Page 10 of Strike a Chord
“Wait, are you guys okay?”
“J-just cold.We’ve got layers on, but the power was actually out when we got home.We just didn’t know.We thought it’d come back on over night, but it hasn’t.A lot of this part of the island is out.A few trees fell on powerlines.”
“Okay.I have a generator, so yes, my house is without power and currently cold, but that doesn’t mean it will be forever.I also have a woodstove.”He climbed out of bed again, put her on speaker and started pulling on his jeans, a Henley and wool socks.“I’m just going to get dressed, build a fire and start the generator, then I’ll come get you guys, okay?”
“N-no.You don’t have to do that.I … I’m supposed to be at work.”
“Yeah, but is your work going to be open if there is no power?Is Levi at school?”
“The school has no power.Neither does my work.And they’re both closed because of it.”
“All the more reason for you to not stay home and freeze to death, and come here where it’s warm.”
“I …”
“I told you to call me if you needed anything.I’m glad you did.”
She swallowed.“My uh … my landlords … they’re an older couple and—”
“I have room for them, too.Everybody pack bags and I’ll be there in half an hour.”Then he hung up and went out to the kitchen to make coffee.The clock on his phone said it was just past nine.He’d slept for a little under six hours.Not ideal, but he’d functioned on less.
A lot less in his partying and touring days.
He’d functioned on a lot less sleep and a lot more drugs.
While the coffee brewed, he built a fire in the woodstove in the living room, then went out into the gray, windy and still very wet morning and started up the generator.
The chickens and goats made noises that they heard him, so he quickly opened up the barn and coop and let them all out, which wound up being a mistake, because every single one of them felt the need to come up to him and tell him all about their weekend.
Normally, he didn’t mind a slow morning where he petted each chicken and snuggled each goat, but this morning he just didn’t have time.And the animals were not happy about that.
He hadn’t bothered to unload his truck last night since he got in so late and it was dark, but he did so now, so that way the guests could fill up the bed of his truck without any issues.
He was on the road in twenty minutes, taking in the streets covered in tree branches, pinecones and leaves.He nearly didn’t stop in time when he took a corner and came across a big branch draped across both lanes of the road.
“Shit,” he muttered, throwing on his hazard lights and opening up his door.
He made quick work moving the branch off the road, despite how heavy it was, and prayed nobody came around the corner Tokyo Drift-style taking him out.
He was nearly hit by a car coming in the opposite direction, but when the person spotted Dax on the road, they managed to brake in time.The sizzle of tires on wet road, combined with a sudden brake rattled Dax’s nerves.He gave the driver a glare that he hoped sent the message for them to slow the fuck down, as they passed him.Then he climbed back in his truck, clenched his asshole that nobody came whipping around the blind corner, and pulled back out onto the road.
Okay, he’d be a little later than thirty minutes getting to Jennifer’s, but hopefully that was okay.
Houses and commercial buildings all through Nanoose Bay, Parksville and Qualicum were without power.Even some streetlights had been reduced to frustrating and dangerous four-way stops.
Nobody knew what to do when the streetlights stopped working.So, he left the highway and took the back roads for as long as he could to avoid having to deal with idiots.
He was in Jennifer’s driveway about forty-five minutes after she called.
His belly rumbled as he climbed out of his truck and went to her front door.Levi answered.“Hi Dax!”The kid was all big smiles and unruly brown hair.
“Hey kiddo.How’s the wrist?”
“Itchy under the cast.But otherwise, fine.”
Jennifer came into the kitchen from down the hall.“Hey.Thank you so much.I wasn’t sure why I called you, but when we woke up to a freezing house and I vaguely remembered seeing a woodstove in your living room, I just called you.”
“And that was a very good idea.It should be toasty warm by the time we get back.”He leaned down and picked up a small duffle bag.“This your bag?”he asked Levi.
