“Good. That’ll help.”
Joe’s comment highlighted the difference between someone who had only what was needed and someone who was prepared for anything, because anything was what his life had become.
“This is good,” she said, forcing herself to focus on the practical. “Between Nick’s gear and what the rest of us brought, we can ride this out comfortably.”
Even with her suggestion of helping so they’d only need to make one trip, the amount of things Nick offered meant all three of them made two trips to get everything inside. After they had the things of Nick’s they needed, they grabbed the items from Joe’s truck.
“Are those coffee cups from this morning?” Nick asked, pointing to the two cups in the front holders.
“Yep, got them on our way out of town.”
“Bring ’em,” Nick said. “I only have two coffee mugs. We can reuse those.”
Joe made a face but complied, taking his cup. Gina grabbed hers and then retrieved Kelsey’s from the back seat cup holder, careful to keep them separate.
The wind died down just enough to allow them to get back inside the hotel fairly easily. Brooke and Kelsey were in the hallway, looking over the bins they’d dropped from Nick’s car.
“Lots of good stuff,” Kelsey said. “We should move to the room over there. There’s more space.”
Brooke shook her head. “I hate this building. I’m staying near the door in case I need to get out.”
Gina closed her eyes and shook her head. She knew Brooke was being silly, but she also knew her friend believed the rumors of the hotel and other buildings in Bearwater being haunted.
“You don’t really believe it’s haunted, do you?” Kelsey’s tone held a note of teasing.
“All I know,” Brooke said, forcing calmness into her voice, “is that these buildings make me feel sick to my stomach. Every single time I’ve been here.”
“Then why pick this place for your training run?” Kelsey asked.
“Outside is fine. It’s inside the buildings I have a problem with,” Brooke insisted. “We shouldn’t be in here. We should just get in the cars and go.”
Gina didn’t have the energy to explain again why they couldn’t leave. Besides, Brooke knew. She understood what the road out of there would be like just as well as Gina did.
Why her friend was acting this way was a mystery, but she didn’t like it. This wasn’t the Brooke she knew—the dedicated business owner and athlete. This was something strange and completely unlike her friend.
“Can we at least find someplace to organize our things?” Joe asked, dipping his chin to the load he was still holding.
“There’s a counter just inside the room.” Kelsey pointed to an open doorway. “I did a little exploring while you were out at the trucks. This place is amazing.”
Brooke scoffed. “Hardly.”
They spread their combined supplies out on the countertop and the floor, with Nick’s contributions dominating the space.
“You’re like a one-man REI,” Joe said admiringly.
Nick sank onto one of the rickety chairs left behind at some time in the past, shrugged, and began loosening the laces of his running shoes to swap them for work boots. “You learn to be prepared when you can’t count on having a fixed base.”
There it was again. That casual reference to his unsettled life, delivered without shame or apology. Gina watched him as he bent to untie his shoes—the quiet precision in each motion, the way he always seemed to know what was needed before anyone said a word.
Her experience screamed that people who lived this way were running from something, avoiding responsibility, and would be unreliable when things got difficult.
But here he was, organizing their shelter with the kind of efficiency that came from actually doing hard things, not just talking about them. No complaints, no excuses, no need for recognition.
The disconnect between what she expected and what she was seeing created a kind of cognitive friction she couldn’t resolve.
A gust of wind rattled the building.
“Storm’s getting worse,” Brooke said from the hallway, still examining her watch. “We’re going to be stuck here for hours. My training day is completely shot.”
