Page 71 of Once Upon a Summer Night

“What if nobody comes?” Noah asked. “Then what will we do?”

“Oh, they’ll come. We have a Mia in our family.” Hannah exchanged a wink with the others as she pulled Noah into her side and kissed his forehead. “She and Del are probably on their way right now.”

Worry for her sisters flared bright in her mind. Their basements had assuredly kept their families safe, but what might the roads look like? Would they even be able to get to the farm safely to come and help?

Hannah sat on the step, rocking with Noah, trying to keep her thoughts upbeat and frustration in check. She wanted out, wanted to know everyone was okay. And if the stormhadcaused damage in the area, she wanted to be out there, helping with the cleanup. Because that’s what small towns did when disasters struck—everyone pitched in.

For three weeks now, she’d been a part of that “everyone” again. Planned to keep it that way, somehow, too. The notes tucked into her back pocket that she and her father had been working on when the weather radio had gone into alarm were the first step in her new plan. A plan she hoped would make everyone happy.

If, that was, a certain someone would be open to hearing her out.

At least the winds were no longer howling outside. The thunder had stopped, too. For a few minutes, there, it sounded like a freight train was passing by. Now, all they could hear was an occasional gust of wind.

And…a revving chainsaw?

“They’re here!” Noah cried.

Hannah ushered him down the steps and a safe distance from the doors.

“Sounds like you might have been right about that tree,” Aunt Faye said. “Hopefully, that’s all the damage we had.”

The adults exchanged worried looks.

After several minutes of saw buzzing, the cellar doors opened an inch.

“Dad? Aunt Faye? Hannah and Noah? You guys okay?”

Everyone responded with a round of yeses, and Hannah added, “We just can’t seem to get the doors open.”

“Hang on,” Del said. “We’ll get you out soon.”

“How bad is it?” Hannah asked.

“It ain’t pretty, but it could have been worse,” was the reply.

Hannah exchanged a look with her aunt and father as the chainsaw revved again. Had a tornado come through Bourbon Falls? They’d had some wicked storms over the years but never an actual twister.

Her mind circled back to Chase. Everyone had a basement or cellar to go to but him. Had his place been hit, too? Her anxiety climbed a hundred notches. They needed out of here. Now.

A heavy thump sounded against the doors, followed by muffled voices. The sound of something being dragged across the wooden doors greeted them, and then waning daylight came into view. Along with it, she saw two of her favorite people: Del and Chase.

Hannah was so happy to see them both that she nearly cried.

*

Chase had neverbeen so relieved to see Hannah in his life. Fresh off a fight or not, she was safe and so were Noah and the others and that’s all that really mattered right now. The groveling and apologizing he planned to do could come later. After sitting in his bathtub this evening, living through the misery of thinking he might never see her again, he was more determined than ever to find a way to win her back.

“Anyone here in need of a rescue?” he called.

A chorus of yeses rang out. Before he could get a read on Hannah, she ducked out of view to help her father. Though what he wanted more than anything was to run down the steps and kiss her senseless, he had a job to do.

Rescue first, make up later.

Grinning, Chase motioned for the others to come on up. Noah, of course, was the first to reach the top of the steps. Chase lifted him out of the cellar, gave him a bear hug, kissed the top of his hair, then handed him off to Del and Joey. He offered a hand to Aunt Faye next, her brother’s crutches in her other hand. She thanked him, then continued forward, her soft gasps ringing out as she took in the view.

Yes, Del had been kind with her vague answer to Hannah a moment ago about the storm damage. The farm was a mess, trees and shrubs downed or uprooted as far as the eye could see. Even their barn had been damaged, two large trees beside it having fallen over and crushed the side facing the duck pond. The only structures left untouched were the farmhouse and the ancient oak tree that held Del’s beloved tree swing, its ropes now tangled and the swing stuck on a high branch.

Though the rain and thunder had passed, the winds still picked up now and then, bullying the damaged items further with each gust. They would all be safe, though, so long as they stayed close to the farmhouse. With darkness falling, the rest of the cleanup was going to have to wait until morning.

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