“We need to get home,” Ben said, wrapping an arm around Jenna while Kate cowered in her arms.
“Isn’t your office closer?” she asked.
“No basement. We need to go home.”
“What about Zoe and Sam and your mom and Neil?”
“They’ll be okay. I’m sure they’re on their way home right now. We need to get Kate home. She doesn’t do well with storms.”
Jenna tightened her grip on the little girl. “All right. Let’s go.”
They walked down the slick pavilion steps and were met with sharp wind and biting rain as the sirens added an extra layer of urgency to their movements.
Walking with Ben’s arm wrapped around her, Jenna turned into him hoping to shield Kate from the relentless wind. Police officers were directing the anxious crowd, but Ben and Jenna found themselves at a standstill, huddled with other families trying to leave the gardens.
“I know a better way,” Ben said, ushering them away from the crowd and onto a narrow stone path. “We’ll come out right across the street from the firehouse.”
The firehouse was off Prairie Rose just a block or so from Baneberry Drive. From her morning runs, Jenna knew it would take them less than ten minutes to get home from there.
A bolt of lightning illuminated the layered clouds hovering ominously above them, followed by a palpable rumble of thunder. The stone path narrowed and changed to one of packed gravel, giving Jenna an opportunity for better footing compared to the slick stones. But with the rapid downpour, each step was like trudging through the shallow end of a pond with mud and water splashing up on her calves.
She glanced up at Ben. He was navigating the twisting path, doing his best to pull the branches, dancing deliriously in the wind, out of their way. Kate was uncharacteristically quiet through the whole ordeal, but Jenna could feel her little heart beating a mile a minute.
Finally, they made it to the north gate leading out of the botanic gardens and onto Prairie Rose Drive. The old wooden door, barely used, creaked loudly, and Ben had to give it an extra shove before it opened wide enough to allow them to pass through.
Jenna was glad to be out of the gardens. But out on the open sidewalk, they were without the dense, protective foliage and had to endure the full force of the storm.
“Let’s cross over to the firehouse,” Ben said, shielding his eyes.
Soaked to the bone, they stood under the firehouse awning taking a brief respite from the pelting rain. Ben stroked Kate’s back, looking her over, then turned his gaze to Jenna and tucked strands of wet hair behind her ear.
“Do you want me to take her?” he asked, raising his voice over the gusts of wind.
“I don’t think she’s going to let go.”
“We just need to get her home. We’re not far. Can you make it?”
Jenna nodded, and Ben wrapped his arm around her. They walked up Prairie Rose past the community center and then headed north on Baneberry Drive.
As they neared the house, Ben released his arm from around her shoulders. “I’m going to run ahead and open the door. I’ll be right back.”
“Here we are,” she whispered to Kate. “I can see your house now. We’re home safe and sound.”
Ben jogged back and guided them up the brick walkway and into the safety of the darkened house.
He ran a hand through his soaked hair. “Looks like the power’s out here, too.”
Jenna hadn’t realized the true force of the storm until they were inside, and she heard the wind whistling through the old home as pellets of hail battered the roof and windows.
They’d made it back just in time.
Ben put his hand on the back of Kate’s head. “We’re home, Jellybean.”
Kate didn’t answer.
“Head down to the basement,” Ben said, handing Jenna a flashlight. “There are candles and some bottles of water down there. I’ll go get some towels and dry clothes for us.”
The adrenaline was beginning to subside, and Jenna felt the fatigue in her arms set in as she held Kate propped on her hip with one arm and gripped the flashlight in the other. Step by step, she went down the staircase and entered the cozy basement. Shining the light around the small space, she saw an old blue couch and matching love seat arranged in an L-shape in the middle of the room.
“I’m going to set you down on the couch, Kate. I just need to light a few candles.”
Kate didn’t reply, but she loosened her grip and allowed Jenna to set her down. Kate rested her head on the bolstered arm of the old couch as Jenna shined her flashlight and found a bookshelf containing candles, more flashlights, and bottles of water. She found the matches on the highest shelf, lit the candles, then placed them around the basement. An old side table sat where the couch and love seat met, and Jenna put several candles on it, illuminating Kate’s pale face.
A few minutes later, Ben came down the basement stairs. Lit only by the candlelight, she had to remind herself to breathe. His hair was wet and tousled, and he was wearing some worn sweatpants and a t-shirt as the candlelight illuminated his strong arms and broad chest.
Stop. Just stop. She had to silence those silly schoolgirl fantasies.
“Here, it’s the best I can do.” Ben handed her a towel and one of his old t-shirts along with a pair of boxer shorts.
He went over to Kate and took off her wet clothes, then helped her put on a pair of dry pajamas. He spoke softly, and she complied with his requests but remained silent.
Jenna took the clothes and walked over to a corner where she was partially obscured by a hot water tank and stripped off her soaked outfit. His shirt was soft and well-worn. It was several sizes too big and the boxers threatened to fall off when she tried to walk, but they were blessedly dry, and that trumped fit tonight.
After hanging her wet clothes on an old drying rack, she walked over to the couches and sat down on the love seat. Ben was sitting next to Kate on the larger couch with his laptop balanced on his knees.
“See, Bean. We can watch the storm pass by on radar cast. It looks like the worst of it is south of us. I thought this might help you feel better during the storm.”
Kate paid no attention to her father’s computer screen and made a beeline for Jenna on the love seat and curled up in her lap like a frightened cat.
Jenna patted Kate’s back. “Did I ever tell you that when I was a little girl, I was terrified of storms?”
Kate shook her head ever so slightly. She still refused to speak or make eye contact.
“I lived in an old farmhouse with my Aunt Ginny in a teeny-tiny little Kansas town called Ballentine. I bet you’ve never even heard of it, have you?”
Kate shook her head again. The little girl shifted and now had her head in Jenna’s lap, looking up at her.
“The farmhouse didn’t have a basement, so when it stormed we would go down into the root cellar.”
Kate furrowed her brow
“I bet you’re wondering what a root cellar is. It’s a funny word.”
Kate didn’t respond, but the ghost of a smile crossed her face.
“A root cellar is a little room, kind of like a basement, built underground. People usually store food inside of them, but they’re also a safe place to go when there’s a big storm.”
Kate gave her a tiny nod.
“To get to the root cellar, we’d have to run over to the side of the house and open two big red doors. And do you know what was behind those doors?”
Kate shook her head.
“There were these old wooden stairs that went down, down, down into the root cellar, and it was full of all sorts of things. Jars of pickles and jams. Jars of zucchini and asparagus.”
Kate wrinkled her nose, making Jenna chuckle.
“My Aunt Ginny would tell me, ‘If you could grow it, you could probably put it in a jar and pickle it.’”
Now Kate was smiling, hanging on her every word.
“We’d go inside the root cellar with all those jars and close the big doors behind us. My aunt would light candles, just like we did tonight, and we’d cuddle up together on a little mattress. Then we’d play a very special game. Do you want me to teach it to you?”
Kate nodded.
“I’m going to draw a shape on your back with my finger, and you have to guess what it is. But you have to focus all your thinking on what I’m drawing. Are you ready?”
Instead of answering, Kate shifted her body to expose her back.
Jenna started to draw a shape.
“Circle,” came the whisper of a voice.
Ben gasped.
“Is this okay?” she asked, meeting his gaze.
Eyes wide, Ben nodded.
Jenna smoothed the little girl’s hair. “You got it, Kate. Now I’m going to try to trick you.”
She drew the next shape.
“It’s a triangle. Make it harder.”
“All right,” Jenna said, smiling down at the little girl. “How about letters?”
Jenna traced along Kate’s back.
“It’s a K. It’s a K, Daddy. I’m good at this game.”
“Yes, you are, Jellybean,” Ben answered, his voice thick with emotion.
Jenna continued making letters and numbers on Kate’s back. With each correct guess, Kate became more animated.
Soon the storm was forgotten, and Kate grew sleepy as Jenna traced the outline of the letter Z on her back for the third time, then the fourth, then the fifth.
“I think she’s asleep,” Jenna whispered.
Ben looked on in disbelief. This was the first time Kate had spoken during a storm, and it was all because of Jenna.
He could see Kate’s connection to Jenna deepening, and he couldn’t deny his own feelings. Avoiding her this week had been a living hell. Just catching glimpses of her working through the windows of the carriage house at night or coming back from an early morning run had made his limbs twitch. He was like a man going through withdrawal, and his entire body ached to touch her.
“Ben, I need to ask you something,” Jenna said, her words breaking into his thoughts.
He lifted his gaze from his sleeping daughter.
“The day Kate went into the garage, you called me Sara.”
“I know.”
He’d realized he’d made the mistake nearly the moment the word escaped his mouth. He rubbed his hands over his eyes and leaned forward.
He needed to say more, but he didn’t know where to start or how to convey the significance of that garage. And he didn’t want to make Jenna feel responsible for causing his outburst.
“I wish you’d tell me what happened. I’ve never seen you act like that.”
He looked at her, surrounded by the glow of the candles and wearing his old t-shirt. It had been so long since he’d talked about Sara’s death. Of course, he thought about it. The events of that day were always close to the surface for him. He only had to look at Kate to be reminded of almost losing her, too.
“The garage is where Sara died and where I almost lost Kate.”
“What do you…” Jenna began, but then a knowing expression crossed her face. “Kate lost her mother and was exposed to carbon monoxide at the same time.”
Ben nodded.
Jenna’s eyes filled with tears as she put together the pieces of Ben’s shattered life.
“Sara took her own life and tried to take Kate with her?”
He nodded again.
“Was it raining that day?”
Ben released a breath. “Yes, with thunder and lightning.”
Jenna placed a hand on Kate’s head; then she reached her other hand out toward him. They were sitting catty-corner to each other with their knees almost touching. Her hand was so close to him now. He was sitting on the edge of the couch with his elbows on his knees and his fingers laced tightly together, but he felt them loosen and disengage as her hand drew closer to his.
He took Jenna’s hand into his. Her touch was a lifeline. He was a drowning man, and she had just thrown him a rope.
He let out a breath. “Some days, I can’t stop going over what I could have done differently. I loved Sara, but I don’t know how to forgive her.”
Jenna gave his hand a gentle squeeze, urging him to go on.
The story of his life with Sara came slowly at first, but he found that as he opened up to Jenna, every word he spoke brought him closer to a peace he hadn’t known in years.