As she pulled into the driveway, Brenna noticed the wind was picking up. She put Olivia under her jacket again and ran for the door. Zoe came running to sniff the strange scents on the cat and Olivia finally batted at her in exasperation.
Brenna ran a hand through her tangled hair and went to check the answering machine. One message from Adam, concerned whether or not she and the house had weathered the storm okay. Geez, she hadn't even thought to look around the house and at the roof. Some homeowner she was. She could be missing shingles off the roof and the next storm could cause a leak in the attic.
Zipping up her raincoat, she went back outside, pulling on her hood as the wind grabbed at her hair. The fir trees around the house and across the road swayed back and forth, being blown with such force she didn't know how they remained standing. It looked to her as if the coming storm might hit a little sooner than the weatherman expected as it wasn't evening quite yet.
The back and north sides of the house were fine. In front, the tulips were blown to shreds and the roses over the door had taken a beating, but were hanging in there. The fence seemed to be leaning a little more, but she had to fix that anyway. The south side was okay too; no shingles lost to the last storm.
As Brenna made her way around to the back, she heard the rumble of a familiar engine and was surprised to feel her heart leap instead of fall. Before her visit to Helena, the thought of Adam filled her with such conflicting emotions that, combined, they nearly felt like dread. But sometime between her visit and now, something inside of her had shifted and now she felt as if she was standing in a secure place, as if on a large rock in the middle of a rushing river. Life might be tumultuous around her, but she could depend on Adam.
She ran around the side of the house, her hood falling back and hair whipping in the wind, and threw her arms around Adam.
"Whoa! This is the kind of reception I like."
"What are you doing here?"
"When I couldn't get ahold of you, I got kind of worried, with the storm and all, and thought I'd better check on you." Adam smoothed her hair back, a useless gesture as the wind continued to gust around them.
Brenna smiled. "What, you think I can't weather a little storm on my own?"
"Now, I didn't say that. I just wanted to double check."
She shivered. "I'm just giving you a bad time. Let's get inside before we end up in Kansas."
Adam had brought Max as usual and the two dogs were delighted to see each other. Brenna had to shoo them out of her small kitchen so Adam would have room to sit down and unlace his boots. She regarded the boots silently for a moment, the same boots she had worn at the accident.
"Any update on Vince and Wendy?" she asked.
"Oh yeah, sorry. Should have told you first off. They discharged Vince as long as he promised to stay with Jim and Cece for a few days, and of course he went straight to Portland. Wendy's doing better. The hematoma seems to be resolving itself. She's not quite with it yet, but it's improvement. They haven't ruled out surgery though because there's still too much pressure on her brain."
Brenna put her hand to her chest in relief. She felt as if she'd been holding her breath since the accident and now could relax a little. "What about her legs?"
"All I heard is they've pinned them. I don't know how bad the fractures are exactly. I tried calling ICU, but they're only giving out information to family and of course all of her family is there." Adam frowned in frustration, but then shrugged his shoulders. "At least the grapevine only has positive news. I don't think Vince could live without her. It's my guess they'll end up getting married as soon as she's well. They were already trying to decide on a date."
Brenna nodded. "I think you're right." She sat down and pulled a bowl of fruit across the table. "Want an apple?"
He picked one up. "What are these?"
"They're Macintosh. Molly brought them for me. They're kind of hard to find here. My mom grew up in New England and they're common there." She picked up one of the round, shiny apples and smelled its fragrance. "Puts me right back in our old kitchen." Tears welled in her eyes. "Reminds me that life's too short."
"I'm sorry, honey."
Brenna put a hand over her mouth and started crying. "Oh, Adam, Helena's got pneumonia. She doesn't look good. I didn't realize how much she means to me..."
He pulled his chair close to hers, put his arms around her, and let her cry. "You know, honey, it doesn't surprise me you're so attached to her. It's like you've known Helena her whole life. I think you've seen just about every important event in her adult life as well as knowing her personally. It's kind of like you gained a parent for a while only to be losing her."
Brenna smiled and sniffed. "She does give good advice."
Adam picked up a Macintosh and took a bite. "Sour and mushy. Here, that's not an apple, sorry." He handed it to her, took a Red Delicious out of the bowl and took a crunchy bite out of the sweet, crisp apple. "Now, that's an apple."
"You goon, you don't deserve it." She laughed through her tears and ate his Mac for him, not about to waste one of the precious apples. "I think this is what they must have had in the Garden of Eden."
Adam laughed. "As if."
Brenna stood up and grabbed his hand. "Come on. You can help me get the fire going again."
Around six o'clock, the rain began in earnest. Brenna was boiling spaghetti noodles and listening to her wind chimes ring wildly when she heard the familiar sound of needles hitting the windows.
She walked into the parlor where Adam sat in the rocker reading with the dogs at his feet and the fire crackling. A true picture of domesticity. She smiled. "It's really coming down, isn't it?"
Adam looked up. "Sounds as if it's coming sideways, right for your windows. I should get going after dinner if I'm going to make it home okay."
Brenna smiled wistfully, looking out into the dark storm. Probably not a good idea for him to stay the night just yet. But it would be wonderful.
A hiss in the kitchen sent her running back to turn down the burner as the water began to boil over. The timer went off and she drained the noodles, leaving them to steam in the colander while she pulled crusty garlic bread from the oven and stirred the sauce one more time.
"Okay, it's dinner!"
They ate in front of the fire, the dogs at their feet keeping a watchful eye on their plates in case by chance something might fall off. Brenna left the wine in the refrigerator this evening, knowing they both might need all their faculties alert with the coming storm.
Max watched with an eagle eye as Adam wiped up the sauce on his plate with the last of his garlic bread. Adam took a bite, looked at the black dog for a minute to tease him and then tossed him the last bite.
Zoe took her eyes off Brenna's plate long enough to observe this interchange and then looked back at Brenna.
"Okay, okay! Here," she said, tossing her last piece of bread to her dog. Zoe gulped it with relish and looked back at the plate.
"That's all there is, you pig." Brenna turned to Adam. "Look what you've started!"
He laughed. "Right, like you don't do that all the time anyway."
"Well..."
"That's what I thought. Here, I'll help you with the dishes and then get going."
"No, you'd better get on the road. Every time I listen to the forecast, it gets worse."
Brenna rinsed off the plates while Adam got his coat and boots on and whistled for Max.
"You be careful." Her heart jumped at the image of Adam lying trapped in his truck like Vince and Wendy.
"I'll be fine. It's my job to be out in weather like this, remember?"
"I know. But if I say it, maybe it'll keep you safe," she said, hugging him tightly.
"Good a logic as any, I guess."
Adam kissed her for a long moment until Max finally sat down on one of his feet. Looking down at the impatient dog, he said, "I'm being paged. I'll call you when I get home. But if the phone lines go down, don't worry, I'll be fine."
She took a deep br
eath and swallowed. "I know. I have faith in you."
"Good." One more kiss and Adam and Max were out the door, running for the truck. Brenna heard a honk as they drove away and then heard only gusting wind and rain. Please God, keep him safe.
Chapter 46