Stormy Surrender (New Hope #1)

by Nicole Andrews Moore

  Looking at Keely, Marti asked the question that had been plaguing her, “What took them so long to respond? It looks like this was burning for quite some time.”

  Shaking her head, she replied, “Miss Gracie has worn them out. She calls all the time. I believe twice even in the past week. It was a case of her crying wolf one too many times. I know the place is insured. That isn’t the problem, but poor Joe doesn’t have a lot of disposable income.”

  Marti could feel all the eyes on her. And in her mind, she knew it was her fault. She was the reason that Miss Gracie had been calling the fire department so much lately. And if Joey hadn’t been with her, then he would have been home and called. Her eyes studied the boards as she pondered what to do, how she could help, if there was any way she could right this awful wrong.

  Ironic. That’s what this was. He had stood in the front window more days than he could count and wished that Marti’s house would disappear, be leveled, anything so that he didn’t have to look at it and remember the big dreams he had for it and his relationship with Finn. Now it was his house that was almost completely destroyed. What wasn’t damaged in the fire was destroyed in the process of putting it out. Water damage. Smoke damage. Fire damage. It was the magical trifecta. He had it all. Now he found himself rubbing his chest again as he considered it. Maybe this wasn’t ironic. Maybe this was karma. He had spent all that time wishing ill and now it had come back to haunt him. What was the universe trying to tell him? He believed in signs, and this one was a complete mystery.

  “Hey, Joe!” The fire chief, Danny called to him. “You are lucky you weren’t here. You probably wouldn’t have made it out alive between the lightening and the gas…whew! Count your blessings.” As he spoke, Joey had sought out Marti in the crowd. He smiled when he found her on her porch with Laurel and Keely, passing out drinks, lifting spirits, feeding souls. The fire chief noticed. “I haven’t met her yet. She’s cute. I should go introduce myself.” He started to turn, and though Joey realized he was probably just being tested, he couldn’t help himself.

  “She’s off limits. She’s completely taken…by me. Back off.” He had crossed his arms over his chest and straightened some at the idea that someone else might want to chase after the woman he had just shared such a passionate experience with. Danny just smirked at him. “I mean it,” he said as he walked away, directly to Marti.

  He wasn’t thinking. All he knew was that he longed to find comfort in her arms. He had lost what little he had. And his spirit sure could use her special brand of nourishment. He pushed through the crowd until he reached her. She passed a fireman a cup of coffee and was giving one to the policeman to her right who was eyeing her with more interest than Joey was comfortable with. As soon as that mug had left her hands, he whirled her into his arms and buried his face in her hair.

  “What was that for?” She asked as she slowly extricated herself from his grasp so she could see his face.

  “You saved me,” he said simply. “If I had been there, I would have more than likely died from the lightening igniting the gas explosion.” He hauled her back against him. “And I’d like to point out to you that now we have one more thing in common.”

  She giggled. “Oh really? And what is that?”

  “Now we both own homes we can’t live in.” He shrugged. He had been through worse. At least this wasn’t so bad, knowing that he had someone like Marti to depend on in this situation. Without asking, he knew that about her. He just knew her.

  “You can come stay with me at Hope House. I will be leaving bright and early for Vermont with your crew. You can have my room while I’m gone. You can stay as long as you need to or until one of us has a house to live in. How about that?” She hugged him back.

  Setting his chin on top of her head, he responded, “I’d like that very much.”

  While everyone else slowly went to their respective homes, Joey and Marti cleaned up her house before hopping in their vehicles and driving to Hope House. News traveled fast enough in town without word getting out about the blanket in the front room, the wet panties balled up in the bathroom, and the towels scattered about the floor. The drive was long enough for both of them, bone tired as they were.

  Hope House was dark and quiet when they entered and snuck up the stairs. While Keely had heard that he would be staying in her room, she really didn’t need the situation to feel any more awkward than it already was. When they reached her room, they found a fire lit in the fireplace, a bottle of Moscato chilling on a tray and next to it what can only be described as a slab of chocolate cake…along with two forks and two glasses.

  They smiled at each other. Joey started to uncork the wine while she walked into the bathroom to clean up from the fire. She stopped in the doorway. “You have got to see this,” she called to him.

  Walking over, he peered into the room. There were numerous candles lit, a bubble bath drawn, and on the counter was a note.

  Marti picked it up and read it aloud. “Thought you two could use a bath after the fire. Relax and try to salvage the night. Love, Keely and Laurel”

  “Holy hell,” he said, genuinely surprised.

  “Right?” She glanced at him, standing there holding the wine. “So, pour us some glasses and we can clean up before bed?”

  He kissed her on the lips ever so gently. “Sounds perfect.”

  In the end, they decided to clean up first and then luxuriate in the Hope House bathrobes. Marti had taken special care to scrub the smoke out of Joey’s scalp. A soak had helped with the rest. When he worried over smelling like a girl, she reminded him that smelling like a bonfire was far worse. And he conceded. They lounged on the floor in front of the fireplace, talking, sipping wine, and eating chocolate cake.

  All of a sudden, he leapt up and grabbed for his coat. “I almost forgot.” He was a bit frantic. Then he pulled a box out of his pocket. When he turned around with his hand outstretched, she was shocked.

  “When did you…” She was utterly confused.

  “I rescued it from the house. I bought a bunch all at once. I knew there would be certain milestones and I wanted to be ready.” He smiled. “Open it.”

  Her hand was shaking. She couldn’t imagine what that one was. She was actually a little scared. Did they make a sex charm? She pushed the lid back on the spring box. And there is was…a silver lightening bolt. She giggled. Then she looked at him, leaned over and kissed him on the lips.

  “I figure this one will have a lot of meaning, a ton of memories attached to it.” He sat beside her and began the process of adding that charm to the bracelet. “See, I bought it because I knew at some point this year we’d be bound to get one heck of a storm. We always do. And I figured that with you right across the road, there was a good chance that we would be spending it together. I just had no idea we’d be spending it together like that.” With the charm attached, he kissed her wrist.

  “Wow.” She just studied the bracelet that had come to mean so much to her so soon. While she looked at it, he sat down with her and wrapped an arm around her waist. “I wish I didn’t have to leave in the morning. I wish I could stay here with you, help you.”

  “There’s nothing for you to do. I’ll call my insurance company in the morning. The fire chief will submit a report. A claims adjuster will come out and look at the place. Sometimes homeowners luck out and get a check that same day. Other times, it takes longer, bids have to be submitted by contractors, that kind of thing. We’ll see what happens. Just know that I really appreciate you letting me stay here, both with and without you.”

  “Well, I want you to be well rested before you touch any power tools,” she joked. “I mean, clearly you are an insurance nightmare and I don’t know if my homeowner’s policy covers self-inflicted injuries.” She smirked at him.

  “I have my own insurance to cover that, actually. And you’re right. I don’t think they insure against stupid.” He chuckled.

  Soon they had climbed into bed. It was a new experience for bo
th of them. As a philandering surgeon’s wife, she was unused to going to bed with anyone. And as a confirmed bachelor, he never allowed women to spend the night. This was the second time he had broken that rule with her in as many nights.

  “Will you be staying all night?” He asked with a smirk.

  “It’s my room. Where would I go?” She rolled onto her side and waited while he took the hint and wrapped himself around her. She sighed happily. “I could get used to this.”

  As much as he wanted to, Joey was afraid of surrendering so quickly. He was afraid of giving up the principles that had kept him safe for the last three years. He worried that if he gave in, if her let her in, if he loved her, like he had once loved Finn, he’d lose her. Life had taught him that loss was inevitable and that those you love tend to disappoint you. Only there was something in her that he believed, something about her he wanted to trust, and a life that he could very nearly grasp. Maybe the fire was telling him to let go of his house, in order to have his dream house and dream life with Marti. It could happen. If he could only let go and believe.

  At six in the morning, Marti was gently nudging him. “Hey, handsome. Ready to get up and introduce me to your crew? I’d love to not drive sixteen hours trapped in a vehicle with complete strangers.” He didn’t move. There was no indication that he had heard her. She sighed. “Never mind. I’ll just introduce myself. Guys love a damsel in distress.” She hopped out of bed and opened her closet door. “Gee, I hope I have a shirt that is cut low enough for this trip…”

  He sat up in bed. “I’m up. You’re going north so you probably need to wear a turtleneck…a nice big baggy turtleneck.”

  Laughing, she walked into the bathroom. “Well, it looks like I’ll be wearing a turtleneck anyway. Look at this neck!” She studied the bruised marks he had left all over her neck and upper arms. “I swear. I didn’t even have these when I was a teenager.”

  Coming up behind her, he pressed against her while putting a hand on either side of her at the sink. “That’s some of my finest work,” he argued. “It’s like a seal of approval. It says, ‘Joe was here.’” And then he acted like he was going to dive in and create another one while Marti giggled and pushed him away.

  It felt good. She really was living again. It was a good look for her. And that’s when she remembered. “Okay, let’s put aside for a moment the fact that you have staked your claim…or sucked your claim even. Let’s think about making Blaine eat his heart out.”

  He frowned for a moment. “Are you over him? Are you using me to make him jealous? I have been in that position before and it’s just easier if we are all up front about these things.” He crossed his arms over his chest and waited thoughtfully for a response.

  “Do you really have to ask me that? I would think last night would be proof enough. I can’t fake that, Joey. I can’t pretend. I don’t play games with the heart. Love is far too valuable, far too rare. I’m really feeling for you in a way that is completely unexpected, utterly unplanned, and incredibly unbelievable.” She walked up to him and kissed him on the lips…nice and lingering. “Does that answer your question?” She raised an eyebrow and challenged him to find fault with her response.

  “Yeah. We’re good.” He sighed. “Okay, so let’s make that loser regret losing you.”

  The outfit selection came with a mini lesson. It focused on the art of dressing sexy the right way. And there was a bonus lesson that she would later think of as ‘Nothing is Sexier than Confidence.’ Joey was certainly right. After all, he had way more years of experience with the male mind. For that reason alone, she deferred to his expertise. Another reason was that he was giving her the inside look into his mind, too. He was sharing what he found attractive. And that mattered to her more than anything.

  They left Hope House before Keely could make it out of the kitchen. And then they drove in their vehicles to her house. Pulling into the driveway yet again earned her a stern look, which she laughed off. Soon enough the three guys he had roped into going to Vermont with her were loaded into the Escape with their change of clothes for the quick trip.

  The guys were in the SUV, and Joey walked over and hauled her into his arms. “I need you to know how much last night meant to me. I know I don’t tell you. I know I’m lousy at letting you in. You deserve so much more than I have to offer.”

  He might have said more, but she interrupted and stuck a finger over his lips. “Hey, I get to decide if you are good enough, not you…just like you get to decide if I’m good enough. Quite frankly…I’m awesome. You’d be crazy to walk away from this.” She struck a pose with kissy lips and was rewarded with the laugh she hoped to receive.

  “Well, no one has ever been able to prove that I’m crazy, but there are a few who have made that claim.” He looked down at her, kissed her forehead, and sent her on her way. “Climb in. Don’t forget your seat belt. Always look both ways. Finally, for the love of God, start backing in. It could save your life.” He shut the door and watched as she backed out of her driveway and headed a thousand miles away from him. He was going to feel every minute of her absence. Sighing, he walked to the porch and prepared to motivate the rest of the crew to work a miracle while she was away.

  They took turns driving just like he suggested, but when she wasn’t, she had shotgun. She offered to move to the back seat, but they were all careful to keep their distance. One muttered something about needing his job and having a family to support. It seemed that they had all been warned away from her. She smirked and shook her head when she thought of him talking to them.

  They arrived at the house about the time the 11 o’clock news started. They had made good time, but after sixteen hours in the vehicle, they all needed to stretch. “Damn, this is going to be a long night,” she complained. “Okay, guys. The plan is simple. We need to load the POD that was dropped off here.” She pointed to the storage container in front of the garage. “Furniture first, then boxes. And we have to be done by 9am. That’s when they are coming back to pick it up. That’s when my time is up. No doubt I’ll have to deal with my soon to be ex at some point. We stay focused. I’ll be the runner, too, since I’m otherwise useless. I’ll go get us drinks and food. I’ll pick up whatever you need.”

  They nodded and even though they were all tired before they even started, they seemed determined to help her out the best they could. There were boxes and packing tape, bubble wrap and blankets to cover furniture all in the POD. It took little time to get organized. And soon enough, they were working together like they had been doing it for years instead of hours.

  By 7am they were nearly finished. Everything was labeled that the guys still needed to load. “What if I go pick up breakfast for us? We might be able to leave early even. The POD company gave me a window of now to 9am at the latest.” So after they placed their breakfast orders, she headed to the Escape to grab them breakfast at the nearest McDonald’s. She could back out of this driveway in her sleep. Some mornings she would arrive before volunteering at the children’s hospital and swear that she had. This morning wasn’t much different. She couldn’t wait to get that large Coke.

  She shifted into reverse and looked in the mirror as she headed down the curved driveway to the road. It was a quiet road. In the last five years of living there, she had crossed paths with through traffic maybe twice. The warmer temperatures during the day yesterday combined with the dusting of snow over the newly frozen ice made it difficult to stop.

  There was movement up at the house. Two of the guys had just finished loading the big old comfy couch that Blaine had always hated. They were waving at her. She kept backing up, since she couldn’t understand what they were waving about. The Escape started to slide. Maybe that’s what they were worrying about. She was an experienced winter driver. She wasn’t worried. And then as she turned in her seat to look behind while gently accelerating, she saw something glint in the early morning sun. By the time she realized what it was, the bumper of an eighteen wheeler, they had connected w
ith a frightening crunch.

  Marti was propelled into the steering wheel and hit her head. She couldn’t say for sure on what. It was a minute or two before she collected herself enough to extract herself from the crumpled heap that was once her Escape. She reached up and touched the side of her head where the knot was already forming. She was in shock. She knew that. She could see it. She definitely felt it. And so she reached for her purse, fumbled around inside for her phone, then touched the screen to call the one person in the world who would know what to do, how to comfort her, even if he was more than likely to play the ‘I told you so’ card.

  “Joey,” she began quietly.

  “Babe! How are you?” He asked her enthusiastically. “Tell me you are calling to say you are on your way home or that you missed me…hell, tell me both.”

  She whimpered. “You were right. I was wrong. I thought we should get that out of the way right now.” She sniffled.

  “What was I right about?” He asked, suddenly alarmed, standing stiffly against the brand new quartz countertop in her kitchen. “What’s wrong? Why are you crying?”

  “For the record, I’m not crying. I have a bloody nose.” She sighed.

  “And why is your nose bleeding? Do I need to head up there? Just say the word.” He was starting to pace on her freshly tiled floor. He raked his hands through his hair a few times.

  “Word,” she mumbled. “Word, word, word word word.” She was holding a paper towel against her nose. When she glanced down, she realized that she had drips of blood down the front of her shirt. “Fuck! Fuck fuck fuck.” She was so frustrated and embarrassed that she passed the phone to the nearest guy. “Just talk to him. Please.” She started to walk away. “Damn, I’m hungry. I really wanted breakfast.” She turned around and headed toward the front door. “This is one of the many reasons I’m moving!” She yelled to no one in particular.