By 4:00 p.m., the skies darkened with ominous black clouds, heavy with the promise of rain. Alone in her room, Natalie flipped the bedside lamp’s on switch, flooding the area with light. She tried to concentrate on her book club’s read of the month but images from the day replaced the words on her screen. She tossed the reader aside after several more unengaged flips of the page, rose from the bed to inspect her cache of seashells.
Antsy with restlessness, she approached the window and watched several guests loading up their cars to leave. The sight of Mack hauling a case of something from Drew’s pickup truck got her attention. Her curiosity piqued, she headed downstairs.
She paused inside the kitchen door at a full-on assault of delectable aromas, both savory and sweet. “Mercy me, it smells good in here. What are you cooking up now?”
Beth turned from stirring a large pot on the stovetop, her face wreathed with the usual smile. “Nobody should be out driving around searching for supper in this ugly weather. So, I whipped up a batch of vegetable beef soup. I’ll serve it with thick slices of homemade bread and crackers.”
Nat lifted her nose to the air and sniffed. “I smell vanilla.”
“That would be my buttermilk pies in the oven. It’s an egg custard pie that always goes over big with guests.” She checked her timer and spun around, her fingers clasped tightly together. “This weather’s got me as jittery as a mouse in roomful of hungry tomcats. When I’m nervous, I bake.”
Nat strolled over to several platters of cookies set out on the length of counter top. “You must be plenty nervous. What do we have here—chocolate chip, oatmeal raisin, more of those yummy peppermint ones—and hold up—are these what I think they are?”
Beth approached, reached for a cookie and handed it to her. “These are my weakness.”
Nat bit into the crunchy decadence, her eyes closed, as the flavors exploded and rolled around in her mouth. “White chocolate-macadamia is my favorite cookie—I thought I’d tasted the best, but …” She faced Beth. “There’s something extra in these. What’s your secret ingredient?”
Beth put her finger to her lips and winked. “For your ears and eyes only, because something tells me I can trust you to keep it to yourself.” She reached into a canister and pulled out a storage bag of candy bars—all of them chocolate covered toffee. “I process a few of these babies into fine pieces and mix it into the batter. I find it adds so much to the flavor.”
Nat finished off the rest of the cookie and wiped the crumbs from her fingers before crossing her heart. “I’ll never tell. Now, in thanks, what can I do to help?”
The air rang with Beth’s laughter. “You and Mack—the two of you are a pair. Everyone else is grumbling about the approaching weather, as though we could prevent it from disrupting anyone’s plans. But you two are offering to help rather than asking for refunds.”
As if the mention of his name conjured him up, the back door swung open and Mack appeared, trailed by Drew, each carrying cases of water. Mack glanced up, caught her eye for the briefest of seconds before both men deposited the water in the large pantry area.
Drew exited the pantry, wiping his hands on his jeans. “That’s the last of it, Beth. There’s enough water there to bathe half the city of Lake Charles.” He winked at Natalie. “It won’t hurt the other half to stink for a bit.”
Beth stared at the boxes piled in neat stacks inside her pantry. “I suppose it’ll do.”
Natalie stood beside the proprietress. “I thought you had a generator if the electricity to the water well cut off.”
“We do,” Drew insisted. “I like to prepare for the unexpected.” He looked toward the back porch as the wind picked up, knocking over one of Beth’s plant stands. “We better get those plants to the back shed if you don’t want to lose ‘em, honey. Gotta take care of the three P’s in freezing weather—plants, pipes, and pets.”
Natalie followed the two men onto the back porch. “I’ll help carry some plants for you, Drew.”
Drew pointed out a potted fern. “Grab that one, and we’ll get the others. Thanks for helping, Natalie. You and Mack are two in a million.”
“No problem.” Nat grabbed the fern then looked around. “Speaking of protecting pets, where’s Duke?”
“Old Duke took a trip to the groomers earlier today. He got a bath and a good combing, so he gets to sleep inside for however long it takes the temps to get back to normal. He’s too old to be out in the cold.”
They arranged the half-dozen potted plants in two neat rows in a shed every bit as organized as Beth’s pantry. Natalie pointed to laminated labels tacked onto wooden shelving. “Is this your handiwork?”
Drew’s chuckle rumbled like an old boat motor in the small space. “That’s all Beth. She couldn’t stand my method of organization. I generally just stand at the door and toss whatever it is as far as I can until it lands. It was a real mess until she came in and worked her magic.”
Mack stood next to Nat, perusing the shelves. “You’re keeping it up nicely.”
Drew grinned, his eyes crinkled in amusement. “She said I’d better if I didn’t want to face the consequences. I don’t have the nerve to push her on it. My girl thrives on organization.”
Natalie trailed Mack back toward the house while Drew closed up the shed. She stopped beside him as he pointed upward.
“Look at that cloud formation, would you, Nat?”
“I love winter storms. This one’s nearly on top of us.” She turned, caught him staring at her. “What?”
“I would have taken you more for a fun in the sun beach girl than a winter storm type.”
She pointed at her fair cheeks. “I’ll burn and freckle in thirty minutes flat without sunblock—thank you great-grandmother MacBride.” She turned toward the darkening skies, released a sigh. “But I love watching storms roll in—any kind of storm.”
They stood in silence for a full minute, watched the clouds swirl, growing ominously dark and heavy with the promise of precipitation of some kind. The touch of his hand on hers, seeking, reaching out, had her facing him again. They stood there, gazes locked, his hand clutching hers. “What is this, Mack?”
“I’m not sure what it is now, but I have this sense of what it could be. There’s something so…familiar…so easy about it.”
Just for a moment she let herself hope. And then she remembered why she couldn’t and stepped back, trying to pull her hand from his. “This can’t happen.”
He extended his arm, his gentle grip tightening, refusing to release her. “I know.”
“I only lost my husband a year ago,” she reminded him.
His head bobbed slightly in acknowledgement. “And I live four states away. I know. It makes no sense.”
She nodded in return, needed him to release her hand—willed him to hold on tightly. Nothing about this made sense. Seconds later, the wind changed, and she shivered from its chill. “That front’s here and we’ll get drenched if we stay put much longer.”
“I know.”
A single, fat raindrop hit her face and Natalie freed her hand to wipe it off. She turned and walked away, his presence behind her a constant reminder of what couldn’t—shouldn’t happen.
The temperature dropped a full forty degrees by 7:00 p.m., prompting Drew to light the fireplace. After an evening meal of Beth’s savory soup and fresh-baked bread, Natalie retreated upstairs. Mack had no desire to be alone and remained downstairs with his hosts, playing several rounds of Crazy Eights and Spades.
Natalie ambled downstairs around 9:00, make-up free, hair damp, and wearing red flannel pajamas. She grabbed an afghan off the leather couch and plopped herself down on one end with her e-reader tablet. Duke appeared at her feet, rested his head on her thigh while Nat tunneled her fingers through his coat. The animal responded with a series of satisfied grunts.
Irrationally envious of the dog, Mack watched until stomping on the porch drew his attention to the door. The only other couple remaining at the lodge stumbled inside, slammed the door behind them.
The Cooper’s turned down Beth’s offer of hot cocoa, claiming they’d had a long day visiting nearby family. With more of the same planned for tomorrow, they headed upstairs.
Drew stood as well, stretched his back and groaned. “I’m about done for. Hauling that water in took a toll on this old back of mine.” He looked at Mack and Nat. “Can I trust one of you to watch that fire?”
Mack waved him off. “I’ve got it, don’t worry.”
Drew’s gaze fell on his dog. “You coming, Duke?”
Duke lifted his head lazily from Natalie’s thigh, stared at Drew for a second before returning to his position.
Drew chuckled. “Smartest dog we’ve ever owned—there’s your proof.”
Natalie smiled. “He’s good where he is.”
Drew dismissed his dog with a final wave and headed toward the back end of the first floor, the space filled with his grumbling. “I miss the good old days—when I could put in a day of hard work and not collapse from exhaustion.”
Beth caught up to him. “Or wake up without my joints snap, crackle, popping like a bowl of cereal after adding milk.”
Drew draped his arm across his wife’s shoulders. “I could handle the sound effects if it didn’t come with all the aches and pains.”
Beth slipped one arm around her husband’s waist. “Come on, old man. Let’s pop a couple of anti-inflammatories and take our old bones off to bed.”
“Good night, you two,” Natalie called out.
Mack watched Nat as her gaze followed the older couple out of the room. He adored how one corner of her mouth lifted higher than the other with the slightest of smiles. The sparkle in her green eyes was a direct reflection of that same smile. She turned away, her attentions shifted once more to the tablet and Duke.
Several awkward moments of silence later, she sighed. “Your staring makes me self-conscious.”
“Sorry. I just wonder...”
She faced him, wide-eyed. “Wonder what?”
He edged closer to her. “What forces of nature would have to occur to bring the two of us together.” He shrugged at her disapproving frown. “I know, but a man can hope, can’t he?”
She turned back to her e-reader. “I can’t imagine what that would take.” She plowed her fingers deeper into Duke’s coat, and the old dog groaned his approval.
Mack closed the gap between himself and the opposite end of the couch, settled into the pliable leather cushions. “I always heard Golden Retrievers were highly intelligent creatures.”
Natalie caressed the dog’s large head. “He’s a good old dog.”
Mack waited through another long pause of silence before he took his second shot at it. “If the universe somehow threw a bone of a chance our direction, would you consider it?”
She adjusted her grip on the device. “Consider what?”
“Dating me.”
Her eyes on her screen, she took her time answering. “That’s a mighty big if, considering the four states and fifteen hundred miles between us, don’t you think?”
“It is now, but you never know what wonders the universe will produce.” He leaned forward, rested his elbows on his knees to get a better look at her face. “Would you?”
She turned her lips inward, kept her gaze on the screen. After several seconds she faced him. “I’m not sure it would be fair to you.”
“Why do you say that?”
“Because, I won’t know until I actually start dating again if I’m ready to move on—to put my husband behind me. What if I do and realize the timing isn’t right? That first person would equate to nothing more than the rebound guy after a break-up in a serious relationship. I’d hate to . . .” She paused and took a deep breath, released it before continuing. “I think you deserve better than that.”
“Let me worry about that.”
“No.”
“No?” He straightened his back, not sure which of the two questions she’d answered so abruptly.
“You do deserve better.” She lowered her feet to the floor and rose from the couch. “I don’t want to discuss this again, Mack. Good night.” She headed upstairs, Duke the dog hot on her trail.
Mack watched their retreat, again awed at Old Duke’s intelligence. It took a full minute for her comments to sink in—four states and fifteen hundred miles. He grinned. Someone had done her research.
And that gave him hope.
Now, should he sit back and let the forces of nature blow their winds in one direction, or unleash his own little change in weather pattern?