Page 68 of Once Upon a Summer Night

Her father smirked. “I can only imagine how well that went over.”

“I’ve never seen him so mad at me before,” she whispered.

“Can you blame him?”

She shook her head. “I know this is all on me, that I’m the one choosing to walk away. I had convinced myself that Noah would forgive me in time and that we could go back to our team of two out west. But now…”

“You’re having second thoughts.” Her father tucked her into his side like one of his mama ducks with her ducklings. “And I’m sure I didn’t help matters any, with as surly as I’ve been this week. I was actually coming in here to apologize for that.”

“It’s okay, Daddy.”

A toilet flushed, a faucet ran—briefly, bless Noah’s heart—and then Aunt Faye’s voice drifted down the hall. She asked for some help in the kitchen, intercepting him before he could walk in to see Hannah the blubbering mess that she was. That woman truly was an absolute godsend.

“No, it’s not,” her father said. “And Chase was right to call me out on it earlier in the week. Wasn’t until he did, that I realized what I was doing. And why.”

At her questioning look, he continued. “I was afraid. Afraid of losing you again. And afraid of losing Noah. That boy claimed a piece of my heart the minute he asked about my cast, and I sure hate to see him go. Would hate to see you go, too. But regardless of your decision, I promise to respect and support it. No more fighting.”

She fished an arm around his waist and hugged her father tightly. This—this is what they needed to do more of going forward: communicating. Heck, had they done more of that when she was younger, maybe she never would have left.

But looking backward and wonderingwhat ifdid her no good today. What she really needed to be doing was trying to figure out where to go from here. Unfortunately, the battle going on in her brain between love and logic was gridlocked.

“I honestly don’t know what to do,” she admitted.

“Well, let’s start with an easier question: What do youwant?”

“To be here with Chase, Noah, and my family,andto have my new safety inspection and training job.” She sighed. “Too bad there’s isn’t a way to drag the town of Kankakee a few hours east.”

“Don’t be so sure about that.” Her father straightened, and Hannah instantly recognized the look in his eyes—it was mischief, something she’d seen in her reflection for as long as she could remember. “Hey Faye? Can you bring us a pen and notepad, please?”

*

Chase had justchanged out of his soaked clothes and dropped defeated onto the couch with a trembling Smokey when lightning struck close by his house, the crack of thunder nearly spontaneous. Aclicksounded across the room, and he glanced over in time to watch the display on his stereo system go dark. Bourbon Falls had lost power again.

It might have bothered him had he not already planned to spend the night alone, in the dark. After all, why turn on the lights when it would just help him better see all the places he’d started making memories with Hannah and Noah in his house? Right now, he was better off without the reminders of all he was on the brink of losing.

Accept it, she’s leaving again.

But he didn’t want to accept it, didn’t want her to go. And the worst part about it was that he knew she thought she was doing the right thing—for her, for Noah, and even for him. He pictured her now, standing in the shop at OBF, tiptoeing around the breakup she was intent to see to fruition. Trying to let him down easy, trying not to break his heart.

Too late.

After another near-simultaneous lightning-thunder combo, he rose to grab his phone and the charged, two-way radio from work. If this storm got any uglier, they’d be needing his help later at work. While he clearly stunk at making wise relationship decisions, when it came to the fire station, his instincts kept him out of trouble and on the right track.

Sure enough, calls from the 911 dispatcher started coming in. A tree down on West Jackson Street. A pole and power lines down on East Florence. Overturned trash receptacles all along Main Street. Chase sent a group text to the Bourbon Falls firefighters, asking everyone to stay safe. He started to text Hannah, too, then stopped.

She wouldn’t want to hear from him right now, not after he’d let her have it and then stormed out on her an hour ago.

A gust of wind hit the side of his house, the pelting rain sounding like a thousand nails hitting his siding. Wait, was that rain, or hail? Damn, it hadn’t hailed around here in years. Smokey dashed for the spare bedroom in search of his favorite daytime hiding place, leaving Chase to stand at the front window, watching the trees all along his street bow and bend beneath the driving rain and wind.

That’s when the tornado siren went off.

“Shit.”

Chase grabbed his futon mattress from the guest bedroom, fished his hissing kitten out from under its frame, and hurried for the bathroom at the center of his house. Another gust of wind hit the house, making it shudder and creak. Tiny claws swiped at his arm, drawing fresh blood.

“Ouch! Stop squirming, buddy, we’re almost there.”

He climbed into the tub, pulled the mattress over him, then released Smokey, who was confined for the moment. The kitten clung to his shirt, now, apparently sensing the danger they were in. Chase petted him with one hand while trying to pull the weather radar up on his phone with the other. Amid a sea of oranges and yellows, a giant blob of red was approaching the western side of Bourbon Falls.

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