When her lights flickered a bit, Cara glanced at them. It appeared her generator might be put to use after all. She put her mug down on the table and went to plug her phone in. She had faith in the generator…mostly. But the last thing she wanted was to be caught with her electronics not charged if it happened to fail. She had a couple of power blocks to charge as well.
Next, she pulled out a couple of pitchers to fill with water. She had a water dispenser downstairs in the studio along with three extra jugs, so she wouldn’t run out, but she didn’t want to have to run downstairs if she needed water.
Once she was sure she was as prepared as she was going to be, Cara took the container of food Kieran had brought her and went back to her seat. After saying a prayer of thanks for the food, she opened the box and saw that he’d gotten her the salad he knew she liked.
With a sigh, she stared at the salad, feeling deeply her resolve to take time to think over her decision. He’d said he loved her, but even without the words, he’d shown her time and time again that he did. But was it enough?
She really wanted it to be.
~*~
Kieran hung up his phone and tossed it on the couch beside him. He’d had to call his officers to make sure they were all aware of what was headed their way. The storm was supposed to have stayed well to the east of them in the mountains, but somehow it had slid far enough west to hit them, and from the look of things, it was going to be a doozy.
He’d been in contact with the mayor as well as the administrator of the senior care home already. His biggest concern was what would happen if they lost power. Some places, like the care home, the station, and the community center, had backup generators, but there were a lot of people who wouldn’t have power if electricity went out. And not everyone had wood-burning fireplaces to keep their homes warm without electricity.
Though he knew he needed to be focused on the town as a whole, Kieran couldn’t help but be concerned about the two women who meant the most to him. Picking up his phone again, he called his mom to check on her and to make sure that she’d filled some containers with water and had charged her phone and tablet.
Though he wanted to call Cara, he wasn’t sure his call would be well received after the way things had ended between them earlier. He was pretty sure that he wouldn’t be able to hold off calling her much longer, though, since he needed to be sure that she had what she would need should the electricity go off.
He was praying hard that the power wouldn’t go out because it would make his job a lot harder. His phone rang, and seeing that it was the mayor, Kieran answered. Without any pleasantries, she asked him to come to a meeting with herself, the fire chief and a few other town officials.
Once that call was over, Kieran went to his room to change into his uniform. He had a feeling this would end up being a long night, even if the power didn’t go off. People had been cautioned to stay off the roads, but he knew that for every ten that would heed that advice, there would be one who didn’t. And that one would get stuck and need to be rescued…
Knowing he might be tied up for a while, he decided to phone Cara on his way to the meeting. Already the roads were starting to get clogged with snow, and Kieran wasn’t looking forward to having to shovel snow in the coming hours.
“Hello?” Cara’s voice washed over him as he slowly guided his Jeep down the street.
“Hey. I just wanted to touch base and make sure that you were ready for the storm. Have you charged up your phone?”
“Yes, I’ve got my phone, tablet, and a couple of power banks all plugged in.”
Of course she did. That was one of the things he liked about her. She thought for herself, and even though he’d always want to check on her in situations like this, it would only be because of a need within himself, not because he actually thought she wouldn’t be prepared.
“There’s a possibility that we might lose power. Is your fireplace wood-burning?”
“No. It’s electric, but I do have a backup generator that will kick in if the power should go out.”
Kieran couldn’t help but chuckle. “Okay. That’s good.”
“Does your mom have somewhere to go if she loses power?”
“Not specifically. I’m on my way to a meeting with the mayor and other officials. We do have a few contingency plans for the more vulnerable people in town like families with small children or the elderly. Some people are prepared like you are with their own generator, or they have a wood stove or fireplace, but not everyone that needs them has them.”
“If your mom needs a place to go, she’s welcome here. Just call me if the power goes out, as I might not be aware of it if I’m sleeping.”
Feeling relieved that he wouldn’t have to worry about his mom if the power should go off, Kieran said, “Thank you. I really appreciate that.”
“As long as your mom is okay spending time with me,” Cara said, her voice subdued.
“You don’t have to worry about that,” Kieran assured her. “She has no problem with your past.”
“Okay.”
Kieran pulled his Jeep into a spot in front of the building housing the mayor’s office, guessing at where the parking lines were since the snow had long since obliterated them. “I gotta run. I’ll talk to you later, okay?”
“Yep. I hope everything goes smoothly.”
“That makes two of us.” Kieran turned off the Jeep, picking up his phone as the call switched over from the car’s Bluetooth. “Take care of yourself.”
“You too.”
The call ended with that, and he sat for a moment, saying yet another prayer that God would grant him another chance at a relationship with her. He knew he didn’t deserve it, but that didn’t keep him from wanting one.
CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE
Bracing himself for the blast of cold and snow, Kieran shoved open the car door and got out. He walked quickly to the glass double doors that led into the two-story building that was across the street from the police station. He headed for the stairs that led to the second floor and the board room where the meeting would be held.
He could smell coffee as he neared the room, and he couldn’t wait to get his hands on a cup of it. A glance around the room as he stepped inside showed that there were a couple of people who hadn’t arrived yet.
“Hey, Kieran.”
Turning, he spotted Stuart Price walking toward him, a cup of coffee in his hand. The large man with a shaved head had been the fire chief for the last twenty years. He’d grown up in New Hope, and he was devoted to the town. His oldest son had recently joined the fire department, determined to follow in his father’s footsteps.
Stuart’s deputy chief was there as well and greeted Kieran with a nod. Carter Ward was close to Kieran’s age, and by all accounts, he was good at his job. He’d moved into town a few years earlier, and though he attended church fairly regularly, he didn’t get involved in any of the programs.
Carter was a man of few words, however, and rarely initiated a conversation, but Kieran had learned to never underestimate the man’s ability to communicate when needed. They’d both spoken at events at the schools and had worked together on training exercises. When he needed to, the man was able to communicate very well.
“Guess I’d better get myself a cup of that before you two finish the pot,” Kieran said with a nod to the cups the men held.
Carter gave him a half-smile as he lifted his mug and took a swallow.
“I have a feeling it’s going to be a long night,” Stuart said with a sigh as he moved toward the large coffee urn. At least it wasn’t a twelve-cup pot. That probably wouldn’t have been enough to get them through the meeting.
After getting his coffee, Kieran greeted the others in the room as they waited for the mayor to show. He’d just gone back for a refill when she arrived.
“Good evening, everyone,” Bailey Patterson said as she headed straight for where Kieran stood next to the urn.
“Leave some for me?” she asked with a
n arched brow. Even at this late hour, she wore a suit, and had her hair pulled back in a bun similar to what Cara wore.
Kieran wasn’t sure if it was because she was young that she felt she had to keep a professional appearance whenever she was in her mayoral role, or if she really did like wearing suits that much. Though he realized that, except for the person in charge of the municipal buildings, they were all wearing their official uniforms.
“Half a cup, maybe.”
“You’d better hope there’s more than that,” she said as she reached for a cup. “I have a feeling we’re going to need it.”
Unfortunately, Kieran had the same feeling. Before going to the table, he snagged a couple of cookies from the container next to the coffee urn, fairly certain that Stuart’s wife had sent them with him.
The mayor settled into the seat at the head of the table. It didn’t take her long to get the meeting underway. Even though she was younger than almost everyone present, no one there questioned her authority because, over the past two years since her election, she’d proven herself more than capable of leading their town.
She quickly moved them through discussions on how they would tackle everything from emergencies to road cleanup to power loss. This was the first major snowstorm she would be facing as mayor, but having lived in New Hope Falls her whole life, she’d been through a few.
Throughout the meeting, the lights flickered, but it wasn’t until they were near the end that the electricity actually went out for more than just a couple of seconds.
“Well, it looks like we might be putting the worst-case scenario plan in place,” Bailey said. “Because of the way the temperature has dropped, if the power stays out for more than an hour, we’ll have to alert people with vulnerable persons in their households about where they can go if they feel it’s necessary to relocate.”
The power was still on when the meeting adjourned, but they were all braced for the worst. After saying goodbye to the others, Kieran made his way across the street to the station, leaving his Jeep where it was parked. It already had a healthy layer of snow on it, so he’d probably need a shovel in order to dig it out later.
If he could overlook the dangers that came with significant wet snowfall, the scene around him was kind of pretty. The blanket of white gave the town an eerie brightness under the moonlight. The Christmas lights on Main Street had been removed a couple days previously, but they would have made the night even prettier had they still been up.
Inside the warmth of the station, he greeted the two officers who were on duty. He gave them a rundown on what had been discussed at the meeting then retreated to his office. Though he didn’t necessarily need to stay the whole night, he wanted to be there if the power did end up going out.
He called his mom to check on her but resisted the urge to call Cara again. Even though their conversation earlier had gone fairly well, he didn’t want her to feel like he was taking advantage of the situation to force contact between them.
Instead, he focused on the weather reports, finding it a bit amazing that cities and towns to the west of New Hope weren’t getting the snowfall they were. Places to the east definitely were, though. Some of them worse than New Hope.
The heavy wet snow put them at risk for downed branches and powerlines. They weren’t really prepared for snow like that, but thankfully, it appeared that warmer temperatures would follow quickly behind the storm, melting most, if not all, of the snow within a matter of days.
Around ten, Kieran decided to head for home. The lights had continued to flicker but had stayed on, so he was hoping they would stay that way.
Back out in the cold and the snow, it took Kieran a while to get his Jeep cleaned off. By the time he climbed behind the wheel, his face felt half-frozen, and his lashes were damp from having to blink away the snow that had kept falling on him.
He drove past his mom’s, not too surprised to see that her lights were on. She tended to be a night owl even on the best of nights. He was sure she was seated in front of her fireplace, knitting while she watched something on television. Though he contemplated stopping, he decided to just head for home and give her a call once he got there.
He’d just turned the corner to his street when all the streetlights went off. By the time he’d reached his place, they hadn’t come back on. He pulled into his garage because he didn’t want to have to clear his car of snow yet again if he had to go back out.
As soon as he was in the house, he called his mom.
“You okay there?” he asked.
“So far, so good,” she said. “I turned the heat up earlier, so the house is toasty warm at the moment. Hopefully it will stay that way.”
“Cara has offered for you to stay with her if your place becomes too cold.”
“She has? You’ve talked with her?”
“I talked with her after church, but then we spoke again this evening.”
“Did you talk about getting back together?”
“I did, but I’m not sure she’s interested.”
“Ah, sweetie. Don’t give up on her too easily. Just give her some time to get used to the idea. Things ended rather harshly between the two of you.”
“My fault, I know,” Kieran said. “I wouldn’t blame her if she didn’t want to give me another chance.”
“We’ll just have to pray that if a relationship between you is God’s will that He will change her heart like He’s changed yours.”
Kieran knew that if this was ever going to work, God had to be the one in control of how things progressed from that point on. He hadn’t prayed at all before ending their relationship so abruptly. Hadn’t even taken the time to determine if it was God’s will that he end things with her. This was a tough lesson on how badly he could mess things up when he acted impulsively rather than seeking God’s direction.
Not sure that he wanted to discuss things any further with his mom, he said, “Anyway, she has generously opened her home if we need it. If things start to get too cold, let me know.”
“I will. Love you, son.”
“Love you too, Mom.”
After their call ended, he called the station to make sure their backup generator had come on, which it had. Next, he followed up with the senior care home to make sure they had power as well. Then the countdown began as to when they’d have to make a decision to open the community center since it was the largest place with a backup generator.
Knowing he wouldn’t be able to sleep, Kieran decided to head back to the station. At least there he’d have coffee. Something that seemed pretty important for surviving the night.
The power was still out a couple of hours later, and the temperature had continued to drop to unseasonably cold levels. With the electric company telling them it might be several hours yet before their workers could restore power, the contingency plan was put into motion. Kieran texted his mom to see how she was doing, not wanting to wake her with a call if she was still warm enough to sleep.
When she called him back, Kieran quickly made plans to pick her up. At one point in time, the fireplace at his mom’s had been wood-burning, but when she took over the home after his uncle’s death, she hadn’t wanted that hassle. Now he wished they’d left it alone.
Before leaving the station to get his mom, he took the time to phone Cara to make sure she was still okay with his mom staying with her.
“Kieran?”
“I’m sorry to wake you.”
“Is the power off?”
“Yeah. It’s been off for a couple of hours now.”
“Really?” He heard rustling on her end of the phone. “Why didn’t you call me sooner?”
“Mom wanted to wait until her place got too cold. Plus, we kind of hoped that the power wouldn’t be off for long. But we’re at the point now where we’re opening up the community center for people who need it. My mom could go there if you prefer.”
“No, bring her here if she’s okay with that.”
“Okay. I’m not sure how
long it will take me to get her to your place. The roads are a mess.”
“No worries. I’ll unlock the front door. Just come up when you get here. All my alarms will be turned off.”
“Thank you. I really appreciate this,” Kieran said. “I’ll see you in a bit.”
What should only have taken ten minutes ended up taking close to forty-five by the time he got the vehicle cleaned off and slowly made his way to his mom’s. When he finally pulled his Jeep to a stop in front of Cara’s place, he noticed that there was a light illuminating the main floor.
He helped his mom from the Jeep then took the bag she’d packed from the back seat. As promised, the door was unlocked when he pulled on it. They tracked in some snow, so his mom insisted that they take their boots off in the entryway. Kieran led his mom along the hallway, listening as she exclaimed over the pictures of Cara hanging there.
The door to the apartment opened as they made their way up the stairs, and Cara greeted his mom with a smile.
“Welcome to my home,” Cara said as she stepped back so they could enter the apartment.
“Thank you for allowing me to bunk down here. I hope it’s not an inconvenience.”
“Not at all.” She was wearing a pair of floral leggings and a dark blue sweatshirt. Her hair was in a messy bun with tendrils slipping free against her cheeks.
“I’m going to head back out, Mom,” Kieran said as he set her bag down. He wanted to stay, but he needed to be available at the station as they fielded calls from people wondering about the power outage. He’d probably have to make his way to the community center at some point too.
“Stay safe,” his mom said as she gave him a hug.
“I will.” He turned to Cara. “Thanks again for letting Mom stay here with you.”
Because of Him: A Christian Romance (New Hope Falls Book 2) Page 30
