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“Wait, the west end? That’s where my house is.”
I nod. I already know, but I’m dreading giving her bad news. Another brand-new feeling for me. When have I ever struggled so much to share a hard truth? Never, that’s when.
“Your house took on a lot of water. Sally’s at the resort now, as are at least twenty other employees whose houses flooded. Sam and Dom are trying to figure out how to squeeze people into staff housing for the time being, but there’s not a lot of room to spare.”
Victoria’s eyes go from surprise to concern to shock to sadness all in one moment. I watch her process the news, feeling more grateful than ever that she was safe with me here. I want her safe with me forever.
I won’t analyze that now.
“There’s room here,” she says after a moment, drawing my attention away from my concerning thoughts and back to the present moment.
“There will always be a room here for you, of course. You can stay as long as you need.”
Victoria’s on her feet, setting her coffee down on the table. “There’s room for everyone, Ben. How many bedrooms are in this place? And couches and pullouts? You can easily offer shelter to twenty homeless employees until something else can be worked out.”
She’s right, technically, and I feel like a complete dick for not even thinking of it myself. But even as the solution gets more perfect the longer I think about it, the more I don’t want it to happen. I want my house, and this woman, all to myself. What will happen to our little love affair, and our games, if the house fills with employees?
But alas, now that the idea has been broached, there’s no going back. Honestly, I’m surprised the guys haven’t started shipping refugees over here already.
I nod, holding in my own reservations and disappointment. “That’s a great idea. We have plenty of room. Let’s get ready and head over to The Sands to get everything figured out.”
The helicopters are grounded until they can be checked after the storm, so we’re on a speedboat heading to Faraday. I pull Victoria close to me as the tiny vessel crashes over wave after wave, enjoying our last few moments of peace and privacy before our world is overrun with prying eyes.
The island looks bad. Really bad. The road from the dock to the resort has been cleared of palms and is passable, but just the sheer amount of plant matter piled on either side has me concerned. If it looks like this on the east side of the island, the sloped side where water drains right into the ocean, the flat, lowland west side must be a complete mess.
I know we’ll have to make it over to Victoria's house soon enough, but for now, we head straight to The Sands.
The scene looks like something out of a disaster movie. People sit in varying stages of disarray on every chair and surface in the lobby area. They look tired and uncertain, but there’s a lightness to the air as well, as if they’ve already been well taken care of.
I guess having somewhere so welcoming to retreat when your house floods is a comfort most flood victims don’t enjoy. Everyone has coffee, people are eating and smiling.
Sally finds Victoria as soon as she walks in.
“Oh, there you are. I was so worried about you off on that little island. It didn’t blow away, I see?” She has Victoria squeezed tightly in her arms and a pang of jealousy hits me before I can stop it.
I shake it off and head to the front desk, where Sam and Dom are conferring with the local police chief.
“Morning,” I say, and the three men look up at me.
Sam smiles and claps me on the back. “Hey, there. Thanks for making it over so fast.”
I frown at the small slight, as if this place, this island, wasn’t as important to me as it is to them. As if I wouldn’t come. Sure, I’ve been a bit distracted over the last couple of weeks, but I’m still as much of an owner as any of them. “Of course. Where do we stand?”
“The west side is going to take weeks to dry out, although the water is already receding, which is a good sign. The airstrip and the port both survived without any damage, and the road is already close to being passable. The crew started working as soon as the rain stopped. They’ve been out there for hours. We’re taking over food and water every hour or so.”
I nod. “And the housing situation?”
“We've got six rooms open here with two beds each, and three checkouts today, so we can put up a good chunk of the homeless employees here at the resort,” Sam says, but doesn't look happy about it.
“But…” I prompt.
“But we’ve also got check-ins. None today, but starting tomorrow, and quite a few this weekend. For tonight, we can house everyone, but starting tomorrow, we need another solution.”
“We can take them to Merit,” I say.
Sam and Dom both look at me with appraising eyes. They must have considered this as an option but decided not to be the ones to bring it up.
“It’s a great solution,” I say, suddenly feeling the need to defend myself.
