She missed getting up later than him. He’d be gone, but the bathroom would still smell like his deodorant and his cologne. She missed his scent on her pillow.
Her head really hurt. She bent, resting her forehead on knees she pulled to her chest.
“Stop.” His voice was gruff, emotional.
“Stop what?” She looked up and blinked a few times. Pain throbbed and she touched her head. Her hand came away damp. She looked down at the blood on her fingers, mesmerized and confused.
“You’re talking about the past, about us, like this is the end. This isn’t the end, Lexi. We’re both alive.” Colt moved to her side, a folded towel in his hand. He dabbed at her head and then held the towel with pressure that made her wince.
“Not so hard.” She bit down on her lip and looked up, meeting blue eyes that connected with hers and didn’t look away. “I didn’t know I was talking.”
His laughter was soft and his eyes crinkled at the corners. He kept the towel on her head. “You were talking, and I’m honored. But you need to stay awake.”
“I’m awake.” She leaned back against the wall and thought she felt it heave with the pressure of the storm and the falling building. “You should be out there, helping other people.”
“I doubt I can do that right now. Let’s talk. I know you can talk, even when you’re tired.”
“And you always fall asleep when I’m talking.”
“Midnight isn’t the best time for heartfelt conversations.”
“When is the best time? Or is there ever a right time?” She leaned against his shoulder, her eyes focusing on the sleeping dog. “I love that dog.”
“I’m sorry. Lexi, let’s not talk about the past or the dog.”
“We don’t have a future, so what else do we talk about?” She felt a little sick to her stomach. He probably didn’t want to hear that. “I’m going to be sick.”
“Okay. It’s okay.” But he held her close, as if he was afraid she’d slip away. “Don’t go to sleep, Lex.”
“I’m not. It’s just a…”
“A cut.” He supplied the word. “Do you remember what day it is?”
“Tuesday?”
“Nope.” He moved and slid away from her. “It’s Friday, July tenth. I’m going to see if I can call for help, or get us out of here.”
“Don’t leave me.”
He paused, his hand on the door, his uniform covered in her blood and Chico’s. “I’m not leaving you, Lex.”
She would have nodded, but her head hurt when she moved. And hadn’t he already left her? Hadn’t he packed his bags and walked away? He shook his head, as if he knew her thoughts, and walked through the door. A few minutes later he was back. His clothes were now covered with white dust and dirt.
“Well?”
“We’re trapped, I don’t have cell service, and my radio isn’t working.” He slid down the wall and hooked his arm around her to pull her close. “The stairs are blocked with debris, and part of the basement has caved in.”
“You’ll save us. You always do.”
“I wish that was true.” He kissed her cheek. “I’m not sure how to get us out of this one.”
“You’re supposed to be positive.” She leaned forward, sick, and her head ached. “I’m scared.”
“Don’t be. We’ll be fine. We’ll get out of here.”
She closed her eyes and listened to a world that had become silent. The building groaned above them, creaking a little as the wreckage of her home settled. Warm tears slid down her cheeks. In the distance she heard sirens.
“Can you imagine if this is it for us? What if today was the last day we had?” She opened her eyes and looked up at him, wondering why she had let him go so easily.
“Listen, my optimistic sweetheart, that isn’t you talking.”
“It is me. I’m saying, what if this is how we told the story of our lives? That we gave up.” She leaned against him, her head aching and nausea twisting her stomach. The words were definitely more maudlin than she’d intended.
“At least we’re together.” He murmured into her hair and his breath was soft and minty.
“Yes, together?” Her eyes were getting heavy and she didn’t know if she could keep her promise to stay awake. “I’m so tired.”
“Lexi, don’t sleep.” He sat her up, shaking her a little.
“Don’t be so rough. I’m awake.”
“Lexi, you have to stay with me. You can’t go to sleep.”
“What if we don’t get out of here?” she whispered. “What if they don’t find us in time?”
“They’ll find us and we’ll get out and go on with our lives.” He held her close. “Hear that, sirens. Bud has called in the cavalry. They’ll find us.”
She shook her head and it ached, but Colt’s arms were around her. She wanted to think of nothing but sinking into the darkness, with his arms around her, and the knowledge that God wouldn’t let it end this way.
Her eyes closed and Colt gave her a gentle shake. When she whispered that she couldn’t stay awake, he told her she had to. And then he pulled her close, and his lips touched hers, gentle and persuading. He held her close, making her feel safe. Tomorrow she would deal with losing him again, but for tonight, it was enough to be in his arms.
Chapter One
Labor Day Weekend
The citizens of High Plains were getting back to normal. Or so they tried to say when they met for cleanup days and to plan community events. Days like today, when they planned to do more work on the town hall. The new Old Town Hall. It had been a building rich in history and a central part of the community. The tornado had leveled it.
Getting back to normal. The aftermath of the storm had left them anything but “normal.” Lexi knew it, so did everyone else.
With the media long gone, along with volunteers who had—understandably—gone back to their own lives, the people in High Plains and the surrounding area were still trying to put the pieces of their lives back together.
High Plains, Kansas, was nothing more than a two-minute clip on the weather station’s reel about deadly storms. But that clip didn’t mention Jesse Logan’s premature triplets, or the wife he’d lost. It didn’t talk about Kasey, the child Gregory Garrison had found at the Waters cottages. The weather station didn’t say anything about the people who had come to help, bringing food, supplies and prayers.
Those had been big stories for the first few weeks, and then they had faded out. Life had gone on. Other news, more current, had taken the place of those stories.
The weather station still showed the path of the storm, outtakes from local news and aerial shots from helicopters. Lexi hated to admit she’d watched it over and over again, still amazed by what had happened to her town while she’d been in her basement, safe in the arms of her ex-husband.
“Isn’t that sweet,” had become the catch phrase associated with the six hours she and Colt had been trapped down there.
People had asked if she and Colt had worked things out. There had been comments about God putting the two of them in that basement together. The only real outcome was that the two of them had made a decision to be friends. If they were going to live in the same town, friendship after two years of silence seemed like an improvement.