“She was eating from my plate. It’s not like I was hand-feeding her.”
“It attracted attention. You know how it is.”
Rob spun to face his brother. “Then fire me. Buy me out. Do a hostile takeover. Whatever the punishment is, do it.”
Brian regarded him for a long moment, and then nodded once. “Okay. If you think she needs you, then go. I’ll leave the outside lights on, assuming the power holds, but take your cell. If you don’t come back, I’m going to assume you’re with Hannah, so call if you need me for anything.”
As predicted, the storm let loose the rain when he was only halfway to Hannah’s camper and Rob was instantly soaked to the skin. Even though he ran most of the way, by the time he got to her site, he knew he was too wet to go inside. But he was still going to check on her.
He knocked loudly in order to be heard, and then stepped back so she could swing the door open.
She had a fleece blanket draped over her shoulders, despite the hot day, and her face was pale. “What are youdoingrunning around in this storm?”
“You told me storms terrified you, so I just wanted to make sure you’re alright. And not too afraid.”
“I’m in a tin can surrounded by trees in the middle of a thunder and lightning storm. What could I possibly be afraid of?”
He would have laughed if she hadn’t looked so distressed. “If the power goes out, will you be okay?”
“I’m not okay already, but I have an LED lantern that’s pretty bright.”
Another clap of thunder cut off her nervous chuckle and she leaped back from the door.
“I’ll go so you can close the door,” Rob said, turning away.
“Wait. Will you...do you have to go?”
“I don’t have to be anywhere,” he said, but she didn’t move. He tilted his head slightly, a small smile playing with the corners of his mouth. “I can just sit here under the awning and you’ll know I’m here.”
Then thunder rumbled and she moved away from the door and waved him in. He climbed the steps and pulled the door closed behind him. It wouldn’t do much to mute the sound of the storm, especially with the rain pounding the metal camper, but it would help.
“Oh, you’re soaked.”
“You should have made me stay under the awning.” He looked down at the growing dark patch on her floor mat where he was dripping.
“I’ll grab you a towel from the bathroom.”
He laughed. “I’m pretty sure a towel’s not going to help. I’ll just hang out here and drip.”
Just then, lightning lit up the darkness so intensely, even her blackout curtains didn’t help. Hannah gasped and grabbed the front of his hoodie, jerking him away from the door.
“It’s okay,” he said, cupping his hand around the side of her neck so his thumb could stroke her cheek. Her pulse was racing under his palm, and her skin was pale.
There was no way he could stand her being like this.
“I’ll be right back.”
“No.You can’t go out there.”
“I’m not. I’m going in the bathroom super quick to get a towel.”
He didn’t just grab a towel, though. After closing the door of the tiny bathroom, he managed to strip down to his boxer briefs, which were slightly damp around the bottoms, but miraculously dry for the most part. The wet clothes, he dropped in the bottom of her shower.
Putting them back on later was going to suck, but there wasn’t much he could do about it. Then, even though boxer briefs were no more revealing than shorts or swim trunks and it seemed unnecessary to him, he wrapped the towel around his waist.
When he left the bathroom, Hannah was standing in the same spot that he’d left her. She had her eyes closed and her hands over her ears, and she was trembling.
He didn’t blame her for being scared. Thunderstorms didn’t bother him, outside of worrying about property damage, but this was a bad one and being in a tin can definitely didn’t help.
