Page 26 of Always a Roommate
We said our goodbyes, and I sat in my car for a long moment, listening to the wind howl outside. The drizzle turned to a steady thrumming on the roof of my car as I pulled out of the parking lot.
But I didn’t head home. Tanner was probably still at the Hut, and being alone didn’t sound altogether appealing right now.
When I got there, I saw him darting across the beach to pull rented beach furniture back to the safety of his store. I tied my hair back and jumped from the car. He needed help if he was going to be done before the worst of the storm hit.
“Rae,” Tanner yelled when he saw me. “What are you doing here?”
“Helping you.” Unlike just about everyone else in his family who’d tell me to get inside, Tanner didn’t argue.
Instead, he pointed to where the wind had carried a chair partially down the beach. I kicked off my sandals and ran across the hard, wet sand, stumbling as my foot hit a hole.
Righting myself, I reached the chair and dragged it toward the shelter of the Hut before going out for another one.
It took longer than it should have, and we only had a few more pieces of furniture to get when lights flashed across the beach as a dark truck pulled up next to the Hut.
Shane cut the engine and got out, jogging toward us as if we weren’t in the middle of a torrential downpour. He wicked water from his eyes.
“What are you two doing?” he yelled over the wind.
I struggled with a lounge chair and didn’t argue when Shane’s hand clamped around the arm and helped me. When we reached the shelter of the Hut, a small overhang where the rental furniture was being tied up underneath, Shane grabbed my arm to stop me from going back into the rain.
It didn’t matter. It hit us anyway. Pushed by the wind, the rain slanted sideways, soaking through my already sopping clothes.
“You shouldn’t be here.” There was a hard edge to Shane’s voice, but something else in his eyes. He was worried.
“Did you come looking for me?”
He didn’t answer. “Have you watched the news at all today?”
I shook my head. “It’s just a little rain, Shane. It’ll pass.”
Tanner jogged toward us after doing one last scan of the beach. “Thanks for your help, Rae. I didn’t want to be out here dragging metal furniture when the hurricane hits.”
“What?” I looked from one brother to the other.
Shane’s eyes met mine. “It turned.”
“What?” I repeated because it was all I could say.
“The hurricane. It’s coming for a direct hit.”
10
SHANE
Rae gave me a blank stare that made me want to shake her. Hadn’t she noticed the wind today or how dark the sky had been? Did she not look at her phone? See a TV? It was nearly impossible to miss an incoming hurricane.
“Did you hear me?” My voice was harder than I’d meant it to be.
Rae shook herself. “Hurricanes never hit us.”
“Sorry, Rae Rae.” Tanner gestured out to the roiling waves. “Shane is right. Looks like it’s our unlucky night.”
“What do we do?” I could hardly hear her voice above the wind. “We didn’t prepare anything. Nothing is boarded up.”
I had the same thought when I left home to find her. The news said to expect the hurricane to make landfall as a category three. We had to get off this beach.
I went into teacher mode, leader mode. “Tanner, do you have your car?”
