Part 7 … Lori

I’m not sure how long I slept, but when I awakened it was dark and gloomy outside. I could tell without even getting up to look that the Gulf would be an angry mess this afternoon, it was always that way when it stormed. Stretching painfully, I groaned, and the drops of rain that crawled down the glass patio doors seemed to be sympathetic tears that the heavens were shedding just for me.

I laughed ruefully as I attempted to sit up. It sounded like a very bad country song, maybe I should get Nick to write me a melody for it. Nick? That’s odd, why would I think of Nick? Normally my first thoughts went to Howie-

Howie. The memory of our last exchange washed over me and if I could have made it to a bathroom I’d have thrown up again. Instead I fought the urge even as I remembered that there was nothing in me to even come up. Howie had shown up before I’d even come downstairs, and then Nick had drugged me … I ran my hand through my hair and sighed, closing my eyes. I hoped he was all right. I know he went to see Howie, but I just couldn’t imagine what might have happened.

What a mess. What a damned mess. If I hadn’t left my car in Orlando, I’d have gotten dressed and just gone home. There were so many things I needed to sort out and I needed to be alone to do it. Haltingly, I made my way to the patio doors, wrapped in some god-awful afghan that Nick had covered me with. I watched the angry waves pound the beach and could totally identify with the turmoil of the storm. I opened the doors and walked outside, oblivious to the cold and the rain that soaked me and chilled me to the bone. The rain lashed at my face and the cold made my joints ache, but by God, I could feel it. I could still feel it.

It was there that Nick found me, huddled in the wet sand, my hair plastered to my face and my clothes soaked through. I thought I heard him call my name, but the wind carried the sound away and I was so lost in my thoughts that I suppose I tuned him out. When he touched my back, he scared the living hell out of me.

“Lori?”

“Jesus, Nick!”

“Baby, I’ve been calling you and calling you.”

“I’m sorry.” For some reason, the thought that I’d upset him simply crushed me, and I began to weep, huge remorseful tears falling down my face and blending with the rain. “I had to get outside, and I know it’s raining, and-“

“Lori, you’re freezing.”

Once again I felt myself lifted in strong arms and sheltered from the wind and rain as Nick carried me back up to the house. A strong gust of wind hit just as we topped the stairs to the deck, and he almost dropped me. I shrieked, clutching at Nick, but he held me even tighter, struggling against the driving rain and suddenly gale force winds. He had to put me down to open the door, and as soon as my feet touched solid ground I began to shake.

“I’m sorry, I’m so sorry,” I apologized over and over, earning a frustrated curse from the man who was doing his best to get me dry and warm. “Stop, Lori,” he said through gritted teeth. “Just hold still and let me-“

“I’ve ruined everything, Nick. Howie is gone and now you’re mad at me and –“

“If you say you’re sorry again, I won’t be responsible for my actions. Now hold still.”

Obediently, I closed my mouth. I looked down at the floor, not willing to meet Nick’s eyes and see the censure that I knew would be there. Like a chastised toddler I stood motionless as Nick began to peel my soaked clothing from my body, mumbling all the while. I let my mind wander until I felt his hands on mine and his voice finally cut through the fog in my brain.

“LORI!”

“What?” The look on my face must have shown my complete and utter confusion, because Nick sighed and his voice and his touch immediately gentled.

“Lori, you need to let go.”

“Let go?”

“The afghan, baby. It’s ruined and I need to get to the rest of your wet things.”

I’d been holding it around me, a death grip in my fingers, and never realized. “Oh. I’m sor-“ I saw his eyes narrow and I stopped myself just short of saying the dreaded words once again. I relaxed my hands and Nick tossed the afghan out onto the patio with a chuckle.

“I should thank you. I never liked the damn thing anyway.”

He unbuttoned my blouse, but I tried to stop him before he could take it off me. “Nick, I don’t think…”

“Lori, knock it off, I saw more than your underwear last night.”

That did it. I finally looked up and our eyes met. The silence was awkward and the blush that spread across my body was enough to heat the entire room. I wanted to say something, but what? As I stood there, mute, a sudden gust of wind blew through the partially open door and I began to shiver, my hair hanging in wet strings down my back. Nick turned me, pushing me ahead of him toward the stairs.

“Come on girl, a hot shower is waiting upstairs and then you need to eat.”

At his direction, I sat on the toilet seat as he adjusted the dials to perfection, testing the water until it was just right. The water was steaming hot and there were fresh fluffy towels laid out, but as he turned to leave me I saw a question in his eyes. “I’ll be okay, Nick,” I whispered and tried my best to offer a reassuring smile.

“It’s a start,” he said, nodding his head at my feeble effort. “I’ll leave a fresh pair of sweats and a t-shirt on the bed for you. I’ll fix us something hot to eat, so when you’re done come on back down.”

“You cook?” I asked with what I hoped was a smirk.

“You’d be surprised at the things I can do when I need to Lori.” His eyes weren’t smiling and I barely had time to wonder what he meant before he closed the door, closing me in with the warmth of the steam.