Page 57 of The Seascape Between Us

I looked away from the window and met his concerned gaze, then gestured at the TV. “They’re calling for a storm. A big one.”

Grey moved to stand next to me, his shoulder brushing mine. “When?”

“Thursday, but possibly as early as tomorrow. There’s still a chance it might miss us,” I said. “It might just keep going up the coast.” But even as the words left my mouth, I didn’t believe it. That storm would hit because everything had been going too well. I should have known better than to let my guard down, better than to trust that any of this could ever really last.

“This is going to ruin the opening,” I told him bluntly, as if he hadn’t already realized the same thing.

Grey turned away from the TV, and his gaze met mine, dark and earnest. “We don’t know that. They’re not even sure that it will hit us at this point.” Despite his words, I could hear the uncertainty in his voice. He knew I was right. “Still, we should be prepared, just in case.”

“Yeah,” I said, reaching up and dragging my fingers through my hair. Two days didn’t give us much time to prepare, especially if the storm was going to be as bad as forecasters predicted.

During the short drive to the hotel, I couldn’t shake the unease settling over me like a cold, damp blanket. Knots twisted my insides as I parked my truck beside the hotel, feeling Grey’s gaze on me.

I shut off the engine, but before I could climb out, he reached over and gripped my hand, squeezing lightly. I looked up and met his eyes.

“It’s going to be okay,” he said.

I swallowed hard. “We’ve put in so much work.”

“And we’ll do everything we can to make sure the hotel is protected. We got this.”

Despite the anxiety swirling inside me, warmth filled my chest. It felt good not having to face all this alone, to be part of anusinstead of everything falling on me.

The staff meeting went well. Though we were late, no one noticed. With some staff seeing the renovations for the first time and talk of the impending storm, everyone was too distracted to notice any shift between Grey and me. The simmering hostility between us was gone. Instead, we presented a united front. Gathering everyone into the restaurant, together, Grey and I explained everyone’s roles, what we needed from them and how we hoped the weekend would go. Between the changes and the hotel being booked to capacity, the whole group buzzed with excitement, and I felt grateful for the people who'd stuck with me over the years, who loved the hotel as much as I did and were thrilled to see some life breathed into it again.

“What about the storm?” June asked, casting an uneasy glance at the tall windows and the ocean, dark blue under the cloudless sky outside.

Grey slid his hands into his pants pockets and rocked back on his heels. “For now, weather forecasters are just calling for a storm watch. It could go right past us.”

He sounded reasonable and confident, but his words did little to loosen the tension gripping me from head to toe. Still, I strived to give off the same reassuring air. “Grey’s right, but in the meantime, we’ll storm-proof the hotel, and you should all do the same for your homes, just in case. Better to be overly cautious than caught off guard.”

The meeting wrapped up, and Grey hurried to my office for his video conference while I checked the weather app on my phone.The storm had gone from a watch to a warning. We were going to get hit.

“Shit,” I murmured under my breath. I’d wanted to believe the best, that the storm would pass us by, but I’d known better.

I thought about all the people I delivered to who weren’t able to get what they needed to prepare for the storm on their own. I would make a run into town, pick up cases of water and essentials in case we lost power, then I’d start to work on the hotel. I shot Grey a quick text, letting him know what I would be doing without interrupting his meeting before heading out to my truck, but I stopped when I found Alistair standing outside the front doors, talking to his friend and former roommate, Grier.

I hadn’t seen much of Grier since he’d finished school and moved out of Oliver Mackenzie’s house. I’d heard through the grapevine that he and his boyfriend had taken on Harry Walter’s store in The Square and moved into the apartment above.

“Is everything okay?” I asked Alistair as I drew closer.

He nodded, but his expression looked serious. “The storm’s been upgraded to a warning.”

I sighed. “I know. I’m going to make a quick trip to the store for the people I deliver to, make sure they had enough food, water, candles, flashlights, and batteries in case we lose power. You should pick those things up for yourself.”

Alistair nodded. “I will, and maybe you can help me convince Grier that it would be safer for him and Sawyer to ride out the storm with me and Finn than staying at their place so close to the ocean.”

He made a good point. I should probably ask Brody if he and Jett wanted to stay with us. They also had an apartment over the bar, but being so close to the water could be dangerous if there was flooding. I’d check with Grey first since it was his house, but I didn’t think he’d mind.

Grier glanced at me and rolled his eyes. “We’ll befine.Our apartment is on the second floor. Even if there’s flooding, I doubt the water would risethathigh.”

“Alistair’s right,” I said. “You’d be safer up the hill, away from the coast. If there’s any kind of emergency, it’ll be hard for first responders to reach you if water levels rise.”

“See,” Alistair looked smug. “I told you.”

“I don’t know,” Grier hedged, glancing back at his building. “I just got a ton of new inventory. If something does go wrong, I won’t be there to protect it. Books don’t exactly handle water well.”

“Box up as much of your inventory as you can,” I told him. “Use plastic bins if you have them, and store it all in your apartment so if there is flooding, it’s better protected. If you don’t have plastic containers, use tarps to cover everything just in case.”

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