“You don’t want to see the rest of the house?”
Of course she did, because she was intensely intrigued. Did he want to show her the rest of the house? Tonight when they had other people to worry about?
“I’m sure my boots are filthy and I don’t want to trek dirt all through your house.”
He gave her a look, hard to read in the glow of the flashlight, then left her standing in the dark, waiting for him while he made sure everything was secure. He crossed in front of her to check in the garage, then returned, relief in his shoulders.
“A little water in the garage, but that’s going to be okay. I didn’t think it came this far to the east. You ready to head back to town? You must be wiped out.”
“You too.”
He rubbed his fingers over his eyes. “Ah, yeah.”
“I feel bad, you having to drive me back to the motel.” But she couldn’t walk the distance, not at night.
“No big deal. We’ll see if we can get something to eat when we get back there.”
She doubted anyplace would be open. “If not, I always have snacks in my room.”
“I bet someplace will be open. Lots of people are going to need to eat.” He bounced his keys in his palm. “Ready to go?”
When they got back to town, they saw he was right. The diner was open, and was packed. She exchanged a glance with Javi, and his shoulders slumped wearily.
“You think maybe they need help in there?” she asked, scooting forward on her seat to look through the plate glass windows.
“Yeah, it looks like, but don’t worry about it. Go on back to your room and relax. You’ve had a long day.”
“Yours has been just as long.” She rested her hand on the door handle. “I’ll go see what I can do.”
He parked the SUV and leaned back against the seat for a moment, his eyes closed.
“Javi. No one expects you to go in there, no one expects you to go help out. Go home and get some rest. People will still need help tomorrow, you know that. It will be worse in the light of day.”
He turned his head to look at her. “Thanks for the pep talk.”
His dry tone startled a smile out of her. “Well, you know.”
He sighed and opened his door to slide out. “Let’s go see what Ginny needs us to do.”
When they walked into the diner, the blonde woman balancing three plates turned to give them an exasperated look.
“No place to sit. Sorry.”
“We came to see if there’s anything we can do to help,” Javi said. “Ginny, this is Esperanza. She’s with the storm chasing tour that’s staying at the motel. Esperanza, Ginny owns this place, and she’s married to Austin.”
“Oh. Hi.”
Distracted, Ginny didn’t acknowledge the introduction as she turned to place the platters on the table. “Why does everyone have to eat now? I know their power is out but everyone needs to eat now?”
The storm had right around dinner time, and for many of them, the power was out. Espy wouldn’t mention that she was hungry herself. “What can we do to help?”
Ginny looked at her. “Any experience in the kitchen?”
“Not that I’d want to feed anyone, but I can wait tables and get drinks.”
Ginny considered a moment, then nodded, and cast a look at Javi. “Can you help in the kitchen?”
He was already striding toward the swinging door. “I got this, but they get what they get, not necessarily what’s on the menu.”
