Page 26 of Taming Waves

“Street’s flooded,” I call to him.

I walk over to the light switch by the door and flip it.

Nothing.

“Electricity is still out too.”

He stands and stumbles to the island.

“I’ll go dig the generator out of the utility closet downstairs. We’re gonna need coffee,” he says. Then, he looks at Audrey. “Heather decent? I need to take a leak, and I don’t want to walk in on Seb and Avie. Parents don’t get too many nights alone.” He wags his eyebrows.

Audrey shakes her head. “Yeah, go ahead.”

He gives her a salute and heads to my bathroom.

“How are we going to get out of here?” Audrey asks me.

“I have a kayak in the garage,” I say.

“Very funny. I need to get to Whiskey Joe’s.”

“It’s Tuesday. The bar’s closed,” I point out.

“I know, but I’m supposed to meet Leena there this afternoon.”

“Leena?”

“The new bartender. Van hired her yesterday. She was dropping in to pick up some paperwork.” She looks down ather phone. “And I’m not getting a signal so that I can call and reschedule.”

“Cell towers are probably down, but if we’re stranded, she’s probably stranded too,” I say.

“You think it’s flooded beyond the bridges? She’s coming from Wilmington.”

“Let’s fire up the generator and see what the news reports,” I say.

Sebastian and Avie emerge, and Sebastian, Anson, and I venture outside to assess the situation. The ocean is still rocky, and the streets are flooded as far as the eye can see. Our neighbor has a police scanner and am radio, and he says that the bridges leading onto and off the island are indeed flooded. Sandcastle PD has closed access to both until they are safe to pass.

We grab the generator and bring it up to the deck. Anson hooks it into our breaker box while Sebastian and I fill the girls in.

“I bet my parents are losing their minds right now,” Audrey mutters.

“Why?” Avie asks.

“I guarantee Dad took his boat out to the area near my apartment at the wharf this morning, and my car’s not there. I’m not answering my door, and he can’t call my phone. They probably think I was driving and got swept away by the storm.”

“Here, I have a hotspot. You’re welcome to call them from my phone. That’s how we reached Sabel this morning,” Avie offers.

Audrey’s eyes go wide. “No. He’ll want to come for me.”

“Is that a bad thing?” Avie asks.

She turns to me. “If I tell him I stayed the night here, yes, that’d be very bad. He’d likely bring his shotgun.”

“Just tell him you rode out the storm with me at my house, and we’re gonna stay in today and do girlie shit. He’ll buy that,” Heather mumbles as she shuffles into the kitchen.

“That might work.”

“Good. Now that that’s settled, I’m going to start a pot of coffee. It looks like it’s toast for breakfast,” Anson says as he grabs the rest of the sourdough and heads for the toaster oven.

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