Page 32 of Kicking it for Convenience

The color drained out of his face a little. “Six feet?”

I grimaced and nodded. “Yeah. Could get bad.”

“But the Radiance is downtown.”

“I know.”

“I thought it was just going to rain. Storm a little. Why did I think that?”

“Hurricanes this far inland are rare. You had no reason to suspect this would happen.”

He sat forward, his eyes wide. “What are we going to do?”

“We have a couple of options. I can get some hands on deck and we can board up the building if you want. It might not stop the storm but it will help.”

“What’s our other option?”

“We do nothing.”

He frowned. “No, not good enough. We’re almost ready to open. What am I going to do about the opening party? And the inspection. It’s supposed to be day after tomorrow.”

I crossed the room and sat next to him, taking his hand in mine. The look of heartbreak on his face broke my heart. I couldn’t just let the Radiance go down without a fight. “Look, it’s going to be okay. We’ll do everything we can to preserve our hard work. I’ve got a ton of plywood in the shed. Let’s go board her up as best we can and then we’ll come back here and ride it out.”

Soren’s lower lip wobbled slightly, but he nodded. His Adam’s apple bobbed as he swallowed. “Thanks. I mean it.”

“Hey, what are husbands for?” I grinned and winked at him before standing and pulling him up with me. “Now let’s go save the theater.”

It took us the rest of the evening to board up the Radiance as much as we could. We’d put plywood on her first-floor windows and doors, leaving off the top floor mostly because we couldn’t reach it and I hadn’t brought an extension ladder with me. I’d also grabbed sandbags and we’d barricaded the doors with those as well. By the time we were wrapping up, the wind was whipping around us, throwing leaves everywhere, and the rain pelted our backs as we ran to the truck. I got us home as quickly as possible and even though the rain made everything take a lot longer than usual, it wasn’t long before we were back home, in dry clothes and getting ready for bed.

As soon as I put on my pajama bottoms and t-shirt and padded into the living room to sleep on the couch, I heard Soren call my name.

“Levi?”

“Yeah?” I looked up to see him standing at the entryway to the living room.

“I’m…”

I smiled softly and nodded, taking a step closer to him. “It’s okay. It can be a lot.”

“Should we be hiding in the bathroom or something?” He glanced at the window where we could see the storm raging outside.

A little chuckle escaped me. “Probably not necessary. We’re on a hill, so the chance of the house flooding is pretty slim. And there aren’t a lot of trees around the house that could fall.” I watched him for a moment as he nodded uncertainly. I wanted to comfort him so badly. I ached to hold him.

“I need to tell you something,” he murmured, gaze on the floor.

“Anything.”

He looked up at me. “Can we sit down?”

I nodded and we took seats on opposite ends of the couch, Soren pulling a pillow into his lap to fidget with. I waited patiently for him to speak, not wanting to rush him. When he finally cleared his throat and looked at me, his eyes were shining.

“I have something I need to tell you.” He paused for a moment. “I talked to my brother today. And my parents. I told them the truth about us.”

My eyebrows shot up. I hadn’t expected him to say that. I didn’t know what I’d expected, but it wasn’t that. “Okay. Are they… okay about it?”

He shrugged. “They were hurt, I think, but mostly they want me to be happy, no matter what that looks like.”

“And are you happy?” My heart leaped into my throat as I spoke and I held my breath as I waited for an answer.

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