Page 20 of Until It Was Real

“Take care,” he says before leaving.

I grab my purse and keys. My heart thumps in my chest. I don’t want to abandon the protection of this sturdy building to stay in a motel with the thinnest walls in existence, but what choice do I have?

None. I open the door to leave. The wind smacks me in the face and the door smashes into the side of the building. Damn. This is worse than I thought.

Rhett argued we should board up the door for protection, but Eli insisted the building is hurricane proof and the door didn’t need to be protected.

Hurricane proof? The reminder is all I need to know. I fight the door but eventually I win. When the door is finally shut, I’m not outside in the parking lot. I’m inside. Where I hope I’ll be safe.

According to Google, I should take refuge in a small interior room on the lowest level. I need to put as many walls between me and the outside as I can.

The closet in Eli’s office should be perfect. I gather bottles of water and protein bars from the breakroom, a blanket from the sofa in Miles’s office, and a flashlight from my desk before making my way to Eli’s office.

I carefully lay Eli’s coats and extra suits on one of the chairs in his office before making myself a blanket fort and settling in to ride out the storm.

“What are you doing in here?”

I startle awake at the question and open my eyes. A light shines into them and I slam them shut again. “What? Who?”

“Dakota,” Rhett murmurs, and I force my eyes open. His flashlight is no longer pointed at my face. He kneels in front of me. “What are you doing in here?”

“Is it over?”

“The storm?”

“It was so windy and loud.”

He sighs. “No, it’s not over.”

“What are you doing here if there’s a hurricane out there?”

“The police phoned about an abandoned car in the parking lot.”

“Do not make fun of my car.”

He holds up his hands. “I wasn’t going to.” He smirks. “But it wouldn’t be surprising if the ancient relic died in the parking lot.”

I gasp. “Don’t say such a thing. Matilda isn’t ancient.”

He chuckles. “Matilda? You named your car?”

“Matilda means brave.”

And since I wasn’t feeling very brave when I bought the car, I forced myself to be brave by naming her Matilda. Fake it until you make it.

“No matter how brave Matilda is, she’s not going anywhere now.”

“I wasn’t planning on going outside in a hurricane anyway.” No thanks. I’m good in my blanket fort. The winds before the storm landed were scary enough.

He nudges my shoulder. “Scoot over.”

“Why? I’m comfy here.”

“It’s safer if we shut the closet door.”

“We? What are you talking about?”

“I can hardly go back out in the storm.”

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