Chapter Ten

Diana awoke from a nightmare, her whole body clammy and her hands shaking. She sat up in bed and opened her eyes, but there were no shadows, nothing but total darkness. She held up her hand and brought it close to her face but couldn’t see it until her eyes readjusted to what little light there was.

“No electricity,” she muttered. She threw the covers back and crawled out of bed and was amazed that the bedroom was still reasonably warm. She remembered seeing the breaker box in the utility room off the kitchen, so she headed that way. “Hopefully it’s just a matter of throwing a switch.”

In the complete darkness, she hit her knee on the nightstand, bent to rub it, and smacked her forehead on the old iron bedstead. She seemed to be the only one awake, and the house would cool down rapidly if the switch that had flipped controlled the heating unit.

It was no different from when she was at home in Sugar Run. She’d make her way to the back bedroom closet where the breaker box was located and take care of things. But at home she knew her way around her bedroom in the dark; here, not so much. Holding her hands out in front of her, she found the chest of drawers. The chair where she always dropped her purse was just to the left of that. She felt her way carefully but still bumped her shin on the chair before her fingers located it.

“If this is what it’s like to be blind, I never want to lose my eyesight,” she muttered as she searched her purse by feel for the flashlight. She found it and pushed the bottom, and nothing happened.

“Dammit!” she swore under her breath. “The battery is dead.” Then she realized that what she was holding didn’t have a key chain on the end.

“Lipstick,” she giggled as she fumbled around again, finally bringing up the flashlight. She held her breath as she pushed the button and bit back a shout when a small ray of light appeared.

The tiny thing was to help you find a keyhole, so it didn’t offer a lot. She focused it on the floor and took one step at a time. She’d made it halfway down the stairs when something hit her on the cheek. She’d forgotten about the chain that turned on the light at the top of the stairs. It wasn’t all that big, but the crystal ball at the end hit her square in the eye.

“Ouch!” she groaned. She threw the tiny ray of light upward and sat down on a step until the ball stopped swinging. Then she got up and made her way to the bottom. Once there, she held up the flashlight so that she wouldn’t stumble over an end table or a kitchen chair.

A really nice blaze was going in the fireplace, throwing not only warmth throughout the room but a golden light. She frowned, remembering that Luke had banked it so that nothing but embers were glowing before he’d left the evening before. Had Tootsie gotten up in the night, found the electricity was out, and put more wood on the fire? If so, that meant that they hadn’t popped a breaker but that the power was out in the whole area. She held up the flashlight to light the way to the kitchen and didn’t even see the big lump on the floor.

One minute she was taking a step, the next she stubbed her toe on what she’d figured was an ottoman and was falling forward. The flashlight flew out of her hand and landed on the floor, and suddenly she was lying on top of Luke. His eyes opened, and his expression registered total shock. She tried to roll to the side but couldn’t because his arms were wrapped around her, her breasts pressed against his hard chest.

His hands, splayed out on her back, jacked her pulse up at least ten notches more. Suddenly she was too hot, and his lips were too close. Even though his face looked eerie with the light shining on it from the side, she wanted to lean forward and kiss him.

She couldn’t breathe—not only from having the wind knocked out of her but because of a desire to throw back the quilt and crawl inside the cocoon with him.

Tootsie pulled up the covers around her neck and still couldn’t get warm. She turned toward Smokey to snuggle up against his warm back, only to realize that she was holding on to a cold pillow.

“I miss you so much,” she sighed. “You were always there to keep me warm on these cold nights.”

Rain beat on the window like BB pellets, and all was darkness when she finally sat up in the bed. “Dammit! The electricity is out,” she moaned. “I’ve got four kids here and no power. What am I going to do, Smokey?”

First you check the breaker box, remember? His voice was clear enough that she made sure he wasn’t lying beside her. She grabbed the flashlight from the nightstand drawer and started across the cold floor. A burst of warm air hit her when she opened the door. She heard a noise like something falling, then heavy breathing.

Starting back to get her pistol, she caught sight of a bit of light in her peripheral vision and followed it to the living room, where she found Diana stretched out on top of Luke.

“Well, well!” she said. “Am I interrupting something here?”

Luke sat straight up, rolling Diana off to the side. “No, ma’am. I was out cold, and suddenly Diana fell on me.”

Diana sat up beside him. “I didn’t know he was—”

Tootsie laughed out loud. “I was teasing y’all. I can see you’re both dressed and that Luke is wrapped up like a cocoon in that quilt. Why don’t we look at the breaker box? ’Course I’m thinking the electricity is blown for the whole area. That’s not unusual up here when it storms. Might be out for a few hours or days if this weather don’t let up.”

“I’ll go check it. Y’all might want to grab a blanket and claim either a recliner or the sofa to stay warm.” Luke got free of the quilt, stood to his feet, and started that way only to bump his leg on a chair. “Mind if I use one of those flashlights?”

Tootsie handed him the one she had and then sat down in the recliner. “I can leave the door to my bedroom open, and heat rises, so y’all should be fine upstairs until the power comes back on. But it’s not going to be as warm as usual. Hope y’all brought plenty of clothing, because the washer and dryer won’t be working.”

“We’ll be fine.” Diana moved from the floor to the sofa. “We caught up the laundry yesterday, so we’ve got plenty to hold us for a few days. That’s a minor thing compared to cooking.”

Tootsie pointed to a clock hanging on the wall. “Smokey bought that ugly thing years ago after we spent a day without electricity. I hated the damn thing, but the next time the power went out, I learned to appreciate it. At least we knew what time it was. He changed the battery when we got here every fall and then when we left and kept extras in the kitchen drawer. Lord, I miss that man. He was so organized.”