She barely knew him, but she worried about him.
“Well, we made it through the storm,” Sienna said.
But by the look in Patrick’s eyes just now, Emily thought, he hadn’t yet made it through.
Julia was hunchedover the kitchen sink, yawning, when Emily finally entered with Blair and Sienna. Sunlight streamedinto the room, and Emily could finally see the wooded view out the back window. Trees were down, branches everywhere. The yard had so many leaves in it that it looked more like fall than summer.
“Good morning,” Julia said in a bleary voice, contorting her face to a less-exhausted expression for their benefit. “Careful on your way to the table.” She pointed to the floor where an extension cord stretched from the counter to the portable power station. “Coffee’s going, although I know the heat isn’t conducive for it. But I needed the caffeine.” She handed each of them a mug. “Help yourselves.”
Emily joined her at the counter. “Thank you.”
Sienna filled hers with water and took it to the table.
“Of course. Patrick brought in the small stove. I thought I’d make some eggs for everyone.”
“Where’s the puppy?” Sienna asked.
Julia yawned again, covering her mouth with her forearm. “Asleep in the bed with Winston. I doubt it’s house trained, so I’ll have to check on him soon. Both of them were out for the count all night—not a peep.” She grabbed her coffee from the counter and took a long drink.
“Did Winston say anything more about what led him outside during the storm?” Emily asked, twisting her hair into a knot to keep cool.
Julia set her mug on the counter, steam rising into the air, sending a nutty aroma Emily’s way. Then she took a stack of plates from the cabinet and put them on the table, along with a wad of forks from the silverware drawer. “He and Patrick look for strays whenever they do their little hikes together. Winston knew if he could get the dog, he could keep it.”
“How did he hear it in the storm?”
“It was crying pretty loudly, according to Winston. It had its foot stuck in the fence, and the wind was whipping the poorthing everywhere. I checked his legs and they feel okay—no crying or whimpering when I touch them. But I’m going to take him to the vet to get him checked over—ifit’s open.”
“It was just the one puppy?” Sienna asked. “No owner or mother to be found?”
Julia shook her head. “He didn’t see anything else. Although, it’s kind of difficult in a tropical storm. Patrick went outside and looked this morning, but there was no trace of any other animal out there. It might have wandered away from the litter. I’m planning to put some photos online in case he belongs to anyone.”
The garage door opened, and Patrick walked in. His temples glistened with perspiration, and his shirt had a V of sweat on the front and back. After setting the drill and a small radio on the table, he nodded hello.
“Everything good out there?” Julia asked him.
He wiped his brow with his dirt-speckled forearm. “The storm ended up turning out to sea like they thought, and we got the tail end—we were lucky. We’ve got a couple big trees down. We’re fortunate they didn’t hit the house.”
Julia’s chest filled with a deep breath. “Wow.”
“I’ll get them chopped up tomorrow. You’ll have no shortage of firewood this winter.”
“Want some eggs?” Julia asked him.
“I’m good, thanks,” he said. “It’s too hot. I’m gonna try to survive a cold shower.” He clicked on the radio to a staticky station. “Listen to this and see if they say how the roads into town are. I need to get to the restaurant to assess any damage.”
“The storm came up so quickly,” Sienna said after he’d left the room. “I hope everyone got to where they were going before the worst of it.”
“Yeah, me too.” Blair, who’d been pouring coffee, came to the table with her mug.
Julia took a carton of eggs out of the fridge. “Who wants breakfast?”
When they all nodded she unhooked the coffee maker from the extension cord and then plugged in the electric stove. After cracking eggs into a bowl, she warmed a pan on the burner.
Without turning from the pan, she called over, “Blair, may I ask you something?”
Blair visibly stiffened. She wrapped her thin fingers around her mug. “Of course.”
“What happened with your social media accounts?” She whisked the eggs in the bowl.
