Chapter Nineteen
Everly tried to take a deep breath, but the air wouldn’t come. The authorities had let her walk into Beneath the Cover that morning, and with the boys hanging with some of the Montgomerys who now knew the entire Rachel situation—and wasn’t that a fun conversation—she and Storm could do a walkthrough.
She’d been expecting the worst.
She hadn’t been expecting this.
It was so much worse than she’d thought.
“Everything’s gone,” she whispered into the darkness. “Nothing’s left.”
Storm wrapped his arms around her from behind, but she didn’t lean into him. She couldn’t. But the idea that he was there if she were to fall let her stand up straighter. Everything had a black tinge to it with streaks and burn marks covering what was left of the walls. By some mercy, the fire hadn’t spread to any of the connecting buildings. Though the alarms hadn’t gone off to warn her or the fire department, people had called the emergency lines right away, and the fire had been contained easily.
Only not fast enough to save any of her things.
She had insurance, and now with Rachel’s name being attached rather than an unknown, her insurance could start helping. There hadn’t been another unknown phone call that set her on edge, but she still didn’t know if all of that was connected. She also didn’t know if the note was from Rachel, or why it would have been sent to Jackson, but Everly had a feeling it was all connected. It had to be.
She’d be able to rebuild from the ground up, but she’d lost so much. Even with the Montgomerys’ help, rebuilding couldn’t bring back the way the old stone had looked against the pale cream of the walls. It couldn’t bring back the hours and hours of work she’d put into building the shelves and picking out her inventory. It wouldn’t bring back the tiny decorations she’d put in for the fairies that the children loved to imagine existed within the walls of her store. It wouldn’t bring back the memories she’d had with her children within these walls.
Everything was gone.
Even her staff had been forced to find other work while she waited to reopen. She couldn’t pay them with no income herself, and they’d understood. But now, she felt just that much more alone in what remained of her home away from home.
Storm kissed the top of her head, and she was reminded that no, she wasn’t truly alone, even if the ash-soaked walls wanted her to feel it.
“Jesus Christ,” Austin muttered under his breath.
“I’m so sorry, Everly,” Sierra, Austin’s wife added. She owned the boutique named Eden a few doors down and could have lost her place, too if the fire had spread.
Every one of the Montgomerys except Marie and Harry who had chosen to stay at their place with all the grandbabies—including her twins—was with her in her shop so she wouldn’t feel alone. Even Jillian had come to hold her hand, and damn it, she’d needed it. The two of them had grown close over the past few weeks—something that completely surprised her. But they both loved Storm—if in different ways—and that connected them.
Wes and Decker moved through the place in front of her, looking at the damage with their technical eyes. The others moved around, as well, taking photos and notes for her on what the insurance company needed. The adjuster had already been out, but no one was taking any chances. Tabby had brought coffee for everyone and kept hugging Everly as they both tried to hold back tears. It was all just too much.
But with the fact that Rachel had been the one to do this, everything had come full circle. They were still searching for her, as they couldn’t find her at home. Clay was inconsolable and had called to apologize over and over again. She never blamed Clay for how their lives had been connected through Storm and would never blame him for his aunt. But with Rachel’s cruel streak coming to light, Everly now knew what she had to do about Jackson’s other children.
There was no way her twins could have anything to do with Rachel, but with Clay and his grandparents, she’d find a way for the five siblings to get to know one another. That would happen eventually, but first…first, she needed to make sure her store was salvageable.
Storm kissed her temple, and she sighed. “Love you.”
“Love you, too,” she whispered. She couldn’t believe that she loved Storm Montgomery, or that his entire family had rallied around her when she’d needed them. Somehow, she’d gone from her own tiny island to the continent that was the Montgomerys.
Shocking didn’t even begin to cover it.
But she wasn’t alone. She had her sons and the man she loved…and perhaps a future she could depend on. Even a few months ago, she never would have thought that would be the case, but now, here she was, in Storm’s arms. She was even happy, despite where she stood. Because in the end, she could rebuild.
She would.
“I’m going to rebuild,” she said softly. Only it must not have been as soft as she thought because everyone stopped what they were doing, mixtures of pride and understanding showing in their eyes.
“We’ll make it exactly what you want. We can’t replace what you have, but we can make it work.”
She turned into Storm’s arms and kissed his chin. “Yes, we can.” She wasn’t sure when they’d become a we, but she wouldn’t change it for anything. We can do this, she told herself. As long as she had Storm and the Montgomerys, she could do anything.
****
Storm was one lucky man. He didn’t know how it had happened, but somehow, he was living a life he’d never even dreamed of. Nothing like what he had with Everly and the twins had been on his radar, and yet he knew it was the life he’d always needed.
He was in love with a woman with so much courage and strength, his own paled in comparison, and all of that just made him want to be a better man. He didn’t know exactly what would happen next, as neither of them was ready for marriage, but they were finding their way through this new aspect of their relationship and enjoying it.
At least, he was.
And from the happy smile on her face right then, he figured she was, as well.
“Okay, so the diner for dinner then?” Storm asked as he and Everly buckled the boys into their car seats.
“I’m craving country-fried chicken and gravy,” she answered with a laugh. “I know it’ll go right to my hips, but I had dreams about that black pepper cream gravy.”
Storm’s mouth watered, and he snorted. “That sounds amazing. I guess we’ll just have to get a workout in tonight if we’re going to have all that fried food.”
Her eyes darkened, and he winked. Damn, he loved this woman.
James grinned up at him from his seat, and Storm buckled him in. “You ready for dinner, buddy?”
“French fries!” James squealed, his voice sounding clearer by the week. His speech therapy was working, and his body had taken to the cochlear implant amazingly well.
“Yay! Fries!” Nathan clapped his hands as he said it, his voice loud and bright. His lungs were doing well that week, and that was another thing in the plus column.
“Can Randy come?” James asked. The boys loved his dog and considered the puppy theirs, as well.
“Not in the restaurant, but he’ll be with you when you sleep tonight.”
“Good,” Nathan said solemnly. “He shouldn’t be lonely.”
“No one should, buddy.
As Storm got into the front seat and took Everly’s hand as she got into the truck with them, he smiled. Their lives had been in the negative column over and over again recently, but now things were looking up. He and his family were talking about the accident and getting everything out in the open. Both of the twins were getting healthier and loved the fact that Storm was around more and more. Everly’s store might be in shambles at the moment, but that wouldn’t always be the case. The Montgomerys would help rebuild and had all rallied around her the moment she’d needed help—probably even before she realized it.
The only thing hovering over them was Rachel. He held back a scowl at that thought. The police hadn’t found her yet since she’d apparently gone to ground, but Storm knew they would. There wasn’t another acceptable outcome.
“You’re frowning,” Everly whispered. “What’s wrong?”
Storm kept his attention on the road but pulled their clasped hands to his lips to leave a soft kiss on her even softer skin. “Just thinking, but I’m pushing those thoughts from my head and am going to focus on gravy.”
Everly gave him a worried look that he caught out of the corner of his eye but smiled anyway. “And mashed potatoes. And possibly apple pie.”
Storm groaned. “All the food, Ev. All the food.”
“All the food!” James repeated.
“Food! Food! Food!” Nathan chanted.
Everly laughed and turned on the sound system. “How about a song?” She leaned closer to Storm and lowered her voice. “They’re hyper at the moment, so we might as well let them sing a song rather than scream about food.”
“Sounds like a plan.”
She turned on the song they’d played about two hundred times since he and Ev had started dating, and the boys began to sing along about dancing and feelings. James and Nathan were also addicted to the brightly colored and shiny movie that the song came from, so Storm had the words down by heart.
The kids were enthusiastic if not adept at their singing, so Storm shrugged and joined them. Everly laughed and did the same, and soon, the four of them were singing and laughing and on their way to dinner as…well, as a family. He wasn’t their father and never would be, but he loved those boys and loved the woman next to him. That was all he needed.
Storm squeezed Everly’s hand, feeling the happiest he’d been for a long time, and if he hadn’t had his eyes on the road, he would have missed the bright shine of headlights coming at the car head-on.
Only he didn’t have time to turn out of the way or hit his brakes. Everly screamed, and the boys cried out. Metal smashed, and rubber burned. Glass shattered around them, and for a moment, he thought he was back where this had all started. But that wasn’t the case. He was here…with his family…with Ev and the boys…and the world had shattered around them.
A sharp pain radiated down his arms and legs, then nothing.
There was nothing.
Only numbness.
And darkness.
And nothing.