Downstairs, Cal drank his beer while he stood on the back porch and watched flashes of lightning. He remembered the moment Quin had turned to hug him and tell him good- night and the rush of joy he had felt deep inside. The boys were becoming important to him. A year from now, was he going to want to walk away from this family? Back to what? His lonely existence? It hadn’t seemed lonely before be- cause he had become accustomed to the solitude, but after living with the children and Juliana, would he ever want to go back to the way he’d lived before?
He turned to look at the old house. It wasn’t what he preferred. With all the delicate antiques and gilt furniture, he still felt as if he were a guest in Elnora’s house. But a house wasn’t what was important, it was the people inside it. And he was beginning to hold these four people as the most important and special in his life. And one of them was becoming more than special.
He drained the beer, feeling a blast of hot air sweep across the porch. He wanted her and he wanted the boys and he didn’t want them to go out of his life at the end of the year.
He stared into the darkness, seeing a streak of lightning illuminate the yard. Down toward the creek the bushes bent in the wind. With the volatile chemistry between the two of them, living under the same roof and seeing each other daily, he knew he could seduce Juliana. From the first mo- ment, her defenses had crumbled like a sand castle at high tide. She was vulnerable, passionate. And rare. She was an exceptional woman, unselfish and giving, beautiful, filled with vitality and a zest for life. He already had a ring on her finger, a legal marriage to her and moments of passion when she forgot to keep up the barriers. Did he want to make it permanent?
He went inside, locked up, tossed away the beer. He kicked off his shoes and climbed the stairs, looking at Ju- liana’s closed door and imagining her stretched on the bed.
Was desire clouding his judgment? He paused in the dark hallway, knowing if he wasn’t falling in love with her, he should distance himself from the boys. And from Juliana. And he should decide right away, because they were quickly spinning into an intimate relationship.
Was she sleeping peacefully—or awake with thoughts as stormy as the night?
While thunder and lightning boomed and popped and the wind rose and howled around the house, Juliana lay in bed staring into the darkness. Finally she drifted off to sleep, only to be awakened abruptly by the sound of a crash that rattled the windowpanes.
Swinging the covers to one side, she scrambled out of bed and tugged down the old T-shirt she wore as a nightgown. She ran into the hall as Cal started downstairs.
“What was that?” she asked.
“Something downstairs. I heard glass shatter,” he said, pausing at the foot of the stairs to jam his feet into his loaf- ers. A blast of wind shook the house, rattling the panes again, and she felt a chill of apprehension.
She went to check on Josh and Quin, who were sleeping soundly, Quin with Snookums curled on the foot of his bed. She knew Chris was still asleep or he would have already been down from his third-floor room. She rushed down- stairs.
“Cal?”
“In here,” he called. “The sun room.”
She raced to the back of the house and stopped in dismay.
Uprooted by the wind, a poplar had fallen, crashing through the sun-room windows. A sheet of rain swept into the room through the broken windows. Cal dashed past her. “I’ll get some plastic and try to cover the windows. I’m go- ing outside first and see if I can pull the tree out of the way.”
“I’ll come help,” she said, turning to race back upstairs and slip on sneakers. She yanked on a pair of shorts be- neath the T-shirt, rushed downstairs again and grabbed a raincoat. Halfway to the back door, the lights went out. At the door, she flipped the switch, but the electricity was gone.
A blast of wind and cold rain swept against her when she stepped outside. Bending against the wind, she hurried down the steps. Cal was in the tree, tying a rope around the trunk.
Juliana ran to help, the bulky raincoat hindering her clambering over the tree. She yanked it off and tossed it aside, feeling rain drench her in seconds. In minutes, they had two ropes around the trunk. “Let’s pull it out,” Cal said, climbing down. “Ready?”
“Yes,” she yelled as she grabbed the rope with both hands. She dug her heels into the ground, tugging on the rope. Lightning flashed and Cal pulled on the rope, his muscles knotted. The tree shifted and moved and then top- pled away from the house, crashing to the ground.
Instantly, Cal tossed down the rope and ran to place a ladder against the house. He thrust two hammers and jammed nails into his hip pockets, and picked up the cor- ner of a large sheet of plastic.
She held a flashlight for him, watching as he swiftly climbed the ladder. For the first time, it registered with her that he was wearing only jeans and loafers.
