Total pages in book: 128
Estimated words: 120230 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 601(@200wpm)___ 481(@250wpm)___ 401(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 120230 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 601(@200wpm)___ 481(@250wpm)___ 401(@300wpm)
Phoenix nodded before turning to his patient. “I need to monitor how much you’re taking in and throwing back up. If it gets too bad, we’ll have to drive to an area with a phone signal and call for a rescue helicopter. Dehydration is the main threat.”
Kaea groaned. “I’m sure I look like death, but it’s either a stomach bug or food poisoning, and I’ve survived both before.” No longer wracked by spasms, he nonetheless clenched the bowl close to his chest. “I need a shower.”
“You need to rest,” Phoenix began, but Vansi interrupted with, “No, let him shower. He’ll do much better after.” She held her husband’s gaze. “I’m telling you this as a nurse.”
Phoenix gave a curt nod before shifting his attention back to Kaea. “But you are not going to be alone in the shower. Aaron and I’ll both go with you, and we’ll turn our backs, but that’s about it.”
“I’m not shy,” Kaea said, and the next few minutes were taken up with Aaron and Phoenix getting him up off the couch. Slinging one arm around each of their shoulders, both men placing one arm behind his back to brace him in turn, Kaea winced as he began a slow hobble to the closest shower.
Our cleanup complete, Grace and I returned the mop and bucket to the laundry after using the rain to rinse them out, threw the used rags into a bucket of soapy water to soak, then washed our hands. Afterward, while Grace was pulling out a pile of finished laundry to throw into the must’ve-been-an-antique dryer, I decided to go into the kitchen and open the back door a fraction to refresh the place.
I propped open the door to the living room as well, so that the crisp air would circulate and clear out the lingering smell from Kaea’s illness. It would do him no good to walk out of the shower fresh and clean only to find the air ripe with the memory of his awful night.
Vansi, dressed in skinny jeans and a thick roll-neck sweater in dark green, was already in there, struggling with the stiff windows. “They don’t open far.” She pointed to a latch that locked each window in place after about a handsbreadth.
“Those don’t look period appropriate, do they?”
Vansi shrugged, neither one of us a history major. “I’m guessing Darcie’s parents or grandparents put them in—maybe because the weather down here can get so bad. No chance of a window being left wide open when the snow flurries hit.”
“Makes sense.” I glanced through the door into the kitchen to see Grace stepping outside, trailing a blanket cape.
Curious, I followed.
She stood on the veranda, her eyes trained on the lightning that cracked within the black of the rain clouds. Though it was morning, the gloom made it appear like twilight. And yet I couldn’t deny that it was stunning, too, a kind of voracious beauty that’d devour you without hesitation.
The sound of the downpour was so deep it created an echo in my bones.
My fingers itched for my camera, but from the looks of it, the storm wasn’t going to pass anytime soon, so I’d have plenty of other chances. Might as well enjoy the sight.
“Here.” Grace opened up one side of the blanket. “We can freeze together while we enjoy the show Mother Nature’s putting on for us.”
I wasn’t a toucher, not like Darcie, but it was icy out, I had no cardigan or sweater, and my feet were slowly going numb. “Thanks,” I said, tugging the blanket closed on my side while she did the same on hers.
“No problem.”
I felt engulfed by a sense of unexpected comfort as we stood there . . . comfort carried on the scent of lavender. Oh. Grace, I realized, smelled like home, like my mum. Maybe that was part of why I liked her, but most of it was because of how she treated Aaron. With affection and love and an open heart—leavened with a sense of mischief that made my straitlaced friend loosen up.
Bea would’ve liked her.
“I wonder if we should think about getting out of here,” I murmured, my heart aching for a meeting that would never happen. “The water level in the creek has to be rising. We won’t be able to cross the bridge if it gets too high, and then we’ll be stuck here.”
Grace wrinkled up her nose. “I was waiting until we were all together to share, but I did actually pick up a signal early this morning. I get insomnia,” she confessed, “and mostly I read while Aaron sleeps, but today I decided to walk up to the tower. Tire myself out, you know?”
Having experienced more than a few restless nights myself, I nodded. “Good signal?”
She shook her head. “Blip at best. I managed to download one email and what do you know, I’m just the right customer for a penis enlargement.” A glare that made my lips twitch. “But my phone’s set up to download breaking news articles automatically, and I synced that with the local paper before we arrived.”