WRECKAGES AND ROSES

Storm Warnings

Sloane's POV

The hurricane warning came three days after Julian's visit and I immediately shifted into crisis mode. Category four, the reports said, with winds over one hundred and thirty miles per hour. The storm had changed direction unexpectedly and now Paradise Cove sat directly in its path. We had maybe thirty-six hours to evacuate everyone and secure the resort.

I called an emergency staff meeting and laid out the evacuation plan. Guests would leave on the next available boats and flights. Staff with families would go first. I would stay until the last possible moment to coordinate everything. Maria protested that I should leave with the others but I shook my head. Someone needed to be responsible and that someone was me.

By sunset the first evacuations were complete. Guests packed quickly, some annoyed at having their vacations interrupted, others genuinely frightened. I processed refunds and rescheduled bookings while simultaneously coordinating with the mainland for transportation. My phone rang constantly and I barely had time to think, which was good because thinking meant worrying.

I was helping Danny board up the beach bungalows when a helicopter appeared over the water, fighting wind that was already picking up. It landed on the resort's helipad and my stomach dropped when I recognized Julian climbing out, his hair whipping around his face. He spotted me and crossed the lawn with long strides.

"What are you doing here?" I shouted over the wind.

"Making sure the evacuation proceeds smoothly." His eyes scanned the resort, taking in the organized chaos. "Status?"

"Most guests are gone. The last boat leaves in three hours with the remaining staff." I checked my tablet. "Danny and I will finish securing the structures, then I am on that boat."

"No," Julian said flatly. "You are leaving now."

I stared at him in disbelief. "I am not leaving until the job is finished."

"The job is finished when you are safe." His voice went hard. "That is not a request, Miss Carter."

Anger flared hot in my chest. "You do not get to order me around like I am incompetent. I know what I am doing and I am staying until every single person on this island is evacuated. If you do not like it, you can fire me."

His jaw clenched but before he could respond, Danny ran up to us. "The last boat just radioed. Seas are getting too rough. They cannot make another trip back to get anyone."

My blood went cold. "What about the helicopter?"

"The winds are already too strong," Julian said grimly. "No pilot will risk it. We are stuck here."

I looked around at the resort, at the palm trees already bending sideways, at the dark clouds rolling toward us like a wall. Danny needed to get to the shelter with the other remaining staff but that meant Julian and I would be alone in the main building, riding out a category four hurricane together. The universe apparently had a vicious sense of humor.

"Get to the shelter," I told Danny. "We will be fine in the main building. It is built to withstand this."

Danny hesitated but Julian nodded and the young man ran toward the staff quarters. I watched him go and then turned to Julian, who was already pulling out his phone. "I am calling in backup generators and extra supplies. We need to secure the main building now."

We worked in tense silence, boarding windows and moving supplies to interior rooms. The wind grew stronger and rain began to fall in sheets. By the time we finished, the storm was fully upon us and going outside was impossible. Julian and I retreated to his third floor office, the most protected space in the building, and listened to the hurricane roar around us.

The power died an hour later despite the generators. We had emergency lights but they cast strange shadows and made the normally elegant office feel like a bunker. I sat on the floor with my back against the wall, hugging my knees, while Julian paced like a caged animal. The building shook with each gust of wind and I tried not to think about what would happen if the structure failed.

"Tell me about before," Julian said suddenly, stopping his pacing. "Before Marcus. What was your life like?"

I looked up at him in surprise. "Why?"

"Because I want to know and we have nothing but time." He slid down the wall to sit beside me, close enough that I could feel his warmth. "Please."

So I told him. About growing up in a small town where everyone knew everyone, about my mother who taught me to love hospitality by making every guest in her bed and breakfast feel like family, about my father who died when I was twenty and left a hole I was still trying to fill. I told him about my first job at a resort in Miami, about discovering I had a talent for fixing broken systems and making guests happy, about working my way up until The Grandview offered me the assistant manager position.

"I thought I had everything figured out," I admitted, and my voice cracked. "Good job, nice apartment, boyfriend who said he loved me. Then it all fell apart so fast I could not breathe. Marcus stole money and I was too stupid to see it. The police showed up at my office and everyone stared at me like I was a criminal. My own parents were not sure if I was telling the truth."

Julian's hand found mine in the darkness and squeezed. "You are not stupid. Marcus was a predator who targeted you because you are kind and trusting. That is not a weakness, Sloane. That is what makes you remarkable."

I turned to look at him and in the dim emergency lighting his expression was raw with something that looked like pain. "Why did you really hire me? Nobody else would even interview me."

He was quiet for so long I thought he would not answer. Then he said softly, "Because I know what it is like to be judged for someone else's sins. My father destroyed lives and walked away clean while my mother and I paid the price. I saw your story and I saw someone who deserved better. I wanted to give you that chance."

Before I could respond, a massive boom shook the building and we both jumped. Glass shattered somewhere below us and wind howled through the structure. Julian pulled me against him and we huddled together as the hurricane raged, no longer boss and employee but just two people trying to survive the storm.