Page 132 of Samuel

“I promise, I’m okay. But I don’t love the fact that you’re soaked through to the bone. Let’s get you back in the truck and we can go home.” He pulled her into his arms, loving how she snuggled into his chest. Then she balled up her fist and slammed it into his shoulder.

“Ouch!”

“Don’t youeverdo that to me again! Are you kidding me? Being out here in the middle of a storm when you know I hate them! You promised me, Sam. You promised you’d be home,and instead I had to come out here. I had to come because I knew something was wrong!”

“I’m so sorry, baby.”

“No. I don’t want your apology right now. God, I’m so mad. You need to let me look at your head. I…” Something passed across her face and her hand went to her belly. Jellybean must have given her a swift kick from the way she was rubbing her side.

“We need to get you dried off, sweetheart. It’s not good for you or the baby.”

“You know what’s not good for me or the baby? Having to worry about you being all alone out here in the middle of some insane storm. What if something happened to your heart? You know you don’t come out here by yourself.”

“I didn’t. I had Zeke with me.”

“Sam, I just… I can’t. You were supposed to be back before the storm. You didn’t listen to me, just like they didn’t. And I knew. I knew history was going to repeat itself.”

He raised his hands in surrender. “I know, Evie. I’m sorry. Let’s get back to the apartment.”

She shook her head. “We can’t. I was lucky to even make it out here. I’m certain the road is flooded by now.”

Shit.

Sam took two steps towards Evie, wanting nothing more than to wrap his arms around her, but she shook her head again and started pacing around the small space. He’d been ready to spend the night out there all alone. After his heart stopped, Abby made sure they kept all the small outbuildings stocked with some non-perishable foods, emergency medical supplies, and even a small bed for situations like this, but it was no place for Evie.

A gasp interrupted his thoughts. Worry ripped through his body as he watched Evie fold over, moaning. “Oh shit. Isthe baby coming?” His focus zoomed in on the swell of her belly. Nothing else mattered in that moment.

“I was really trying not to pay attention to the pains before because I was so worried about you. But this one really hurts.”

Pains? As in plural? As in, she’s had more than the one she was currently wincing through? Jesus.

“Okay. We’ll just time them from now on. Do you think you want to sit down?” he asked, nodding towards the bed. “Or do you want to just walk around a bit?”

“Why is there a bed out here?” She looked around, wrapping her arms around herself. “Why is it so cold?”

“There’s an AC unit on the wall.” He pointed over her shoulder. Fuck, he was glad he’d started to cool down the building as soon as he got there, but she was fucking shivering and he needed to figure out how to get her warmed up. “We made all of these storage buildings on the property into… Well, Abby insisted we have these stocked because… uh. This is where?—”

Her eyes snapped to him, blinking slowly as her jaw dropped.

“Oh my god. This is where you died? We can’t be here!”

Tears started pouring over her lashes as her hands flew to cover her face. Sam grabbed her arm and walked her over to the mattress, helping her sit before he walked towards the storage bins at the back of the space.

“What are you doing?”

“Abby stocked these bins for all sorts of emergencies. I’m just taking note of what we have. I know there’s got to be… Yes! Okay, good.”

Sam grabbed the quilt and made his way back to Evie.

“Here, let’s put this around your shoulders.”

“Thank yo—” Her body went rigid as she leaned back. Her hands balled the sheet laying over the mattress and shesqueezed her eyes closed. Sam touched her belly and a jolt of adrenaline slammed through him.

“Fuck, Evie. Your belly is really hard.” He sat on the bed next to her and felt Evie melt into him. “I’m so sorry I worried you.”

“Don’t ever let it happen again, Sam.” She sniffled and guilt raced through his body. “I waited for you to come back, I watched that storm roll in and knew you’d be on your way home. I ignored the pains I was having, pushed them to the back of my mind because I knew you’d come. And when you didn’t, every bad thing that could have happened to you flooded my mind.”

Fat tears rolled down her cheeks, and Sam gently brushed them away with his fingers.

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