“Probably?” She wouldn’t mind having company at her bungalow. Charlotte would be moving out after she married Ben. The bungalow would just feel… empty. Maybe she could become a crazy cat lady and talk to her cat all the time.
“You’re keeping her. I can tell.” Jay shook his head, but a small smile played at the corners of his mouth. “You should probably have a name for her then.”
She paused and looked at the kitten in her arms. She was a small, orange and white tabby, with bright, curious eyes. I think I’ll call her Sunny. She looks like a Sunny, doesn’t she?”
“I guess so?” Doubt hovered in Jay’s eyes. “Seems strange to name a cat Sunny in the middle of a storm…”
“I think it fits her perfectly.”
Jay rose. “I’m going to clear the dishes and we can go in and sit in the front room. I want to pull up the weather, too. See if there are any changes.”
“I’ll help.” She stood, set Sunny on the floor, and grabbed her dishes. They stood side by side at the sink, rinsing the dishes and putting them in the dishwasher. Good to know Jay was a rinse off well before loading dishwasher person like she was. Charlotte barely ran a trace of water on the dishes before dropping them into the dishwasher. She’d been known to go behind Charlotte and re-rinse the dishes.
They finished up the dishes and settled onto the couch in the front room. Sunny immediately jumped up and started walking all over them. Jay raised his eyebrows in surprise before his expression turned to one of amused affection. Barney sat near their feet but eyed the roving kitten.
A sudden gust of wind rattled the shutters. Jay grabbed his phone and checked the forecast. “Still at the same level but there’s one predictor who thinks the storm might shift to the south.”
“That’s not good.” Robin sighed. “Storms are so stressful. The waiting. The wondering when and where they’ll hit.”
“We’ll be fine.”
She appreciated his words of assurance, but of course, no one knew if they would be fine. If the storm intensified and the island took a direct hit…
She felt his fingers on her chin, turning her face to look at him. “We’ll be fine, Robs.”
“I hope so.” She settled against him and let Sunny’s antics entertain them. At least for now, she could pretend all that was happening outside didn’t exist. They were safe, cocooned up in Jay’s house.
Chapter 10
A dull throbbing of his arm roused Mason, and then a sensation of pins and needles shot up his arm. Opening his eyes slowly, he looked down to see Zoe in his arms, curled up next to him, sound asleep.
The last thing he remembered was them sitting on his bed, talking, asking questions, getting to know each other better. And the kisses. There had definitely been quite a lot of kissing going on.
He smiled down at her and carefully shifted a wayward lock of hair from her face. Her breathing came in slow, even breaths. Her lashes rested near her rosy cheeks. She looked so incredibly peaceful. He hated to move his arm, to disturb her.
The one lone lamp cast a protective low glow around them. He shifted slightly wondering if he could pull his arm free without disturbing her. But then, he didn’t really want to move her out of his arms.
A steady glaring alarm interrupted the peace. He looked down and saw Zoe stirring, then her eyes popped open. Then opened wider and she shot up and scooted a bit away from him. Her forehead wrinkled. “What’s the noise?”
“I’m not sure.”
She snatched her phone from her pocket and looked at it. “It’s an alert. The storm is gathering strength and now it’s aimed right at us. We’re supposed to evacuate.”
“What… well, what do we do in that instance?” He knew nothing about hurricanes except what he’d occasionally see on the news. And they never seemed quite real to him, always far, far away.
This one sure seemed real enough.
A banging at the door drew his attention and he heard his father’s voice. “Mason, wake up. We need to get off the island.”
He pushed off the bed, swinging and shaking his arm to chase away the numbness, and hurried over to open the door. His father looked past him at Zoe sitting on the bed but said nothing about finding her here in his room. In his bed…
“Let’s go. We need to evacuate. Meet us downstairs in five minutes. We’re leaving. You two should ride with us.”
Zoe was climbing off the bed and answering her phone that was now ringing. “Noah, yes, we heard. We’re heading out.” She paused and looked over at Gary. “No, you don’t have to come get me. Gary said we could ride with them. We’ll meet up with you later on the mainland.”
She clicked off her phone and turned to him. “Noah is making sure the people at the community center have rides off the island, then he and Sara are headed to the mainland.”
“Five minutes,” his father said again and disappeared.
“I need to grab a few things from my room. Two minutes. I swear.” Zoe rushed past him and over to her room next to his.
He glanced around the room, grabbed his laptop, and shoved it into its case, along with some paperwork. He threw his toiletries into a carryon and added a change of clothes. Good enough.
He met Zoe in the hallway. She was carrying a duffle with her things. They hurried down to The Nest. The wind had picked up even more, and they struggled against it as they hurried out to Gary’s SUV, tossing their few things inside as they climbed in. Lucky climbed onto Lillian’s lap as Gary started the motor. They headed toward Main Street and then turned toward the road to the bridge. There they were met with a line of cars. None of them moving.
“Is this normal?” Mason peered out at
