Pull You In (Rivers Brothers Book 3), стр. 14
The rain had started soft at first, making me wonder if we were being alarmists just because we were deep in the woods without all the ideal resources.
But then it started to pick up steam, pelting at the windows and roof with an end-times-type fury as the wind continued to whip through the trees.
Between cracks of lightning and claps of thunder, I could hear the telltale snapping of trees in the woods, a little fact that I kept to myself because Katie seemed to work herself up into a panic over the idea of a tree crashing through the roof.
I wanted to tell her it wasn't a valid concern, but as surrounded by them as we were, and as the hours stretched on with very little respite, I started to get concerned myself.
Sure, if something happened to the roof, we had the cars to get out of Dodge. But I had a feeling that the road leading there wasn't going to be completely clear, nor would it be high on the list of the township to clear seeing as we seemed to be the only ones up here.
I kept my worries to myself, though, as we both took turns staring out of windows, checking our useless phones, reading the books we brought with us.
But, for me, I was mostly wondering about the others, about why no one else had made it but us, if maybe Katie and I were the ones who got it wrong.
I'd be more inclined to believe that if it was just me at the cabin, if I had mixed up the date. But Katie had always had great attention to detail. The office would fall apart without her. I really didn't think the two of us would both get it wrong.
So, then, where the hell was everyone else? Sure, it was possible some of the others had plans they couldn't get out of, or simply didn't feel like being in the woods. But there were quite a few employees at our job now; someone else should have shown up.
For one insane moment, I wondered if Fee had done this on purpose. But Fiona wasn't someone who meddled. She minded her own business, did her own thing, let everyone else do theirs.
Besides, what purpose did that serve?
Again, if it was just me here, I could see that. Fee might not have been a meddler, but she liked to fuck with you on occasion. And this would be her finest work yet.
But it didn't make sense that Katie was here too. If there was anyone in the world that no one wanted to fuck with, it was Katie.
Save for the assholes she went to school with, I guess. But kids suck. She was shy and unable to stand up for herself.
No one at the office would do something shitty to her. Everyone loved her, protected her like a little sister or a daughter.
Which left me, well, back at one. Completely in the dark about what was going on.
But I was determined to make the most of it. Once the storm had passed.
I figured there would be some clean-up to do which would be welcome after being trapped inside. Then maybe I could show Katie to the lake. She wouldn't want to swim—hell I didn't want to swim again—but she would get a kick out of the ambiance, the wildlife around.
If nothing else, I think she would find it better than some asinine trust-fall exercise that likely would have been part of our stay if everyone else showed up on time.
It would get us out of the cabin.
Make the day pass faster.
Then, maybe we would take a drive down the road to see if it was clear. If it was, we could head out to a spot where we found some reception, call Fee, and see what the hell was going on.
"Tired?" I asked when she yawned for the tenth time since dinner. We'd had mac & cheese that she'd insisted on tossing some broccoli into, which, somehow, made it even better.
"Yeah," she admitted, closing her book, rubbing the bridge of her nose. "I haven't done anything all day, but, yeah, oh no," she said as the lights finally flickered and crapped out.
"Are you afraid of the dark?"
"Not the dark, per se. But, you know, tripping and falling down the stairs in the dark is something worth worrying about," she admitted.
"Alright. Tell you what," I said, getting up, using the flashlight on my phone to walk over to the oil lamp, messing with the wick to get it right, lighting it, then slipping the hurricane lid back on, adjusting the flame again when it blackened the glass. "You take this and walk up the stairs. I will follow behind to catch you in case you fall. Then you can take this into your room to get ready for bed while I lock the place up. I doubt anyone is showing up in this shit."
"Sounds like a plan," she agreed. "And thanks," she said, taking the lamp from me. "For, you know, not thinking I've been ridiculous about everything," she clarified, turning to walk out of the room, leaving me to follow behind.
"So for being a halfway decent person? You really don't have to thank me for that, Katie."
With that, we went through our new nightly routine. I gave her the flashlight in case she needed it. Then we both turned in.
I figured I would toss and turn, not having done much to burn off any energy, but I passed out within a few moments of getting into bed.
I probably would have slept soundly through the night.
Except then there was a soft voice calling my name.
"Rush?" it called, getting louder, pulling me fully awake to find a flashlight pointed at the ceiling,