Page 57 of A Soldier's Return

“It’s crazy out there.”

“Did I see our Skye go off with her father earlier tonight? Did they make it all right?”

She nodded, warmed by Rosa’s use of the possessive pronoun when it came to her daughter. She loved having friends who cared. This was the reason she had come back to Cannon Beach, to forge this kind of powerful connection.

“He texted me that they were safely back in Portland and it wasn’t even raining there.”

“That’s a relief.” Rosa looked inside the apartment, where Melissa had lit a couple of emergency candles to push away the darkness. “I came down to check on you and make sure you had some kind of flashlight or candle, but it looks like you are all set.”

This wasn’t her first spring storm along the coast. Sometimes the big ones could wipe out power in the region for days.

“I should be fine. Thank you for worrying about me. Have you checked on Sonia?”

Rosa nodded, looking worried. “I know she doesn’t like storms much.”

Though it was nothing the other woman had told her, Melissa had the same impression during the most recent storm. Sonia became even more brusque than normal, her words clipped, and Melissa thought she glimpsed fear layering beneath it.

“I checked on her first. She assured me she is fine, that she has plenty of LED candles. She had four or five going, with extra batteries if necessary, so they can go all night, if it comes to that.”

“I hope it doesn’t.” Again, she wondered about Sonia and the mysterious past that left her afraid of the dark.

“Since Skye is not here, do you want me to leave Fiona with you for the company? I asked Sonia and she said she would be fine.”

Poor Rosa, having to watch over everyone in Brambleberry House. It wasn’t her job, but somehow they all had become her responsibility anyway.

She patted Fiona, wishing she could say yes. She never would have guessed she would find so much solace in canine companionship. She and Skye really needed to get serious about going to the shelter and picking out a rescue.

“That’s so sweet of you, but I think I’m okay. Much better than last time Skye was with her dad.”

Rosa gave her a sympathetic look. “I’m sorry. Being a mother is hard business, no? It never seems to become easier.”

That seemed an odd statement, filled with more knowledge than she might have expected from a woman who didn’t have any children, at least as far as Melissa knew. Maybe it was just Rosa’s unique word choices, where English was her second language.

She couldn’t deny the truth in what her friend said, though. “It’s so hard,” she agreed.

“If you want some chocolate and the sympathy, you know where to find me. I can maybe find a bottle of wine somewhere, also. We don’t need light for that.”

She managed a smile, tempted for a moment by the picture Rosa painted. Wine and chocolate and sympathy might just be the perfect prescription during a storm.

On the other hand, she wouldn’t be good company for anyone.

This time, she knew her dark mood was only partially about the pang she felt at being separated from her child. The rest was about Eli and this wild morass of emotions she didn’t know what to do about.

He would be there another week, he had said that afternoon. She had nearly gasped aloud at his words as the shock of them had ripped through her like a sharp blade. She was still trying to process the idea that she only had one more week with him.

“Thanks,” she managed, “but I think I’ll watch the storm for little longer, then go to bed.”

“No problem. If you change your mind, you know where to find me.”

She smiled. “Thanks. Good night.”

After Rosa left, she sat in the window seat for a while longer, feeling more alone than she had in a long, long time.

She awoke to absolute darkness and the strange, disorienting awareness that she didn’t know where she was.

She blinked, aware of cold and wind and the faint hint of roses hanging on the air.

Was that what had awakened her? She blinked again as the sunroom of her apartment at Brambleberry House slowly came into focus. She was still curled up on the window seat, a blanket casually tossed over her. Her back ached from the odd position and her foot tingled, asleep.

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