Page 74 of Courting Danger

“Bless you,” Tessa said. “You’d never know it from looking at her, but she’s not exactly light.”

“Sit tight,” the butcher said. “I’ll be right back.”

“Need a hand?” Danger offered.

“Yeah, that would be great. We can set them up back here, away from the front of the building, in case something comes flying through the glass,” the butcher said.

They found the manager by the dairy case, loading labeled plastic bags full of groceries into empty spaces to keep perishables cool for people. As soon as the manager heard the butcher’s proposal, he gave him the go ahead to set up the chairs and called out to a nearby stockboy to help them.

In the back, the chairs were stacked nearly in a retainer beside a small, growing puddle of water. When Roan looked around, he could see several others forming, which prompted the stock boy to drag over a few dingy totes that he hastily placed over the puddles. From the look of them, they’d had plenty of use collecting water during previous storms.

They carried the chairs out a few at a time, two other stock boys joining in the effort to set them up in the back of the store, while the manager had organized his clerks to find space for everyone’s groceries, helping sort, bag, and put perishables in cooler cases before directing folks to the back. When they werefinished, they sunk down in chairs not far from where Tessa sat, chatting with an older woman.

They weren’t there long before they saw the manager gather his team in a huddle, the butcher included. Every now and again he’d gesture toward the front of the store while giving instructions. Roan soon understood why when he saw them headed into the back again, emerging with large plywood boards.

Danger stood, so Roan followed, as did several others, to assist in their efforts to board up the windows before something happened to let the storm in. The boards looked like they’d been specifically cut to fit the tall, wide glass, as each fit in front of them perfectly, someone bringing wood blocks down the line to hammer into wooden frames that bore signs of having experienced this treatment before. It blocked out the light, but now, even if the glass broke, the wind and rain would be kept out of the store.

They were just finishing up when the lights flickered, and they returned to the row of chairs to see that several small, battery-operated lanterns had been placed on the floor in preparation for the power going out. Like with the chairs, they still had price tags on them, so Roan figured they’d probably taken them from the row of charcoal and camping supplies he’d walked down when he’d been grabbing briskets for the grill and more lighter fluid.

“Nothing left to do now but get comfortable,” Danger told him.

“At least we’re in the most stocked-up place in town,” Roan quipped.

“Amen to that,” an older man seated several chairs away replied as he pulled grapes off a bunch, one by one, and slowly offered them to his wife with encouragement to eat them so her blood sugar didn’t drop.

When the force and intensity of the rain revved up even harder than it was already pounding against the roof, much of the conversation around them was drowned out completely. The girl in Tessa’s arms had fallen asleep clutching her poodle, leaving Roan wishing he had something of his own to cuddle, because things were starting to get real fucking scary. The rolling booms of thunder rumbled like an army of Mack trucks racing down the highway, every lightning crack sharp and harsh.

Roan sucked in a breath, then Danger dragged his chair closer and draped his arm over Roan’s shoulders. The effect was instantaneous, and he exhaled and scooted low enough in his seat that he could press his head against Danger’s shoulder. When Danger’s fingers began to card through his hair, Roan relaxed further and even closed his eyes.

“That’s it,” Danger murmured, lips grazing Roan’s ear as he spoke. “Just relax and breathe. We’re gonna be just fine. As soon as it blows over, we’ll go home, and you can curl up with the pups.”

“I already miss them,” Roan admitted.

“So do I,” Danger admitted. “I didn’t have the chance to say it earlier, but you guys did good. They’d have been hard pressed to find a place to hole up during this mess.”

“I wonder if they knew what was coming,” Roan said. “The way they were howling, it was like they were baying at our window. When we went outside, they were standing on the big dune at the end of the path, looking right at us as we rushed out it to see what was going on.”

“Maybe,” Danger said. “Animal instincts have always been far keener than human ones. Pretty sure most of us lost our sense of self-preservation the moment we discovered our egos.”

Roan giggled at that, feeling far more at ease now that he was nestled against Danger.

“I do want you to promise me something though,” Danger said.

“What’s that?”

“The next time you guys hear something on the beach, you make sure to wake me and Pope so we can go outside with you,” Danger replied. “You best believe we won’t be doing it unarmed, either. This time it was pups, but the club still has enemies, so it’s best to always be prepared.”

Roan let the words sink in before nodding. “I never thought of that.”

“It’s okay,” Danger replied. “You had no reason to, which is why I’m mentioning it now.”

“I um, I’ve never handled a gun.”

“And you won’t ever have to if you don’t want to,” Danger explained. “But there are some locked in the gun safe, and Pope and I are more than proficient.”

“They kind of scare me.”

“Good, they should; picking one up is not something you should ever take lightly.”