~~~
It wasn’t until a little after 7:00PM that Dan’s cell phone rang. The wind had picked up a bit outside and the rain was pelting the window panes. He’d opted to skip dinner, at least until he knew if Rachel was going to make it or not. When the call came he tensed slightly. An old fantasy book he’d been reading about witches and a druid had distracted him somewhat but he was still a little on edge, and had been increasingly worrying about whether or not Rachel was coming.
“Hi, Dan!” Rachel’s familiar voice rang through. He could sense a smile in her voice and that cheered him considerably.
“Oh! Hello, kid! You almost here? Or are you not going to make it now?”
“OOOOOhhh no! I told you I was coming and I am. Are you at home now?”
“Ya, sure. Why?”
“Well…I tried the home number you gave me but it just buzzed busy. You been paying your telephone bill?” Rachel’s voice was raised somewhat. The ride in her truck in the rain must have been pretty noisy.
“Hmmm…no…it should be working.”
While Rachel continued to talk he picked up his home phone and sure enough it was completely dead.
“I should be there by about 8.”
“That’d be great. I’ll turn on the porch lights and the Christmas lights I put up for you.”
“Awwww,” she teased, “You shouldn’t have. But, hey! Have you had dinner already?”
“Nope. Not yet. I wasn’t sure what time you’d be here and I wasn’t really that hungry.”
“Well, I was wondering if I could make something for you.”
“Of course! What do you need? I can make a run if I need to.”
They discussed the ingredients and Daniel found he had all of them. She was going to make some ‘Navajo Tacos’ to which Dan’s reply was a tease both about being Hopi and about being only 1/8th Native American at that. They teased and taunted back and forth like old college friends and Daniel was glad he’d prepped the house a little nicer for his guest, but couldn’t quite get his concern over the increasing strength of the storm out of his mind. He instructed her to drive safely and they hung up.
Speak Rain Page 16