by Jax Hart
I dialed Hunter. “It’s all good, bro. I moved everything. I even wrapped the base of your house in 16 mil plastic. You’re welcome.”
“I can’t get ahold of Ryan. Her phone’s dead.”
“I’m already approaching city limits.”
“I need your RAM.”
“Bro… they’ll never let you in. Even the police have left. They went door to door. I’m sure they got her out.”
“Something’s not right. I can feel it.”
“Take the truck then. Good luck. Use the back roads where you can. Pretend to be an off-duty fireman if you get questioned. Works for me every time.”
“Don’t worry Bun-Bun. I’ll go get our girl and bring her back safe. You get ready for the storm with Daisy. My building has a generator if you want to stay there.”
She wrung her hands. “Times like this. I find it’s best to be in the comfort of your own home.”
“I’ll bring her there then.”
She nodded, blinked back a few tears, and squeezed my arm. “God be with you.”
“It’ll be fine.” I reassured her.
The sky was already darkening as I raced down the freeway in Hunter’s truck. I was still in my work clothes. I didn’t even take emergency supplies. I just prayed like heck, I wouldn’t run off the road and need rescuing before I found her.
Thirty
“Miss? You need to leave. Immediately.”
I nodded but as soon as the officer left, snuck back inside. I had no choice. There was no place for the animals to go and once I realized that I couldn’t just leave them to drown and die. I moved crates, litter boxes and food upstairs to my third-floor walk-up. The shelter was built ages ago. But it seemed sturdy enough. One by one I moved animals and their crates. By the time I was done, my small apartment was crammed. I went back down for flashlights, food, whatever I could find. The tide was coming in with the high winds of the hurricane swirling closer. The storm surge alone would be fifteen feet. I was about twenty off the ground.
This was madness. I had to leave. I was on a tiny inlet with water on every side. I told myself I had done all I could. Gave each animal extra water and food. I grabbed my bag, secured the windows, and cut the power myself, worried about the rising water and electricity combining.
“I’m sorry. I did all I could.”
I locked up, racing to my Jeep. Water was already over the road. I’d never make it to the highway. This was suicide and stupid. But I still tried. Three miles later I was forced to go back. A tree was blocking the road. All this time I was focused on the water, I had forgotten the damage of wind. As soon as I reached the shelter, I fought with the wind to open my door. My cell slipped under the rising water disappearing under the current. I eyed the Mako debating if I should chance swimming out to where it bobbed. I could use the Marine radio to call for help. But knowing there could be a riptide, I chose to play it safe.
The water was up past my knees as I sloshed around back. I clung to the railing as I climbed the wooden steps. Opened my door to the relief of the nervous animals and braced it shut again.
“Looks, like we’ll ride this out together.”
I found all my blankets and towels. Lifted the mattress off my bed to wedge between the couch and my windows. The way the wind was blowing, I was sure they’d blow out at some point. My only saving grace was that the foundation was four feet of solid concrete and the building itself was brick. The hurricane could huff and puff but hopefully the shelter would hold. I wrapped Gran’s summer quilt around my shoulders. Let the tears of fear fall. With my back against the closet wall, I closed my eyes letting my mind drift to Chase. To the weeks we shared. I thought of Gran, the smell of cinnamon cloves at Christmas… the first soft summer rain. Chimney smoke in fall. All the small things I cherished deep in my soul. I knew the hurricane had landed when the wind roared like an old locomotive engine. My hands shook. The animals barked and cried. I opened the kitchen drawer took out Steve’s old iPod and turned it on. Instead of the sounds of fury and fear, I listened to jazz and his gospel tunes. His mix was all over the place, but it kept me together.
I thought of all my wasted moments. Words I couldn’t take back. Words I might not get the chance to say. The battery to the iPod died hours later. I opened the crates; freedom helped the animals quiet down.
“RYAN! RYAN!” Over the storm my name was a battle cry.
“Chase? CHASE!” I screamed, running for the door. I flung it open. He was halfway up the stairs, waist deep in water.
“My God you’re alive!” He ran up to me, held me tight. I ran my hands up to the side of his face. “How?”
“I made it pretty far in Hunter’s truck. Trees and powerlines are all down. The roads are impassable. I ditched the truck when the rising water killed the engine. Kismet. It was kismet. A boat had come undone. I swam to it, started the outboard. We need to leave. Now! The eye of the storm is here, we don’t have much time before the backend spins around.”
“Chase, the animals. They’ll die.”
“We’ll die, too.”
I cried. He was right. “Can we try taking at least a few?”
He surveyed the room. “Leave the cats. Put the food and water on the counters. They’ll jump on top of your cabinets if it comes to it.”
We took the four dogs. It was hard. The animals were just as scared as us. Once we were all in the small boat, Chase steered us into the stormy sea the town had become. The damage was stunning. The ocean had invaded our cozy civilization. The small boat was no match for the churning waves.
“Chase. We need to find a sturdy high rise. Maybe one of the condo complexes. We can’t last in this.”
His face was grim but determined. There was no high ground to be found out here. “I know a place we can try.”
The engine struggled as he pressed the throttle down. I held the dogs tight, my head bent to avoid the whipping wind. Time felt like it was moving as fast as the current. Chase cut the engine, dove overboard with a line, tied it around a thick column. He took off his shirt wrapped it around his elbow, with a few quick jabs he had broken the glass window enough to unlock the front door. It was a huge brick mansion, the kind you’d see on an old southern plantation. “It’s an old historical society building. My Nana brought me and Charlie here one summer. It’s four stories with a walk-up attic. There’s a light house and widow’s peak on the roof.”
Water was four feet high inside the first floor. We helped the dogs climb the stairs. “We’re at least a few miles inland, we should be okay here after the eye passes.
We found a cozy study on the third floor. Chase lit a fire while I found what supplies I could. “You came for me. You saved my life.”
“Come here, get warm.” We both stripped, wrapped a dusty blanket I had found in one of the rooms around us, and sat side-by side.
I was exhausted, cold, and still frightened by my close call with death. I leaned my head on his shoulder. Chase wasn’t just some calendar guy, or the hot-shot attorney or even the charming man I had gotten to know.
He was a rock.
My rock.
My shelter in the storm.
Literally.
A man who came for me despite all odds. A man who was dependable, courageous, all the things good in a soul. I loved him. I was in love with him. My barriers came down, the ones I didn’t even know I had erected. I clung to him. Kissed his cheek.
As the hurricane raged, I knew he’d keep us safe. He kept the fire going. Comforted the dogs. I rested my chin on my knees. “I love you.”
Our eyes caught as he knelt in front of a tired pup. “I loved you first.”
“I said it first,” I challenged.
He smiled. “Even in all this we’re still the same.”
“We are. Chase Carmichael there’s no other person I’d rather go through this with.”
“I’d rescue you a thousand times. I always will.”
We kissed, snuggled close, somehow slept. When dawn came, the
hurricane was gone leaving a wake of ruins behind. But hope still remained.
“Your house…”
“Is just a house. Home is where you are.”
“I’m sorry. It was beautiful. Special.”
“I’ll build it back better, with you. I have insurance and a dream. We’ll make it higher, raise all the mechanicals. Add another bedroom.”
“Everyone must be frantic over us.”
“I was so intent on getting us safe, I never bothered with my cell. It’s in Hunter’s truck. But his truck probably washed away.”
“Where am I going to live?”
“It’ll take Duke some time to rebuild the satellite campus. You can stay with me and Daisy in the city while we sort everything out. Your fall semester might be remote or moved to Chapel Hill.”
“I’ll contact Dr. Winnfield when I can. She took the research vessel up to port in Maryland before the storm.”
“I know we started out all fireworks and starry nights. But what I feel for you is the eternal flame. It burns hot, steady, and true. I want you to know that.”
“I do.”
“Those two words sound good to me.”
He wrapped his arms around me as we surveyed the damage from the widow’s peak. The storm surge had already receded, somehow the boat stayed tied. “Can we go back to the shelter and check on the cats?”
“Sure. But we should leave the dogs here for safety. Maybe we’ll run into recuse boats and will be able to contact Bunny and Charlie.”
“I’ll call Steve too. He’ll want to know who survived.”
“I bet they all did. Because of you and your big heart. But please, don’t ever do that again. I can’t lose the love of my life, just when I’ve found her.”
He held me tightly. There was still enough freshwater in the pipes to leave water for the dogs. We shut them up in the room for safety, waded through the water on the first floor and climbed into the small boat. “Think there’s enough diesel fuel?”
“If not. We’ll find plenty of stray boats.”
Chase turned the boat around, there was so much floating debris we took it slowly. I leaned over pushing larger items out of the way. “This is an environmental nightmare. Sewage, trash, the waters are filled with it.”
“Nature has a way of fixing itself. With a little help from you we’ll get our community cleaned up.”
In the light of day, it was still hard to recognize where we were. Buildings had roofs caved in; cars were submerged. Chaos and destruction surrounded us on all sides. “Chase! Over there!” I pointed to the small Mako fishing vessel bobbing in the water. It was lodged between a street sign and a floating tree. In the pocket of my jeans was still the keys to my Jeep. On the same ring were the keys to the Mako’s engine.”
“I can’t believe it.”
“There’s always something good even after the bad.” He carefully came up beside my boat. “Wait!”
But I had already climbed in. I always stored extra fuel. “The hull is intact. It’s not taking on any water. I’ll throw you a line. Pull me out and I’ll follow you.”
“Babe. It’s still dangerous out here.”
“We might need the extra room. What if there’s people like me stuck who need help?”
He sighed. “My girl, who is always thinking of others. It’s going to be my job to only think of you.”
Once the Mako was free, I turned on the engine. As we got closer to the shelter, we encountered more people out on the water searching the wreckage for any signs of survivors. Thankfully, unlike me, most had left before the storm. I sucked in a breath. The shelter stood but the water damage was extensive. Waves still rolled in over the road. The swollen water from the Bay still overflowed its banks going almost a third of the way up my back stairs. Or what was left of the stairs. If we didn’t have boats, we wouldn’t be able to get to my apartment.
“Stay here. I’ll go salvage what I can. I’ll pack you some clothes. Is there anything in particular you want?”
“My calendars, laptop and books. Don’t forget the cats.” Chase threw me the line to his boat. I tied it with my line, nervously watching as he jumped into the water, using what was left of the broken bannister to reach my door.
“Hey! Do you need help!” Two men in a rubber dingy waved their arms. I waved back,
“Do you have a phone? I was supposed to evacuate and couldn’t make it out. My family must think the worst!”
“Cell towers are down. But we can radio the Coast Guard.”
“Thanks. Mine aren’t working. The Mako survived but the antennae snapped.”
I gave them Chase’s and my information to relay that we were safe, hoping the news would reach Gran and Charlie and that we were holing up in the old historical society building with the rescue dogs until help could come.
“We’ll gather any supplies and food if we can. Would be glad to drop them off to you.”
“Thanks. We might add five cats to our tally.”
Chase opened my door. He had attached rope to the top of the cat cages, lowering them one by one. I took them, carefully depositing them into our boats.
“I’m dropping your laptop.”
I carefully caught it, securing my precious data. “Remind me to upload everything to a cloud server after this!”
Next was a duffel bag with my clothes. Chase was back in the water, carefully getting back into the boat. “I sent word to the Coast Guard we’re safe. Hopefully, Gran and Charlie will get the message.”
On our way back we spotted a few people waving sheets from roofs. News helicopters started circling overhead. “I can’t believe we survived this.”
“I do. Someone up there knew we still had a lot of life to live together.”
And we did. We had so much living and loving to do.
First Epilogue
December
“I feel so grateful to spend Christmas here with you!” Chase worked overtime, securing building permits, wrestled with the insurance company. My hot-shot lawyer didn’t play games. This time, I witnessed firsthand his sexy ruthlessness at full power. We just received our permit to occupy but the upstairs still needed to be completely finished.
“I love the house even more now with all your suggestions.” We added a wrap-around deck on the third floor with a widow’s peak. We raised the house fourteen feet off the ground, on heavy pilings.
The shelter was still undergoing renovations, but all of the animals Chase and I had saved found homes shortly after the hurricane. Being featured across the state on the news didn’t hurt. A camera crew on a boat had filmed Chase and I on our way back to the old mansion. We gave candid interviews; my voice cracked a few times. Chase became a national hero for risking it all to save me. He was offered roles to host dating shows. A dating app wanted him for their marketing campaign. He turned them all down saying he had more important work to do. I didn’t know what he meant until he resigned from his firm to start his own nonprofit legal foundation. He awed me. Inspired me. He said I inspired him. We bring out the best in each other. I never thought a relationship like this could exist. But Gran said this is what she had with Pops.
Chase was now using his skills to fight for animal rights as well as help ordinary people fight the corrupt insurance and political system. People that had paid into policies for years were now having a hard time collecting their money to rebuild. Once Chase signed on to represent the locals, the companies folded like a bad hand.
A log fell in the fire as it burned, shooting sparks up the chimney. The tree Chase and I had picked out was lit and twinkled. In my hand was his favorite red that he poured for me. Daisy was fast asleep in her doggie bed by the door. I rested my head back against his chest while he lazily played with the ends of my hair.
“Do you want to open gifts tonight or tomorrow?”
“How about around midnight?”
“You’re going to be busy then.”
“Oh really?”
“Definitely.”
> I turned my face to his for a Christmas Eve kiss. “I never dreamed a year ago I’d find you.”
He took the wine from my hand, placing it on the sofa table. “Daisy! Come here, girl.” Daisy’s head popped up, eager to please her master. She loved Chase as much as I did. Sometimes at night, we fight over who gets to cuddle closer to him. She trotted over to the couch, jumping right up into his lap. Chase had put a red velvet bow around her neck. “That’s adorable.”
“She wanted to look good for our guests tomorrow. Hunter is driving Bunny. What’s that, girl?” He leaned down, cocking his head to Daisy’s snout.
Before I knew what was happening, he was down on one knee in front of me, taking a diamond solitaire ring from his pocket. Tears streaked down my face.
“Ryan Hill. You drove me crazy, sued me, had me at kismet. Will you spend every day loving me as my wife? Have my children, watch them grow? Live here in this house with me as the years and seasons go by? … And when the golden years come, I will still love you just as much as I did the first night I fell in love with you.”
“When was that?”
“Is that a yes?”
I nodded, as he slipped the ring on my finger. “Remember the night we went paddle boarding on our 3rd date?”
“Second.”
“Third. Anyway, you caught me staring. You had just unhooked the boards from the roof carrier. You were so strong and confident. So sweet but sure. The sun was sinking behind you, the rays stretched, fell in your hair. I fell hard like a rock. Knew in that moment you were it for me. I was so overcome, I couldn’t speak. I wanted to shout it right then and there. I fell in love first.”
“It didn’t take me much longer. I had to be sure.”
“I know, baby.”
“And I am so sure, Chase. I love you so much. I can’t wait for a life with you, Mr. July.”
“Never again. I’m only your pin up guy.” We kissed, falling back on the couch in a whisper of hushed words and seeking hands. We came together as one, both feeling renewed in the promise we just made to one another. Afterwards, we dozed off until the sound of Daisy barking at a delivery truck made us stir.