Page 29 of Protecting Vidalia
About the time he hit the turnoff for her lane, a huge streak of lighting split the sky and a few seconds later, what sounded like a sonic boom went off. That meant the lightning had been close.
“Damn,” he muttered to himself as he navigated the narrow lane. The heavens had literally opened up and sent sheets of rain coursing down so hard he could barely see. Another boomer lit up the night sky as he pulled up beside Dax’s truck and ran from his jeep to the overhang of the porch like a jackrabbit. He was still soaked.
He knocked loudly on the door so Vidalia would hear him over the storm. When he tried to peer in the crack of the window blinds beside the door, he couldn’t see much but the darkness and a dim light on the stove, At least the electricity wasn’t out.
“Vidalia!” He shouted above the noise of the falling rain. “Vidalia, let me in. It’s me, Jake!” Still no answer.
Feeling truly concerned, he ran around to the patio door where they had seen the bears. The blinds were half closed but in the dim light inside he could see a dark shape on the floor in front of the door. Rubbing the water off one window pane he finally realized it was Vidalia curled into a fetal position on the rug. “Oh my god,” he swore softly. “She must be terrified.” He pecked frantically on the glass. “Vidalia!”
In a lightbulb moment, he raced to Dax’s truck, opened it and checked in the glovebox. Dax had said he kept an extra key in there in case he ever locked himself out. Quickly he found it in the bottom beneath the truck manual. Returning to the front door, his fingers chilled from the cold rain, he finally inserted the key into the lock and let himself in.
As wet as he was, Jake didn’t want to pick her up and get her wet too. Faster than he’d ever disrobed in his life he tore his clothes off, dumped them by the door, grabbed some clothes from his pack, then dragged them on. Then he ran to the prone figure on the floor.
She fought him when he touched her. “No, let me go!”
He managed to get her off the floor and into his arms. Then he sat down with her on the couch and threw the blanket lying there over both of them, rocking and crooning. “I’ve got you, Vidalia, I’ve got you. It’s me, Jake.”
The vacant look in her eyes worried him, knowing she was in a private hell that only she could see. He’d been there a few times too. Beneath the covers he stroked her arms, warming both of them together. He cursed himself for letting her leave alone. He should have known the rabbit hole she was falling down would eventually bottom out beneath her.
Jake wasn’t sure how long they had sat there like that, but the storm’s fury began to pass and it was quieting down outside. Finally, Vidalia stirred in his arms and he watched awareness creep back into her eyes. She was coming back.
“You okay?” he asked softly, his thumb brushing down the curve of her face.
She tried to sit up. A wobbly hand pushed the covers down as she looked around. “What happened?” She croaked. “And where did you come from?”
“Why don’t you tell me what happened?” He instructed softly.
Chapter 8
Awary look crossedher face. “I think I’d like to start a fire,” she replied, evading his question. A shudder quivered through her.
Ignoring her comment, he gave her a stern look. “What happened, Vidalia?”
“Nothing,” she bit out. “Now let me up.”
“That’s not going to happen until you give me some answers,” he replied frankly.
