Deadline (Sandra Brown)

your eyes and go to sleep, you won’t even realize it’s dark. And when you wake up—”
    “No!” he wailed. “I don’t want to go to bed without a light on.”
    Amelia had hoped in vain for a miracle, but apparently she wasn’t going to get one. “I have to go to the village for batteries.”
    But when she tried to get up, Grant began to cry and cling to her. “No, Mommy! Don’t leave.”
    “It only makes sense that I go,” Stef said.
    “It makes no sense at all. I’ve been driving on this island in storms for years. It can be tricky if you don’t know the road well. Sometimes it floods.”
    “I’ve driven it enough times to become familiar. Besides, I don’t think our two boys here would let you out of their sight.” Amelia acknowledged the rationality of Stef’s going. Reluctantly she agreed.
    Stef got her purse and Amelia’s car keys.
    “While you’re there, get some nonperishable food items, too. We may not have a fridge and stove for a while. If lines are down, it takes a while to get repairmen out here. They restore service on the mainland first.”
    “If you think of anything else, call me.” Then, checking her cell phone, Stef said. “If you can. Right now, I’m not getting a signal.”
    *  *  *
     
    A half hour passed, during which Amelia told every silly “Knock-Knock” joke she knew, and which the boys had already heard dozens of times. She told them the story of “The Three Little Pigs” and then devised a contest to see who could huff and puff the best. Neither of the boys got into the game.
    After another thirty minutes, she called Stef’s phone. It went straight to voice mail.
    The storm continued to rage without any sign of letting up. The boys grew increasingly anxious, in part because they sensed her own mounting nervousness. She was near her wit’s end by the time she heard the utility-room door burst open, bringing a gust of wind in with it.
    “Thank God,” she breathed. “Stef?”
    But it wasn’t her nanny who stepped into the kitchen, dripping water, his hair plastered to his head.
    “Dawson!”
    Her boys, who’d been competing for space on her lap, abandoned her and ran to him, wrapping their arms around his legs and impeding his progress. He looked at Amelia through the wavering candlelight. “I was on my way home and noticed that your house is dark.”
    Hunter tugged on the hem of his shirt to get his attention. “The lights went out, and Grant was afraid, but I wasn’t. I got sand in my eye, but it’s out now. I painted you a battleship.”
    Grant, not to be outdone, informed him that candles make things look wavy. He added a hand gesture to demonstrate.
    Hunter spoke over his brother. “Mom said if we’d go to bed and close our eyes, we wouldn’t know it was dark, but I think we would.”
    “And she told us today that if we didn’t stop whining, she was going to pull her hair out, but she didn’t.”
    Dawson smiled. “Well, that’s good. She’s got such pretty hair.” He brought his gaze back to Amelia, who had stood up to face him, rebuking herself for being relieved and glad to see him.
    “Thank you for stopping. We’re okay. Just waiting on Stef to get back from the village. She went for supplies.”
    “I just came from there. I doubt she’ll get back anytime soon, if at all. The power is off everywhere. Only the store and Mickey’s have generators. People are hunkering down in one or the other. I hope she does. The road is virtually impassable.”
    “I’ve tried calling her, but—”
    “No cell service.”
    “You said the road was impassable?”
    “That tidal pool halfway between here and—”
    “It usually overflows during heavy rains.”
    “It has. All the way to the road.”
    “Then how’d you get here?”
    He hesitated before saying, “Determination.”
    The gravelly tone behind the word made her tummy flutter. “I appreciate your checking on us. We’re fine, but I could use some batteries if you have extras.”
    “Better than that, my house has a generator. It’s listed as an amenity on the fact sheet I picked up at the rental office along with the key. If the power goes off, it comes on automatically, keeps the fridge, stove, and a few circuits working.”
    He glanced at the flickering candle on the table as well as at her scant reserves. “Those aren’t going to last long. It’s unlikely Stef will get back tonight, and it would be dangerous for her even to attempt it.”
    Amelia shifted from one