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Diego and Oliver came in through the open door, soaked through and shaking their heads like dogs and splashing water everywhere. The rain started coming down harder as lightning lit up the sky.
“Where have you two been?” Viv asked, shielding her face from the stray spray.
“We were down on the beach when the weather turned,” Oliver said, reaching into the hollow bench by the door and pulling out some beach towels.
“Yeah, it’s been muggy and humid all day, so we figured the rain would come, but we didn’t expect it so soon.” Diego was drying off and pulling out a bunch of towels for the others as Julie, Nicoletta, Cheryl, Gia, Aaron, Zander, and Daniel came rushing across the patio and toward the house.
We distributed towels, made sure everyone was in the house, and raced around, closing the storm shutters outside the windows and double-checking everything was shut. The storm had started normally enough, but by the time we were done battening down the hatches, the wind had begun howling, seeping in and whistling through the house.
The red phone in the cabana rang, and while the area was covered on top, it was still exposed on three sides, while the fourth abutted the villa. I turned toward it, that shrill ring cutting through the worry in my head.
“Shit, that could be the crew,” Diego said. He was off like a shot, pushing through the glass door and tilting his body against the wind.
He reached for the phone and picked up the receiver. I was surprised it hadn’t flown off the table already.
Diego kept his face toward us, his back to the wind. He was talking animatedly, and after a minute, he hung up and raced back toward the house. Oliver was ready and waiting with a fresh towel.
“That was Jess,” Diego confirmed. He rubbed the towel over his hair and looked grim. “The crew is stuck, and neither them nor us are to leave the villa for safety reasons. They’re watching on camera, like always, and the feed hasn’t died because of some tech shit she tried to explain before I reminded her I was standing outside during all that.” He gestured to the storm as the wind slid a patio chair a few feet to the left. “Anyway, no new supplies until the storm passes, but we should be fine since we just had a drop-off earlier this morning.”
“So, we’re stuck here.” Cheryl sure had a way of summing everything up, didn’t she?
“We were kind of stuck here anyway,” Zander drawled, opening his arms and turning in a half-circle as if to motion to the villa and the island we were on.
Julie snorted, but flinched when a bolt of lightning struck in the distance.
“But we’ll be fine,” Zander assured her—and everyone else. Something about the big guy’s confidence settled something in all of us. “The windows are shut, there’s food, and we haven’t even lost power or anything. It could be much worse.”
The lights flickered, and then the room plunged into darkness.
“Spoke too soon there, Z,” Aaron said. He moved closer to me. “Don’t worry, Sophie girl, I’ll protect you.”
I rolled my eyes. Protect me from what? Lightning? Yeah, that seemed doable. “Did anyone notice any flashlights or candles? They must have prepared for something like this.”
“I think there were a few in the bathroom,” Gia offered.
Daniel pressed a kiss to her cheek and left the room to go hunt down a light source.
It wasn’t that I wasafraidof the dark. I just didn’t like it. Okay, fine. I hated it with a passion.
“Norbert!” I cried. My emotional support iguana was out there somewhere. “I have to go get him!”
“Who the hell is Norbert?” Diego asked.
Aaron was the one to answer because my face was pressed to the inch-wide gap in the storm shutter over the kitchen patio doors as I scanned the yard for him. “The best damned iguana in the world. He hangs around the house when Sophie’s outside.”
“I’ve met him,” Viv confirmed. “He’s so cute. And such a good listener.”
I fiddled with the pull for the shutters and Oliver’s hand came down on mine, halting my progress.
“He’ll be okay, Sophie. Storms aren’t all that uncommon here. Iguanas climb trees and anchor in to wait out rains and winds all the time. He’ll be back down as soon as it passes. I promise.”
God, I hoped he was right.
“Found them!” Daniel returned, a beam of light preceding his entrance. He started passing out flashlights. “There were six of these under the sink in the cabinet and a few candles for decoration. There are probably more stashed somewhere, but these were all I could find lying around.” He dropped a handful of tea lights on the counter, which looked pitiful compared to the darkness that had enveloped the room.
“Kitchen sink, maybe?” Oliver asked. He turned and rummaged in the cabinet, pulling out some cleaning supplies before giving a triumphant shout. “Found some!”
He placed half a dozen pillar candles on the island and grinned.
