He pulled the phone away from his ear as she sobbed, loudly, in response to this. He covered the mouthpiece and looked at me. “Does she really not have anyone there?”
I shook my head. “Just Gordon.”
“Jesus.” He looked out at the lake, which looked mean now, ominous, whitecaps dotting the water, the dark clouds low and thick. “Okay. Look. I’ll get you all downstairs and settled, and then I’ll ride over there.”
“What?” I said. “I want to go.”
“No.” He looked at Tracy. “Gather up your phone and charger, your purse, anything you might need in the next few hours. Mom and Emma, you too.”
“But—”
“Now,” he said, sounding so firm that I jumped. Tracywent back into the bedroom, moving quickly, while Nana got to her feet as well. I just stood there, though, as he put the phone back to his ear. “Trinity. Breathe. I’m coming over. Just give me a few minutes, okay?”
I couldn’t hear her response, because at that moment another wind gust hit. Then the power went out.
“Go,” my dad said to me, and I ran into my room, grabbing my purse, a charger, and my shoes. By the time I got back to the living room, Nana and Tracy were at the door, ready, my dad scrambling for his own things. When we went out into the hallway, it was dark except for the emergency lights, blinking.
“Elevator’s out,” my dad reported, after trying the button. He turned to Nana. “Mom, can you handle the stairs?”
“Certainly,” Nana replied, but I took her arm anyway. “Lead the way.”
We went into the stairwell, which was also illuminated by blinking lights, and started down, my dad and Tracy in front, Nana and me following. We’d gone down two flights—slowly—when my phone rang again. Trinity.
“A tree just fell on the porch!” she screamed. “It took out one of the windows and now the rain is pouring in!”
“Okay, okay,” I said, reporting this to my dad. “Are you in the middle room? Where’s Gordon?”
“I can’t find her!” she said. “I’ve been yelling, but you know how she gets when you scream at her, she just vanishes. My mom’s at work freaking out, but she can’t leave. God, why is this happening?”
A door on the landing we were passing opened suddenly, a Tides employee with a silver room service tray stepping through. People were ordering food right now?
“Good evening,” he said, flashing us a toothy smile. “On your way to dinner?”
“The power’s out,” my dad told him. “What are you all doing about it?”
“The generator isjustabout to come on,” the guy replied cheerfully. “But even if it didn’t, we’d be totally safe. The Tides is the most storm-ready structure—”
“Right, right,” my dad said, pushing past him. To me he said, “What’s happening with Trinity?”
“Tree hit the house,” I told him. “And now she can’t find Gordon.”
He sighed. “Jesus. Okay. Let’s get a move on. Mom, you all right?”
“Fine,” Nana replied, but she did grip my hand a little harder as we began down the next flight. I squeezed back.
Finally we reached the lobby, where Tides employees were scurrying around, moving plants away from windows and herding guests into a nearby ballroom. “It’s a hurricane party!” one girl in a golf shirt told us, waving at the open door. “We have drinks and food and activities for the whole family. Join us, won’t you?”
My dad looked in the ballroom, where a total of about eight people, mostly kids, were grouped around one table. The rest were empty. “You need to get everyone down here. This storm is no joke.”
“Oh, sir, this is just a precaution,” she said as a wall of rain hit the windows, the sound drowning everything out for a moment. “You’d be perfectly safe in your room, as the Tides is—”
My dad hurried past her. “Emma, you and your grandmother get settled. Tracy and I will run over to Mimi’s just to check on Trinity and Gordon.”
“But—”
“Emma. Do not question me right now.”
“Honey.” Tracy put her hand on his arm. “It’s Emma’s family. Her cousin. You can understand why she might want to—”
