Page 254 of How to Kiss a Hawthorne Brother
“What’s wrong? Is everything okay?” I finally manage.
“That depends on your definition of okay. A tree just fell on the catering kitchen.”
“What?”
“A tree. The big one at the corner of the employee parking lot.”
I immediately know which tree she means. There’s a mostly dead red oak that Dad has been telling us to take down for years. “Tatum, are you safe? Is Toby safe?”
“We’re safe,” she says quickly. “It missed my apartment, though I think the roof above the stairs might be damaged. And my office is completely crushed.”
“That doesn’t matter. As long as you’re okay.” I glance around my very still and silent house, missing the hum of working electricity. “Is the power out over there?”
“Yeah. My nose is already cold.”
“I’m on my way, all right? Just stay warm. I’ll be right there.”
I spend the next five minutes calling Perry and Olivia and filling them in. I can’t get Brody to answer his phone, but he only lives a few doors down, so I’ll just drive over and wake him up. If we’re cutting up a tree, he’ll want to help.
I grab my chainsaw out of the garage, then hurry out to Brody’s truck which I conveniently didn’t return last night. Outside, the wind from earlier has died down, leaving the air still and peaceful—a sharp contrast to the stress and urgency I’m feeling. It’s also colder than I expect, and there’s a thick sheet of ice underneath the snow that makes walking treacherous. The snow isn’t deep enough to shovel before I back the truck out, but the roads are going to beslick.
I pull out and head toward Brody’s, my mind on Tatum the whole time.Is she warm? Is she safe? Is Toby okay?Of course, I’m worried about the catering kitchen too. And the restaurant. But those worries pale in comparison.
It only takes a minute to get to Brody’s even driving in the snow. I stop on the road, not wanting to bother with pulling the truck in and out of his driveway, then hurry toward his front door.
This far south, this kind of weather won’t last long. It’ll be fifty degrees by the weekend, and all of this will melt, but the next forty-eight hours will be terrible. I pull my coat more tightly around me as I ring the doorbell, then follow up with a sharp knock.
I wait for what seems like an eternity, banging one more time before Brody yanks the door open. He’s holding a camping lantern, his eyes wide, and his pajama bottoms are on inside out.
“Hey,” I say a little too cheerily. “Did I wake you?”
He runs a hand through his hair. “What are you doing here?”
“Sorry to yank you from your cozy slumber, but a tree fell on the catering kitchen. I’m headed to the farm to clean up. Want to put some real pants on while I grab your chainsaw?”
“Is everyone okay? Is Tatum safe?”
“She says she is. But I’ll feel better when I’ve seen her for myself.”
He nods. “Give me two minutes.”
While I wait for Brody, I go to his storage shed out back and pull out a couple of tarps and Brody’s chainsaw, adding them to mine in the back of the truck. By the time I finish, Brody is already coming out of the house. He heads to the driver’s side, which is fine by me. He has more experience driving his truck in this kind of weather than I do anyway.
I climb into the passenger seat, and Brody’s eyes cut to me as he shifts the truck out of park and engages the four-wheel drive.
Brody tries to make small talk as we drive, but I can’t focus on anything but getting to Tatum.
I suddenly wonder if this is what it’s like. To have someone in your life who you care about more than anything else.
I’m not even in a relationship with Tatum, and yet, since the minute she called and I learned what happened, I’ve been consumed with thoughts of her wellbeing.
That has to mean something, right?
The farm is completely dark when we arrive, all but the restaurant parking lot which is lit up by the headlights on Perry’s truck and Tyler’s SUV.
Perry motions for Brody to back his truck up enough that the beam of his headlights projects onto the roofline of the catering kitchen just like the others.
I get out of the truck and survey the damage.
