The next morning, Thorn was gone by the time I got up. I found Tangerine snoozing in the kitchen on a bed of towels. Apparently, they went running rain or shine.
I snapped my fingers to dry her off. I could still do that.
Or so I thought…
She instantly turned into a ball of floof. “Oh, my,” I said. “I might have to take you to a groomer.”
“Good going, lady,” Meri snarked as he sashayed into the kitchen for breakfast.
“Good morning to you too,” I retorted. “You’re in fine form this morning.”’
“You’re one to talk,” he sassed.
“Hey, I’m in charge of breakfast. You might want to be nice to me,” I said.
“Whatever,” was the response I got.
I turned my back so he wouldn’t see me smiling at his rude butt. He had to wait for his breakfast because I was frying up bacon and scrambled eggs for both of us. I made an egg for Tangerine too, but she couldn’t have any bacon. Once I plopped the egg down in her food dish, she didn’t seem to mind.
“Are we still going to stop and see Viv?” Meri asked as he finished his breakfast. He was already trying to angle for more bacon, but I’d come to expect it.
“If we have time,” I said noncommittally.
“Well, then you had better get going,” Meri said.
Just then, another huge flash of lightning lit up the sky and the light from it came flooding into the house. The simultaneous crack of thunder was enough to shake the house. Tangerine ran to my feet and whimpered. Surprisingly, she had to fight for real estate with Meri. Even he had gotten spooked.
“I guess I won’t be leaving you home today.” I bent to scratch Tangerine’s fluffy head. “You’re coming with us,” I concluded as I picked them both up and carried them with me to the bedroom.
The house would take care of Tangerine while I was at work, but she seemed too scared to be left alone. Normally, I would have just asked Meri to stay behind and keep her company, but Meri didn’t let me go anywhere without him. He was still in hyper-protective mode until the baby was born.
“I’ve gotta take a shower,” I said as I set them both down on the bed. “Meri, please keep Tangerine company.”
“Do I have to?” he asked, but as Tangerine settled down on the bed, Meri curled up next to her.
“I think you’ll figure it out,” I said and left them to shower.
The good news was that I got most of the way through my shower before there was another loud crack of thunder and blinding flash of lightning. The bad news was that when the power went out, I still had shampoo in my hair. I hurried and rinsed it out before the water went cold.
“Come on, house. Really? Everything you can do, and the power is out?” As if it heard me, there was a brief flicker of the lights coming back on, but ultimately it sputtered out. “Thanks for trying,” I said as I stepped out of the shower.
Fortunately, there was enough light coming through the bathroom window to keep me from stumbling around in total darkness. When I opened the door to go back out into my bedroom and get dressed, I found Meri and Tangerine waiting. They must have practically had their noses pressed against the door.
“Come on, Meri,” I said as I stepped over them. “You obliterate demons with your powers, and you’re totally spooked by a storm?” On cue, the house shook as thunder rumbled through the sky above us. “Man, this storm must not be moving. That sounded just as close as before. I wonder if it’s stalled out over us.”
“Whatever it is, I hate it,” Meri groused.
“Well, let me get dressed really quick, and we’ll go see if the Brew Station and my shop have power,” I said. “I doubt there will be much business today, but I’d rather not hang out here without power all day.”
I dressed in jeans and a long-sleeved t-shirt. It was too warm for a sweater, but I was worried that if I wore short sleeves, the power would be off everywhere. I didn’t want to end up chilled to the bone.
After I put Tangerine’s harness on, I loaded Meri up in my bag and put on my boots. The black Doc Martins were my favorite part of the cold season. I may not have loved cold weather or tons of rain, but I did love my boots.
I practically sprinted to the car with Meri in the bag and Tangerine tucked under the other arm. While I did manage to splash through a couple of shallow puddles, I kept my furry friends dry. I didn’t bother going around to the passenger side but instead opened the driver’s door and leaned way in to deposit Tangerine and Meri in the passenger seat.
Thunder crashed overhead and made me jump as I tried to get behind the wheel. I used the app on my phone to start the car and turn on the seat warmers.
It started to pour twice as hard as I backed out of the driveway. The car’s sensors kicked the wipers up to full speed, and I worried that it wouldn’t be enough.
“We’ll make it as far as we can, but I might have to pull over,” I warned my companions as I began driving down the street.
“Use the autopilot,” Meri said. “I don’t know why you spent thousands of dollars on that if you’re not going to use it.”
“I don’t know,” I said. “I feel more comfortable being in control, but maybe. I guess it’s better than sitting in the car on the side of the road.”
Fortunately, in my opinion, it never came to that. The heavy showers persisted, but the wipers were able to keep up enough for me to navigate the practically abandoned streets.
The space in front of the Brew Station was even open when
