Her attention landed on Pepper, still on the mat. She’d picked up Atlas and was rocking him on her shoulder, placing soft kisses on his head.
“Isn’t she a godsend for Jonah?” Vivien asked, sidling up to her and following her gaze.
“It’s unreal. They’re connected at the soul level and she’s babysat him, what? Twice?”
Vivien nodded. “Exactly what Atlas needed, not that we don’t all love that baby to pieces.”
“And what Jonah needed,” Tessa said.
“Please.” Vivien laughed. “The only person who looks at Pepper with more love in his eyes than Atlas is his daddy.”
Tessa launched a brow. “Do tell.”
Vivien shook her head and pointed to the dining room. “Can’t. It’s showtime.”
Eli cleared his throat, standing. “Everyone’s here, right?”
“Jonah’s on his way,” Pepper called out, her voice confident in this big group of tightknit family and friends. Like…she belonged here.
Tessa shot a look at Vivien and got a definite “I told you so” eye in return.
Eli clicked on his laptop. “For anyone not obsessively checking the last update from the National Hurricane Center, Norman is now officially a cat three, cone is tighter, gusts up to one forty-five, moving north-northwest at nine miles an hour, landfall predicted east of Destin now.”
For a moment, no one spoke, even though this wasn’t news. It was…real.
“Which means we’re on the dirty side,” Connor said softly to Meredith.
“Not sure what that is,” Meredith replied. “But something tells me it’s not as fun as you think it sounds.”
The two of them locked gazes for way too long for just co-workers. So the rumors were true, Tessa thought, sharing one more look with Vivien, who just smiled.
“It’s the surge we need to worry about,” Eli continued, oblivious to the interactions Vivien and Tessa observed. “Current projection is six to nine feet on Choctawhatchee Bay and similar on the Gulf side. Our dunes are tall enough to break that on Gulf Shore Drive—historically, they’ve held. Tessa and Dusty, your stretch in Miramar Beach is more exposed.”
That brought Tessa back to the moment. She closed her eyes while Dusty reported on their many, many sandbags. As if those would stop a nine-foot wave.
“It’s just a house,” Vivien cooed under her breath, putting her arm around Tessa. “If you get hit, you rebuild. It’s exactly what I told Crista, who was at DEFCON 1—or 5, whatever it is—when she left.”
“Is her new house going to be okay?”
Vivien shrugged. “Same as yours, not quite as close to the water.”
Eli threw them a look for talking and Tessa bit her lip. “Sorry, professor.”
He relaxed into a smile and continued. “Peter’s lined up an Airbnb in Rock Hill that can sleep eight comfortably and ten in a pinch on blow-ups.”
“No one will sleep that night anyway,” someone noted.
Eli nodded in agreement. “Like the name implies, it’s on rock and higher ground, so it will be safe. Right now, on the list to stay is Maggie, Jo Ellen, and —”
“Take us off your list,” Maggie said, making every eye in the room turn to her.
Jo Ellen nodded enthusiastically. “We are staying with friends in Crawfordville.”
Eli looked at the two women like they’d lost their minds.
“Excuse me?” he croaked.
Maggie shifted her sharp gaze to Kate, who’d come close to Vivien to look over the island. “Didn’t you tell him?” she demanded.
