They looked to Emma, who only shook her head.
His face still looking dazed, he gave a final nod and left. As soon as the door shut behind him the electricity went out.
Chapter 35
Connor ducked his head against the wind as he made his way across the dunes along the shore. Despite the slicker, he was wet to the skin. It was impossible to protect himself against the driving wind and rain, even with his hood up.
“Nora!” he called.
He wavered a moment as a gust of wind hit him so hard it moved him bodily. He thought of the dog and prayed she’d found a safe spot to hole up. This wind could literally blow the tiny thing away.
A piece of driftwood scuttled across the beach, nailing him in the ankle. He limped a couple steps, working it out. He was glad he’d come by the house when he had. Hoped Maddy had the good sense to stay inside.
Maddy.
His chest squeezed tight at the thought of her. At the guarded look she’d given him at the house. He’d known something was wrong earlier today. Those texts had felt too distant. What had happened to put that guarded look back in her eyes?
She was back to the old Maddy. The cautious Maddy. She’d said last night that a lot had happened since Gram’s return. He wondered if it had anything to do with Nick. Had her old boyfriend contacted her again? Convinced her to go back to him?
Connor gave his head a hard shake. Why would she go back to the man who’d hurt her so badly? No, he’d seen the fear in her eyes. It was as if her distrust had been reawakened somehow. Her fears of heartbreak resurrected.
And that was a fear he understood all too well. A man didn’t suddenly lose his young wife and not battle these feelings. And now there was that familiar hollow spot inside him again. The one he’d carried with him for years after Annie died. His chest ached with loss, and the muscles around his lungs felt like an iron cage. It was just how he’d felt after he’d lost Annie. Connor stopped in his tracks, his body wavering under the assault of wind.
I’m in love with Maddy.
He gave a wry laugh. How ironic that he hadn’t realized it until he’d lost her.
The wind pushed him, making him stagger sideways a couple steps. He used the momentum to start walking again.
It had been a crappy day all the way around. In the middle of all the chaos at the marina, Cheryl had called. Her dad had had another stroke—a bad one, it seemed—and she had gone home again. She didn’t know when she’d be back, but she needed to leave before the storm made landfall.
Connor had no idea how he was going to cover her position. He sure couldn’t ask Maddy now. But he shouldn’t be thinking about any of this.
He blinked against the rain and sand, scanning the area. Visibility was so poor he couldn’t see beyond the nearest house. A lawn chair went airborne and crashed into the deck railing. Twigs and small branches took flight.
“Nora!” Connor called for the hundredth time, waited for a response. But the only answer was the storm’s fury.
He began to move again. His eyes scanned the landscape for movement, especially up near the beach houses.
Pippy was a curious thing, always wanting to snoop around the neighboring houses. How far could she have gotten in this? Where would Nora have gone to look for her?
He looked up at a darkened two-story with a fenced-in yard. A golden retriever named Charlie lived at the house. The one time Connor had taken a walk on the beach with the sisters, Charlie had been in the yard. And Pippy, completely oblivious to her small size, wanted at him.
Connor made his way slowly over the dunes toward the yard. The fence was made of wooden slats with plenty of room for Pippy to wiggle through.
“Pippy!” he called when the wind died down for a brief moment. The sound of the surf rose up in its place.
He heard a cracking sound and ducked automatically. A large section of siding flew by.
Connor looked over the fence into the house’s empty yard. He shielded his eyes against the rain, blinking away the water dripping from his forehead. It was hard to see anything with the house lights off and the heavy bank of clouds shielding the moon and stars.
“Pippy!” he called, listening for a long moment, scanning the yard for signs of movement. “Nora!” The storm all but swallowed his bellow.
After waiting for a long beat, he decided to move on. How long had he been looking? Fifteen, twenty minutes? How far would Pippy have gone? Nora may have stopped at one of these houses and taken refuge. Folks around here would gladly offer a stranger shelter.
The wind pushed at him, making him feel as if he were moving through thick molasses. If he didn’t find them out here, oceanside, he’d circle up to the street and make his way back toward home. But had he gone far enough to turn back now?
It made sense that the dog would head inland out of the storm’s direct path. Would Nora have thought the same thing?
