Before I could think on that any longer, another beep came from Gabe’s and Scarlett’s phones. Dutifully, Gabe read the new message out.
“Drew says that the immediate danger has passed, but we’re still on a tornado warning for the rest of the day.” He looked up from his phone. “We can leave the storm shelter now.”
I nodded and got up from my chair. My jeans felt very damp and rough now that they’d dried slightly from the rain soaking they’d received earlier, but it was workable. I wasn’t too worried, as I had my entire wardrobe in my car. It would be easy enough to find clothes I could change into.
A wet nose pressed against the back of my hand, and I looked down to find the white dog looking at me with those wide golden eyes that had startled me so easily before. “Oh! Hello there,” I said, squatting down to say a proper hello to them with a thorough scritch of their ears. “What’s your name again?”
“His name’s Bucky,” Rose said, now out of her father’s lap and watching me with interest. “I call him Puppy Bucky when he’s been a good boy.”
“Really?” I smiled softly at her and returned my attention to Bucky. “Hello, Puppy Bucky. Aren’t you a good boy?”
Thethump,thump,thumpof his tail told me that he considered himself to be a very good boy.
“Yes, you are. Such a good boy,” I praised, earning myself a lick to my cheek, which made me laugh.
The creak of the door opening caught everyone’s attention, and more artificial light flooded the shelter.
“Crap. The shop’s a mess,” Gabe called down the stairs. “Be careful on your way up.”
Scarlett went up first, then Daniel. Rose waited until Daniel gave his own okay before she went up the stairs, taking Buckywith her. I followed her, the last of our little group out of the shelter.
My eyes blinked as they adjusted to the increased light. Sections of the wall in front of us had been destroyed, and at least one shutter hung limply from its attachments. Sunlight streamed in through the gaps and glinted off the broken glass that was on the floor everywhere. Broken packets of food had been blown around by the force of the wind and hindered our movements as we left the safety of the stairwell.
Through the now-empty windows, I saw the world outside was littered with debris. Tree branches, leaves, and trash were everywhere, and puddles of water dotted the gas station forecourt. A truck was sitting at an angle, nudged up against one of the pumps with garbage clinging to its side, but it otherwise looked unaffected.
Daniel let out a long sigh of relief when he saw it. “Thank fuck,” he muttered under his breath, making sure Rose wasn’t within earshot. He looked at me a little guiltily. “I wasn’t sure if it would survive. Looks like it did, even if it did shift in place a bit.”
“Lucky,” I said to him, patting his arm. “Here’s hoping mine made it through too.”
“You parked around the side, yeah?”
I nodded, sucking on my bottom lip with slight worry.
Daniel hummed. “Okay, let’s go look.” He sought his daughter out, finding her and Bucky chatting with Gabe as he and Scarlett picked their way through to the counter, where the cash register would normally go. I couldn’t see it in place now, though. “Rose? Stay here for a minute?”
She nodded before returning her full attention back to Gabe.
We walked out the doorway, the shattered glass door hanging off its hinges and a bell I hadn’t heard earlier tinkling against the slight breeze that hadn’t yet let up. Once outside, I paused to take a deep breath in. The air was wet but clean—the sameway it always was after a heavy thunderstorm. When we rounded the corner of the gas station, I let that same breath out in resignation.
My poor Jeep looked like it had been totaled.
I crouched down, placed my elbows on my knees, and ran my fingers through my hair. “Well, fuck.”
It was covered in branches from one of the trees that had been uprooted by the tornado. I could see that the windshield and rear window were shattered, but there was no way I could get in closer to check for how much body damage there was.
“Just as well you didn’t stay in your vehicle.” Daniel stood next to me and patted me on the shoulder. “You made the right choice. Coming in, I mean. You got lucky.”
I wiped my hands down my cheeks. “It sure doesn’t feel like it.” How the hell was I going to get home now? There was no way I could keep driving tonight, or anytime soon for that matter. Where would I stay? Did Rockdale evenhaveplaces that I could stay? Especially now that there were likely to be stranded people everywhere?
It was all such a mess.
“It will, soon enough.” Daniel crouched down next to me and leaned gently into my side. “You survived. You’re still here. We’ll help you work out what comes next.”
I looked at him quizzically, only for him to wrap an arm around my shoulders. “Out of all the places you could be stranded, you could do worse than Rockdale. We’ll look after you.” He squeezed my shoulders before he added quietly, “I’lllook after you.”
I felt my eyelids flutter at his kind words, and I melted into his side. I couldn’t stop a sense of calm from descending over me, like everything would be perfectly fine if I could simply let Daniel take control for just a few more minutes. I’d spent the lastfour years with so much on my plate, and I wastired.Letting someone else take control for a little while seemed like heaven.
“Come on,” he said. “Let’s go back inside and grab a tarp to put over everything to protect it from any more rain. I’ll get Gabe to call Kajir, the town’s tow truck driver and mechanic. I’m sure he’ll be busy, but he’ll get to it when he can if it’s in line.”
