Stormy Surrender - By Nicole Andrews Moore Page 0,81

on his wet jeans and damp t-shirt. He pulled on his still soaked socks and Lugz. Then he raced out the front door.

It didn’t take long for Marti to be behind him, but she soon realized that may have been a mistake. When she made it out the front door, she saw that there were more people gathered together than she had seen to date anywhere in the town. And every single one of them had just seen Joey and Marti rushing out of her house looking incredibly disheveled. This was the biggest walk of shame ever. Strangers, neighbors, firemen, and police…they were all there. Even Laurel and Keely were walking up with big coffee urns. There was a tall, thin, balding man walking behind Keely carrying bags of supplies.

“Mind if we set up on your porch?” Keely called. “We need some place covered.”

“Come on up!” She shouted.

The rain was still pouring down. The damage to the house was considerable. Marti watched from the porch, helping her friends pass out coffee, and giving away Laurel’s day old baked goods. It was nice to see that this town was everything she had imagined it to be, a place where they truly loved one another and rallied around their neighbors. She watched as Joey raked his hands through his hair again and again. He was angry, frustrated, judging by his actions. Her heart hurt for him.

Looking at Keely, Marti asked the question that had been plaguing her, “What took them so long to respond? It looks like this was burning for quite some time.”

Shaking her head, she replied, “Miss Gracie has worn them out. She calls all the time. I believe twice even in the past week. It was a case of her crying wolf one too many times. I know the place is insured. That isn’t the problem, but poor Joe doesn’t have a lot of disposable income.”

Marti could feel all the eyes on her. And in her mind, she knew it was her fault. She was the reason that Miss Gracie had been calling the fire department so much lately. And if Joey hadn’t been with her, then he would have been home and called. Her eyes studied the boards as she pondered what to do, how she could help, if there was any way she could right this awful wrong.

Ironic. That’s what this was. He had stood in the front window more days than he could count and wished that Marti’s house would disappear, be leveled, anything so that he didn’t have to look at it and remember the big dreams he had for it and his relationship with Finn. Now it was his house that was almost completely destroyed. What wasn’t damaged in the fire was destroyed in the process of putting it out. Water damage. Smoke damage. Fire damage. It was the magical trifecta. He had it all. Now he found himself rubbing his chest again as he considered it. Maybe this wasn’t ironic. Maybe this was karma. He had spent all that time wishing ill and now it had come back to haunt him. What was the universe trying to tell him? He believed in signs, and this one was a complete mystery.

“Hey, Joe!” The fire chief, Danny called to him. “You are lucky you weren’t here. You probably wouldn’t have made it out alive between the lightening and the gas…whew! Count your blessings.” As he spoke, Joey had sought out Marti in the crowd. He smiled when he found her on her porch with Laurel and Keely, passing out drinks, lifting spirits, feeding souls. The fire chief noticed. “I haven’t met her yet. She’s cute. I should go introduce myself.” He started to turn, and though Joey realized he was probably just being tested, he couldn’t help himself.

“She’s off limits. She’s completely taken…by me. Back off.” He had crossed his arms over his chest and straightened some at the idea that someone else might want to chase after the woman he had just shared such a passionate experience with. Danny just smirked at him. “I mean it,” he said as he walked away, directly to Marti.

He wasn’t thinking. All he knew was that he longed to find comfort in her arms. He had lost what little he had. And his spirit sure could use her special brand of nourishment. He pushed through the crowd until he reached her. She passed a fireman a cup of coffee and was giving one to the policeman to her