She grabbed his leash, still clipped onto his collar. She just wasn’t ready to let him loose. Not even in her house.
They padded back to the front room and she put the lantern on the coffee table all the while trying to talk herself out of a full-on panic.
“Don’t worry, Barney. It’s going to be fine.” But even she could hear the doubt in her voice. The wind howled and rattled the shutters. She clasped her arms tightly across her chest. She didn’t consider herself a weak woman, but she was scared. Very scared.
The storm was flaunting its power. Letting her know who was boss.
She wished more than anything that she and Barney were back in the community center and she was safe in Jay’s arms.
Chapter 15
Jay could hardly stand upright against the strengthening wind. He didn’t even bother to try to wipe away the rain coursing down his face. How in the world had Robin fought all this?
Or had she? Had she holed up somewhere? Was she hurt somewhere? Was she safe? Images of her trapped somewhere, pinned down by some fallen building, or worse yet… the power lines stretched across the island. Some still had power… maybe even some of them had been knocked to the ground just ready to electrocute anything in their path.
He chased away the thoughts, the frightening images. She had to be okay. She had to. He’d just realized how much he cared for her. He couldn’t lose her.
He made his way along the streets, dodging debris that the storm kept tossing at him. At one point something hit his head and he felt warmth on his face. He was fairly certain blood was mingling with the rainwater on his forehead. He ignored it.
He turned the corner and struggled up to the porch of his destination. But he was wrong. No Barney. No Robin. He’d been sure he’d find them here at Mrs. Gleason’s. But even if Robin had found Barney here, they couldn’t have gotten inside.
He turned toward Robin’s bungalow, his last hope. Then he saw it. Or thought he did. He slashed away the rain from his face.
Yes. He was certain. Almost certain. Or maybe it was hope more than certainty.
He peered through the storm. No, a faint glow was filtering out through the clear hurricane shutter on her front window.
She must be there. His heart thundered in his chest as he raced across to her bungalow, splashing through a river of water streaming between the two bungalows, and threw himself up her steps. He flung open the door to her screams.
“Sh, Robin. It’s okay. It’s me.” Relief surged through him. He’d found her. And Barney was by her side. She was here. She was safe.
He rushed over and pulled her to her feet, gathering her into his arms. “Oh, Robs. You’re here.” He just as quickly set her away from him, looking her over carefully, his gaze going from head to toe. “Are you okay?”
She nodded. “I’m so glad to see you.” She crumbled back into his arms.
He held her tight against him, never wanting to let her go. The hammering in his chest slowed. Somewhat. He felt her tremble in his arms, and his heart cracked just a little as he fought back images of what could have happened to her. He stroked her back, trying to soothe her. Or soothe himself. It all just entwined together. He finally spoke into her hair. “I was so frightened when I heard you went out in this storm. What were you thinking?”
“I was thinking Mrs. Gleason would kill me if Barney got lost.”
He looked down and saw that she still held Barney’s leash in her hand. “So, you found him.”
“He was at Mrs. Gleason’s.”
“I thought he might go there.” Jay set Robin away again, but rubbed his hands up and down her arms, making sure she was real.
She reached out to touch his face. “You’re hurt.”
“What?” He reached up and touched the tender spot on his temple and saw his hand come back with blood. “Yes, something hit me. It’s crazy out there. Trash, signs, branches. Everything getting tossed around in the wind. Not sure what it was that did this.”
“Come into the kitchen and let me get you cleaned up.”
He could tell by her voice that she needed to do this, so even though he didn’t think the wound was worth bothering over, he nodded and followed her into the kitchen. Barney trotted along beside them keeping right by their feet. “Not liking the storm much, huh, buddy? I’m with you. I’m not very fond of it myself.” He reached down and petted the dog. He worried about sitting out the storm at the bungalow instead of the relative safety of the center, but nothing could be done about that now. They couldn’t chance going out in the storm again. But he wasn’t going to mention his concerns to Robin. He did his best to put on a confident, not-worried-about-a-thing look on his face.
He sat down at the table as Robin commanded and let her clean up and bandage his temple. Her hands were shaking as she did it, but he didn’t mention that either.
“Okay, now we need to get you dried off. Why don’t you take off your wet clothes? I’ve got some large t-shirts that I like to sleep in. You can wear one of those. And maybe just wrap in a towel?”
“Will have to do for now.” He stood and shucked off his wet shirt.
Robin tried not to stare at Jay’s chest. It’s not like she hadn’t seen it before. They’d gone to the beach. They’d gone swimming. But his chest glistened in the low lantern light and she saw every hard, defined muscle of his abs.
A towel. She was supposed to be getting him a towel. And a t-shirt. Though, a shirt would cover those abs of his…
She shoved Barney’s leash into
