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Blake awakened to howling wind and pounding rain trying to batter its way into the house. Isaac cried out, and he heard Paradise

comfort him. Levi would be scared too. Blake tried to flip on a light, but the power was out, so he found his way through

the dark house and down the hall to where Paradise slept with his little brothers. Both boys had crashed in there last night—Levi

on the top bunk and Isaac with Paradise.

Blake struggled to see in the dark. “I should have brought my phone so I could use the flashlight. Everyone okay?”

“We’re fine,” Paradise said. “My phone is across the room on top of the dresser if you want to feel around for it.”

Levi whimpered. “I want you, Blake.”

“I’m coming.” The storm outside obliterated every bit of light, and he felt his way through the dark until he bumped into

the bunk bed. “Here I am, guys. Nothing to be afraid of.”

“I can’t see you, Blake,” Levi said. “Can you get me? I’m in the top bunk.”

Blake ran his hand up the bedpost and touched Levi’s leg. He found his brother’s arms and pulled him out of the bunk. “I’ve got you.”

“I’m with Paradise,” Isaac said to his right.

He heard his mother’s bare feet hurrying down the hallway to check on the children. A faint glow entered the room with her

phone flashlight illuminated. “Everyone okay in here? We knew the storm was coming, remember?”

Lightning flickered outside and the glare pushed its way past the blinds. Levi’s arms tightened around his neck. “I’m scared,”

he whispered in Blake’s ear.

“We’re safe and snug in the house.”

The lights flickered outside and then came on. The welcome glow showed enough for him to see the white moon of Paradise’s

face with Isaac clutched to her chest. His mother strode to the wall switch and flipped on the light. Her hair was mussed,

but she was calm.

Mom held out her arms. “It’s only three, guys. Anyone want to sleep with me?”

“I do,” both boys chorused.

Levi reached for her, and she tucked him into one arm while her other grabbed for Blake’s littlest brother.

“You’ve been abandoned,” Blake told Paradise. “Aren’t you scared?”

She rose from the bed and came to stand in the circle of his arms. “Do you remember when we were teenagers and we used to

sit on your porch in the old neighborhood and watch the storms roll in off the Gulf? Sometimes we’d go to the beach and shelter

in a pavilion and watch the waves from a tropical storm.”

“I remember. That one time we nearly got caught in a storm surge. You always were a daredevil when it came to storms.” He rested his chin on her head and inhaled the plumeria scent in her hair. “You sleepy? I can let you get to bed.”

“Not in the least. We could watch a movie until we get sleepy.”

He opened his mouth to tell her he was game to watch a chick flick, but her phone began to wail with an alert. “Sounds like

a tornado warning. Let me check the radar on your phone.”

She handed it to him, and he checked the weather map. The storm was bearing down on them.

“We’ve got to get to the shelter now . It’s coming this way.”

They ran for his mother’s room, and the boys weren’t asleep yet. Blake scooped up Levi and handed him to Paradise. “We’re

going for a campout, guys. Mom, you carry Isaac, and I’ll run on ahead and open the door. It’s tough to lift, especially in

a wind. Hurry.”

He didn’t have to spell it out for his mother. They’d weathered plenty of storms over the years, and she didn’t wait to slide

her feet into shoes. He dashed ahead, pausing only to grab the boys’ iPads, then splashed through mud and the ongoing deluge

toward the storm shelter. Lightning slashed the black sky and thunder ricocheted off the trees and buildings. The pungent

scent of ozone hung in the air. The heavy metal door pushed against the wind, but he finally managed to throw it back.

He descended the steps and dropped the tablets onto an old wooden crate he’d brought in to use as a table, then turned on

the battery-powered lantern he’d left charged and ready to use. The warm glow pushed back the complete darkness in the small

space, and it seemed cozy to him with the camp chairs set up. He’d had a sixth sense they would need them tonight and had

arranged them in a circle on an old rug.

Holding the lantern aloft, he went back up the steps and saw the rest of the family hurrying toward him. The boys, eyes wide and frightened, clung to the women. Isaac had his head thrown back and was staring at the low clouds. Blake spared a glance up too but didn’t see a funnel cloud. Not yet anyway. He prayed the park would be spared any direct hit. The animals were probably frantic out there, but there was nothing he could do.

He grabbed Isaac from his mom and passed him back to her once she reached the bottom step. Paradise and Levi went down next,

and he glanced at the sky one more time before he descended, pulling the door shut behind him. He locked the door with the

inside security bar, and the dank scent of the underground space rushed at him. At least he’d ensured the spiders were gone,

for now anyway.

Levi held up a dish of fudge. “We grabbed this on the way past. Paradise said we could have a party down here. Did you bring

down some games?”

“We’ve got Go Fish, Candy Land, and Uno. And I grabbed your iPads.” He snatched a piece of fudge from Levi and popped it in

his mouth. “Who’s ready to party?”

The boys jumped up and down, and Blake exchanged a long glance with Paradise. They’d do their best to keep the boys from worrying,

but the adults in the room had their own share of fears. He reached over to the old boom box he’d brought in and turned on

the Moana soundtrack.

Paradise squatted beside it and cranked it up until music filled the small space and drowned out the creaks and groans above

their heads. As long as the door didn’t fly off, they should be safe, but that was a mighty big if .

***

Carrying Levi, Paradise blinked in the drab light as they exited the storm shelter into the torrential rains that continued to fall. She ran for the back door with the little boy, and the rest of the family was right behind her. At one point the door had billowed in and out, and she’d been sure it would go flying off, but it had held tight.

She paused on the back deck under the overhang and spared a glance around the property. Tree limbs and leaves lay battered

and heaped around the yard. The house’s roof hadn’t gone flying off, and she spotted only a board or two swinging from the

big barn. The tornado hadn’t carried off anything she could see.

Blake set Isaac down and opened the door. “Go on in, guys. Mom will make you some breakfast. Paradise and I need to check

the animals and make sure everything is okay.” He pointed to Paradise’s muddy feet. “You might want some boots though, Simba.”

She laughed. “So we’re back to that, are we?”

“You were quite the lioness last night protecting the boys. I don’t think you slept at all.”

“Neither did you,” she countered.

“It’s my job.”

“No, you just love well.” He always had, but she’d been too angry and blind to see it. Blake wasn’t someone who spoke flowery

words of love—he was a man of action who showed his love for those close to him with every decision he made.

She went to the hose spigot four feet away and rinsed off her feet, then darted to the door. Jenna had left a stack of towels by the door, and Paradise grabbed one. She toweled off her hair and face so she could see, then dried her feet and ran to her room to grab socks. She yanked them on and went to dig her boots out of the stack of shoes and boots in the laundry room. With her boots on, she rushed for the door and paused long enough to grab yellow rain slickers for her and Blake. If they could keep even some of the pounding rain off, they might stay warmer.

She hurried outside to an empty deck and saw him moving in the doorway of the barn. She exited the yard through the gate and

ran to catch up with him. “Here, put this on.”

He took the rain slicker and pulled it over his head. “I think trying to stay dry is a lost cause. The barn seems okay. Let’s

check the animals.”

They slogged through the mud and rain to pen after pen. The mud on the soles of her boots made her legs heavy, but they made

it through the park and found all the animals and structures safe.

“The twister must not have touched down here,” Blake said. “But I don’t like the depth of the water rising in the back field.

The last time it was like that, the level went high very quickly and surrounded the house. We were trapped inside. I think

you and Mom should take the boys to a shelter in town. The rain isn’t supposed to stop anytime soon.”

Paradise wrinkled her nose. Ugh, a shelter filled with other people. “Maybe we could rent a motel and make it fun for the

boys? I’d like to stay with you though.”

“I don’t think you’ll find a room. Hez said some friends had to go clear to Montgomery. It’s probably just a night or two.

Besides, the boys will have a blast with the other children at the shelter.” He touched her cheek. “I would worry every second

if I didn’t know you were safe. I’ll be fine.”

“Will you promise to text me every hour or so and let me know everything is all right?”

He gripped her shoulders and kissed her. It was a quick caress, and she sensed his stress in the rigid line of his spine and

the press of his fingers.

She stepped back. “Okay, I’ll go tell your mother and we’ll pack up some things.” She’d rather stay here with him, but Jenna might need help corralling the boys. Plus, having another calming presence would soothe Jenna’s worries about what was going on out here.

Paradise felt Blake’s gaze on her back as she ran for the house in the deluge. She didn’t remember ever being in this kind

of rain before, and unease shuddered down her spine at the pool of water on the other side of the driveway. The parking lot

was full of water too, and she wasn’t sure they’d be able to get out with the van. The standing water might flood the engine.

She reached the house and stepped under the overhang before she removed her slicker. She shook the moisture from it and from

her hair, then stepped inside and grabbed another towel. She left her muddy boots outside and padded in socked feet to find

Jenna, who was with the boys in their bedroom.

Paradise beckoned to her from the doorway, and Jenna rose from the floor where they’d been playing with their dinosaurs.

Jenna grimaced. “It’s bad, isn’t it? I’ve never seen it rain like this.”

“It’s already flooding. Blake thinks we should go to the shelter. I suggested a motel, but he said we’d probably have to go

to Montgomery to find one.”

“The shelter won’t be so bad. We’ll know people, and we’re all in the same boat. I’ll pack some clothes for me and the boys,

and you can grab your things.”

“I think we should take Blake’s truck.”

“But what if he needs to escape? He’d be stranded here.”

“I’ll come back and get him. I don’t think the van will make it out.”

“Okay, as long as we have a plan. I know you won’t let any thing happen to my boy.” Jenna turned toward the boys. “How’d you like to have some kids to play with tonight? We’re going to go to the university and stay in the gym.”

The boys gaped for a moment, then jumped to their feet and began gathering toys. “Only four things,” Jenna warned. “We don’t

want anything left behind.”

Before she started packing, Paradise shot a text to Blake explaining the vehicle dilemma, and he approved the plan. At least

she’d have good wheels if she needed to come back here. She had a very bad feeling about all of it.