Page 15 of The Beach House With You 2

Carmen and Franny giggled but took their mother’s hint and dropped the subject. In fact, their talking dropped off altogether as all of them moved their eyes toward the sky as they began to eat. Before they could finish their first slices, a loud crash of thunder vibrated through the entire restaurant, and was quickly followed by a wide-reaching lightning bolt that scattered through the clouds. A moment later the boards of the fence began to groan as the wind picked up, and the strings of lights suspended above them began to swing violently.

“Let’s get the rest of this to go, shall we?” Jeanette asked, already motioning toward the waiters.

“I thought you found storms fun?” Carmen teased as they were brought a box and the check.

“I do,” Jeanette replied matter-of-factly, “but only when I’m not caught in them. Besides, everyone else here is going to want to do the same thing we are in a minute, and I don’t want to be caught in the frenzy of a mass exit.”

In seconds Jeanette had their pizza boxed up and was handing the waiter some money, telling him to keep the change. As they made their way through the restaurant and out toward the parking lot, Carmen could see that her mother was right. Everyone around them was growing restless and trying to leave at the same time. They were pulling out of the parking lot just as a mass of people came running out to their cars, barely avoiding the traffic jam that was about to ensue.

7

The moment Jeanette threw the van into park, Jason, Jacob, Javier, and Tony came running out to help with the groceries. During the short ride back to The Sea Glass Cottage, the wind had picked up exponentially, and stinging rain was beginning to fall. With the extra help, they were able to get all of their bags and boxes into the house in just one trip.

“Are you alright?” Amanda asked as she got the door locked behind them. “We were worried you weren’t going to make it back in time!”

“We’re okay,” Jeanette promised, trying to catch her breath. Just then, lightning forked through the sky, casting a white glowing light over the house, and the rooms went dark. A second of hot, pure silence filled the house before a clap of thunder rang loud, making them all jump.

“Are you okay?” Jacob asked, his voice low as he placed his hands on Carmen’s shoulders from behind. Carmen felt her shivering stop at his touch, and she turned slightly to look back at him.

“I’m okay,” she promised, comforted by his closeness. “Should we get the generator going?”

“We don’t have one,” Whitney declared, her blonde eyebrows drawn up in concern. “I mean, one that works anyway.”

Jason, who had been taking the groceries to the kitchen with Jeanette, walked back into the room.

“Why didn’t you tell me?” he asked, looking shocked. “I would have brought a new one over for you to borrow right away.”

Whitney shook her head, her blue eyes suddenly glossy. “We’re in your debt too much already. Besides, we have a small one connected to the fridge and deep freeze so at least we won’t lose any food.”

“We need to work some things out on our own,” Amanda said in agreement with Whitney, and" we can’t keep relying on you to fix all of our problems.”

Jason grumbled something unintelligible, then went to the sitting room to start a fire in the hearth.

“Now that we know you’re all back safe, we should head home too,” Jacob said, after a moment of silence.

“You can’t go out there,” Carmen replied quickly, reaching for his arm.

“We’ll be fine,” he assured, casting a small smile down at her as he patted her hand. “None of us live that far.”

As he said this, another clap of monstrous thunder broke from the sky, shaking the house so much that they all reached out to brace themselves.

“You know, maybe she’s right,” Tony said once it passed. “The weather channel said this is supposed to go on all night.”

As if in silent agreement, all of them went to the windows to take a look outside. Though the rain had only started a few minutes earlier, it was now pouring down in thick, slanted sheets and already flooding the roads. They also noticed that the surrounding hotels all had their emergency lights on, signifying that their power had been knocked out as well and they were not operating on generators.

“We have plenty of rooms,” Amanda offered, stepping away from the windows, “there’s no reason for anyone to risk their lives out there. Please, stay.”

Jacob brought his hand up to his chin, rubbing his close shave as he looked out the window. Eventually, he nodded, stepped back, and put his hands on his hips.

“You’re right.” He sighed, still looking worried. “But my mom’s going to be a nervous wreck all night if she doesn’t know I’m safe.”

“You live with your mom?” Carmen asked.

He looked over at her and shook his head, a brief side smile coming and going in a matter of seconds.

“I live in an apartment above her garage that I built. After my dad died, I wanted to stick around and help her with her mortgage. But then I got this job with Jason and now I can take them on completely by myself and that way my mom can put all her money into bettering her salon.”

“That’s so thoughtful of you,” Carmen said. Everyone murmured in agreement.

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