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“Damn.”

“You gotta pay the overhead. When we started this, I was barely paying for stalls. Now, I can actually keep up with them and still survive. It’s wild. Of course, I have lucked into a client base I never should have had. No clue how I managed that.”

“I think I do,” Eli snickered. “They want the whole hot horse whisperer treatment.”

I blushed in embarrassment.

“Whatever it is, ride it into the ground. If you are making money, who cares? You know how life was in this lane. You were handsome, good at your job, and it made you money. I write off my haircuts because it’s part of the upkeep of having clients,” Eli admitted. “That’s real estate. That’s building shit. You shouldn’t be ashamed to do the same.”

“I just never expected to be a hot commodity this late in life.”

“Well, take what you can get. Normally, I’d tell you not to shit where you eat, but… I dunno. This might be a time to use that sob story to have some fun. Done anything fun?”

I wanted to tell him that I was having fun all too often with the landlady barn owner, but didn’t. And anyway, I didn’t think of Chloe like that. She was fun and free, but she wasn’t just a nice piece of ass. I respected her far too much to say such a thing.

I cleared my throat. “Nope. I have a hard ‘no clients’ policy.” One that doesn’t apply to my landlady who isn’t just a client.

“I guess that makes sense. But aren’t they all a bunch of rich, bored housewives anyhow?”

I snickered. “Maybe? I dunno. I just treat them like people. Honestly, I stay away from the moms of kids in Piper’s class. It’s all kind of messy.”

“Don’t miss out. You could be a kept man, Cole!”

I didn’t correct him and say I could have stayed with my ex-wife, put up with her non-ethical non-monogamy, and been a kept man before; but I kept that to myself. I never wanted anyone to know the truth of why our marriage fell apart. I assumed many of my friends guessed that there was infidelity—especially considering she ran off with a much-younger man as soon as the ink dried on our divorce—but I never wanted to speak it. It wasn’t the infidelity that hurt. It was the way she went about trying to control every aspect of my life.

“You never know,” I chuckled. “Look, I gotta go. Piper wants to watch a movie.”

“Good, go. A storm is coming anyhow. You’ll be lucky to miss it.”

I headed to my car, leaving Eli’s nice office for the drive to Chloe’s. I wasn’t in a great mood, but it wasn’t bad, either. But I soon felt a sense of dread as the sound of the emergency warning system came over my radio.

“A Tornado Watch has been issued for Lake County in Illinois. There is a potential for softball sized hail, winds gusting over 50 miles per hour, and tornadoes. Please stay alert…”

I listened to the rest of it rattle on as I merged onto 294. Then, the radio returned to the Cubs game as if nothing happened. As I continued, the announcers said they were postponing the game for weather. The watch expanded to Cook County. It got worse. I dreaded everything as I raced home. Unsure of what to do, I called Piper. Unfortunately, she didn’t pick up. I needed her to go to Chloe’s basement to be safe. I panicked. What if she was napping and didn’t know? What if this was real again? What if we lost everything for a second time in three months? And what if this time, it didn’t spare me the most precious thing?

* * *

CHLOE

As I ate dinner and worked on my outline, I heard a worrying sound—the sound of the tornado sirens. Or, rather, I thought I heard it. October tornadoes were rare in Illinois, but they weren’t completely unheard of. There was barely a raindrop, and the lake had been so calm. Fearing I was losing it, I walked across the house and checked the road, where I saw angry clouds on the horizon. I cracked the window to confirm the noise. Before I heard the siren again, the weather app on my phone told me we were under a tornado warning.

I thought about Piper and looked at the carriage house. There were lights on, so I assumed she was in. I called her, but there was no answer. I flipped on the livestream from WGN weather desk and heard our fate—a powerful line of storms with hail was headed our way. There was a strong rotation. Fearing the worst, I ran barefoot downstairs, and across the pool deck, to Piper.

When she didn’t hear me and wouldn’t answer her phone a second time, I pressed my ear to the door. I heard her singing loudly to “All Too Well”. The music was too loud. I ran for the spare key. Cole hid it under a rock after the August lockout. I hated breaking in, but I’d hate Piper to get hurt even more.

“Piper!” I shouted, opening the door. “Piiiiiiiper!”

Nothing.

The music continued blaring, so I walked halfway up the tiny stairs, “Piper, it’s Chloe! Please come here!”

Finally, she turned down the music and appeared above the stairs. “Chloe… what is going on? Are you okay?”

“There is a tornado warning. I don’t want you to panic but I think you should take your dog and come to the basement.”

“What?”

“It’s okay,” I promised. “It’s really okay. We’ll be safe. I’m sure it’s nothing, but the sirens⁠—”