Page 122 of Waves of Fury

“I’m the only one who can put up with his body odor,” Tyler says with a smirk. “He truly is the lucky one in this relationship.”

Everyone laughs and for the first time since I saw that wall of water while in my office, I’m flooded with overwhelming joy and peace.

I’m home.

With family.

And the love of my possibly short life.

After a hearty lunch Aunt Beth prepared, I once again marvel over Knox’s survival story. They went through so much to get here. His story, though different, isn’t that much different than mine. I’d been happy to learn that although Dad hadn’t made it out of there, Knox’s good friend, Tony, had, which was a miracle and one I’m grateful for. In fact, according to Knox, Tony and his mom are set up in an RV somewhere on Aunt Beth’s land. Even Knox’s loud-ass horse, Rooster, survived. That one I’m sure I’ll come to regret later.

“Tell me more about Pretzel.” Harper, the dark-haired little girl they pretty much adopted, is staring at me with pleading eyes. Though only seven or eight, she reminds me a bit of Hailey.

“He thinks he’s a mountain lion,” I grumble.

“But he’s scared of his own shadow,” Tyler adds with a chuckle.

Harper beams. “I love him already. When do I get to see him?”

“In a week,” I assure her. “Along with the rest of our people.”

Knox tenses slightly. I can tell his encounters with people have been just as harrowing as ours were. It’s hard trusting new people in this broken world.

“Tell us about them,” Aunt Beth says as she refills my glass with her spectacular lemonade.

I gulp it down, hiding a smile. Crystal Lite is still her secret.

“Dan’s a dentist.” I set my glass down and look at Harper. “Have you been brushing and flossing?”

She makes a sour face at me that makes us all laugh. Cute kid.

“Dan’s daughter, Hailey, is around fifteen, I think. You’d like her, Harper.”

Tyler goes on to fill in information about his brothers. “Aaron’s my older brother. He used to captain a deep-sea fishing boat. Our parents were moonies.” He pauses when Ava flinches and then quickly continues. “Anyway, after they died, my brother got custody of me and my younger brother Jesse. Been taking care of us ever since.”

“How old is Jesse?” Harper inquires.

“Sixteen,” Tyler says.

“Then there’s Hope,” I add. “She worked with me at my company but then fell in love with Aaron.”

“They all sound normal,” Knox finally concedes, relaxing his shoulders. “It’s a good thing because we could really use the extra hands.”

Me and Tyler sit up, eager to hear what Knox has to say.

“Harper,” Ava says, interrupting Knox. “Why don’t we go check on the animals and leave the boys to talk?”

“If it gets me out of cleaning up the kitchen,” Aunt Beth says with a grin, “count me in.”

The three of them leave us. After a beat, Knox delivers the news.

“Things are getting worse, not better.”

Both me and Tyler nod in agreement.

“FEMA is nonexistent. The government seems to be gone.” I scrub a palm over my face. “We’ve come across two good towns the entire journey from the West Coast and one of those towns was delusional. It’ll only be a matter of time before they’re taken over by assholes or their own naivety. Good people are few and far between.”

Knox frowns. “Which is why we need to be prepared.”

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