Page 38 of Always a Roommate
Mrs. Kelly rushed forward, yanking Finley off me to give me a rough hug. “Dear, where are my sons?”
I pointed to the storage room door as Tanner emerged. His family descended on him, and I turned away, not allowing myself to wait for Shane. Everything he’d said the night before went against my view of him.
He’d been engaged.
She’d hurt him.
Now, he didn’t believe in love.
Yet, he believed I’d find someone. Rae, one day, you’re going to find someone who loves you like you deserve.
What was that? All the old feelings now sat on the surface, and I couldn’t tell myself anymore that they’d gone away, that this adult version of Rae was any less infatuated with the eldest Kelly sibling than the teenage version had been.
I made my way over to my dad and gave him a tired smile. He pulled me into a hug. “It was all I could do to keep that woman from driving over here during the hurricane looking for her boys.”
I chuckled against him. “You knew they’d keep me safe?”
He pulled back with a shake of his head, and his lips twisted. “I knew you’d keep them safe.”
A laugh burst out of me, and it wasn’t until then that I realized how exhausted I truly was. We couldn’t have gotten more than restless sleep. “What time is it?”
My dad looked at his watch. “About seven. The storm moved on a couple hours ago, but we had to wait until the roads were safe.”
“How is it out there?”
His grimace told me everything I needed to know. Gulf City got shellacked by a hurricane we hadn’t known to prepare for.
I walked to the open door and peered toward the beach. Colors stretched across the horizon as the sun rose like it was any normal day. Churning waves beat upon a beach that had lost a lot of sand. Palm leaves littered the parking lot, and a tree at the far end had broken in two, its top half dangling precariously over the road.
Finley slid her arm through mine, and together we walked out.
“Was there a lot of damage on your way here?”
She nodded. “Some downed power lines, a few roads where the flood waters haven’t yet receded. The entire town is without power, and cell service only came back up an hour ago.”
“Did you guys sleep at all?”
“Not me.” She squeezed my arm tighter. “Knox told me I should, but I was too worried about you.”
“I was fine.”
“Yes, but the hurricane wasn’t your biggest problem. You were stuck here with Shane.”
I offered her a weak smile and looked back over my shoulder to where Shane stood with his brothers, surveying the damage to Tanner’s shop. Something changed between us last night, but I wasn’t sure if it was only a hurricane-induced truce or if we could possibly start fresh. “He was okay.”
Finley rolled her eyes. “Sure. You two can’t come to a family dinner without throwing wine all over each other, but you’re okay being stuck together during a hurricane. At least Tanner was here.” She stopped walking and turned to me. For the first time, I realized there were tears dancing in her eyes.
“Finny?”
“I’m just really glad you’re okay.”
I yanked her into a hug, holding as tight as I could and trying to keep my own tears at bay. I’d spent all night trying to be so calm, so strong, I hadn’t let myself feel anything that was happening, how close of a call we’d really had.
When I pulled away, my hands were shaking. “Fin, can I have a minute to myself?”
She nodded, squeezing my shoulder before walking inside.
I rounded the corner of the Surf Hut, catching sight of the window we’d boarded up with tourist signs. A tear tracked down my cheek, and it was like it loosened all my control. Soon, others followed.
