"Why not? Have you seen what he did to my girl?"
My hand moved to his bicep, holding on as he slid his knee between my legs. "Your girl? I like to hear you say that," I said breathlessly.
"Good." He stroked my bottom lip with his thumb. It tickled a bit, but I liked it. A smile tugged at the corners of his mouth, seeing the way he had made me tingle. "Hey, you know what? As soon as things calm down here, I need to take you out on an actual date." It was funny to think we hadn't been on an official first date yet considering how much time we had spent together.
Mitch entered the room before I could comment. "You ready to go out again?" he asked Josh.
"Absolutely. What do you got?" Josh said, standing up to throw away our paper plates.
"We got a report of some old-timer stranded in his home. It's just up the road in the Basin, so we can get there quickly. Take one of the super-duty trucks. We don't know what type of conditions he's sitting in."
"Basin?" I asked.
"It's a low-lying area at the tip of the county. Why they decided to build houses there is beyond me. Most of the newer homes there are built up higher, but there are some older houses that are at risk for flooding," Mitch answered as the lights flickered before going out. "I'm surprised they lasted as long as they did," he said as the emergency lights illuminated. "Start unplugging anything that doesn't need juice to ease the burden on the generators," he barked out as everyone scrambled.
With the sky covered in dark clouds, it felt like the evening in the station even though it was only mid-afternoon. We rounded up flashlights for bathroom visits and I kept one on hand for my back-and-forth trips to Mitch's office.
I walked Josh to the back door, along with Butch, who decided to tag along for the trip into the Basin. Butch wasn't the type of person who could sit and do nothing. He liked helping people. I was glad to see him back to his normal self. Quiet and brooding Butch was discerning. "Stay safe," I told them.
"Not an issue. Your young man here is more responsible than me," Butch said, slinging an arm around Josh's shoulders.
"Um, that's not saying much," I quipped, making Josh laugh.
"Okay, he's more responsible than you," Butch clarified.
"Much better," I said, waving as they ran out in the torrential downpour. I stood in the doorway even after they drove off, watching the rain roll down the drive in a never-ending stream. It was like a fast-moving river, which was kind of scary since the rain wasn't letting up anytime soon.
I closed the door and headed back to the front room to help Vanessa.
I was more anxious this time as I thought about Butch and Josh out in the storm, fighting the rising water. It was abundantly clear now why these storms should be taken seriously.
"Is this normal?" I asked Vanessa in between calls.
She laughed. "Honey, I've been doing this eighteen years and every storm seems to be different. We always have precautions in place, but you never know what kinds of problems you will encounter, like losing power."
"Yeah, and no air," I said, tugging off my sweatshirt. The power had only been off for a few minutes, but the temperature in the building was noticeably warmer. Probably from all the people running in and out.
A sudden gust of wind blew hard against the building, shaking and rattling the shutter protecting the window. We heard a loud snapping noise from outside, followed by a crash and breaking glass.
Vanessa and I rushed around her desk and toward the door, followed by Mitch and Larry who had been down the hall. We struggled slightly against the wind to get the door open, but once we did all we could do was gasp at the sight in front of us.
"Oh, shit," Larry whistled. "Is that your parents' van?" he asked, slinging an arm across my shoulders.
"It was," I croaked out. A large palm tree that bordered the sidewalk had somehow been uprooted and fell directly across the top of our van. If I didn't know any better, I would think the wind placed the tree there deliberately since none of the cars around our van sustained any damage.
Another gust of wind yanked the awning from the scooter rental shop across the street, sending it blowing madly in our direction. Mitch pulled the door closed before it could strike us. "We'll have to deal with that once the storm passes," he said as Vanessa mopped up the fresh puddles of water.
"I better go tell Buttercup." I brushed the rain off my arms as I walked. I didn't mind getting a little wet since it had become so warm in the station. Buttercup was in the break room cleaning up when I found her.
"What's up, Rain? Boy, your name fits now, doesn't it?" she laughed, taking in my somewhat soggy appearance.
"Bad news. The van has a new hood ornament. Unfortunately, it's on the large scale."
"Oh no. How bad?"
I shook my head mournfully. "Pancake," I said, clapping my hands together.
"Butch is going to be crushed."