Scent of a Mystery

Chapter One-2

Eric was shaking his head at the four women in question as he broke into Emma’s explanation.

“Zack and I were on our way home and decided to swing by Janice’s to see if she needed anything and found the four of them getting ready to head out here. Since our truck is four-wheel drive, we decided to follow them and make sure they didn’t run into any problems. The only problem with our plan was the rain bands are coming in closer together and driving isn’t safe, even for our truck. So, Megan, it looks like you are going to have a house full for the duration of this storm.”

Megan looked over at her daughter, who was giving her dog a hug, and sent a silent prayer of thanks heavenwards for their safe arrival. Emma had the same coppery tones in her hair as her mother, but that was where the similarity ended. Emma was her father’s daughter: tall, willowy with large mischievous blue eyes and a smile that was always ready to emerge and engage those around her. Sometimes when Megan looked at her daughter, her heart ached for her late husband. He would have been so pleased to see how the little girl he had left behind had developed into the stunning woman sitting in front of her mother.

Megan and Emma had been on their own since Emma was a small child with Paul and Lucy for support. Megan had moved to Citrus Beach after the death of her husband to start over and be close to the cousin she had grown up with, sharing their childhood adventures. Paul was more like a brother to Megan than a cousin, and Lucy had been Megan’s best friend in her new home long before she married into their family. When Megan had joined the community of Citrus Beach, she had just started her personalized gardening business. Over the years, the business and clientele had grown to the point where she had to make an adjustment in her business plans so that she could accommodate the needs of her many wealthy clients. So, her business had expanded into a concierge business, not only providing gardening services, but also home and property monitoring, housekeeping, and personal shopping. For a select few clients, she ran their households for them, and it was three of these clients who had supported and backed her new business plans. As the business grew she had been fortunate to find Janice, who had taken over the administrative side of the business, allowing Megan to focus on the customer service end. Adding employees like Debbie, gave the company the ability to offer more services to their existing clients and expand the business.

The two household cats wandered out of Megan’s bedroom to find out what was causing all the noise in their usually quite home. As they wandered from person to person, receiving scratches behind their ears, Megan followed their movements and was grateful for the friends she had. They all looked after each other, and tonight was a perfect example. Janice’s offering a place for Debbie to stay since her condo was close to the ocean and she had been ordered to evacuate by the local authorities, Eric and Zack checking on their co-workers, and all of them looking out for the young college girls who seemed to have left common sense back at their college dorm in their eagerness to come home. Megan smiled at the homey picture before her. Some of her favorite people filled the comfortable rattan chairs and antique rockers. The sounds of friendly teasing and laughter made the sounds of a raging storm outside seem a bit less overwhelming. Grabbing her favorite chair, Megan decided to settle down to catch up with her daughter and try to ignore Hurricane Arlene pounding on her front door.

Emma was a natural born storyteller, and she quickly had everyone around her laughing as she told them about their ride into town from college and Ashley’s reaction to her first hurricane experience. Having grown up in Florida, Emma was used to the threats of these severe storms and had been through several of them herself. But Ashley was from the north, and although she was used to snow storms, she had no idea what a hurricane could bring and the destruction it would leave in its path. Even a Category 1 hurricane could produce winds strong enough to tear down pool screens, ripe awnings away from buildings, project loose items through windows and create areas of flooding.

Emma was taking full advantage of Ashley’s inexperience, poking fun at her friend’s response to their travel through the weakest bans of the storm. Ashley, being a good sport, was taking it all in stride, and soon everyone in the room was sharing their own hurricane experiences. As they talked, Lucy and Janice had gotten up a few times and brought in drinks and snack food, which everyone dug into as though it was the last food they would see for weeks. They were enjoying themselves so much that the sounds of the storm were drowned out by bursts of laughter and voices getting louder in attempts to hear themselves over the next person.

A sudden clap of angry thunder brought everyone to silence and the storm back into focus. Before anyone could say another word, a second boom of thunder shook the house, and the lights flickered. Seconds later, the power went out, plunging the room into darkness. As they sat shocked into silence, they could hear without any doubt that the storm had intensified to a dangerous level. Megan’s house seemed to breathe with the storm; it almost felt as if the roof was going to be ripped away at any moment as the shutters shook against the windows from the force of the wind. The sound of something heavy against the side of the house broke the silence and Paul could be heard getting up and walking towards the kitchen. They knew when he returned because he now had a flashlight shining in one hand and several more in the other.

“It may take a few minutes for the emergency generator to kick on,” Paul explained as he walked back into the room.

He reached across the coffee table and handed one to Eric and Zack, and then placed a lantern on the table and turned it on, casting a low light around those sitting down. Megan stretched behind her and picked up a portable, battery-operated TV they had for such emergencies and turned it on to try to find an updated newscast. Once she found a station that they could see clearly and hear the news reporter, Megan set the TV on the coffee table and they all listened intently.

“Hurricane Arlene is set to make landfall close to the area around the small township of Lady Fish Bay. All those within her path need to be ready to go to their safe rooms. The storm is forecasted to make landfall within the next few hours, and the winds have intensified to ninety-five-miles-per-hour. This will make Arlene a weak Category 2 hurricane when she makes landfall. Rain is making visibility impossible. Only emergency vehicles should be on the roads at this time. I repeat; those around Lady Fish Bay need to be taking all safety precautions that they can at this time. A reminder that once the eye of the storm is overhead, you should remain indoors. The back side of this storm is going to be the strongest, and the eye is relatively small. This means that the winds will begin to pick back up, and rain will once again become heavy with frequent lightning strikes. Storm surge is expected to be five to seven feet. Keep your stations tuned here for minute by minute updates and reports from our field reporters.”

“What do they mean the eye of the storm? And what is the back side?” Ashley asked those around her, eyes wide with fear. Suddenly the hurricane was very real to her and no longer something to joke and compare stories about.

It was Eric who calmly explained the basic workings of a hurricane to her, as the sounds of the storm continued to rage outside.

“What we are feeling now is the front half or the first part of the storm to make landfall. As it moves over us, the center, or eye, of the storm will be relatively calm from winds and the rain will slow to almost a stop. If it’s daytime, we might get some sun breaking through the clouds. Then the back half of the storm will approach, and the winds and rain will pick back up. There is always one side of the storm that is stronger than the other. Arlene just happens to be one that is going to have a stronger backside. But, Ashley, this is a small storm, and it’s moving fast. A couple more hours and the worst of it will be over. The important thing is that Megan’s house is built like a fortress, and we have it properly secured.”

As if to prove Eric’s point, a large branch from one of the many old Live Oak trees around Megan’s property broke loose and smashed against the front of the house. If the hurricane shutters had not been in place, the branch would have easily come through the window, bringing the wind and rain with it. Because Megan had chosen to use clear shutters, they could clearly see the branch hit the window. Ashley and Lucy both jumped in fright when it hit, and Megan visibly flinched as she thought of the damage to her beautiful trees.

“Even though we will get the power back on through the generators, it will not be a full strength like we usually have through the power company. Megan, I know that you went around the house earlier and unplugged any unnecessary lights and appliances. I did the same over at the office, and Aiden told me that he had checked over the apartment before he flew out with Sam this morning.”

Debbie looked over at Megan and smiled before she commented on the mention of the man currently renting a small apartment over one of the barns. He had just moved in the day before, but had left to go back to DC on business.

“I’m glad he and Sam got out safely. I know Sam was worried about the plane being here during the high winds. Have you heard from Aiden since he left?”

“Who’s Aiden and when did we rent out the apartment?” broke in Emma

“Oh, we can talk about all that later,” hedged Megan, “Right now let’s worry about getting comfortable for the duration of the storm.”

Emma narrowed her eyes at her mother. She knew when Megan was trying to avoid talking about something, but another flash of lightning followed by thunder distracted her as Ashley grabbed her arm in a fearful reaction. Deciding to comfort her friend, Emma let the question drop for now. But she made a mental note to get either her mother or her aunt to spill the dirt. Something had happened since she last talked to her mother, and she was going to find out what.

“It looks like we might as well all get comfortable for the night. We are just going to have to sit this out and see what the morning brings,” Paul said as he looked out the window and saw nothing but sheets of rain being pushed almost vertically from the force of the wind.

Chapter Two

As Paul and Eric had predicted, the storm was a fast moving one and the morning sunrise was clear of the dark storm clouds from the day before. Most of the wind had died down as well, leaving a pleasant breeze from the east. There would be a hot and humid day ahead of them with all the moisture left behind from Arlene, soon to evaporate with the summer heat. There would most likely be afternoon showers as a result.

Megan had stayed awake through the night, watching and listening while she comforted the puppy at her side. Fred had curled up between Emma and Ashley. As Megan looked around she smiled. Most of her visitors were sound asleep, curled up in chairs or stretched out on the floor on the inflatable mattresses that they had pulled out the night before. Lucy had her head on Paul’s shoulder and his arms cradled her protectively as they slept on the couch. Eric and Zack were each spread out on the mattresses snoring. Debbie was squeezed into a corner of the lounge chair with the two cats taking up as much room as they could. Megan had bought this chair to accommodate Paul’s large frame, so Debbie looked tiny in it.