Kai drops Paisley at her apartment, before going to work. He’s uneasy about leaving her alone, and asks TM to check up on her.

“You got it. I’ll take Sushi with me. He wanted to give her an update on what he’s found. She’s right when she says that guy has linkage—his dad is so connected, it’s like a mega octopus. And shady? Wow, that old man’s an umbrella.”

“I’m really worried, TM.”

“Already on my way, brotha. I was on my way to Brill’s when you called.” Kai heard knuckles on wood. “Hey, babe. It’s me, TM. My man Kai’s on the phone. Wants to make sure you’re okay.”

Kai heard Paisley’s voice respond, but not her words. The door opened and closed.

“I’m gonna give Brill a call. We’re good, man. You worry about the job. We got this.”

“Thanks, TM. I feel better knowing you guys are there.” He paused, wanting to give a message to Paisley, but not sure he wanted to do it through an intermediary.

“Hold up a second. Lady wants to speak.” The phone exchanged hands.

“Hi,” Paisley said. “Thanks for sending TM over. I was starting to feel a little creeped out, even with Jarret and Eli outside. I saw you stop and chat, so I went out to see what cookies they like.”

Kai laughed. So like Paisley to do something like that.

“I miss you,” he said softly. “Hasn’t even been five minutes, and all I can think about is coming home to you.”

“You be safe. The weather channel is predicting flooding and high winds.”

“You should go back to the house. It’s a whole lot safer.”

A deep, male voice rumbled in the background.

“TM says if it gets bad, he’ll take me to his place. Sushi is on his way over, and Brill’s going to drop by for his cookies. TM’s gonna help me bake them.”

“Does he know that?”

“He’s whisking eggs as we speak. I love you.”

“I love you too. Be safe.”

“I’m safe and snug. You be safe.”

“Will do.” Reluctantly, he said goodbye and hung up as he pulled into the fire station parking lot.

Trent met him at the door, his face grave. “It’s gonna be worse than we thought. They predict high wind gusts, and massive amounts of rain. The entire county is preparing for the weather. We’re sandbagging the station and the recreation facility next door. Is the health club secure?”

“It’s as secure as we can make it with no windows on the pool house. We fenced it off and boarded things up. All the lounge chairs and such are locked up.”

“Good. One less worry.”

Kai stowed his gear and headed to the kitchen. He found Cherise there, slathering buns with mayonnaise.

“It’s subs tonight. I got all the stuff on my way in. I didn’t want us to be caught up short if a call came in. They’ve already got high water in DeBarry and the wind’s picking up in Deland. Should hit us in the next hour or so. They’ve got road advisories out. Wind gusts are bad.”

“Sounds like a fun night coming.”

“We’ve got everyone on standby. A bunch of the off duty personnel are here, or camping in the rec facility, preparing it as a shelter for families. Your folks okay?”

“Yeah. Brad made sure the house had a hurricane room built in. His family got caught in Andrew in Homestead. He hasn’t forgotten having the house come apart around them.”

“I bet not! And Paisley?”

“She’s at her place, but TM’s with her. He said he’d take her to his place if it got bad enough.”

“They should probably go right away. You contact them now. Don’t wait. If it gets bad, it could be too late.”

Kai made a quick call and told TM what Cherise had said.

“We’ll finish this batch up and head out. I don’t like what we’re seeing on the news. It’s already flooding—”

The alarm blared. Kai hung up without saying goodbye. Grabbing his sandwich, he raced to the vehicle with Cherise in his wake. He gobbled down the rest of his meal as they road to the scene of an accident on I-95. Wind gusts had caught a subcompact car, carrying it from the south bound lanes to the median. It lodged in a stand of huge pine trees, clutched ten feet off the ground in their unyielding embrace.

Kai volunteered to climb the nearest tree and check on the driver of the tiny Smartcar. He grabbed a pair of climbing cleats and a safety belt. Thus armed, he headed to a substantial tree, going slowly, until he was even with the windshield. Rain hammered against him, making him shiver. Water dripped from his rain gear, but had found the one gap in his coverings. Chilly droplets scurried down his spine and into the waist of his pants.

An elderly face smiled at him. He couldn’t tell if it was a man or woman, but the driver seemed fairly animated after such an experience. He gingerly made his way closer. The driver’s window rolled open smoothly.

“Are you all right?” Kai yelled. “Is anyone with you?”

“Just Mitzi, my Shih Tzu,” the woman replied. “My, that was exhilarating!”

Kai laughed, shaking his head. The wind guested again and the tiny car swayed precariously. The amused glee left the lady’s face.

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After a long day cleaning up and meeting with the insurance adjuster, everyone is tired and turns in early. Paisley bids goodnight to Cody.

She smiled. “Thanks, Cody. He’s everything right about mine too. It’s going to be weird heading back to my place tomorrow.”

“Mom and Dad wouldn’t mind if you stayed,” he said. “You’re like family, you know. We all love you.”

“I love you guys too. It would be hard on Kai having me so close—and no privacy.”

“True. No alone time would suck a lot. Invite him to stay with you,” he murmured, leaning over conspiratorially. “Night, Pais.” He gave her a hug and a kiss on the cheek.

Paisley said goodnight and shut her door, leaning against it. Asking Kai to move in with her had appeal. However, it would raise certain expectations she wasn’t quite ready for. She cared deeply for him, even loved him, but she wasn’t sure she could make the physical commitment he wanted. Not yet.

Once she was ready for bed, Paisley lay in the dark, staring at the ceiling. Her mind eventually dove into the deep, fearsome chasm she had tried so hard to cover up. Finding out about TJ’s mother upset her. She hated to think that anyone had endured that kind of abuse for so many years. She hoped that they could help, and soon.

Troubled, she rolled to her side, but couldn’t get comfortable. She wanted Kai’s arms around her to keep the monsters at bay. She couldn’t keep waking him to watch over her like a little girl. Eventually, he’d get fed up with her being such a nuisance. She couldn’t bear the idea that he’d reject her. It didn’t occur to her that Kai would never treat her like that. Years of enduring Ralph’s jealous rages had blinded her to some of Kai’s best qualities. Eventually, she slept, but not well. Someone tapped on her door around 7:00. Tempest stuck her head around the door.

“Sorry to bother you, but Dad wondered if you’d be willing to step in for Mom today. He knows you can’t be on your feet for another day or so. And it’s easier to find someone to take classes than it is to find someone smart enough to do the office work.”

“Sure. Nina’s shown me some things already. Without the pool, it will be easier for me. Yeah.”

“Great! We’ll all be around, so we’ll all pitch in.”

“Thanks, Tempy. Let me get a quick shower and I’ll be down.”

“No problem. Take your time. We’re opening a little later today. We won’t start regular hours until Monday.”

“Okay.”

It was strange being in charge. Paisley wasn’t sure if she liked it or not, but found she was good at it. Brad dropped in around noon, bringing them lunch. He headed back to the house to be with Nina, promising a nice dinner when they got home.

The day went well. It was blissfully uneventful and went smoothly. Tired, but happy, the young people headed home. Brad had a good meal ready, so they sat down to dinner together.

Kai was a bit disappointed that he had to go to work with the EVAC that night. He’d wanted to spend time with Paisley, but didn’t feel right about asking for time off, when it wasn’t urgent. More bad weather was expected, as the storm made landfall on the northwest coast. They might not take a direct hit, but bad weather seemed to come on the lea side of the storm.

He’d wanted her to spend the night at his parents’ house, but Paisley felt they’d been more than generous. Reluctantly, Kai kissed her goodbye.

“I’ll call you before I go to bed,” he promised. “If it’s not too late, that is. I wish you were staying at Mom’s.”

“I’ll be fine. I have Brill and the guys watching over me. I’ll be okay.”

“Call if you need me. No matter what time it is.”

“Will do. You’d better get going.” She kissed him again, before closing the door.

Kai didn’t move until he heard the deadbolts and the chain. Slowly, he walked to his Jeep. He glimpsed a couple of Brill’s guys in a vintage GTO about halfway down the block. He stopped as he drove down the street. The driver lowered his window.

“Yo, Kai. We got your lady’s back,” the man assured him.

“Seen anyone around?”

“Thought we saw that freaky dude around again, the one from the picture, but he turned out to be the boyfriend of the building manager. Not seen her ex, though. Brill even put in a couple security cameras.”

“Really? He didn’t need to do all that.”

“He takes family seriously,” the man replied. “And to TM, you’re like family—so’s Paisley. We got this, dude. You get on to work.”

“How did you know?”

The young man chuckled. “Dude. White shirt, shiny name tag…. I’d have to be a moron not to figure it out.”

“I could be going home,” Kai said with a chuckle.

“No, man. Lady that pretty, if you weren’t working, you’d be all up in that.” He winked. “Go. We got this.”

Kai thanked them and left. He felt uneasy. Something didn’t sit right. Even with Brill and his men, he didn’t like how it felt. Trying to pass it off as paranoia, he called TM.

“Yeah, Kai. Sup?”

“Can you drop by and check on Paisley? Brill’s guys are watching, but I’d feel better if someone was there.”

“Yeah, sure. You think her ex is around?”

“I doubt he’d do anything himself. But he’s rich, connected. He could easily send someone to do it for him.”

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Cody has shared with Paisley and Kai that TJ and JT’s dad is abusive, and hits their mother. She offers to talk to them about her own abuse.

Cody absorbed all this quietly, nodding while he thought. “Okay. Yes. I want you to talk to them. But Kai, you have to keep TJ from hitting me.”

His older brother chuckled. “No problem, Cody. I’ll run interference while Paisley talks.”

“Thank you,” Cody said quietly as the Jeep pulled into their driveway. He scurried off before the others could respond.

Kai helped Paisley out of the Jeep and held her close a moment. “Thank you.”

“I hope we can help. No one should be in that sort of situation. You can’t believe how helpless you feel.”

“No, I can’t. I never understood how a woman could stay with someone who beat them.”

Paisley stiffened, her chin rising defiantly. “Do you think we’re weak? Or that we love them so much we can’t see their faults?”

“No. I think you get in over your heads. You’re so afraid of doing or saying the wrong thing, you do nothing because, you can’t see an escape. But you escaped, Paisley. You got away and the twins’ mom needs to know that.”

“I agree.”

“We’ll talk to them as soon as we can,” he said softly.

Conversation stopped while he kissed her.

Since it was late, Paisley spent the night once more. Nina was asleep, but Brad was still up. He wanted to hear about Cody and Marianna’s first date.

“Sounds like you did okay,” he told his son, ruffling his hair. “You keep being polite and gentlemanly, you’ll go far.”

“Ed’s a good guy,” Kai explained. “He just wants his sister to be treated right.”

“That’s what I want to do,” Cody said, rather exasperated. “Why won’t anyone believe me?”

“I believe you,” Paisley said, giving him a hug. “You’re a great guy,” she said, kissing his cheek. “Marianna is very lucky to have you.”

“Thanks.” His dark eyes glittered happily. Touching his cheek, he went upstairs whistling.

The following day, cleanup began at the pool. The insurance adjuster managed to find time to come see them.

“Could have been worse,” he said as he eyed the damage to the pool house. “Thank God no one was hurt. This is messy, but it’s just stuff.”

“Agreed,” Brad said. He’d taken the day off to deal with the adjuster and other details. “More bad weather is coming,” he said, eyeing the sky. “Have you heard a report?”

“They said on the news the storm makes landfall tomorrow night. They expected it to hit at Gulf Shores, Alabama, but it’s turned east. They think it will make landfall between Panama City and Port St. Joe,” the adjuster replied. “I’m gonna get some pictures, then you can get on with the cleanup. The processing could take some time, what with all the damage around the county. I’ll do my best.”

“That’s all we can expect,” Brad replied. “Thank you.”

After the adjuster left, they worked a while longer on cleaning up the rest of the glass in the pool house. Kai’s tower was unsalvageable, so they took it apart and put it in the dumpster along with the other trash.

Damage to the main building was minimal. With luck, they would be able to open it the following day. Brad, Cody and Kai erected a fence between the building and the pool. The area was unsafe and they didn’t want any children wandering in there accidentally. That accomplished, they headed home.

Paisley had spent the day cleaning the house. Nina was better, but felt traumatized by her experience. Tempest had stayed close to her all day. For some reason, her daughter’s presence calmed her more than anything. The two young women had fixed a nice meal, but it wasn’t quite ready.

The men went to clean up, arriving in the dining room as the timer went off in the kitchen. The boys helped serve while Brad helped Nina get settled. The meal was a bit more subdued than some. Nina didn’t feel much like laughing. She was so deep into her sullen mood, it was hard to shake her free. They tried, but it was obvious she wasn’t interested in leaving her sorrows behind.

“It’s just something she’ll have to snap out of,” Brad said. “I set up an appointment with a counselor. I think she needs to speak to someone. The idea that she could have been in the pool house—that freaked her out.”

“I’d never let that happen,” Kai said.

“I know. But she’s caught up in the what if scenario. She’s second guessed her actions and is over thinking it.” He shook his head. “It’s going to take some time for her to get past this.”

“Meanwhile, she’ll go back to work, won’t she?” Kai asked, alarmed.

“I don’t know. I hope so.” Brad sighed. “We’ll figure something out.” He said goodnight and went to bed.

Everyone opted for an early night. Kai’s sleep schedule had been so bizarre lately, he was exhausted. He gave Paisley a goodnight kiss, yawned and went to his room. She watched him with concern, which Cody didn’t miss.

“He’s okay,” Cody assured her. “Things aren’t usually this hectic.”

“I feel like it’s my fault everything is falling apart. Since I came into your lives, it’s been nothing but chaos.”

Cody chuckled. “That’s coincidence, Paisley. For my brother, you’re everything that’s right with his life.”

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