And Caleb staring at me.
My stomach does a little flip, my heartrate picking up at the way his eyes darken. Or maybe it’s just my imagination, considering the light from the porch is fairly dim and it is quite dark and rainy.
“I can drive her car back here,” I tell him. “If you don’t mind giving me a ride?—”
“Of course,” Caleb says. “If that’s what you want. I can also drive it down to you tomorrow, if that’s easier.”
“Don’t be silly,” I tell him, caught between annoyance at how easily he accedes to my request and relief that he’s so kind. Which makes no damn sense, but I never pretended to be good at this kind of thing.
I don’t even really know what this kind of thing is, anymore.
“Well, are you gonna come on or leave me standing here in the rain?” Caleb gives me a crooked smile, and my own answering smile surprises me.
“Let me grab my coat,” I say, and the house practically shoves my rain slicker into my hands the minute I open the small closet by the front door.
Gunner bounds past me, racing right into Caleb’s car without even a glance back.
By the time I get the coat on and jog out into the rain, Gunner’s eyes are half-closed with pure pleasure at the attention Caleb’s lavishing on him.
“Thanks,” I say breathlessly, clicking the seatbelt over my coat. “Sorry we’re getting your truck all wet.”
“Don’t apologize. It’s just water.”
“I know, but you already went out of your way to help Hazel, and now I’m asking you to do another favor?—”
“Ivy. I want to help you. Let me help you.” His gaze is steady, warm as I know his touch would be.
I exhale slowly, my throat tight with the effort of not telling him no. Of letting him help me. “You already are,” I manage.
“Good,” he says simply. With that, he throws the truck into drive and takes off for wherever Hazel’s car is sitting on the side of the road.
Lightning forks overhead, and thunder cracks, so loud the truck shakes. I’m no stranger to storms —you can’t live on the coast without knowing exactly how tempestuous mother nature can be — and this particular storm looks like it’s shaping up to be a doozy.
“Shit,” Caleb says, and I crane my neck to see the road ahead’s washed out. “We’re not going to be able to get down there now.”
“I could have sworn the weather said today was going to be light drizzle,” I mutter, the words hardly audible over the noise of the rain pelting the car.
“That’s exactly what it said,” Caleb agrees, looking around before throwing the truck into reverse. “We’ll have to come back for her car when it’s safer. Sorry, Ivy.”
“No, don’t apologize, I should have realized that?—”
“You should have realized the road was going to wash out?” He huffs a laugh. “Not even you could predict that.”
I blink, unsure what he means.
“Alright, let’s get you back—” Thunder rolls overhead, interrupting Caleb, so loud I jump.
Gunner whines softly, pressing his face into my chest for comfort.
It doesn’t take us long to realize that with the way the rain’s coming down, we’re not getting back.
In fact, it’s pretty much instantaneous when the streetlights go out.
“Watchmere?” Caleb asks.
“Let’s go,” I tell him, knowing this is absolutely not the moment to fuck around.
Watchmere was built straight into the rock, and even though it might be having whatever issues with the light, holing up there is not nearly as dangerous as trying to cut back through town in rising waters would be.
