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I couldn’t even imagine.
“Let’s take one last look at daylight,” Suri said, getting to her feet and pulling Doreen to hers. “Come on, Dori. God knows when we’ll see blue sky again.”
I stood up and held my hand out to Jeremiah. “Come on. You too.” He winced at the dash panel, so I took his arm and pulled him up. “Ten seconds won’t hurt.”
I dragged him to the front porch where Doreen and Suri already stood. They were looking back out over the carport, to the north. The clouds were almost above us, encroaching on the blue sky like smoke.
We were only a few kilometres from my house, so it wouldn’t take long to reach us. But the winds came first. The trees in the street began to jostle, and the world was eerily quiet.
“Can you hear that?” I asked. “No birds. No noise at all, actually.”
It was eery and unnatural, and it felt like the whole world was holding its breath.
Doreen put her arm around Suri, as if the silence of the birds was something she’d lived through before, spoken about before.
Before the tsunami.
I put my arm around Jeremiah’s waist and rested my chin on his shoulder, and we watched as the first drops of rain began to spatter their way toward us.
Then it began to hammer down.
And the rain just didn’t stop.
CHAPTER EIGHT
JEREMIAH
Over the next few hours,Doreen and I issued alert after alert for severe thunderstorms, dangerous hail, heavy falls of rain, rising flood waters, dangerous surf, and sea swells. The list seemed endless.
Right across the top end of the Northern Territory.
I was relieved that Suri was here because she kept Tully company. They set up camp on the floor in the corner, watching the video feeds on his laptop, playing cards, playing with Bruce, telling jokes, and having a great time while the skies turned dark and the storm raged.
By ten o’clock we’d all eaten, and Tully had had a few phone calls with his family, and one FaceTime in which his mother had made a point of asking me, very loudly, if Tully had made sure I’d eaten.
I’d waved awkwardly to her from my seat. “He did, thank you very much for the food.”
“Anytime, dear,” she’d said.
I’d turned back to face my console. Sure, it was busy, and every screen and button was flashing, but mostly so she couldn’t see me blush.
Having a mum fuss over me was strangely comforting. Or having any parent fuss over me was, if I was being honest. But a mother, in particular...
“Isn’t he just the cutest?” Tully had asked his entire family watching the screen.
“Oh, Tully, you look after him, he’s working so hard,” his mum had said. We’d all heard it. Tully had the volume up over the sound of the rain, clearly not needing to hide anything from anyone. Not anyone in his family. Not anyone in this room.
I, on the other hand, was still not used to such outward affection. I ducked my head, and Doreen laughed beside me and shoved my shoulder. “Didn’t think you’d be the shy type.”
“Leave him alone,” Suri chided her.
Tully laughed. “Okay, guys,” he said to the screen. “We’re gonna log off and try and catch some zeds. You do the same, and we’ll talk again in the morning.”
“Okay, love. Sleep tight.”
It made my chest burn to hear them speak with such affection. A mix of embarrassment and longing.
“Remember, be downstairs early,” Tully said.
