Page 42 of Text Appeal

Thunder crashes again and I jump like an idiot. “Shit.”

“It’s a big one.” He smiles in commiseration. “No sign of hail though, thank goodness.”

“Your car is parked outside.”

“It’ll be okay.”

The wind whistles and howls as it races by the building. Half of my view is taken up by the hotel across the road. But a handy little side street gives me a line of sight to the water. Jagged streaks of lightning appear in the sky and overhead, the big old roof groans and sighs. I am almost certain the building won’t break. Almost.

“What would you say the odds are of the roof flying off and us dying?” I ask in a nice calm tone.

“This place has stood for over a century. I think we’re okay.”

“But you’re not actually an architect or an engineer so you can’t say for sure, right?”

“Take a deep breath, Riley.” Connor joins me at the window. “You don’t like storms, huh?”

“No. Not really.”

He doesn’t press for more. Which makes me want to give it.

“Mom got called into work one night,” I say. “Half of the staff at the restaurant was off sick with the flu. The neighbor who usually kept an eye on me was away. But I was thirteen. Old enough to stay on my own.”

His gaze shifts from the sea to me.

“This huge monster of a storm rolled in, and we lost power. The whole neighborhood was out. No sign of life for miles. I was sitting alone in the dark for hours with this thing raging. It sounded like the world was ending.”

“That would have been enough to freak me out at that age.”

“Yeah,” I agree. “It was just me and this celebrity prayer candle.”

His gaze narrows on me. “Celebrity prayer candle?”

“You know, those faux religious ones inside a glass tube with a sticker on the outside of someone dressed as Jesus. Mom’s friend bought it as a joke. But it was the only candle I could find.”

“Which celebrity was on the candle?”

“Jack Black.”

“And did you pray to him?”

“No, Connor. I did not. Do you think it would have helped?”

His mouth kicks up on one side. “Guess we’ll never know.”

“I probably would have been okay if I hadn’t watched a movie Mom had said was too scary. But she was out, and all my friends had seen it, so…”

“Which one?”

“Paranormal Activity,” I say. “Scared the absolute crap out of me. I kept thinking something was standing beside my bed watching me. Hardly slept for a week.”

Laugh lines crinkle the corner of his eyes.

“I don’t usually tell people that story,” I say. “It’s embarrassing.”

“Everyone’s scared of something.”

“What are you afraid of?”

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