The Island Storm

Chapter 3

“I might need a raincheck,” Lisa said, making Cal Lewiston’s nerves fray again.

He wouldn’t follow through on a raincheck, and everything in him wanted to dance with this woman. Surprisingly.

Dripping wet or not, she was the most beautiful woman he’d encountered in a while. Truth be told, he hadn’t even thought about asking a woman for a date in a very long time. A very, very long time.

very“Let me get you a towel.” He kept one hand on her elbow as he guided her over to the huge stack of towels in a bin near the gate. He hadn’t brought his swimwear either. He’d been thinking about quietly slipping away from this party before Lisa had shown up and finished his drink and asked him to dance.

His daughter would be home in an hour, and Cal liked to be there when Sierra arrived. That way, he knew her boyfriend hadn’t stayed for too long, and he knew what they were doing. Cal didn’t like his fourteen-year-old daughter with a boyfriend at all. Sierra barely seemed capable of getting to school on time and finishing her homework at night, let alone managing a relationship with a boy two years older than her.

Or maybe that was just Cal who’d been having a hard time with his relationships. He only had the one with his daughter to worry about, and that was difficult enough.

Lisa Ashford said something about being fine, but Cal grabbed a towel and wrapped it around her shoulders anyway. She clutched the ends of it and looked up at him through her eyelashes, almost like she didn’t want to commit to making true eye contact.

“Thank you,” she said.

“Sure thing,” he said, glad he still knew how to talk to a pretty woman. “The song is over, but we can still dance.” The music coming from the speakers set high above the pool wasn’t anything Cal had ever heard before, and it certainly wasn’t something romantic he could dance to. Hold Lisa close. Smell that perfume.

Of course, now she radiated the scent of chlorine, and Cal felt a moment of pity for her.

“I’m going to go get dried off,” she said, taking a step past him.

He wanted to get confirmation of a raincheck, but before he could say anything, the building shook. Everything went silent for a moment, and Cal’s heart dropped to his toes and rebounded back to his chest.

“Was that an earthquake?” someone asked, and a few people moved over to the edge of the building. The wall there was much too high to see very much—Cal had already looked earlier. The building swayed slightly, and he seemed to remember reading about this building as it was under construction.

His eyes met Lisa’s, and she looked afraid. “I think they built this building to sway a little in the wind,” he said.

“It’s not windy,” she said just as the music from the speakers muted.

“All guests need to move immediately to the sixth floor and above,” a man said over the public intercom. The words echoed down below Cal, clearly going out to everyone on the beach too. The most popular beach on the island.

“All people can take shelter in Sweet Breeze. Use the stairs. All elevators will be disabled. Everyone needs to get to the sixth floor or above.”

A general cry rose up from the ground below, and Cal couldn’t help moving to the wall as well. Lisa joined him, and they could see people scattering.

“It had to be an earthquake,” Lisa said, and Cal immediately looked out to the ocean.

“And a tsunami warning,” he said, almost a whisper. His blood ran cold.

Sierra.

She was supposed to be at the library with Travis. Where would they shelter? He reached for his phone and tapped to call his daughter, his heartbeat firing in his chest with the speed of an automatic rifle.

The line had rung once when the tsunami siren started, filling the air with a chilling wail. “Let’s get inside,” he said, reaching for Lisa with his free hand and towing her away from the side of the building.

Everyone had the same idea, and Cal and Lisa joined the stream of people from Your Tidal Forever trying to get inside.

“Guests on the sixth floor and above, please open your rooms to those coming in from the beach. All restaurants, theaters, museums, and guest rooms should be cleared on floors one through five.” The announcements continued, and Sierra didn’t answer her phone.

Cal’s panic doubled, and he quickly tapped out a message to his daughter. Tsunami. Get to high ground or above the fifth floor of a building. I’m at Sweet Breeze. Twenty-sixth floor. Where are you?

Tsunami. Get to high ground or above the fifth floor of a building. I’m at Sweet Breeze. Twenty-sixth floor. Where are you?He sent the message, every cell in his body wailing. He couldn’t lose his daughter too. Not after they’d both lost Jo. Desperation clogged his throat, and he stepped through the glass doors and into the main building right behind Lisa, tapping to call Sierra again.

“Dad,” she said breathlessly before the phone had even rung.

“Where are you?” he asked.

“We’re at the library,” she said. “They’re telling us to go to the roof.”

Cal closed his eyes for a moment, everything going black. He couldn’t think. “How many stories is the library?” He should know, he’d lived on the island of Getaway Bay his whole life. But he couldn’t think.

think“Four,” she said. Clamoring came from her end of the line. Shouts.

“Stay with Travis,” Cal said, his voice growing louder too. “I’m at Sweet Breeze. I’ll come get you two as quickly as I can after the waves hit.”

A roaring noise sounded behind him, and pure fear gripped his lungs. “I love you, coconut,” he said, his voice choking.

“Dad, I love you,” she said—and the line went dead.

Helpless, Cal shoved his phone in his pocket and twisted to look behind him. A few people still stood at the wall, and one pointed. The man turned, horror etched on his face. He ran toward the crowd still pushing to get in the building.

The water must’ve receded, which meant the tsunami was coming. That, or the man had seen the waves and realized the immensity of danger the whole island was in.

Please let Sierra and Travis get to the roof quickly, Cal prayed. Keep me safe. Help me find them as fast as possible.

Please let Sierra and Travis get to the roof quickly, Keep me safe. Help me find them as fast as possible.“This way,” he said, tugging on Lisa’s hand to get her to go down a hallway. That would free up more room for more people to come in off the pool deck and get them away from the glass. Why everyone wanted to be in the lobby just outside the pool, he wasn’t sure. He didn’t want to see the tragedy about to happen.

Lisa shivered, and Cal put his arm around her, pressing her into a wall as they met a group of people that had come this way before them.

“It’s okay,” he said. “We’re really high up.”

“What if the building falls?” she asked.

Cal didn’t want to answer that question. The anxiety in the air was almost to his breaking point, and he prayed again. Jo, baby, watch over us.

Jo, baby, watch over us.His late wife just had to protect Sierra. Cal couldn’t lose her too.

Moments later, screams filled the air from those still down by the doors. A rush of people flowed down the hall toward them, and Cal braced himself, his fingers tightening along Lisa’s upper arm.

“Here we go,” he murmured, and the building shuddered again. It swayed wildly—at least in Cal’s opinion—and he pressed one palm into the wall as a cry of fright from the others lifted up. He groaned and grunted, trying to find a solid place to stand.

It was a strange and scary feeling to have solidness beneath his feet and still be moving so much.

Everything quieted after only ten seconds.

“There could be residual waves,” someone said.

“Stay put,” another woman called.

Cal was glad no one had lost their heads. Everyone stayed still for several long minutes, and the building definitely moved a few more times. Nothing like the initial hit of the waves, and Cal could only hope that the roof of the library was high enough to protect his baby.

“All guests should stay where they are,” the man on the intercom said. “Please, stay where you are.”

Curiosity burned through Cal. He wanted to see how much water had come ashore. Needed to know. His fingers twitched, and his pulse beat too hard in his chest.

“Well, that wasn’t the dance I was expecting,” Lisa said beside him, and he moved his gaze to hers.

A chuckle started in his throat, and he kept it low—for her ears only. “No, definitely not.”

She smiled at him. “Who’s at the library?”

He swallowed, all the teasing and playfulness between them gone. He hadn’t dated since Jo’s death, so he’d never had to tell a woman about his daughter. “Uh, my daughter,” he said.

Surprise entered Lisa’s expression, though he wasn’t sure why. No, he hardly knew her. But most people knew he’d been married with a family.

Your friends know that, he told himself. And Lisa just worked at the company that hired him to build altars and trellises. She didn’t know him. They weren’t friends.

Your friends know thatknowYet.

“Oh,” she said. “How old is she?”

“Fourteen,” he said. He didn’t mean to sound so tired when he said it, but fourteen-year-old girls were a special breed of human. “She tests me sometimes,” he said, as if Lisa had heard the weariness and asked about it. “But she’s a good girl. She’s with her boyfriend.”

He pulled out his phone and started to text Sierra again, hoping the cell phone towers had survived the waves. We’re okay here at the hotel, he said. How are you?

We’re okay here at the hotelHow are you?The circle indicating the message had been sent spun and spun, and he looked up. “No service.”

Lisa had her phone out too. “None for me either.”

Pure frustration filled Cal. “I need to get to the library.” Part of him didn’t want to leave her alone either. He looked at his message again, still trying to go through. He’d used the pronoun we.

weWe’re okay at the hotel.

We’reHe looked at Lisa again. “Would you come with me to make sure my daughter is okay?”

Warmth filled her expression. “Of course,” she said. “And you can come with me to see if my little bulldog survived.” She ducked her head then, but not before Cal saw the emotion there. The fear. The hope. The pain.

He threaded his fingers through hers and squeezed. “We’ll find him.”

“It’s a her,” Lisa said, her voice a touch higher than normal. “Her name is Suzy.”

“My daughter’s name is Sierra,” Cal said, the same hope-fear-pain moving through him. But he couldn’t disconnect. Not again.

When Jo had died, his head had felt disconnected from the rest of him. He’d get texts and mean to answer them, but he never did. Things needed to be done for the funeral, with the house, with Sierra, and without the help of his parents, he felt certain nothing would’ve been accomplished.

“We’ll locate the humans first,” he said. “Just as soon as they let us out of here.” He peered over the heads of the people next to them, wondering how long it would take for Sweet Breeze to deem the area safe enough to let everyone leave.