Page 68 of Fake It For Love (Faux Love)
I headed for the door and practically sprinted to the lobby. There were plenty of people milling about. The staff were doing their best to keep everyone calm. Security lights kept the place from being plunged into total darkness.
I walked to the front doors and was stopped by a staff member. “Ma’am, it’s not safe to go outside right now.”
“I’m waiting for someone,” I said.
“No one is driving out there,” he said.
I stepped up to the window. With the darkness inside, it made it a lot easier to see what was happening outside. I wasn’t sure that was such a great thing. “Oh my gosh,” I breathed.
Norah was beside me. “Wow.”
There was debris everywhere. The trees were bending in half. Palm fronds littered the driveway and sidewalk area. One of the cars in the parking lot had a tree lying over the roof. It was much worse than I thought. “Do you really think he landed his plane in this?” I asked. “How? How could he have managed to fly in this storm?”
“I guess he’s that good,” she said.
“Now he has to get here,” I said. “That looks just as dangerous.”
“You need to get back,” the resort worker said. “The windows are strong, but we don’t want to take any chances.”
There was an energy in the lobby that I could feel. It was a combination of excitement and fear. It was adrenaline. We drifted back toward the other side of the lobby. Tony was there with some of his pals. They were excited about something. We looked out the window. “Damn,” Norah breathed. “Look at that.”
The water in the pool was splashing over. It looked as wild as the ocean. I couldn’t imagine the cleanup that would need to happen. I had a feeling the pool would be closed tomorrow. The amount of crap floating in the water was ridiculous. Chairs that hadn’t been secured were broken like matchsticks all over the patio.
“This storm is nothing like the ones we get up north,” Tony said.
“Is it a hurricane?” I asked.
“One of the employees said it was just a storm, not a hurricane,” Tony answered.
“I would hate to see a hurricane,” I murmured.
The sheer force of Mother Nature was awesome and terrifying at the same time. It would be actually really cool to watch with Ryan. I hated that he was out there in this nightmare. I had this ridiculous need to save him. Like I could take on the storm.
A waiter came around with glasses of champagne. “On the house,” he said when I raised an eyebrow.
“They’re trying to keep us drunk so we don’t panic,” Tony joked.
I sipped the drink because I really needed it in that moment. “I would think they would want people sober with their wits about them,” I said. “This feels like a disaster waiting to happen. Especially with your crew.”
“Hey,” he said. “What are you saying? Are you implying we’re animals?”
“Yes,” I said with a smile.
“Maybe a little.”
While the bulk of the crowd watched out back, I slowly made my way to the front of the lobby. I kept my eyes peeled for headlights. “Come on,” I whispered. “Please be safe.”
“Maybe we should sit down away from the windows,” Norah suggested.
“Where is he?” I asked her. “It’s been thirty minutes. It doesn’t take that long to get here.”
“Look outside,” she said. “I’m sure it’s taking a little while longer. He’ll be here. At least you know he landed safely. That’s the hard part. The easy part is getting here on land.”
“You would think,” I said. “What if a tree came down on them? What if the wind blew them off the road? There’s that one spot that did have a hillside. He could be lying out in this weather.”
“You go dark,” she said with a shake of her head. “Seriously dark.”
“I can’t help it. I shouldn’t think like that. It’s putting bad mojo in the universe. I have to stay positive.”
