“Honey, we’ll be just fine,” her mother, the unflappable retired music teacher June Cash, assured her. “It’s only a cat one and barely a fifty percent chance of hitting Galveston.” Her tone bordered on blasé.
“It’s no trouble,” Flash promised, fluffing her damp hair with her free hand.
“I know. We’ll come for a fun visit when it gets cooler. Houston is so stuffy compared to the beach.”
“Mom! It’s a hurricane.”
“Oh, Lisa,” she said in her “Mom” voice, still not letting go of her girly birth name. “You remember growing up here. We got them all the time and never evacuated.”
“I remember the time a tree took out our screened back porch,” Flash lamented. “At least you left for Harvey.”
“We had to. The governor issued a mandatory evacuation. This is entirely different, and you know it. Stop worrying and look forward to buckets of rain cooling things off and reducing the fire hazard.”
“What about Marie and Dexter? Presley?”
“Presley’s oil rig has an evacuation plan if it veers north toward Lake Pontchartrain,” Mom said, “but your sister and her husband’s marine biology lab is on full alert, ready to assess the storm’s impact on the ocean as soon as they’re cleared for field research. Really,” she added, as if Flash was stressing over nothing. “It’s just some heavy rain and a little wind. Not even enough for beach erosion.”
“There’s always beach erosion,” Flash countered. “Just ask Marie—she’ll talk your ear off about it.”
“Well, I suspect you’ll have more trouble up there from traffic accidents, downed power lines, and stupid people doing stupid things. Your alarm won’t quit for three days—even if Ivanna misses us altogether. People panicking is the real danger. Now, stop worrying about me and Dad, and tell me how things are going with Athena.” Her mother’s tone abruptly shifted from flippant to fascinated. “We hit it off when you brought her to meet us. I hope you haven’t sabotaged your chances of making this one work.”
“Ugh!” Flash huffed in mild annoyance. “As if? Actually, we made it through our first fight, as a couple, that is. Plenty of fighting beforehand, but things are good. I have to learn to communicate better, and Athena needs to relax more. All in all, I’m hopeful, Mom. She doesn’t freak out about me being in danger and wants more than dating for kicks. I think she could be the one. You know? Like you and Dad. The jury is still out on the algae guy, but, hey—whatever makes Marie happy.”
“Oh, honey!” Mom gushed. “I’m so happy for you. Fingers crossed. Remember, a relationship takes work, compromise, and sometimes sacrifice. If it’s with the right one, it’s worth it.”
“Yes, Mom.” Flash rolled her eyes. “I’m almost thirty. I’ve heard all your relationship advice.”
“You’ve heard it.” The smirk she imagined on her mother’s face was evident in her voice. “But have you followed it?” rang the tinkling “I told you so” implication.
Flash laughed. “I love you, Mom. You and Dad batten down the hatches, OK?”
“We will. Keep my baby safe up there in the big city.”
“I will.” Relieved satisfaction replaced Flash’s earlier anxiety. A Category 1 was nothing to worry about, but her mother was right about all the calls the firehouse would be getting. Lucky tomorrow was her day off—if Ivanna even made it that far west.
The phone in her hand vibrated.Athena.
Any plans for tomorrow?read the text.
Maybe a walk in the rain. Forgot what it feels like.
Call me tonight when you have a minute.
Flash frowned. That sounded … serious. Official. Even if Athena wasn’t as into emojis as she was, a smiley face would have been nice. Did Flash need to worry? Was something wrong?
Sure, only now I don’t want to wait. What’s wrong?
A new message popped up.Nothing’s wrong. Too involved for texting. TTYL.
“Thank goodness,” Flash said to the empty room, letting out her held breath.
She replied with, ?? ?? ??
Tucking her phone in her pocket, Flash headed out to the break room where her crew was. Something smelled good.
“Woods, that you cooking again?” she called.
Snuffles hopped from Nita’s lap, racing like a greyhound on the track to greet her. Paws flailed, tail wagged, and a happy dance ensued. Flash picked her up, rewarded with puppy kisses as she pulled Snuffles to her chest.
