"Yup. It's only a Cat 1 right now, and they're predicting it'll drop to a tropical storm as soon as it hits land, but it's the flooding and the wind that do most of the damage."

"Wow. Okay, so I'd better change the menu plan. We'll make sides that don't need to be heated once they're cooked up. Some big batches of stick-to-your ribs food to feed a crowd."

"Sounds good. I started soaking a batch of beans last night."

Renee poked her head in. "The storm didn't zigzag until this morning. How did you know last night?"

Dave tapped his nose. "I could smell it."

"Huh. My Aunt Bessie used to say she could smell trouble coming her way." Renee folded the dish towel in her hand and gave a shrug. "It turned out she just had bad gas."

Lu and Dave spent the morning cooking big batches of food and making up sandwiches to help feed the emergency responders. Plus, there were some streets in town that were p.r.o.ne to flooding, so they'd organized a volunteer sandbag brigade, and they would likely need food too.

After eight hours they were as prepared in the diner as they could be. They reached a point where they couldn't hold any more trays of food in the ovens or refrigerator shelves. There had been a beehive of activity in and out all day in the diner, but there was finally a lull. Literally the calm before the storm since the weather reports had the storm making landfall late tomorrow night.

"Lu, we've got enough food ready to feed the Marines." Dave rubbed his forehead with a paper towel and sat on a stool next to the prep counter. "Why don't you go home and get some rest? We'll be doing this all over again in another thirty-six hours during the storm cleanup."

"You've been here longer than me." Lu grabbed the water Renee had pa.s.sed through to her over an hour ago and swallowed down half of it to ease her parched throat. "You go."

He shook his head. "I'm not planning on leaving the diner. I've got a cot set up in the back office to crash when I need to. Go on and get."

"Okay. I'll see you tomorrow." She lifted a tired hand in an effort to wave.

"No. Stay home as long as you can. We're prepped, and like I said, I think our job will start with the cleanup. Hunker down somewhere safe until then."

Oh, she would. She was so tired, she believed she'd sleep like a baby even if a Category 5 roared through right now. Before she left she was going to sit down and enjoy a piece of Aunt Marie's banana cream pie, though. She'd earned it, darn it. This would be her third piece since she'd been in Climax. She was trying to figure out the recipe and she knew she was missing something.

She grabbed a slice out of the display case along with a gla.s.s of water and moved over to the quietest end of the diner. Closing her eyes, she forked bites of pie into her mouth and chewed slowly, trying to concentrate on separating out the individual flavors. Obviously banana and vanilla bean, a hint of lemon, maybe a dollop of sour cream. But she was pretty sure there was a smoky hint of a liquor there. A drop of whiskey? She was sure there were macadamia nut pieces in the crust. It was sweet and nutty. Mmm.

The quiet was interrupted when the side door closest to Lu flew open, causing the bell above it to clang like crazy. Two of Tynan's brothers strode in with a woman. They sat in the booth next to her and ordered a round of coffee when Renee stopped by. Crazy how similar, yet how different, Tynan and his brothers looked. She'd met his two brothers, Kaz and Paxton, the twins she had trouble telling apart, but not the one sitting at the table in the police uniform.

"Coffee coming right up." Renee grabbed the pot of coffee from behind the counter and returned lickety-split. She set out the mugs, filling them as she talked through the rising steam. "Hey there, Delaney. Quinn, y'all got everything set before the storm hits?"

The cop brother reached out for his cup, pulling it toward him. "Not yet, but we're on schedule. Everyone's calm and pitching in, so we'll be just fine."

"Did one of you boys get over to your parents' house? They had water clear up to their porch with the last big storm."

Kaz nodded. "Paxton's over there right now. He's helping Dad set up sandbags, but you know he's doing his lawyerly best to convince them to leave."

The woman, Delaney, reached out her hand and grabbed Renee's forearm. "Hey, what about you? Do you need anything?"

"Thanks, sugar. When I'm done working here I'm heading over to Wanda Sue's for a hurricane party. We're breaking out the good chocolate and a bottle of wine."

Renee left to pick up an order and Lu decided she was too distracted to figure out the mystery ingredient. Oh, darn, she'd just have to have another piece of pie tomorrow until she figured it out. She licked the last of the pie off her fork like a five-year-old, glad no one was watching.

"Lu?"

Darn it. She dropped the fork and it clattered to the table. Turning toward whichever Cates brother had called her, she wiped her mouth with the napkin in case there was evidence of her pie obsession. "Yes? Oh, h.e.l.lo."

It was the brother she'd met her first day at Tynan's worksite. Paxton . . . or was it Kaz? Somehow she never got his name right. "Paxton, right?"

"Kaz." He smiled like that happened often and then introduced her to Quinn and Quinn's fiancee, Delaney.

There was an awkward pause, which she filled by taking a sip of water just as Kaz said, "You haven't happened to have heard from Tynan, have you?"

She coughed and sprayed water across her table. Her eyes watered, and she felt the heat rise in her cheeks as she patted the drops with the napkin. "Me? No. Why would I have heard from Tynan?"

Delaney shrugged. "Just rumors around the Grapevine."

"Have you tried at work?" She squinted an eye while she recalled what day it was. "Unless the schedule changed, wasn't he set to have had the electric crew starting today?"

Quinn nodded. "Yeah, Ty's crew said the electric crew showed up but Ty didn't."

Lu tilted her head. "That's very unusual for him. He always has everything organized and scheduled to the minute and the centimeter."

"Okay, well, sorry to bother you."

"It's fine." She slumped back against the booth, worried but trying not to look it so as not to worry his family any more. She casually scooted closer to their booth in the hopes of hearing more information about Tynan. The man might hate her, but she had definite feelings for him. If she could help, she would.

Quinn cleared his throat. "Has anyone else noticed that Tynan's been acting off the last few months? Like he did when he first got back from Afghanistan."

"I asked him point-blank when he came back from the funeral a few weeks ago," Delaney said. "He promised he was fine."

Someone smacked the tabletop. "Dammit. Dammit. It goes back to that wedding he went to, when was that?"

They got quiet, and Lu peeked over to see them all looking up at the ceiling for the answer.

Delaney snapped her fingers. "May."

Kaz nodded. "I think it goes back to that kid again."

Lu turned her head toward their table.

It only took them about two seconds to remember who she was.

"Oh, h.e.l.l." Kaz cleared his throat. "Sorry, Lu."

"It's fine." She'd never understand it, but she'd finally accepted it. It would always seem unfair, but it would have been just as unfair if Tynan had died. Or any one of the others.

There was a moment of silence, and Quinn reached over and squeezed Delaney's hand.

"Yeah, well, it messes with your head," Delaney said. "And it doesn't ever really go away."

"He sure hasn't been himself lately. For the past few months he's been constantly busy. Hardly has time to spend with anyone in the family." Quinn stared down into his coffee mug. "Did you know he volunteers at the veterans' nursing home a couple times a week?"

"Nope."

Delaney sat forward. "Didn't anyone find it odd that he adopted that dog three months ago? For a man who hates being tied down, a pet-especially a special-needs one-really ties you down."

Renee had been clearing the table on the other side of them. "Are y'all talking about Tynan? The Grapevine was commending him just last month for his weekly platelet donations."

"Every week? Where is he finding the time for all this and running a business?"

"That one's easy," Delaney said. "He's probably not sleeping."

"So let's get this straight . . ." Kaz frowned across at both Delaney and Quinn. "He's not sleeping, he's not dating, he's donating blood, he's adopting dogs off death row, he's volunteering every week at the veterans' nursing home, and he hasn't said no to a single favor in months."

"I heard he bought out the Smith girl when she went around selling Girl Scout cookies. Over a hundred dollars' worth. And then he dropped all the boxes off at the food bank. Even the Thin Mints." Renee shook her head. "Land's sake, what's going on with him?"

"He's earning it." Lu didn't realize she'd spoken the words aloud until everyone's gazes turned to her. Oh G.o.d. Something tight wrapped around her chest and cut in like barbed wire. "The stupid, idiotic man thinks he needs to earn his life."

Delaney nodded as she looked at her. "Sure sounds like it to me. Like he's trying to prove that he deserved to live when his friends didn't."

"Well, d.a.m.n." Quinn shook his head, looking grim. "For the past two years Tynan's brought me his handgun before heading off on his trips. He said it was so Ma wouldn't worry. I just realized he didn't bring it to me this year."

Chapter Twenty-four.

Lu's heart squeezed in her chest as everyone stared at Quinn in silence. She knew what day yesterday was. It was a hard day to live through.

"I bet he simply forgot," Delaney rea.s.sured everyone. "He's been so busy, it would be easy to forget, especially with having to find someone to watch his pets too."

"Sure. And he used to disappear into the woods for a week, so the fact that he's a day overdue isn't a big deal." Quinn took a last gulp of his coffee. "But with the storm heading this way, I'll call up to the ranger station and have them check on him."

"Oh, c.r.a.p."

" 'Oh, c.r.a.p' what?" Quinn narrowed his gaze on Kaz.

Yeah, what other oh, c.r.a.p could be piled on to this situation? Lu was long past being polite and was flat-out listening in on their conversation now.

"You'll want the itinerary he left with me." Kaz ran a hand around the back of his neck.

"Of course."

"It just dawned on me what the d.a.m.n dog and cat were running around the house with yesterday morning. It's destroyed. Totally ripped and half-eaten."

"Well, h.e.l.l." Delaney looked between both brothers. "I guess you tried his cell?"

"Yep. Straight to voice mail." Quinn stood up and leaned over and kissed Delaney. "Don't worry. I'll head to the station now and call the park rangers. They usually have a pretty good handle on where all the hikers are."

"Besides, he'll probably turn up today, just sneak into town and show up here for supper." Kaz stood up also. "I've got to go check on Tynan's pets."

Lu looked out the front windows at the gusting winds whipping the flags and pine trees into a frenzy when she felt a pair of eyes on her. She turned her head to look out the side window. "Um, no, you don't."

"Excuse me?" Kaz looked over Lu's shoulder. "Dammit. How the h.e.l.l is that dog getting out? I even had him in his crate this time on account of the weather moving in."

"That's Tynan's dog?" Delaney stood up and leaned around to see him. "What's that lump on his back? Did he adopt a dog with cancer?"

"No. That would be the dog's pet cat. Don't ask." Kaz sighed. "I better go deal with them. Lord knows how. Then I promised I'd go over and help with Mom and Dad's sandbags."

"I volunteered to fill sandbags here in town for a few more hours, so I'm out too." Delaney called across the diner to Renee, then turned and nodded at Lu. "Nice to meet you."

Lu nodded and watched them all leave while her brain churned their entire conversation over and back again. They all talked like they weren't worried, and lord knew Tynan was a capable man, but there had been an undercurrent of tension running through each of them.

The man was trained in special ops. Like every military service member, he'd had survival training, and had stayed alive during the war by using those skills. Common sense said Tynan would be fine. He had probably just decided to camp an extra day. He did have a lot of stress in his life.

She winced, knowing she'd been a big part of his stress, but she couldn't take any of that back now. He'd yet to listen to her apology, so she'd just say a prayer for him and hope he was getting the peace and quiet he needed. Using nature to recharge and center himself. She hoped Tynan was sitting in some lotus position in the middle of the woods, getting his chi back.

Two things kept gnawing at her, though. First, she wasn't sure if Tynan knew about the storm. Her common sense rationalized that his training and experience would carry him through that. Heck, she and Joe had hiked and camped plenty of times during high school when a summer squall or a high-alt.i.tude winter storm had hit clean out of nowhere. Experienced hikers knew how to handle bad weather. He'd be fine.

The second thing wasn't as easy to dismiss because the twenty-first of November was a day that loomed over her too. A day that churned up the pain, emptiness, and anger and cracked open s.p.a.ce for doubt to slither in and wreak devastation all over again.

It had to be just as bad, if not worse, for Tynan. Although that was exactly what his annual hiking trip into the woods was about, right? Right. He was too strong and too darn stubborn to let doubt rule him.

Just as Quinn said, Tynan would probably stroll in through the diner doors today or tomorrow, grinning and flirting with every woman with a pulse. Except her. She'd most likely get his grumpy-faced scowl and a grunt. She really shouldn't be attracted to the man, but she couldn't stop her lips from sliding into a grin or keep the b.u.t.terflies from flitting around the pit of her stomach.

With a wave to Renee and Dave, she left the diner. There was no rain yet, but the wind was already gusting in strong bursts even though the storm was still more than a day away. She had to wrap her fist around her hair to see where she was walking. Just to be safe, she'd stop at the grocery store to pick up a few staples for Beatrice and Agatha. Knowing Beatrice, she'd probably been baking up a storm all morning.

The weather report on her car radio hadn't changed. The hurricane was still a Cat 1, on track to skirt the east side of town before moving into the center of the state. She punched her radio b.u.t.tons until she found one with music and drove her little self to the grocery store, singing along as she went.

An hour later Lu had put the groceries away in the kitchen and was relaxing with one of Beatrice's lemon drop cookies while the three of them listened to an update on the storm. Then they were going to watch a crime show. She wasn't sure which one because the sisters watched them all, and all the shows sort of blended together after a while.

"Thank goodness." Beatrice let out a sigh. "The hurricane has just been downgraded to a tropical storm."

Lu stood up to look out the window. You couldn't tell it was early afternoon with the dark clouds overhead. No rain yet, so that was good.

She was about to turn away when something caught her attention out in the yard. Well, heck. It was that d.a.m.n dog again. Tynan's dog was sitting in the yard, staring in at her. The dog was stalking her. "Do either of you ladies have Kaz or Quinn's phone number? Tynan's dog is sitting out on your front lawn."

Agatha jumped up to look. "Goodness, that's a sad-looking dog. I'll go call Kaz right now."

Beatrice stood next to her, frowning out the window. "Poor thing."

Lu narrowed her gaze on him. Poor thing my tush. The dog was as ornery as his owner.

Agatha returned from the kitchen. "Kaz asked us to take care of the dog. And the cat. He's over at Cecelia and Seamus's. A strong wind gust knocked their beautiful old oak tree clean across the driveway not a half hour ago."

"Oh my." Beatrice gasped. "Is everyone all right?"

"Yes, but it's a large tree. Kaz is going to help Bob Handley clear it. No telling how many other trees we're going to lose around town. Anyway, I said we'd take care of the animals and for them not to worry."

The three of them stood staring out at the pair.

"Oh, okay. Sure." Tynan's animals liked her about as much as he did, so Lu figured this would be as fun as a trip to the dentist. "I guess I'll bring them in."