Page 78 of Goode Tidings

Rain pelts my Shed House Hut Office Thing. At this point, I think it might be raining sideways.

It's been three hours of nothing but sheets of rain. Around hour one, Eden texted me and said You probably owe some meteorologists an apology.

She's right. I do. My phone loses service after that.

Hour four is when I hear a sound nobody in my position wants to hear.

Drip, drip. Drip, drip.

I place a pan under the leak.

The sound drives me crazy, but it's ok, because at hour five, another leak starts and adds to the cadence. I locate a bowl in a cabinet and slide it under the dripping water.

A crack slams above my head, in my chest, all around me. Instinctively I duck, throwing an arm over my head. What the fuck was that? A tree falling?

I peek out from my crouched position and find the structure is fine. Well, maybe not fine, but there isn't a tree lying beside me.

Another crack slams through the place. Thunder that rolls through my bones. For the first time, I feel genuine worry. Is it safe for me to be in this structure? The slope toward the lake is gentle, not much at all, but it exists. Could enough rain gather into a stream and carry me into the lake? I'm not sticking around to find out.

I grab my backpack and fill it with my meager belongings, including my laptop, and place all that inside a plastic trash bag. I don't like leaving the computer monitors behind, but I can't carry everything at once.

Behind me, my door protests like it's coming off its hinges. I owe more than an apology to the meteorologists of Arizona. I owe them one of those chocolate covered fruit baskets.

"Callum!"

I drop what I'm holding and whip around.

My brain cannot process what I'm seeing. Eden, in the doorway. Fabric stuck to her body. A hood up around her head, but it didn't do its job. Her hair is wet, strands matted to her forehead. I sprint over and yank her inside, slamming the door closed behind her.

"What the hell are you doing here?" I demand, brushing the hair from her face. Is she crazy, coming out in a storm like this?

Her teeth chatter, and I shiver just from the blast of air that came in when she opened the door.

"Phones are…down," she stammers. "I was...afraid for you."

Behind me, the roof drips water into pans. Rain smacks the structure, thunder growls overhead. The pounding in my heart is louder than all of it. "You came for me? Because you were afraid?"

She nods. "I had to make sure you were ok."

Me? She cared enough about my safety to brave the tempest beyond the safe, warm walls of her cabin? I rub at my chest, right there in the center where I feel her gesture the most.

Her hand reaches out to cover mine. "Are you ok?" she asks, concerned yet again.

I cover her hand with my other one, sandwiching her in. "This lakeside shanty is in danger of floating away, but I've honestly never been better."

She laughs, and a drop of rain trails down her face from her hair. That smile of hers, it unravels me. Makes me want to pull her to me right now.

I reach out. Let my hand find her cheek. She turns into my touch.

Yes.

My hand keeps going, snaking around to the back of her neck. She steps closer. And I⁠—

There's an ominous creak. A groan.

Oh fuck fuck fuck.

I rip myself from Eden, not spending even a moment searching for the source of the noises I know aren't good. "Carry this," I say, grabbing the bag of my things and shoving it into Eden's outstretched arms.