Love Slave for Two: Reckoning [Love Slave for Two 4] (Siren Publishing Ménage Everlasting) (10 page)

Nevvie reached out a hand to her. Peggy took hers and squeezed. Together, they sat on the porch and watched the weather roll in.

* * * *

Tom lay in bed, his hands laced behind his head, and stared at the darkened ceiling. While he hadn’t fallen deeply asleep, he had managed to nap off and on throughout the night. Every little noise outside had woke him up.

He didn’t want to put a light on despite the blackness inside the room. He knew from their bedside clock that it was nearly seven in the morning, but the wind still howled outside. They were on the back side of the storm, and hopefully the weather should only improve from that point on, but he wasn’t setting foot outside the house until the wind died down more.

Tyler softly snored next to him, on his side and cuddled tightly against Tom. Tom wanted to get up, but he didn’t want to awaken Tyler. He knew Tyler hadn’t slept well during the night, and if he got up, Tyler certainly would, too.

At least it appeared the roof had held. And none of the storm shutters, or the garage door bracing, had given way. But from the leaks around the attic vents, they’d be looking at some roof repairs, no doubt about it.

I hope the cars aren’t completely trashed.
He had no illusions that their vehicles had probably sustained impact damage from debris. He wondered if the glass was intact, or if the interiors of the vehicles had become drenched by wind-driven rains.

Carefully, so he didn’t awaken Tyler, he reached to the bedside table for his phone and tried to send Nevvie a text. After a few seconds, his phone vibrated and a message popped up.

Text failed.

Shit.
He tried again with the same results.
Well, answers that question.
Until cell or landline phone service was restored, they were effectively cut off from the world with nothing but the radio for their information.

He heard someone up and moving out in the kitchen. As slowly and carefully as he could, he attempted to extricate himself from Tyler’s grasp. Tyler still stirred.

“It’s okay, buddy,” Tom said. “Just going to the bathroom.”

“Okay,” Tyler mumbled before rolling over.

Tom did use the bathroom and was happy to see at least they still had water pressure. When he carefully walked through the bedroom, Tyler was softly snoring again.

Good. He needs it.
He silently closed the door behind him and went out to the kitchen.

Kelly was rummaging through the cabinets.

“What are you looking for?”

She stifled a small scream before turning and laughing. “I’m sorry,” she said. “You scared me. Where do you keep the coffee filters?”

“Over here.” He helped her find everything, and she started making coffee. “Did you get any sleep?” he asked her.

She shook her head. “Not much. John finally fell asleep about an hour ago. You?”

Tom shrugged. “It’ll only get better from here on out. I can take a nap later once I see what the outside looks like.”

“John said for me not to expect we’ll be able to get over to our house today or even tomorrow.”

“I’m sorry. With all the power lines that will be down, plus storm debris, it’s better you don’t. Plus there still might be flooding.”

“That’s what he said. That we’d probably get four flat tires if we went too soon.”

“He’s right.” He leaned against the counter and scrubbed his face with his hands. “I did buy a couple of patch kits, though. Make sure he takes one with him.”

She stepped over to him and hugged him. “I can’t begin to tell you how much we appreciate this.”

He hugged her back. “It’s okay, Mom. We’re happy to have you here.”

When he looked, her eyes were too bright, as if she was close to tears. “I also wanted to tell you how much I appreciate everything you’ve done for Nevvie. I can see how much you two obviously love her. I don’t care what anyone else thinks, you boys saved her life more than once. And we’ll always regret not finding her sooner. But we’re not kidding when we say you’re like sons to us.”

He blushed. “Aw, it’s okay, Mom. You don’t have to thank us.”

“It’s just… Well, John and I were alone for so long. Neither of us wanted anything to do with our families. And when Laurie came along, we felt badly that she didn’t have any other family. Now, despite the current circumstances, it’s still like a dream come true.” She frowned. “Although I think John is sort of hoping that Alex guy shows up here so John can personally take a whack at him.”

Tom grimly smiled. “He’s not the only one, Mom. Believe me. He’d have to get in line behind me and Ty.”

* * * *

They took their coffee into the living room and turned on the radio. The announcers were busy listing a series of neighborhoods still underwater from storm surge.

“…and Davis Island will remain closed to everything except emergency traffic. Residents will not be allowed back on the island until emergency officials have completed their search and rescue efforts and declare it safe. Tampa General Hospital is closed until further notice. Please call 813-555-8632 for more information if you have a family member who was a patient there. All patients were transferred to other hospitals before the storm. Most of the Town ’n’ Country area, from just south of Waters Avenue and east of Sheldon Road, is still under several feet of storm surge, including areas…”

Tom felt his jaw gape. “Holy crap,” he whispered. “That’s just…unbefuckinglievable.”

Kelly looked resigned as she sipped her coffee. “Well, as John said, at least we were used to moving. Over the years I got to where if I had to, I could have us packed in little more than a five-by-eight trailer.”

Tyler appeared in the hallway and yawned. “There you are.” He walked over to the couch and sat next to Tom. “How bad?”

“Bad. We’ll be one of the lucky ones.”

Tyler listened with them for a few more minutes. “Bloody hell,” he said as the newscaster listed more damage. “That’s bloody unbelievable.”

The wind began to noticeably die down from its previous fury before noon. It was still breezy and gusty, but without the howling undertone they’d uncomfortably grown accustomed to. During a break in the rain, Tom risked unlocking and opening the front door.

“Well, it’s safe to go out. I think.”

Everyone walked out behind him. Tom-Tom, dragging Eddie on the leash, found the closest bush and lifted his leg with unmistakable relief. The poor dog, despite having newspaper on the guest bathroom floor, had held his bladder for over twelve hours.

Tree limbs and palm fronds littered the neighborhood. Tom immediately began walking around the house, trying to see the roof. There were patches of shingles missing, but fewer than he’d feared. Around them, houses had various degrees of damage from just missing shingles, all the way to one older house where the roof had been stripped all the way down to the bare plywood decking.

Part of their back fence had fallen under the force of the wind, and their neighbor’s tree had demolished another part of it, but other than that, they’d escaped major damage.

The cars, however, were a different story. His truck and Tyler’s car, both parked closest to the garage, were relatively unscathed except for some minor dents and dings on the roofs and sides. The passenger window of John’s truck had been struck by debris. A spiderweb of cracks had spread through the tempered glass, but the window remained in place.

“Must have happened on the back side of the storm,” John mused. “Otherwise, the whole window would have blown in if it’d been like that through the worst of it.” Kelly’s car had several larger dents on the exposed driver’s side, but all the glass was intact.

“Probably,” Tom agreed.

Pete and Eddie’s windshield had been blown in by what looked like a piece of roofing tile from the neighbor’s house. Jacob’s and Kyle’s cars both had glass and cosmetic damage. All the cars were plastered with leaves and grass blown by the wind.

Next door, the hood of their neighbor’s car had been crushed by a palm tree.

“Glad that’s not our palm,” Tyler mumbled to Tom.

He nodded. “Yeah, aren’t you glad I stopped you from planting any along the driveway?”

“You’re brilliant, love.”

“When do you want to get up on the roof to take a look?” John asked Tom.

“Not until the wind dies down.” Another spate of rain started, sending everyone back to the house. “And not until that stuff quits, either.”

Tom tried turning on the cable, but it was still out. That didn’t surprise him, considering the levels of damage being reported by the news, but he’d hoped it might be on.

“Well, what do we do now?” Tyler asked.

Tom realized everyone stared at him.
When did I become the leader?
“There’s not much we can do right now. Pete and Eddie can’t go home until we know their power’s back on. And their car’s a mess anyway. John and Kelly can’t even try going home until possibly tomorrow at the earliest. Kyle and Jacob don’t need to leave, and they probably don’t have power anyway. I say we stay put and break out the cards again.”

Nobody argued with him.

* * * *

The weather in Savannah deteriorated Saturday morning and throughout the afternoon as bands of rain trained through the area, one after another. By late afternoon, it looked so dark outside it resembled evening. While it was windy, according to local weather reports, the gusts only reached up to fifty miles an hour in their area. That was little comfort to Nevvie who tried her best not to pace the house and attempt to text the guys every few minutes.

They didn’t lose power, even though several neighborhoods in the area did, including Clay’s apartment complex.

“Thanks, Grandma,” Elle said. “I’m glad you made us come here.”

“I suspected it would happen. There are just way too many old trees in your neighborhood. It wasn’t hard for me to make the call. And this way I don’t have to worry about you.”

Peggy took control of the TV and had Adam show her how to play one of his video games. Nevvie sat on the couch with Andrew and watched Danny and Adam take on Laurie and Peggy. Mikey sat in Elle’s lap on the floor next to them and babbled at the screen.

Andrew leaned in close. “If you keep staring at your phone like that, it’s liable to burst into flames at any moment.”

“I know. I’m sorry. I can’t help it.” She laid it facedown on the couch next to her, but kept her hand on it so she could feel if it vibrated when a call came in.

“I would tell you not to worry, although I understand. I’m worried about them, too. They’ll be fine.”

The thought crossed her mind that he couldn’t possibly be as worried as she was when a
duh
moment hit her. Tyler was his son. Peggy and Andrew had to be just as worried as she was. If it were her kids in the path of danger, she’d be ripping her hair out.

She took a deep breath and handed him her phone. “Here. You babysit it for me, please.”

He arched an eyebrow quizzically at her but didn’t protest.

She moved to the floor to sit behind Adam and Danny. “Hey, kiddo. How about showing your mom how to play this game?”

Adam paused the game and turned to her with a huge smile. “You want to play, too, Mommy?”

“Yeah.”

“Yay!”

By dinnertime, Nevvie hadn’t managed to calm her nerves any, but she’d forced herself not to go online and watch news reports from Tampa about the destruction. It wouldn’t help her, and it wouldn’t help Tom and Tyler. All it would do would be to send her ever closer to breaking down and crying in front of Adam, which she desperately didn’t want to do.

When she went to tuck Adam and Mikey into bed, Adam grabbed her hand. With a very solemn-sounding voice he said, “Don’t worry, Mommy. Daddy and Poppa are fine. They’re smart.”

Nevvie forced a smile she didn’t feel. She didn’t want to tell her child that intelligence had nothing to do with surviving a storm. “I know, baby.”

“They’ll call tomorrow,” Adam said with certainty, nodding his head. “They will. You wait and see.”

“I hope you’re right, baby.” She hugged him and kissed both boys good-night. Then she said good night to everyone else before going to bed herself with Harley on her heels.

Instead of the Weather Channel, she found a movie channel playing a Cary Grant marathon. She put that on, then took the remote control into the bathroom and left it there so she wouldn’t be tempted to get out of bed and change the channel.

Then she curled up with Harley and cried herself to sleep.

* * * *

With everyone helping, it hadn’t taken long for Tom and Tyler to clean up their yard. They pitched in and helped a couple of their neighbors as well. After dinner, everyone was exhausted. Tom bid everyone good night and headed for their room, Tyler behind him.

Tyler followed Tom into the shower, grabbing a bottle of lube before he did.

“Is that a hint?” Tom asked.

Tyler pressed him against the wall. “Yes, in a way, love. Although I was hoping perhaps you were in the mood to bottom tonight.”