Page 64 of Bound By Words

Deciding it wasn’t worth risking, I hitched my equipment trailer to the Bronco after a quick breakfast. I returned to my barn, securing it inside and ensuring all the exterior doors were locked tightly before returning to Evan’s.

Kelly was spending the morning trying to get caught up on work emails. I didn’t want to disturb her in case the internet went down. It was an unlikely possibility, but sometimes, these late spring storms came in with a vengeance and left you without power or stranded.

She’d been quiet about how working remotely had been going, but I knew she spent hours at her laptop while I was outside preparing the foundation so I could start framing as soon as the weather cleared again.

It was hard not to dwell on the future of her career. While I was slightly biased, that company would be foolish to let her go. As she’d been proving with her research into more private matters, she was dedicated to whatever she set her mind to. Her career had been her focus for so long that I worried about the mental toll this situation took on her. While our betrayals differed, we struggled with some pretty heavy things.

Waiting for Marisa to reappear often worried me; not knowing what was happening with her was daunting. Was she planning on trying to pass her child off as mine? Would she cause problems for me once I got back to Boston? Would something like this damage Kelly’s relationship with me if she found out since she couldn’t have children?

Ominous dark gray clouds started rolling in as I drove past the sign for Ashford, the light rain changing into a driving downpour that almost blew the Bronco sideways with the wind.

Knowing that the bad weather’s full force wouldn’t hold off for long, I parked close to the side of the garage. Hurrying into the house, I grabbed the keys to Evan’s car, deciding it was safer in the garage.

Kelly looked up briefly as I rushed inside and promptly turned around, but I needed to hurry to finish before the ice started coming down.

As I checked the side manual locks on the rolling garage door, I pulled up the radar on the weather map, cursing at the mass of red and purple headed in our direction.

“Fuck,” I grunted as I tried to push open the side door against the wind, barely holding onto the handle as it threatened to rip wide open.

I checked the tarps on the firewood against the side of the garage, tightening all the straps before moving inside and making sure my generator was filled with gas.

Part of me felt like I was being paranoid, rushing around like the storm of the century was about to hit, but as I saw a heavy metal outdoor chair roll across the yard, I knew things were about to get ugly.

The rain pelted my waterproof work coat as I raced to the rear of the house, making sure the furniture was stacked securely and the weatherproof covers were tight so things didn’t blow into the half-frozen lake.

Power was still on in the house, so I wasn’t worried about Kelly, but as I returned to the garage to pack the rest of my food into one of the coolers, the overhead lights flickered.

“Nathan!” Kelly’s voice startled me, and I looked up as she struggled to hold the side door, her coat flapping in the wind.

“What are you doing, sunshine?”

The hood of her coat had kept her from getting drenched, but she was shaking as she crossed the space between us, the leggings she was wearing underneath clearly doing nothing to keep out the chill.

“It sounded like it was getting worse out here, so I wanted to help you. What can I do? Put me to work.”

My protective side wanted to tell her to go back inside, but I knew she was perfectly capable of helping me despite her impractical sneakers.

“Can you lift that cooler? It needs to go inside. We should empty the bag of ice in the freezer.”

She nodded, pulling up her hood, hefting the cooler by the plastic handles, and moving toward the door. I followed, holding it open for her and ensuring it closed before grabbing the bag of extra batteries I’d pulled out of my equipment trailer earlier.

“You’re out there running around like it’s Armageddon,” she laughed as she hoisted the cooler into the middle of the kitchen island. “Are you sure I can’t help with anything else?”

“You can make sure that the freezer is full of anything we don’t plan on eating within the next day or so. If the power goes out, we need to keep it closed to keep it cold.”

Her eyes flashed to mine; concern etched into her features. “The storm is going to knock the power out?”

I shrugged, not wanting to make her panic, but as the wind started to howl outside, rain beating against the front windows, the lights flickered again, answering my question.

“What else do you want me to do?” she asked, her voice trembling slightly.

“Stay inside, maybe look for some supplies? I know you don’t live here, but surely they’ve got some things easily accessible that we can use. Like a lighter and some candles?”

She nodded, still slightly worried, as she braced her hands against the island.

“Hey,” I soothed, wiping my damp hands on my jeans before I walked toward her. “Everything will be fine. I’m probably just being over-cautious. We’ll plan on hunkering down tonight to ride it out.”

Her nervous smile turned into a naughty smirk as I reached forward to cup her cheek.

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