Tyler peeked around him and chuckled. "I suppose I could make you lick that up, but I suspect you're as worn out as I am." He carefully withdrew and washed himself off.

Straightening, Tom turned to him and enveloped him in his arms. "Thanks, buddy. I needed that."

Tyler engulfed him in his embrace. "I suspected. It's nice being able to let go sometimes."

"Yeah." He closed his eyes and rested his head against Tyler's shoulder as the warm spray sluiced over them. "It sure is."

Chapter Eight.

Sunday morning dawned breezy, but only partly cloudy. With relief, Tom watched patches of brilliantly blue sky exposed by the high, scudding clouds passing overhead. As he stood outside, he was startled to hear the emergency generator kick off.

Dammit. I know I checked the propane. We had plenty.

He started around the corner of the house to check on it when he heard Tyler's excited shout from the garage. "Power's back on, love!"

He resisted smacking himself in the forehead. Of course. The generator shut down when the power was restored.

Tom returned to the garage, where Tyler was helping Jacob and Kyle with the shutters. "What about cable?" They hadn't checked it yet that morning.

Kelly stuck her head out the garage door. "TV's back on!"

They all rushed inside, where John, Pete, Eddie, and Kelly were watching the local NBC affiliate.

On the screen, a helicopter broadcast aerial shots of what Tom recognized as Davis Island.

"Holy fuck," he whispered.

The helicopter pilot narrated. "And as you can see, guys, this is just..." His voice choked. "I've never seen anything like this in my life, except for Charley and Andrew. Or the pictures we all saw of Katrina. There isn't a single structure on the island, or along the entire Bayshore Boulevard region, that wasn't flooded.

Many houses had collapsed. Others still standing, or partially standing, had severe roof damage if they even had a roof left. Cars not removed from the island had been washed into the streets and into buildings and houses. Planes not moved from the Peter O. Knight Airport had either been flipped over, destroyed, or shoved across the runways and into nearby streets and homes.

The helicopter made a turn and showed Tampa General Hospital, located on the island. As the pilot zoomed in, they could see where the floodwaters had engulfed the entire second floor of the building before receding somewhat. Windows had been blown or washed out all throughout the building.

"All the staff and patients from Tampa General were evacuated before the storm and moved to other facilities and shelters throughout the region. As you can see, it looks like the hospital isn't going to be usable anytime in the near future."

The view changed again, showing search and rescue dog teams staging at the base of the bridge where it connected to the island. "Emergency officials have reported recovering eight bodies from the island so far. Only twenty-five percent of the structures on the island have been searched as of yet."

The picture switched to a studio view, two grim-looking anchors sitting at the desk. The man said, "Thank you, Dave. Those are sad numbers. And as we reported earlier, several residents who didn't evacuate took shelter during the storm in the hospital, breaking in and trying to stay above the water during twelve harrowing hours."

The picture changed again to an on-the-scene interview with one of them.

Kelly stood and walked toward the kitchen. "I'm going to fix us breakfast. I can't watch any more of that."

"I'll help you," Eddie said. "My stomach can't take that, either."

Tom exchanged a knowing glance with John.

Nevvie tried off and on to call Tom and Tyler without success throughout Sunday morning. She didn't like the reports she saw on the national news and the Weather Channel. From the looks of things, Tampa resembled a cross between Homestead post-Andrew, and New Orleans following Katrina.

Every time she called she got an automated "all circuits busy" message. The same thing happened if she tried calling John's and Kelly's numbers, or Jacob and Kyle. Or even Pete and Eddie.

Phone calls into the area just weren't making it through.

Clay, Andrew, and Danny headed down the driveway to check on things. They returned for a chainsaw and Clay's truck, as well as a length of chain, to take care of several trees that had fallen across the driveway.

By lunchtime, the center of Edgar was already out at sea, and their weather began dramatically improving. Still breezy, the rain only came in spits and spurts that weren't any worse than regular summer thunderstorms.

Nevvie had developed a pattern. Call Tommy, call Tyler, call the house. Swear under her breath. Call John and Kelly. Swear some more. Jacob and Kyle, followed by more swearing. Ending with Pete and Eddie.

Must resist throwing phone against wall.

Repeat.

She felt too nervous and on edge to play video games with Adam. Instead, she sat on the couch with her Kindle in one hand and her phone in the other. Every few minutes, she'd look at her phone and will it to ring.

A little before four o'clock, she looked at her phone. Ring, dammit!

She let out a cry and nearly dropped it when it started vibrating in her hand. The screen read Tyler.

With trembling fingers, she answered. "Ty? Is that you?"

He laughed, the most beautiful sound in the world. "Yes, love, it's me. Were you expecting someone else?"

"Oh my god, are you all okay? I've been so worried, I've been trying to call and-"

"Love, let me get a word in edgewise. We're all fine. Our house is fine except for some roof shingles, although we suspect John and Kelly's house might not have fared as well. Everyone is still here, and we're all healthy and safe."

Everyone was staring at her. Adam had paused the game. "See, Momma? Told you they'd call."

She burst out laughing and crying at the same time. "Yes, baby, you did say they'd call. They're all fine, and our house is fine," she said to everyone before she got up and walked to the kitchen. "I love you guys so much. I've been worried sick about you."

"We love you, too." That was Tom. "Sorry we haven't been able to update you." Tyler had it on speaker mode. "Like Ty said, it's been a bitch and a half trying to get a call out. The house line is dead."

"Have you gotten any of my texts?"

"No," Tom said. "And when we try to send texts, it says it fails."

Tyler chimed in. "So don't panic if you can't get in touch with us, love."

She heard a noise in the doorway behind her and turned to see Laurie standing there, listening. Nevvie waved her in and put her arm around her shoulder. "Guys, Laurie's right here. Can you put Mom and Dad on for her?"

"Sure," Tom said. "Hold on."

Nevvie handed her the phone. A moment later, Laurie started to sniffle. "Mom? Dad? Are you all right?"

Nevvie hugged her as she talked to them. After a few minutes, she said, "Okay. Love you, too. Here she is." Wiping at her eyes with her spare hand, Laurie handed the phone back to Nevvie.

"Mom? Dad?"

"Hey," Kelly said. "How are you all doing?"

"We're okay. Just worried to death about you guys."

"Quit worrying," John said. "The worst is over. Well, the worst of the weather. I don't know what our house will look like."

"We're going to give you back to Tom and Tyler," Kelly said. "We love you."

"Love you guys, too, Mom."

Her men came on the line. "Well, love," Tyler said, "we're going to let you go."

"I wish you wouldn't."

"We'll be up there as soon as we can. We need to get Eddie and Pete home once it's safe, and see about Kyle and Jacob's apartment."

"And Mom and Dad," Tom added. "We got power and cable back this morning. From what we've seen on TV...well, that whole area got hit by a lot of flooding."

"Yeah, I saw that, too." She took a deep breath. I need to put my big-girl panties on. "Well, please be safe and try to call again when you can."

"We will, love," Tyler said. "Love you, and love to the boys."

"Love you guys," Tom said. "Give them hugs and kisses for us. And Mom and Dad up there, too," he added.

Nevvie blinked away tears. "I will. Love you, too. Stay safe."

"We will," Tom said. "We'll try to call you again tonight, but if you don't hear from us, don't worry. Okay, baby girl?"

"Okay."

"Love you. Bye."

"Bye." She stared at the phone, then realized Laurie was still standing there next to her. "You okay?" Nevvie asked her.

She nodded, but tears spilled down her face.

Nevvie pulled her close and held her. "Don't worry, kiddo. Everything's going to be okay. They're safe. That's all that matters. The rest can be replaced."

"I know," she softly said. "And we're the lucky ones," she said. "I bet a lot of those people don't have family that can help them."

"You're absolutely right."

Emily turned at the knock on the door. The open house was over, and the real estate agent had already left. Emily hadn't wanted to have it on a Sunday, especially with the less-than-perfect weather, but the agent insisted weekends were the best time and that they'd have less competition with other houses on that weekend. At least she'd still been able to go to church while the agent ran things in her absence.

Despite the weather, Emily had been pleasantly surprised by the relatively good turnout. But now she was exhausted from having to keep a smile plastered to her face and act friendly to everyone when all she wanted to do was make someone buy the house. The last thing she wanted to do was show the house again.

She just wanted out. She wanted away from all the memories, and from the betrayal. How could her entire family turn against her? The only people who'd stood beside her and seen her point of view were her church family.

The visitor knocked again. With a sigh, Emily went to the door and opened it.

She wasn't prepared for the sight of the rather scruffy-looking man standing there. "Yes? May I help you?" He didn't look anything like a prospective buyer.

"Saw your open house signs."

"Yes?"

"I'd like to look around."

She hesitated, then stepped aside. "Sure. Please, come in. The agent's already left, though."

"You Emily Kinsey?"

"Yes." She closed the door behind him and began to lead the way toward the kitchen to give him the tour. "How'd you know my name?"

"Your brother is Thomas, right? Lives in Florida?"

She stiffened, but didn't turn to look at him. It didn't matter to her if this man knew Tom. If he was a prospective buyer, she'd take his money. "Yes."

"That's what I thought."

When he stepped toward her, reaching for her, she tried to run. She clawed at his hands, struggling to break free. He was bigger than her, and stronger. Thrashing, she jammed her fingers at his face, trying to get him in the eye and only succeeding in raking her nails down his cheek.

"Fuckin' bitch!"

A sharp pain exploded in the back of her brain. The last thing she remembered was the floor rushing up at her.

Tom fought the urge to pace. Despite their repeated attempts, they couldn't get another call out to Nevvie. The house phone was still dead, and all their attempts with the cell phones got them an "all circuits busy" message.

Tyler wasn't helping matters any. Normally, Tom would love his partner's attentive attempts to get him out of his funk. But being cooped up together in close quarters for so long with no way of escaping had worn thin on him. Knowing the worst of the weather was behind them, he opted to go to bed after dinner.

"Do you want me to come, too, love?" Tyler asked.

Tom waved him away. "No, it's okay. You can stay out here. I'm going to read for a while and catch up on my sleep."

That was exactly what he had planned on doing, except Tyler slipped into their bedroom an hour later.