Thunder followed, so close it rattled in my chest.
I could feel the intensity building… the sheer power… the force thatwasnature.
But I’d also learned to respect the unpredictability of a summer downpour. I didn’t know this area. I didn’t knowwhether a flash flood would come tearing down the river at any moment.
As a boom of thunder shook the ground, I knew it was time to move.
The path I’d followed to the falls had already turned to mud, sucking at my boots, slippery with every stride. Water cascaded down from a ridge, cutting small gullies that tried to trip me. My shirt clung heavily to my shoulders, my knapsack sodden against my back. My compass knocked against my chest, telling me there was only one direction that mattered now—shelter.
Branches whipped in the wind. I ducked my head and pushed on, pushing the soaked hair out of my eyes as the rain streamed down my face.
The outline of the old mill came into view, almost beckoning to me.
I skidded through the mud as the rain pummeled down even harder.
Thunder quaked through the blackened sky.
I reached the mill door and put my shoulder into it. It was like pushing a stone slab, but eventually the sodden door groaned open.
I slipped inside, water dripping off me in steady rivulets, the storm’s roar muffled the moment I shut the door behind me.
I staggered against the nearest wall, catching my breath, grinning despite myself. My heart was hammering, my shirt clinging, mud streaked halfway up my legs. But I was in one piece.
“Bloody hell, that was intense!”
I shuddered the waterlogged knapsack off my back. I peeled my sopping shirt off and let it slap to the ground.
A second later, I heard the last thing I was expecting.
Bang! Bang! Bang!
Someone was thumping on the door.
It was followed by a voice.
“Open up! Is anybody in there? Cody, are you in there?”
“Brooks?” I gasped.
I slid across the floorboards back to the door.
With all my strength I hauled it open.
As I did, an utterly soaked Brooks Beresford burst inside and fell against me.
He instantly knocked me off balance.
My boots slipped on the wet boards.
We went down hard, the two of us hitting the floor in a tangle of limbs, leaving him sprawled on top of me.
For a heartbeat all I could hear was the storm battering the walls and the ragged sound of Brooks trying to catch his breath. His bow tie was soggy and limp, his hair plastered to his forehead, his shirt so wet it had become transparent… and I kinda liked what I could make out.
That’s when he realized he was splayed on top of me, his hands pressed against my bare chest.
“Oh shit! I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to…”
“Make such a grand entrance?” I joked.
