I’m just glad your rental is under the shed.”
“Are the animals really going to be okay?”
“They’re instinctual, their base need is to survive. Anything we do to interfere with it would hurt them more than it would help them in these situations.”
I nod and look down at the table. “I’m winning, you know.” I tilt my head over to the remaining balls. It’s a close game, but I’ve got the marginal lead.
“Want to finish it?”
I nod again, at a loss for fluffy words, and place my lantern on the side of the table. The shadows are pretty cool, but I can’t not hear the rain and hail happening outside. We finish the game, no questions attached, and somehow he pulls ahead and beats me in the end. I don’t know how he did it, and I try not to let it frustrate me, but I’m so anxious it dwarfs any other feelings I have.
“How much longer do you think this should last?”
“Hard to tell without being able to see the radar, but if the hail’s here that means we’re in the thick of it and it should pass over soon.”
“What do we do after it passes?”
“I go check the animals and make sure everything is okay.”
“Can I help you?”
“I’m not sure you’ll want to.”
“Why’s that? I do want to. I want to help.”
“I don’t know if I want you seeing if any of the animals got hurt.”
“And I don’t think it’s a good idea to go out by yourself. At least let me drive so you can hop out and help as needed.”
He thinks about it for a bit but subtly nods. I barely catch it, but the shadows outline all movement.
The sound of the rain and hail seems to heighten, as does the rumble before the thunder starts up again. I’m closing my eyes and gripping the table with the intent of riding it out when I feel him come up next to me and subtly place an arm around my shoulders. I relax marginally right as the thunder claps, and it doesn’t go unnoticed that it’s louder than the last one.
“Should be almost done,” he says softly next to me, like if we talk too loudly it will anger the storm further.
“Do you think everyone else is okay?” I turn toward him and tilt my head up, which increases my proximity to his good-smelling hair, and because of the movement I can confirm that he uses very nice good shampoo. It’s my singular distraction from the storm at this point, so here we are.
“They should be, looks like we were the only ones in the danger path.”
“Well, lucky us.”
“Lucky us.”
The look in his eye starts to shift, as if he’s finally remembering the night at the dance hall. I feel him lean in ever so slightly, eyes on my lips. Will he kiss me? Does it seem a little cliché to kiss in a storm? Do I care? (The answer is obvious. No, duh, romantic.) Does he remember what he said three sheets to the wind? Did he mean it?
His lean, and my train of thought, is cut short by a continuous rumble that almost sounds like a roar starting to build. I feel Eric tense next to me, which sends me straight into a panic. Eric doesn’t seem like one to panic without reason, and the way I can feel his body stiff as a board next to me means that we’re likely in a worse place than he thought.
“Just to be safe, let’s go in the closet, sound okay? I think we’re in the tail of it, but that noise is what I’m worried about.” He grabs my hand and leads me to a closet that hides under the stairs. It’s pretty small so there’s no room for personal space, but it doesn’t seem like he’s intending to give me room anyways. As soon as we get in the closet, he pulls me toward the back and shields me from the door. I can’t imagine a safer place to be.
“Do you think that was a tornado?” I ask softly. The rumbling continues around us in waves.
“Yeah, I’ve only heard that noise once and it was a tornado. I imagine one touched down close enough for us to hear, but not too close to the house.”
“How do we know when it’s done?”
“The rumbling will stop, and then we need to give it some time before venturing out, just in case.”
“Then we go check on the animals?”
I don’t know how he manages a smile in this situation, but he somehow does. “Yeah, Red, then we can go check on the animals.”
His grip on my hand tightens as we wait out the rest of the storm. We barely move, I barely breathe, but the rumbling lessens, and the house didn’t shake once. If I have to experience this kind of weather, I couldn’t have asked for a safer place. And if I’m being honest, I’m cataloging every detail of what’s going on to include in my book. The third-quarter drama is weak sauce compared to what I’m experiencing right now.
When the rumbling has been silent for a while, Eric pulls out his phone with the hand not holding mine, which he doesn’t seem to want to relinquish anytime soon, and checks to see if he has enough signal to check the radar. He leans it in my direction so I can see as well, and it takes what feels like an hour to finally load before showing us the storm is finally on the other side of us. Just some rain spurts here and there are headed our way, but the red of the radar has passed and faded to yellow.
Eric lets out a breath that feels like it weighed a million pounds. He releases the hand holding mine and pulls me in for a hug I was in no way expecting and squeezes me until I’m out of breath.
“Alright, the worst part is done. You’re safe.” He releases me on an exhale and chuckles slightly when I take a deep breath. “The house is still here. We’re safe. But I expect we’ve got a mess to work through for a while.”
“I’ll help. Whatever it is, I’ll help.”
“I don’t think you’ll give me much choice.”
“Gotta earn my keep around here.”
“You’re doing plenty, Red.”
“An occasional salad at dinner isn’t nearly enough.”
He raises his eyebrows at me before grabbing my hand again and leading me out of the closet and up the stairs. Everything about the house seems normal, as if nothing happened, but my heart rate is through the roof.
We walk together out the front door, and at first glance nothing seems out of the ordinary. But then we get a glimpse at the pasture about a mile ahead, and it becomes very clear we’ve got our work cut out for us.