Page 73 of Into the Tempest

Ellis made a face from the other end of the plyboard and stuck out his tongue.

I snorted. “You living here is going to be so much fun.”

He smiled at me, and we both started to laugh.

* * *

I wassurprised when Jeremiah turned up at my work just after three o’clock. We’d been cleaning up at the docks and the admin building for hours, but I thought for sure he’d be gone until dark.

I was on the end of a broom when Rowan had called my name and nodded toward the car park. I looked up to see Jeremiah walking my way, and damn, it made my heart skip a beat.

“Uh, hello, stranger,” I said, grinning. “While youareincredibly gorgeous, I won’t be buying anything you’re selling, as I already have a boyfriend.”

Jeremiah rolled his eyes, but his cheeks bloomed with colour.

“Please tell me he never used that on you,” Rowan said. “God, Tully, that was terrible.”

I laughed, still grinning at Jeremiah. Rowan didn’t need to know that Jeremiah had used that line on me, and it wasn’t terrible because it totally worked. “I didn’t think I’d see you till later.”

“I went past your place and you weren’t there. Ellis’ street is all blocked off and your car wasn’t at your parents’ house.” He shrugged. “This is the only other place I know in Darwin.”

Aww. I stepped in close. “Well, I’m glad you found me.” Then I handed him the broom. “They’ve been makin’ me work all day.”

He pushed the broom back to me. “Good.”

Rowan laughed and pointed his chin to Jeremiah. “I like him.”

I sighed. “Nobody loves me anymore.” Clearly, pouting wasn’t getting me anywhere. “How did you go today? Was Doreen mad?”

“No. She was happy to see me, actually. It was disconcerting, to be honest. A little frightening.”

I snorted.

“Suri was there. She was much better today. Jeff and his girls are going to stay with his sister, I think. And Doreen had to stop old Arty from climbing a ladder onto his roof, because that’s what anyone who’s almost ninety should be doing.” Jeremiah rolled his eyes. “We mostly did clean-up and damage reports. We have no antennas, no satellite, nothing.” He frowned and half shrugged. “I don’t know what we can do. We have nothing to work with. Nothing even to start from.”

He looked out toward the docks and shrugged again, like he had something to say but couldn’t find the words to say it.

“Hey,” I whispered, taking his hand. “You’ll be fine. You and Doreen are two of the most resourceful people I know. You’ll be back up and running in no time.”

His eyes cut to mine, and there was sadness in the striking blue. “What if they send me back?”

Back?

“Back where?”

“To Melbourne. Or to somewhere else? To another office somewhere.”

A bomb of rage and fear detonated in my chest. Instantaneous, panicky, and seeping hot. The thought of him leaving, even the mere mention of it, had my blood boiling.

“They won’t. They better fuckin’ not.”

“They didn’t exactly give me a choice for this post, did they? They couldn’t ship me off fast enough—”

“Then you tell them no,” I snapped. “You be the Doctor Jeremiah fucking Overton I know, who tells people how shit’s gonna go down. If they thought you were difficult before—if they thoughtIwas difficult before—they haven’t seen nothin’ yet.” I dropped the broom and poked him in the chest. “You kicked arse yesterday. You were fuckin’ brilliant, and you saved lives, and that’s why there isn’t anyone better for the job here than you.”

He put his hand to my neck. “Tully,” he murmured.

I shook my head. “You can’t leave. You have to be here. I just found you.”

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