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Beau winced. Had she overheard?
“We’ve lowered half the cages,” Viv continued, eyeing him. “But Nate needs your muscle for the last few lines. I told him we’d swap jobs.”
Yep. The hard note in her tone told him she’d heard every word.
Beau turned back to Kit, and the apprehension on her face made him ache. He propped the hammer he held on the top rung of the ladder and pressed his palm to hers against the mesh screen. “I guess we’re swapping. I’ll finish as quickly as I can, then come back and check on you. See if you or Royal still need help securing anything.”
Kit shook her head, her fingertips curling against the screen, pressing against his palm. “The storm will be setting in soon. I don’t want you caught in the middle of it. We’ll be fine.” She glanced at Viv, then met his eyes again. Her voice resigned, she added, “Teague Cottage has ridden out storms worse than this in the past.”
* * *
Wind roared around Teague Cottage, a sharp crack rang out, and a loud crash reverberated outside.
“What was that?” Mackey, seated opposite Kit at the kitchen table, glanced around, his eyes wide and hands curling tight around a glass of water.
Kit smiled, hoping the nervous tremors running through her didn’t show. “Probably just a branch falling off one of the oak trees by the driveway. Those oak limbs are heavy, and with the wind picking up, one may have snapped and hit the ground.”
Right along with about a dozen other limbs, if the violent crashing and banging were anything to go by, Kit thought, taking a slow sip of iced water from her own glass.
“Not to worry about that,” Royal said. He reached out from his seat beside Mackey at the kitchen table and patted his hand. “None of those limbs are near this room. You’re safe inside the house.”
Viv, who stood across the room, leaning with her back against the kitchen sink, crossed her arms. “You sure about that?” she asked quietly. “That hasn’t always been the case. Least not how I remember it.”
Kit stiffened. She looked over Mackey’s shoulder and locked eyes with Viv. “It’s safe tonight.”
Viv’s mouth tightened, but she remained silent.
Kit stifled a sigh of relief, returned her attention to Mackey, and smiled. “Everything’s going to be fine. This will blow over, the storm will move on, and you’ll wake up to a beautiful morning tomorrow.”
Or at least she hoped so.
After Beau had left several hours ago, Viv had taken his place on the ladder and helped board up the rest of the front of the house. They hadn’t spoken much, but the side glares Viv had cast in her direction had hinted that she was offended to hear Kit grilling Beau for information about her and their mother.
Kit had concentrated on the work at hand, boarding windows, carrying the wicker chairs from the front porch inside the house, and helping Royal and Mackey raise the boats. Upon the completion of each task, she’d tipped her head back and studied an overcast sky that grew darker and angrier with each passing hour, her thoughts continually returning to Beau. He’d lost so much time helping her board up the cottage that he might very well have risked losing additional crop.
She stood on the end of the dock and studied the Suttons’ empty dock in the distance. Even now, Beau, Nate, and Cal were probably out on the rough waters of the tidal creek, racing to lower cages to Hope Creek’s bottom before the approaching storm and putting themselves in the precarious position of not having enough time to seek safe shelter from the dangerous storm.
Her legs moved, carrying her several swift steps back up the dock, her gaze squinting against the increasing gusts of wind as she sought a glimpse of the dirt road that led to Beau’s house.
“Kit!”
She halted at the sound of Royal’s shout and looked over her shoulder.
“What are you doing?” Royal, crouched on the dock, where he’d located the bunks of the boat lift below the water, stopped waving directions to Viv, and studied Kit over his shoulder. “We still got another boat to lift, and there ain’t enough time for Viv to finish this one and get the next. I need you to jump on the hybrid, crank it up, and steer it in while we finish up here.”
Kit hesitated, glancing across the yard toward the dirt road curving beyond the mailbox, then turned around and walked back down the dock to the bay boat. “All right,” she shouted over the brisk kick of wind. “Wave me in once I get it turned around.”
By the time they finished raising the hybrid bay boat on the lift, the sudden onslaught of fierce wind and fat raindrops had made it clear that Beau wouldn’t be able to make it back to check on them and that Viv wouldn’t be able to return safely to the Sutton house. Rather, Viv, at Royal’s insistence, trudged reluctantly behind Kit into Teague Cottage, filled a glass with ice water, and took up residence by the kitchen sink.
She’d barely moved or spoken since.
“Mackey,” Royal said as he pushed his chair back and stood. “Why don’t you and I go straighten up your room a bit? Change the sheets on your bed? Then you can take a shower, crawl into bed, and try to get some sleep.”
Mackey made a face and shook his head. “I don’t think I can sleep with all that noise.”
“Well, we’ll try, anyway, okay?” Royal tapped the back of Mackey’s chair. “Come on. Sitting here listening to the storm and worrying ain’t gonna do any of us any good.” He rounded the table, bent, and kissed the top of Kit’s head. “Don’t you stay up too late, either. I’ve been through enough of these to know that if something changes, I’ll spring out of sleep and be on my feet. Always have in the past.”
At Kit’s nod, he straightened and walked over to the sink. He stood, looking down at Viv’s face for a few moments, then lifted his arms awkwardly. “I know you’re probably past the age now for . . . Well, it’s been real nice having you back at home here and there over the past few days . . .”
