It wasn’t true, but it felt true, so I let it steady my stuttering pulse and held on tight.
“Are you afraid of storms?” he said.
“No. Not really, but I have a healthy awareness of how bad they can be on a small island. I was in Brazil during an earthquake a couple years ago. I don’t scare easily.”
“Good to know. I should check the forecast. Even though it means letting go of you for a minute. Don’t go anywhere, okay?”
“I’ll get a shower. You wait here. No sneaking out this time,” I said lightly.
“I won’t. I won’t do that again,” he said, sincere and disarming again. I had been swinging my legs off the bed and preparing to go clean up. I looked at him over my shoulder, his face so handsome, so full of earnestness and regret, that I scrambled back over to him and swamped him with a hug. He wrapped his arms around me, held me close, kissed me passionately, “I’m not going anywhere without you, Morgan.”
It didn’t mean anything, I told my heart that skipped a beat and did cartwheels like it was a declaration of undying love. I needed to calm down, but this felt too good. I wanted to ride it out, to let myself have this. Without being careful for once.
My shower was quick and efficient because I was in a hurry to get back to him. I toweled my hair off and pulled it back, wrapped up in the thick hotel robe. When I emerged, Billy was on the phone and I could see concern on his face. This was not the joking, reassuring Billy I expected to find. He was worried about something, possibly a coming storm. I sat down on the bed a little distance away. Without looking at me, he reached for my hand and held it. I heard him say things like “need to board up” and “move the women and the kids inland to ride it out.” That sounded like crisis preparedness. I was pretty level-headed in an emergency. I’d ferried fresh water and supplies to outlying villages after the earthquake in Brazil, and I’d pitched in at a soup kitchen and a warehouse where I sorted and inventoried donations in the aftermath. I wasn’t going to lose my head over a tropical storm. In fact, part of me was proud and wanted to prove myself to Billy, that I could stand beside him in a crisis and help him carry the load. I squeezed his hand.
When he got off the phone, he turned to me. The lines of his face seemed to deepen, and he looked older somehow, grave and unlike his usual cheerful self. He pulled me into his arms. “I know I said I wasn’t going anywhere, but it looks like I need to. Julio up at the weather station said that Ursula—the tropical storm that was supposed to swing south of here by a good margin—has changed course. If the wind patterns stay true, it’s expected to make landfall here within the next forty hours.”
“A direct hit?” I asked, knowing how devastating that would be.
“Yes,” he said grimly. “So my brothers and I have to swing into action. We need to secure the pub and the cabins, and then move people inland. Mickey and I are on the emergency response team for the city, so we have work to do on prepping some public spaces for shelters and Connor’s going to help move supplies. We’re meeting at the pub in half an hour to get everything lined out, assign the jobs and work out a timeline.”
“You sound like you’re going on a combat mission,” I said.
“In a way we are. There’s a lot at stake for everyone on St. Martin. Our entire way of life. The hotels and restaurants and all the tourist trade—a lot of that hinges on how well we prepare in the time we have left.”
“I want to help,” I said.
“If I were smart, I’d tell you to evacuate wherever the resort sends you, but I want you to pack your stuff. You’re coming with me.”
He gave me a quick squeeze and kissed my damp hair. I nodded, happy that he wanted to bring me along, that he wasn’t dismissing me or trying to protect me by leaving me behind.
Chapter 20
Billy
The sky was darker than I liked. The air was already heavy with the coming storm, with the anticipation of the worst. This was where my training kicked in and