Page 14 of The Beach House With You 2

“Great,” Franny replied, “we just finished the laundry. Yours is in the blue basket, but we can take it to your room if you’d like. We were just about to anyway. Amanda and Whitney’s is done too.”

“You girls are so sweet,” Jeanette gushed, taking a few steps into their room so she could grab her basket, “but I’ll take it. I wanted to see if you two would like to go into town with me to do some errands. Maybe grab some lunch before the storm rolls in?”

“Yes!” Carmen and Franny replied in unison, making Jeanette laugh.

“Wonderful.” Jeanette beamed. She put her hand over her heart and sighed as she smiled at them, “Gosh, I just love having you girls here. I hate that you’re leaving next week.”

“Us too, Mom,” Carmen replied, her tone sad as Franny nodded.

“Well, anyway,” Jeanette sighed, “I’ll meet you at the shuttle van in a few minutes?”

“Yep, we’ve just got to drop Amanda and Whitney’s baskets off in their rooms real quick,” Carmen agreed.

It took less than a minute for them to get the baskets where they needed to go, and in no time at all, Carmen and Franny were headed outside to meet Jeanette. At the bottom of the staircase, they both smiled suddenly as they ran into Jacob and Tony.

“Where are you two beautiful ladies headed off to?” Jacob asked, his eyes lighting up as he saw Carmen.

“We’re going to help Mom with some errands before the storm starts,” she replied, unable to keep from smiling. Jacob was really starting to grow on her, and she enjoyed being able to see him randomly throughout the day. Sometimes, after dinner, they’d go outside in their coats with cups of hot chocolate and talk. She learned a lot about him and discovered that he was just as good of a person as he appeared to be.

“I heard it’s supposed to be a doozy,” Tony said, referring to the storm. “Jason and a couple of others are outside right now, putting some plywood up over the windows.”

Carmen and Franny turned to each other, concerned.

“That sounds pretty serious,” Franny replied.

“They can be,” Tony answered, his tone grave. “But don’t worry, Jason already has a radio set up for you guys in case the phones go out. If anything happens, you’ll be able to reach us.”

“Not that anything will,” Jacob added, throwing a disapproving look toward Tony. “Nine times out of ten you’ll just get a heck of a show.”

“What time is it supposed to start? The storm I mean,” Carmen asked. Jacob took a quick look down at his watch.

“You’ve got a few more hours yet,” he replied, “but we shouldn’t keep you much longer. You definitely don’t want to get caught in it.”

The four of them said their goodbyes and Carmen and Franny headed outside to the shuttle van. As promised, Jeanette was already waiting for them in the driver’s seat.

* * *

“I think the storm is going to start a little earlier than the weather channel expected,” Carmen said, her eyes on the dark clouds forming in the sky.

The three of them had just finished shopping at Morrison’s, and it had been a stressful time. Everyone wanted to be prepared for the storm, and it seemed like the entire community had decided to shop for supplies at the same time. The usually well-stocked and organized shelves had been picked through and disrupted. And the people, usually laid back and friendly, seemed frazzled too. There was a sense of urgency that had taken over them, overriding their natural personalities. Carmen and Franny had experienced many storms in their life, both with snow and rain, but this one felt different somehow.

It had taken them longer than they had hoped, but after picking through the scattered mess of supplies, they were able to get everything on Jeanette’s shopping list. After that, they had tried to get lunch first at The Kitten Café, then at Shelby’s Dairy, which sold fast food as well as ice cream, but both were packed. They were finally able to find a spare table at Carmine’s Eatery, the local Italian and pizza restaurant. The only table left was outside on the back patio, which was protected by a tall, wooden fence and had tall heating lamps spaced between the tables. While the fence protected them from the wind, it gave them a full view of the sky.

“We’ll make it home before it starts,” Jeanette assured them, her eyes also on the swirling crowds.

Carmen caught a glint of excitement in her mother’s eyes.

“Are you looking forward to this, Mom?” she asked, grinning. At this, Jeanette let out a sudden burst of laughter and shook her head.

“I don’t know, maybe?” she replied, looking back at Franny and Carmen. “I know the season can get a little dangerous, but…I guess I kind of like it. Battening down the hatches, curling up by a fire—you know. It’s one of the few times we get to actually burrow in. Like all of the other animals get to do.”

“Well, that part is a lot of fun,” Franny agreed, “especially when you have a hunny bunny to burrow in with,” she added with a wink.

“Agreed,” Carmen replied, then wagged her eyebrows at her mom. “Is Jason going to be over for a little burrowing tonight?”

Carmen’s smile grew wider as she watched her mother’s face light up and then blush. She always did that when Jason’s name was brought up, and Carmen found it adorable.

“I’m sure he has his own place to burrow into,” Jeanette replied. Her eyes went off somewhere toward the inside, and then added, “Oh look! Our pizza’s here!”

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