Not to mention Nevvie welcomed the distraction.

They headed out a little after nine, following Nevvie calling home to check in. Tom and Tyler agreed with her plan. "Let's consider this shopping trip an early birthday present," Nevvie told Laurie with a smile. With four weeks until her thirteenth birthday, Nevvie didn't feel guilty about wanting to spoil her little sister, considering all the years they'd missed. "I can make up for all the birthdays we weren't together."

Laurie smiled. "I'm glad you're here for this one."

"Me, too."

Hair and nails first. Then lunch at the food court before their shopping began in earnest. Nevvie didn't just shop for Laurie, but for herself and her sons, too. She bought them clothes, a new video game system to replace the aging one at Peggy's, along with several games the boys and Laurie would enjoy playing together.

On a whim, Nevvie asked, "How old is your laptop?"

"A couple of years old. It's Mom's old one. Why?"

Nevvie grinned. Easier to get forgiveness than permission. "Consider this an early Christmas, too." She took them to an electronics store where, after looking at several models, Nevvie bought her a mid-line unit that would last the girl a couple of years, at least.

Then they headed to their last stop. "I asked Dad and Mom about this, and it's okay with them," she said as she pulled up in front of the cell phone store. "They are going to have rules on when you can use it, but this is an extra special present from me to you. Okay?"

She leaned over and hugged Nevvie. "Oh my god, thank you!" she squealed.

An hour and one new iPhone later, they were back home at Peggy's. "Goodness gracious," Peggy commented. "Did you buy out the whole mall?"

Nevvie grinned. "After what happened in Yellowstone, Tyler pretty much gave me a license to spend."

As the women watched Laurie schlep her purchases into the house to her bedroom, Peggy leaned in close to Nevvie. "She doesn't look as worried as she did this morning. Good job, sugar."

"How bad is the storm? Have you been checking on it?"

Peggy's lips pressed together in a thin line. "I wish the boys and your folks were up here instead of down there. But I know Tommy would never risk anyone's safety. If he thinks y'all's house is safe, it's safe." She looked at Nevvie. "Still, it wouldn't break my heart to have all y'all up here for good, either."

The twins and Clay arrived not too long after Nevvie and Laurie returned. The twins had decided to get their stuff that afternoon because the weather would quickly deteriorate by the next afternoon as Edgar's outer bands approached their area. After they were settled in their rooms, they gathered with Peggy at the kitchen table.

"I'm not looking forward to this," Elle said as she stared at her glass of iced tea.

Danny nodded in agreement but didn't speak.

"Are you sure you don't want me to go with you this afternoon?" Clay asked.

"Not that we don't want you to go, Dad," Elle said, "but Mom will start in on us whether or not you're there. It might be worse if you are. You know how she is. I just want to get our stuff and get out of there with as little grief as possible."

"I could go with you," Andrew offered. "I wouldn't mind."

Danny and Elle exchanged a glance. Nevvie stepped in. "He can drive my Pilot. We'll put the seats down so you can fit more stuff in. It'll go faster with three people than with two, right?"

"Are you sure, Grandpa?" Danny asked.

Nevvie didn't know if Andrew, Peggy, or herself brightened more over his comment. Nevvie suspected at the rate the family was adopting Andrew that if Peggy didn't eventually marry him everyone would turn on her.

He nodded. "Absolutely."

"I know I'd really appreciate it," Clay said.

"Then it's settled," Andrew said. "We'll go get this done and over with and enjoy what we can of the weekend. It's liable to get a bit wild outside by Saturday."

The twins went to get ready. Peggy hugged Andrew and gave him a kiss. "Thank you, Grandpa," she said, smiling.

"It's quite all right, love."

"I'll get you my keys, Dad," Nevvie said, unable to contain her pleased grin.

After the three of them left, Nevvie went out to the shed with Clay in an attempt to help him straighten it up to make room. As Nevvie soon discovered, he wouldn't let her help. Instead, he insisted she sit down and stay out of the way.

"Nevvie, if I let you help me and something happens to those babies, Peggy, Tommy, and Tyler will all kill me. You just sit there and keep me company."

"I'm not an invalid!"

"I know, but I don't care." He shuffled boxes of Christmas ornaments around into a neater pile. "You don't need to be doing this kind of stuff." The storage shed was actually more of a barn, large enough to hold several cars if it hadn't already been half full of other things. "Besides, they won't have that much. And Danny and Dad can help when they get back."

Nevvie involuntarily giggled.

"What?"

"You called him 'Dad.'"

He paused, thoughtful. "Yeah, I guess I did, didn't I?" He sighed. "It's been years since I've seen Peggy this happy. I've been meaning to thank you."

"Thank me? For what?"

"Well, for starters," he said as he shifted another box, "for not holding what happened against me or against Danny and Elle. I wouldn't have blamed you one bit if you had. And secondly, for introducing Mom and Andrew to each other." He moved another box. "She was heartbroken after Adam died." He paused, deep in thought. "The twins barely remember him. They were so young when we lost him."

"I guess it wasn't easy on anyone, was it?"

"No. But she refused to lean on us. We tried. You know how stubborn she is, though. She just pushed us away. Put on that big-girl-britches front she has. Didn't want us fussing over her. Tom even wanted to leave school and come home, and she forbade him to do it. We all hoped one day she'd meet someone else, but she never did. Not for lack of us trying to fix her up."

"Let me guess. That didn't go over very well?"

He snorted and turned to look at Nevvie. "What do you think? She wrapped herself up in her work and in the family and refused our attempts to get her to live for herself." He stared out the large bay doors at the house, where Peggy sat on the porch with Harley, Adam, and Mikey. "She's a good woman. I'm proud to call her 'Mom.'"

"Me, too."

Less than an hour later, the trio returned, backing their vehicles up to the shed. Nevvie stretched and walked over to where Andrew was getting out of her car. "How'd it go?"

"Ha!" Elle said, looking glum. "You don't want to know."

Nevvie looked at Andrew. He shook his head at her. She knew that expression. I'll tell you later.

"Well, what can I do to help?" Nevvie asked.

Everyone trundled her out of their way, both annoying and amusing her at the same time. Andrew gently grabbed her arms. "You, house. Now, young lady."

Nevvie snorted. "Young lady?"

"Yes. Go. We'll be along shortly." He waved her away with a wink.

Knowing they would all overrule her, she gave up and headed to the porch to sit with Peggy. "I've been run off," she said. "They won't let me help."

Peggy laughed. "I would hope not, sugar. They ganging up on you?"

"Of course they are." She took a deep breath and slowly let it out. The breeze carried the sharp smell of impending rain.

"Nice having family to help, isn't it?"

Nevvie smiled. "It sure is."

Tyler fought the urge to pace through the house. Their preparations were complete. All he could do was watch the weather. Writing was out of the question with his nerves shot and the house feeling more like the Fortress of Impending Doom than a home.

By four o'clock, he couldn't take it any longer.

"I'm going to run check the mail one last time," he said as he grabbed a cloth grocery sack.

"Right now?" Tom asked.

"It's barely raining," Tyler snapped a little more sharply than he'd intended. "Just some drizzle and a little wind," he said, his voice gentling. "We might not be able to get back over there for days."

Tom carefully eyed him, but didn't object. "All right, buddy. Just be careful."

"I will."

Ironically, other than last-minute lines at gas stations, the streets of Tampa seemed eerily still. The traffic was far lighter than he could ever remember seeing it that time of day.

The air, muggy and sticky despite the stiffening breeze, felt oppressive, dangerous. With relief, he found the post office lobby still unlocked. He hurried in to their box.

As he thumbed through the mail, he stopped at an envelope from the state of Florida. When he ripped it open, a broad grin creased his face.

He dumped the rest of the mail into the sack, locked the box, and returned to his car. There, he carefully tucked the concealed weapons license into his wallet, between his car insurance card and his voter's registration card, so it was hidden from view. He'd have to look into getting one for Georgia, too, as soon as he could. He knew from the information the state provided him that Georgia allowed for reciprocity, but he didn't want to do anything to run afoul of the law in case they changed that status.

He popped the truck lid, walked around to it, and removed the gun from its locked case. He removed the trigger lock, loaded a full clip into it, and tucked it into the holster that clipped to the back waistband of his pants. Back in the car, he put the gun and holster into the center console. It would be uncomfortable to wear while driving.

But when he wasn't...

That bloody bastard won't get another chance.

Nevvie, Clay, Peggy, and Andrew sat up and watched the storm's progress. Edgar had slowed its forward movement, but its course remained unchanged. It meant the storm would take longer to hit land, giving residents more time to prepare.

It also meant a risk that the monster storm would draw even more energy from the warm Gulf waters. And it meant once the most destructive winds hit shore, they would batter the region for a longer period of time, increasing damage.

"Okay, Dad. Tell us what happened this afternoon." She'd been dying for the twins to go to bed so she could ask him.

He let out a sigh. "I supposed, after my dealings with my ex-wife, that I shouldn't be surprised by human nature." He pursed his lips as he gathered his thoughts. "For someone proclaiming herself to be spiritual, Emily certainly carries quite a lot of venom in her heart."

Clay frowned. "That bad?"

"I'm afraid so. I'll spare you the specifics, but she tried even my nearly infinite patience. Elle was practically in tears by the time we finished. I thought I was going to have to order Danny out of the house. He did surprisingly well at ignoring Emily while she browbeat him. But when she turned her attention to Elle, he wanted to defend his sister. Very admirable, but I didn't want him getting into a physical altercation with his mother."

"He's a good brother," Clay said. "He's always stuck up for Elle."

"Did she say anything to you, Dad?" Nevvie asked.

"Oh, I'm sure she did, but I pretended she wasn't even there. She paid me little attention when she realized she wasn't going to get any sort of rise out of me."

"Maybe she's got a brain tumor," Nevvie snarked. "Doesn't that make people act completely whacked?"

"I wish," Clay said. "I could forgive a lot if that was the case. Unfortunately, I think with all the sisters turning their backs on her and refusing to side with her, she's decided to turn to the only people who would give her any sympathy." He shook his head. "She's been like that as long as I've known her. She clings to those who reaffirm her own beliefs. Once I stopped yes-dearing her and called her to the carpet for what she did, she turned on me, too."

"Well, it doesn't matter anymore," Andrew said. "It's finished. I did tell Danny and Elle to try to keep open minds and open hearts. To try to approach her again in the future to see if she would change her outlook."

"Good luck with that," Peggy said. "That girl has a harder head than all my other kids put together twice, and then some. She always tried to get her way, bossing them around, trying to keep them in line. I can't tell you how many times Adam or I had to step in and tell her to quit being so pushy."

"Like Dad said, it's done with," Nevvie said. "We're a family, and we've got a lot to be thankful for. I'm not wasting any more time on her. One of these days, she'll have her day of reckoning when the karma bus hits her."

They couldn't take their eyes off the TV. Around midnight, Nevvie finally stood. "I'm going to bed. Don't know if I'll get any sleep, but sitting here isn't helping me any."

"Good night, love," Andrew said.

Peggy sat next to him on the sofa, looking comfortable snuggled against his side. "Good night, sugar. See you in the morning."

Nevvie barely stifled her pleased smile as she went to her room, taking Harley with her. At least one good thing would come out of all of this. Peggy and Andrew made a cute couple.

She curled up in bed with the little dog and tried with little success to clear her mind and sleep.

I miss my guys.

Chapter Six.