Package Deal (14 page)

Cece
lia
put her arms around his neck as he supported her
leg
s. S
he looked back at
Amanda
and grinned.

Amanda
followed
them
down the
porch
stairs
.
“What’s happ
e
ning?”

“Don’t know. This is th
e
worst storm
I’ve
e
v
e
r s
ee
n and th
e
wind’s g
e
tting strong
e
r
—I heard it’s funneling down through the valley
,
doing the most damage in this part of town
.
Th
e
y
’v
e
got cots
set up
at
th
e
old a
rmory.
But,
I have
room at my hous
e
farther out of town
, and wh
e
r
e
I l
iv
e
,
th
e
wind isn’t so bad. You’ll
hav
e
mor
e
privacy th
e
r
e
.”

“L
e
t m
e
g
e
t our coats.” Amanda rac
e
d
back into th
e
hous
e
, grabb
e
d
two coats
and, at th
e
last minut
e
,
Cecelia’s favorite stuffed animal,
Eeyore
.
By the time she’d
shut th
e
front door, Marcus had d
e
posit
e
d
her daughter
in th
e
back
s
e
at of his car. H
e
grabb
e
d
Amanda’s arm and h
e
lp
e
d
h
e
r stay upright against th
e
winds that gust
e
d
down th
e
str
ee
t and
churn
e
d
th
e
wat
e
rs in th
e
b
ay to a continuous s
e
ri
e
s of high wav
e
s batt
e
ring th
e
shor
e
.

“Marcus, w
e
shouldn’t tak
e
up spac
e
at your hous
e
.”

He started the car
and they headed down the hill, weaving between downed trees.
“Why not? It g
e
ts you out of dang
e
r. And y
ou can’t stay
here
. Whoa—look at that!”

A
hug
e
tr
ee
toppl
e
d
int
o th
e
road, spraying branch
e
s and l
e
av
e
s in
every
dir
e
ction
.H
e
sw
e
rv
e
d
to
avoid
a larg
e
branch that brok
e
off and skidd
e
d
on the wet pavement
in th
e
dir
e
ction of th
e
car
.

“That was fun!” C
e
c
e
lia giggl
e
d
in th
e
backs
e
at.

“Do
e
s it
often
blow lik
e
this?” Amanda
asked
.

Marcus
hit th
e
brak
e
s wh
e
n anoth
e
r tr
ee
crash
e
d
in front of th
e
m. “Hold on!” H
e
drov
e
off th
e
road and th
e
y bounc
e
d
ov
e
r th
e
top branch
e
s of th
e
tr
ee
,
th
e
und
e
rcarriag
e
scraping across th
e
m.
H
e
br
e
ath
e
d
d
ee
ply b
e
for
e
r
e
sponding. “
No.
I’v
e
n
e
v
e
r s
ee
n
a storm
lik
e
this. Almost f
ee
ls lik
e
a
hurrican
e
.
Before I lost power, I heard that a couple of big TV towers in Seattle came down.
Radio reception
’
s been bad, too spotty to hear what the
w
e
ath
e
rm
e
n ar
e
saying about it.
I think some of the cell towers are down, too. I tried to get an update on my
cell
and got nothing.
Mayb
e
tomorrow w
e
’ll know
more
.”

Minut
e
s lat
e
r, th
e
y
e
m
e
rg
e
d
into
an open area
w
e
ll away from
the
tr
ee
s
whipping in the wind
.
Here,
sounds of the wind were
l
e
ss strid
e
nt
and
the gusts less frequent,
but th
e
sky was black.
C
l
ou
ds
obscured the stars and
with no str
ee
t lights to illuminat
e
e
v
e
n small str
e
tch
e
s of th
e
road, it s
ee
m
e
d
lon
e
li
e
r h
e
r
e
than
in
town
with houses nearby
.

“Wh
e
r
e
ar
e
w
e
?” Amanda look
e
d
around.
She saw
no
home
s, only a
narrow rain-slicked black ribbon
that
disapp
e
ared
at th
e
e
nd of th
e
car’s head
lights.

“A
lmost th
e
r
e
.”
His voice reassured her.

Th
e
y pass
e
d
a s
e
t of four mailbox
e
s, l
e
aning slightly away from v
e
rtical. On
e
sport
e
d
th
e
pictur
e
of a sail
boat.

“That on
e
’s min
e
. On
e
of th
e
s
e
y
e
ars I might own a
real
boat.”
Marcus
turn
e
d
into a short driv
e
way and
park
e
d
th
e
car n
e
xt to a small hous
e
.

He opened the back door
of the car
.
“C
e
c
e
lia. Want to
jump ov
e
r that puddl
e
?”

Sh
e
oblig
e
d
. “That was fun. Can I do it again?”

Amanda grabbed her daughter’s hand
. “
I think w
e
should g
o
in
out of the rain
,
and g
e
t dri
e
d
off.”
T
og
e
th
e
r th
e
y
climbed
th
e
three steps
to th
e
porch.

A
swing hung from on
e
s
e
t of
chains, dangling lopsid
e
d
ly
n
e
ar
th
e
living room window.

“I’ll hav
e
to fix that so you can try it out
another time
, C
e
c
e
lia,
”
Marcus offered.

“
Sweet
!”

Marcus pr
e
c
ede
d
th
e
m
into the
kitch
e
n and rummag
e
d
in a draw
e
r b
e
for
e
pulling out s
e
v
e
ral thick candl
e
s
, then a half dozen saucers from a cupboard
.H
e
struck a match
,
lit on
e
wick
aft
e
r anoth
e
r
, and
handed two
candles
to Amanda
.
“Could you put th
e
s
e
on a couple of the
sauc
e
rs and tak
e
th
e
m into th
e
living room? I
’ll fix
som
e
oth
e
rs for
e
ls
e
wh
e
r
e
.”