“Sure.” As I was walking to the stove the lights flickered a few times and then went out completely. The sun had only been set for about an hour, but that close to the beach there were no streetlights or anything besides stars to offer any light, so the house went pretty dark fast. The babies immediately started crying and I heard Brody and Angela working to get them out of their seats.
“Just calm down, everyone. It’s just a power outage. I’m sure lightning just hit a transformer. Let’s find a flashlight or something.”
My dad and I pulled out our cell phones and used the lights to look through the kitchen drawers, but neither of us found a flashlight.
“I’ll head out to the garage and see if there’s a flashlight or a lantern out there.”
“Oh, honey, be careful. Talia, go with him.”
“On it,” I said, following behind my father. Dad was in his sixties and still pretty active and fit, but wandering around a dark and unfamiliar house was sort of a recipe for disaster. We made it to the garage and went inside. It was even darker in there because there were no windows. “Dad, just stay here. I’ll go look.”
There were only a few shelves and as I shone cell phone light around, I finally found a small flashlight.
“Got it,” I said with excitement.
“That’s my girl.”
I pressed the button on the side and heard it click, but no light came out. “I think it’s broken,” I said, clicking the button over and over again. I walked back to my dad and handed it to him, then followed him back to the kitchen where we could see a little better. I heard him clicking it on and off too, but still no light. Once we got to the counter he unscrewed the lid and then turned it upside down.
“There aren’t any batteries,” he said grumpily. “For as much as we paid for this rental, there should at least be working flashlights with fresh batteries.”
“Talia, are you sure you looked everywhere in the garage? Could you have missed any other flashlights?” This came from Angela.
“You’re more than welcome to go look for yourself.”
“I think it’s best I stay here with the babies. They’re frightened.”
“There weren’t a whole lot of shelves and they were all sparse.”
“Maybe the power will come back on shortly,” my mother said, her voice hopeful.
“If it’s a transformer, it will probably take a few hours.”
“I can drive to the convenience store we saw a few miles back,” I offered. “I’m sure they sell batteries, maybe even flashlights or candles.”
“I don’t want you driving in this rain, especially on unfamiliar roads.” My father was always protective over me. “There’s a house just south of us on the other side of the dune. I’ll walk over there and see if they have anything we can borrow for the night.”
“Dad, no.” I sighed, a little irritated that Brody had yet to chime in to help solve the problem. “You’re not going to walk in the dark across the dune. I’ll go.”
“No, Talia, I don’t want you out there in this storm,” he said, his voice growing louder with his parental need to keep me safe.
“Dad, it’s fine. I saw the other house this afternoon on the beach. I’ve seen the path to the house, and I know I can get there and back in ten minutes, tops.”
“George, I think she’ll be fine. Let her go. You sit and take a rest.”
“I don’t need to rest, Lillian.”
“It’ll be okay. I’ll be right back.” I put on my tennis shoes and my zip-up hoodie—wasn’t planning to go out in a monsoon, so I hadn’t packed my raincoat—and I walked out the back door. In the twenty minutes since I’d been on the porch with my father, the wind and rain had really picked up. I was drenched completely through my hoodie in about ten seconds and the rain was freezing. Summers on the Oregon coast meant nothing when it came to temperature. It could be sixty degrees one day and eighty the next, and the rain was never warm.
I jogged over the dune closest to our house. Well, I tried to jog. The sand was still hard to move through, but when I made it over the dune I turned south, looking for the break in the grass for the path leading to the next house down the beach. I found it after a few minutes of looking and worrying I’d gone too far, but when I saw it I jogged back up the beach until the same house I’d spied on earlier came into view.
It looked a lot different than it had that afternoon, though. Houses on the beach with absolutely no light looked absurdly scary. Almost as though it were abandoned. The house sat all alone, making it even creepier, with no houses around for at least one hundred yards, our rental being the closest.
As I made my way closer to the house, I did notice the shine of a flashlight moving about the windows and I was relieved that someone was home. It would have sucked to go out in that storm all for nothing.
I came upon the house, hoping no one could see me. I was sure I looked like some burglar sneaking around strange houses in the darkness of night. I didn’t want to be mistaken for a criminal and shot by the homeowners. I quickly made my way to the front of the house, which sat situated away from the beach. I knocked on the door, my teeth chattering and body shaking.
I heard footsteps inside the house and when they sounded to be just on the other side of the door, I put on my best not-crazy-stalker-or-burglar smile.
The door swung open and sure enough, the hot surfer man was on the other side. He looked shocked to see me, or anyone I imagined, and I was sure I looked like a drowned rat.
“H-h-hi,” I stuttered, my teeth chattering so badly I could hardly speak. “I’m f-f-rom the house just north of you, and w-w-we don’t have a working fl-flashlight. D-do you happen to have one we can b-borrow?”
He stared at me for a moment, but then shook his head like he was trying to clear his mind and stepped back. “Come in,” he said, motioning into his house with his hand. “You look like you’re freezing,” he said, stepping back and making room for me.
“I’m f-f-fine,” I muttered.
The side of his mouth tipped up into a smile. “Sure, you sound super fine.”
I gave him a smile in return, and then he led me into what I assumed to be the living room and kitchen area. There were a few candles lit and a fire going in the fireplace, but other than that, his house was in disarray. I couldn’t see clearly, but there wasn’t any furniture besides a few chairs, and there weren’t any appliances in the kitchen either. Tools and supplies were scattered and it looked like parts of the floor were torn up too.
“I keep a spare flashlight here in my toolbox and it should still work.”
I watched him walk through his torn-up house, only lit by candles, and tried very hard not to imagine the fabulous muscles I’d seen that afternoon, currently hidden beneath his T-shirt. His hair still looked dark, but I couldn’t figure out if it was his true color, or if the lack of light was making it look that way.
I was still shivering as he bent down next to a rather large-looking box, and I tried to keep my eyes from his backside, but again, it was useless. He was ten times more handsome up close and in person than he was from across the beach, even in the dark. Perhaps proximity had something to do with it, and the candlelight. Even his voice was sexy. It was deep and sultry, almost like he sounded sleepy.
“Aha,” he said with satisfaction, then stood up and walked toward me, all while flicking the flashlight in his hands on and off. “Looks like it still works.” He held it out to me and when I reached for it, my hand trembled so much I could hardly grasp it.
“Th-thanks.”
“You’re in the house up the beach? The one just north of me?”
“Y-yeah. We’re r-r-renting it for the week.”
“All right, well, why don’t I give you a coat to wear back and I’ll walk you. I’ve got a big umbrella so you at least won’t get soaked through again.”
“That’s really n-nice of you,” I said as I tried not to search for the color of his eyes. “But you don’t have to do that. It’s not
that far.”
Even though it was dark, I could see him lift his eyebrows in exasperation and then run his eyes from my head to my toes.
“You’re soaked. And freezing. I’ll walk you.” His tone was commanding and kind all at the same time, and even though I thought it was silly for us both to go out, I didn’t want to tell him no again.
“All right,” I whispered.
He walked past me and went up the stairs by the door. I heard his loud footsteps moving around the second floor and after a minute he made his way back downstairs.
“Here,” he said, holding open a jacket for me.
I turned and threaded my arms through the sleeves.
“Thank you.” I faced him again, noticing he was also wearing a jacket. Immediately the extra dry layer started to warm me up. All I could think about, though, was a nice warm shower.
“Ready?” he asked, his voice so rough and scratchy. Something about it made goosebumps pop up on my already pebbled flesh.
“Sure.”
He opened the door for me and followed me out. I noticed he didn’t bother locking the door, which struck me as small-town. Where I lived, there was no way you’d leave your door unlocked, even for five minutes. The umbrella popped open, startling me back to the present, and we moved forward together off his porch. We headed toward the ocean, walking closer to each other than I normally would have with a stranger, but it was a necessity if we were both going to stay out of the rain.
“This isn’t a very good way to spend a vacation,” he said, practically yelling over the noise of the storm.
“No, I guess not. But it’s typical Oregon, right?”
“So, you’re not from out-of-state, then?” He laughed when he asked the question and I knew why. Only an Oregonian would understand the weather and roll with the proverbial punches.
“No. My parents live in Portland, but I’m in Bend right now.”
“Bend is a really beautiful town.”
“Yeah, I love it there.”
We’d made it out past the dune and we turned north, walking in sync, until we met with the path to my rental.
“Do you like living on the coast… oh my gosh! I’m sorry. I never even asked your name.” My hand covered my face in embarrassment. “I’m Talia,” I said, reaching my hand out the very small distance to him.
He took my hand, laughing, and then said with his wonderfully gravelly voice, “I’m Briggs. It’s nice to meet you, although I’m sorry about the circumstances.”
“Well, you know, vacation can’t be all smooth sailing. There must be some strife, I suppose.”
“I guess you’re right.”
We came up to the back porch and Briggs stopped walking. “You’re not staying here alone, are you?” He asked the question with concern, and the thought of him worrying over me made my chest tighten.
“Um, no. Quite the opposite, in fact. My mother, father, brother, sister-in-law, and twin baby niece and nephew are all inside.” Even in the dark I could see the surprise come over his face. “I appreciate the concern, but I’m not alone. Even though I sort of wish I were sometimes.” We both laughed, but neither of us moved away. “Well, thank you for the flashlight and the coat. Oh, here. Take it back with you.” I moved to take the coat off, but he grabbed both sides of the jacket by the zipper and pulled it closed over my body. It also made my body sway closer to his and the proximity made my heart beat faster.
“It’s okay. You keep it for now.”
“Okay, thanks again.”
He smiled and it was impossible not to smile back. I turned and ran up the stairs, onto the porch, and up to the sliding glass door.
“Oh, good, you got a flashlight,” my mother said, taking it from me. “You’re soaked, Talia. And whose coat is that?”
“Um, Briggs. The man who lives in the house next door. He lent it to me.” I peeled it off and set it on the back of a chair, then made my way to the stairs. “I’m going to take a shower and try to warm up.”
“Tal, you can’t take a shower without electricity. The water will be cold.”
“Not if the water heater runs on gas,” my father chimed in.
“Why would there be a gas water heater when the stove is electric?” argued Brody.
“The heat is gas,” my mother offered.
I rolled my eyes and walked up the stairs, leaving them to argue about it. If anything, I just wanted to get the cold, soaked clothes off my body. I could still hear my family debating as I closed the door to my room. I flipped the light switch, but then laughed at myself when the light didn’t come on. The room was very dark and my little port hole window didn’t let much light in.
Peeling the wet clothes off surprisingly only made me colder. I left the clothes in a pile on the bathroom floor, put on the warmest pajamas I brought—which weren’t very warm at all, just a T-shirt and leggings—and climbed into my bed, wrapping all the blankets around me as tight as I could.
I lay in bed, listening to the storm rage and the waves break, thinking too much about Briggs and how our brief interaction only made me even more curious about him. He seemed to be in that house alone. He certainly didn’t tell anyone he was leaving with me. And the house was definitely under construction. Was he renovating? Did he even live there? Was it someone else’s house? And even though all those questions were running through my mind, the image of him slipping out of his wetsuit was definitely what I fell asleep thinking about.
Chapter Three
Talia
Sunlight and the sound of seagulls woke me the next morning. I rolled toward the window to see a cloudless and bright blue sky.
“Typical,” I murmured as I pushed the covers off. I was warm, but I still felt like I’d been running through a rain storm. The bedroom light was on and I wondered when the power had come back on. It didn’t really matter. All that mattered was the warm water raining down on my hand after I’d turned on the shower.
Usually, I was more of a conservationist, but that morning I took the longest shower I’d had in a while. In fact, I stayed in there until the water ran cold and I didn’t even feel badly about everyone else in the house possibly having to wait for theirs. I’d earned that shower.
After consulting my weather app and making sure we weren’t expecting another surprise monsoon, I slipped into my favorite pair of white shorts and paired it with a green flowy tank. Green was a staple color in my wardrobe because there weren’t many colors that didn’t clash with my red hair.
Bouncing down the stairs, the smell of bacon cooking made my stomach grumble.
“Morning,” I called to my mother, who was manning the stove.
“Morning, sweetie. I’m glad to see you didn’t catch a death of a cold.”
“No cold. I feel great.”
I heard what sounded like a heard of elephants clomping down the stairs and looked to see Brody and Angela, both holding a baby.
“Oh, give me one of those babies,” I said, holding my hands out in their general direction. “I don’t care which one. Surprise me.”
“Here,” Angela said as she handed me whichever child she had with a smile.
Situating the baby so I could see its face, I gave a big smile. “Raina, my little princess,” I said, showering her chubby face with kisses. Raina giggled and my ovaries melted a little on the inside. “You smell so good,” I said, my face smooshed against her hair.
I looked up and saw my mom watching me with sad eyes. As soon as she caught my eye, she turned back around to cook her bacon, but I’d already seen the pitying look she wore on her face. If asked, I could have recited exactly what she was thinking too. She was probably all upset because she thought my opportunity to have children had passed. I wasn’t sure which made me angrier—the fact that she felt that way or the fact that part of me agreed with her.
“After the enormous breakdowns they had last night when the power went out, the only thing that would calm them down was a warm bath,” Angela said, sounding exhausted.
“Did it take a long time for the power to come back on?” I asked, still making silly faces at my niece.
“Only about an hour,” Brody said, bouncing Beckett on his knees while sitting on the couch. “By the way, Mom, Angela and I were hoping that you and Dad could watch the twins tonight so we could go out to dinner.”
“Oh, that’s a good idea, sweetheart. We’d love to.”
“You’re going to have to drive at least forty-five minutes to find any decent restaurants,” I said mostly to myself, but loud enough so everyone could hear me.
“We don’t mind the drive. It’ll be relaxing. In fact, an hour in a car without a baby almost sounds like a vacation in itself.”
“I don’t know how you two do it,” my mother mused, again focused on the stove. “Having one at a time was hard enough.”
Angela and Brody exchanged a look, and then Angela turned back to me and motioned toward the staircase with her head.
“Talia, do you think you could help me with something upstairs?” Her eyes were too wide and eyebrows too high, and I knew there was something she wanted to talk to me about in private.
“Uh, sure,” I replied, trying to sound cooler than she had, which wasn’t very hard. Keeping Raina pressed close to me, I stood and followed Angela up the stairs and into the room she was sharing with my brother. “What’s up?” I asked, keeping my voice low. I knew by her tone downstairs whatever we were discussing wasn’t to be shared with my mother.
“Brody and I were talking, and we were hoping you could be here tonight while we go out to dinner.”
My eyebrows pressed together in confusion. “You want me to help watch the babies?”
Raina took that opportunity to put her entire baby fist in my mouth. I had to giggle a little because it was so stupidly cute, but then I kissed her chubby little fist and placed it in her lap, hoping it would stay out of my mouth.
“Well, yes. We don’t want to overwhelm your parents, but we also don’t want them to feel as though we think they’re incapable.”
Never With You (The Never Series Book 6) Page 2