Book 26 Hurricane After Dark #7
His stomach churns as he ponders the million-and-one things that can go wrong during a storm of this magnitude and whether their tiny island community will be able to cope with the fallout.
“Why are you awake?” Maddie asks. “Did something happen?”
“Nothing other than a hurricane.”
“Is everything all right?”
“So far.” Mac turns toward her and puts his arm around her waist. “Go back to sleep, love.” She’s been so tired since the twins arrived. He wants her to sleep while she can.
“It sounds pretty bad.” Maddie burrows into his chest. “I’m scared.”
He tightens his grip on her shoulder. “Don’t be. Nothing to worry about.”
“How do you know that?”
“I just do.” He says what she needs to hear, even though his anxiety is through the roof as the storm gets louder and closer.
“I keep thinking about Joe and Seamus and the others out at sea.”
“They’re fine. They’re well east of it by now.”
“I’m sick just thinking about what they must’ve gone through.”
“They did the right thing, getting the boats out of here.”
“Tell that to Janey and Carolina. They’re both senseless with worry. I was texting with them earlier. I didn’t even know what to say.”
“Everyone is doing what they can to minimize the damage.” The day before yesterday, he’d helped Kara take her launches out of the water and stash them inland, where they’d be protected.
They’d pulled his father’s boats out of the water.
They’d boarded up everything they could.
Food, water and fuel had been stockpiled some time ago, in anticipation of a hurricane or blizzard.
“Then why are you buzzing with anxiety?”
“Am I?”
“You are.”
Most of the time, he loves that she knows him better than anyone. At times like this, however, he wishes he could better hide his worries from her. “I’m thinking about whether we did everything we could to protect lives, homes and businesses.”
“Mac, you did everything and then some. Because of you, the island had enough plywood for everyone who needed it. You installed all those whole-home generators for most of our loved ones. You ordered an entire fuel truck for storm prep. What more could you have done?”
“I don’t know what I don’t know.”
She places her hand on his face and urges him to look at her. “You did more than anyone to make sure the island was as ready as it could be. You’ve worked twenty hours a day for a week to get us ready.”
“I just hope it was enough.”
“It was more than enough. The rest is out of your hands. Believe it or not, there are some things that even the mighty Mac McCarthy can’t control.”
“I don’t like that.”
“Believe me,” she says on a laugh, “I know.”
Piper shows Jack to his room, and he invites her to stay with him.
She runs to her room to shower and change.
She brushes her hair and teeth and stares at her reflection in the mirror as she picks through everything that’s happened since she stepped onto the ferry to return to Gansett.
After weeks of thinking about Jack and wondering if anything would come of their subtle flirtation, he’s come storming back into her life, providing information about himself that sent her spinning into an online rabbit hole.
What she learned about his life has only made her interested in knowing more.
But it also makes her wary of wading into the emotional minefield of his tremendous loss.
Is she equipped to handle everything that comes along with possibly dating a widower?
Her stomach flutters with nerves that have nothing to do with the huge storm and everything to do with him.
She really likes him.
A lot.
Her phone chimes with a text from Jack. Are you coming back? I’m scared of the storm.
Smiling, she responds, Yep, coming down now.
Yay.
Janey Cantrell has worn a path in the carpet in her living room, pacing for hours as she keeps one eye on the Weather Channel and the other glued to her phone, hoping for updates from home.
Since it’s after midnight, the texts from family and friends have tapered off.
The last time she heard from Joe, he told her about rescuing Deacon Taylor and how they’re now far enough east of the storm that the seas have calmed considerably.
That had been a huge relief.
When the phone rings, she startles and nearly spills wine all over herself. She fumbles with the phone and takes the call from Joe.
“Hi.”
“Hey, hon.” He sounds as tired as she feels. “How’s it going?”
“Never been better. You?”
He laughs. “I’m looking at the moonlight reflecting on calm seas.”
“That must be a relief.”
“It’s much better than it was.”
“Will you get to sleep?”
“I can’t. I’m the only licensed captain on board, so I have to stay at the helm. But the guys are keeping an eye out while I catnap.”
“I’m glad you’re not alone out there.”
“Me, too. It’s been good to have them along. I couldn’t have saved Deacon on my own, that’s for sure.”
She updates him on how the kids are doing with her parents. “I’m sure they’re having a great time with the older kids.”
“They were before the storm. Jackson and Kyle are so good with them. Very patient. PJ follows them around like Burpy the dog does.”
“That’s so cute. I wish I could see that.”
“Soon enough, my love, everything will be back to normal.”
At the island’s only medical clinic, Victoria Stevens, nurse practitioner/midwife, is locked in a fierce Yahtzee game with Dr. David Lawrence and his wife, Daisy.
They’ve spent hours glued to the TV news coverage of the storm and heard the storm has been upgraded to a Category 3, packing nearly one-hundred-twenty-mile-per-hour winds and a ten-foot storm surge that threatens Gansett’s pristine coastline.
An hour earlier, the clinic lost power, and rather than deploy the full-facility generator they might need later, they’ve got a portable generator running only for the refrigerator where they keep perishable medications.
Victoria decides it’s time to get some rest. David asks if she’s heard from her fiancé, Shannon. “Not for a while, but I’m sure they’re fine. They were well to the east of the storm the last time we talked.”
She’s far more concerned about whether the wedding they’ve planned for the following weekend will happen after the storm.
They’re getting married at Seamus and Carolina’s house, but that will depend on whether they have power, water and everything else they need—including Shannon’s family, who are coming from Ireland.
With so many unknowns at this point, she will drive herself crazy worrying about whether it’ll happen or if his family can even get to the island. Who knows what they’ll be left with after Ethel runs roughshod over the place?
“I’m going to turn in,” she says to David and Daisy. “Let me know if you need me.”
“Sleep well,” Daisy replies.
“You, too.”
They’d decided to stay at the clinic in case they were needed during the storm, but so far, things are quiet. She’s thankful for that, but with nothing to keep her busy, she has too much time to fret about wedding disasters and to worry about Shannon out with Seamus.
Before she tries to sleep, she texts Shannon. Are you awake?
He calls her.
“Hey.”
“Hi, love. How’re you holding up?”
The delightful notes of his Irish accent put her at ease, as always. “Better now. How about you?”
“I’m missing you.”
“For the record, I hate hurricanes.”
“Me, too. Anything that takes me away from my Vic is to be despised.”
“Yes!”
“Are you all right?” he asks after a long silence.
“Just thinking about you and us and everything and hoping we get to have our big day next weekend.”
“If, for whatever reason, it doesn’t happen then, it will happen. I promise.”
“I know.” She wants to wail at the possibility of it not happening as planned, because she knows how important it is to have his family there. It had been a massive operation to get them all scheduled to come, and she can’t conceive of having to cancel or postpone their plans.
“You don’t sound convinced.”
“I’m trying not to make a massive, threatening storm all about me.”
“Of course it’s about you, love. You’re the bride.”
“It’s not about me, Shannon. It’s about getting the island and the community through this. Our wedding is an afterthought compared to that.”
“It’s not an afterthought for us, and you’re the least selfish person I’ve ever met. Don’t be hard on yourself for being disappointed by the possibility of our wedding getting messed up.”
“I need you to get back here safely.”
“We will. The worst is behind us. Now, we’re just floating until the storm goes by. Hopefully, I’ll see you sometime later today.”
“I hope so.”
“In the meantime, I want you to close your eyes and have sweet dreams about the wonderful life we’re going to have together and not worry about the formalities. It’ll all work out the way it’s meant to.”
“Thank you so much for coming over to keep me company,” Kelsey says as she lets Jeff Lawry into the apartment she calls home on the island. The converted barn is shaking so hard, she’s afraid it might collapse. And when she lost power just before midnight, she’d immediately called Jeff.
“I’m glad you called.” He glances up at the high ceiling over the big open room. “I can see why you were worried,” he says as the building creaks and groans. “We could go to my mom’s house.”
“How was the driving?”
“Kind of scary. The wind was pushing the car all over the road.”
“I’m so glad you got here safely. Maybe we should stay put and hope for the best?”
“Whatever you want to do is fine with me.”
“You need to sleep.” He’d been working long hours, helping Mac get ready for the storm.
“I assume you’re planning to sleep at some point?”
She nods. “I’m cooked after this week.”
“If you want to go to bed, I can make myself comfy right here,” he says of the sofa.
Kelsey appreciates that, even after the sacrifices he’s made to stay on the island with her, he’s never pressured her for more than she’s ready for. “There’s no sense in you sleeping on the sofa when there’s plenty of room in my bed.”
“I love this hurricane,” he says with a smile.
“Stop! It’s terrible.”