Page 63 of The Sandbar saga

Chapter 23

He sat up on the bedwith a start. Thunder shook the house as the beat of rain pummeled the roof. Was it the storm that jarred him from sleep?

"Race!"

Katie.He threw back the covers and slipped his jeans over his naked body.

Astoria had entered the season where storms frequently happened, sometimes weeks on end. As soon as the weather changed and showed the sunshine, the clouds blew in. Lately, Katie was much more affected than usual. He could barely talk her through them without her breaking down.

He hurried out of the room, flipping the hallway light on, and opened her bedroom door. Thankfully, the storm hadn't knocked out the power.

Katie sat against the headboard, hugging her knees. He went to her side, hoping that seeing him home would lull her back to sleep.

"The tide is going out." She stretched out her arms and launched herself at him.

He held her close. "You don't know that. Storms don't control the tide. It's the moon. You're the one who taught me that."

She clung to him. "Make it stop."

He stroked the back of her head. If he could summon the thunder and lightning, he would. For her.

The irrational fear versus fascination with storms stemmed from her father leaving the house on a stormy night, going out on the sandbar, and drowning. His purpose wasn't to argue with her or change her mind about her beliefs, but to understand the valid fears that were deeply rooted in place and give her doses of reality for her to grasp during the times she found herself upset.

"I hope Donna, Cara, and Paige are home and not driving." She tilted her head without leaving his chest. "Should I call and check on them?"

"It's the middle of the night. I'm sure they're sleeping," he said.

The fact that she worried about her coworkers showed progress. Through the panic going on inside of her, her concern for others broadened. She'd expanded her circle. It wasn't only him she became worried over.

"You should try and go back to sleep. It'll be morning soon, and you'll be tired." He kissed the top of her head.

She made no move to let go of him. "Stay with me."

He closed his eyes briefly to stop his body from reacting. "I need to sleep. I have patients to see tomorrow."

"Then, can I go to your bed?" She lifted her head off his chest. "Please?"

"You know why that's not possible." He lowered her down to her pillow and pulled up her covers as if she were twelve years old and not twenty.

She sat up. "No one has to know."

"I'd know." He stood from the bed. "Try and get some sleep."

He closed her door behind him. Knowing he wouldn't be able to sleep, he walked into the living room and looked outside. The lights provided enough glow he could see that the recent rain overnight had added to the pool, and water was running off the backside toward the yard.

Going into the kitchen, he grabbed a water bottle out of the fridge and downed half the contents. Lightning flashed as he rounded the island, and he sat down on the couch, prepared to wait out the storm.

Several minutes later, and another round of thunder, Katie walked out wrapped in a blanket and sat beside him. Hip to hip, she covered him with half the cover and snuggled against his side.

Instead of telling her to go to bed, he allowed her to stay.

Fifteen minutes later, despite another round of the storm passing above the house, Katie's head slipped to his chest, and her body relaxed.

She was going to be the only one getting sleep tonight.