Saving Summer (8 page)

We were just outside Miami on a deserted highway, when the reports came in over the radio, even worse than before. I could feel it though. I didn’t need some guy in a suit safely tucked in a television studio to tell me.

Summer got on the GPS and located hotels in the area. We couldn’t stay out in this much longer. The problem was that most of them had no vacancy, and they were pretty trashy. So we kept going, knowing that we had to find somewhere to crash. The hurricane was making landfall just a few hours south of us, and I wanted to be safely tucked into a hotel bed before things got too bad.

“Stop!” Summer’s scream had me hitting the brakes so hard we slid a good ten feet. The truck rocked and my seatbelt locked me back against the seat. I waited until I had my bearings to ask her what the hell she’d been thinking.

But before I could, she opened the door.

And got out.

Chapter 12

“Summer!” I yelled, scrambling to get my seatbelt off. She could barely walk upright. The wind was beating her. She couldn’t hear me. But she backed up a bit, gripping the door of the truck. “Get back inside!”

I don’t think she heard me, but she got back in. Dripping wet. She left the door open. I reached over her to try and close the door, and was shoved backwards when something leapt into the truck. I tried shoving it off me, and got a face full of wet fur.

Wet dog.

“Calm down,” Summer shouted, and I wasn’t sure if she was shouting at me or the dog. When the door shut I relaxed into the seat. There had to be sixty, possibly eighty pounds of muddy, wet dog all over us. The smell was enough to make me gag. “It’s okay, shh.”

We got the dog calmed down. It was some sort of lab or retriever. I’m pretty sure that if it had a bath, it would have been yellow.

“You could have warned me.” I took a deep breath and started the car again. “Could have said, ‘Hey, a dog, I think we should stop.’”

Summer peered at me over the dog’s head. “Sorry. I just reacted. Besides, he was walking into the street.”

“He doesn’t have a collar. What do we do with him?”

“Keep him, for now.” She smirked, seeming pleased with herself. If this wasn’t a life or death situation, I’d think that smirk was pretty cute, and try to kiss it off her face.

“Fine, better hope we can find a hotel that takes dogs.”

“We can smuggle him in.” She gave him a wet pat on the head and I swear he was smiling.

“He’s not going to fit in a purse.”

“Let me worry about him, and you drive.”

I did as she said, knowing that there was nothing we could do now. I kept driving. We reached Miami, and once we were near the airport, there were several multi-story hotels that were still accepting people. It was probably going to cost a hell of a lot of money.

At this point, I didn’t care if I had to empty my savings account just for one night.

I wanted a shower. I wanted to bathe the dog. I wanted to eat. And then I was going to sleep for the next two days. Maybe three.

Okay, eight hours would be great.

“Look, how about there?” Summer pointed out the window. It was a well-lit, massive, very sturdy looking hotel next to the airport. “I bet they even accept pets.”

“Yeah, or we are going to end up in a parking garage.”

I pulled the car under the entryway where attendants were waiting to collect our bags. They gave us a sorry onceover, but didn’t seem too put off by us, and no one said anything about the dog.

I hoped we didn’t get kicked out, or we were screwed again.

Chapter 13
Summer

“I know this is a long shot, but you wouldn’t have any rooms left, would you?” I asked the lady at the front desk. I probably looked like a drowned rat, but she didn’t seem to care and glanced at her computer. “We’re almost booked. We do have a few…though they might be out of your price range.”

God, why do people get judgy when you look less than perfect. I was not going to put up with her snotty attitude. “Look, I’ve got a credit card with a five thousand dollar limit. Feel free to charge the hell out of it. Just don’t make us go back out into a hurricane.”

Her attitude flipped around so fast, and her smile was so bright, I backed up a step. “We will be happy to see to whatever it is you need.”

Hell yeah. Now that’s how it’s done.

“Great,” I said, acting like my sister. She could be a real snob sometimes. I’m sure she’d love the lady behind the counter. So I did my best to imitate her. Knowing that the snob act was probably the only way we’d fit in this place. “I’ve been through hell and so has my…boyfriend. We would love room service. Mexican food, if you have it. And I’m bringing my dog…” I glanced down at the smiling face and floppy tongue, trying to think of a name for him. “I’m sure Wilbur won’t be an issue?”

“Oh no, of course not.” She smiled. “In fact, we have a doggy salon. If you want, we can have him cleaned up and brought to your room.”

I waved my hand as if this happened to me every day. “Perfect. And if you have any dog food, I would appreciate room service providing that as well. We live in Key West and were so rushed getting out we forgot it.”

“Of course, anything.” She took my card and my ID, and seemed to get even happier. Wilbur was whisked off by a guy in a smock to get his bath, and we were shown up to our room. The price was a staggering five hundred a night. It was a suite decked out with anything and everything we needed. Also, we got complimentary slippers and bathrobes. Turndown service, and mints on our pillows.

My father was going to kill me.

But at least I got to live in luxury until then.

“Holy freaking shit,” Gael said once the door was shut. “Maybe we should have gone to a motel or something.”

I felt a little sick inside. The card was for emergencies. This was a huge emergency. Letting them bathe the dog was a little much, but at least he would smell good. He’d also be fed, which was important too.

I went into the bathroom and laid eyes on a tub that was big enough to fit three of our four-legged friend. “I’ll be using the insanely expensive bathroom now.”

Gael waved to me as I shut the door, still looking a little shocked.

“The TV is huge!” I heard him shout through the door. “Fricking awesome. We’ve got a 3D system, with glasses!”

I relaxed into a bubble bath. He was in heaven now, and occupied till I was done.

“Summer,” he pounded on the door. “Have you seen the bed?”

“No,” I shouted. “Why?”

“It big enough for five people, and the dog!”

Wow, he really was enjoying this.

When I finished my bath, I put on one of the lush robes and headed into the main part of the suite. Gael was sitting on the carpet, chowing on the tacos that had been delivered, and watching the local news.

I sat next to him. “What’s going on?”

“Well, the Keys are getting pounded…” he swallowed before looking at me. “But it hooked right.”

I stopped, a black bean taco halfway to my mouth. “And this is bad?”

“Yeah, it’s headed right for us.”

Deep breath. Don’t freak out. Deep breath.
“What?”

He turned up the volume, and the weather man, who was looking snappy in suspenders and a bowtie, was practically shouting at us. He was worked up because of the major shift the storm had made. A shift that was going to take it right over Miami.

I was unable to eat my taco, and watched Gael as he called the front desk to ask them how safe we were. I was thinking we needed to get the hell out and go further north, but when he hung up, he smiled.

“We’re going to be fine.” He sat on the cushy sofa and nodded. “You know how to pick a hotel, Summer. It’s got a backup generator, and is built to the highest standards for hurricane safety. All of the windows are shatter-proof and have shutters that will roll down. Basically, the only thing we’d be safer in is a bank vault.”

“You don’t know how insanely happy I am right now!” I jumped up and launched myself across the room at him, kissing and hugging him like crazy. I felt like I would burst from relief.

Gael started kissing me back, and our dinner lay forgotten.

Chapter 14
Gael

I had Summer exactly where I wanted her, in my arms, tasting like tacos, when we were rudely interrupted. She huffed and sat on the bed while I got up to answer the door. I was greeted once again by something big and furry lurching at me. I fell on my ass and Wilbur—that poor dog had to be named after my crappy boat—Wilbur gave me enough slobbery kisses to feel like I may not need a shower after all.

I thanked the attendant and slipped him a few dollars that I had in my pocket. I knew you were supposed to tip in these kinds of places, but I was never sure how much.

I shut the door and took a step back to get a good look at our new companion.

“He’s a mix,” I said. “Maybe a doodle?”

Summer laughed. “A labradoodle.”

“We can’t call him Wilbur.”

“I think it suits him.” She patted the bed and—that poor dog—Wilbur jumped up with excitement and licked her face. He was sweet. His fur was honey colored and full of curls. Had to have been someone’s pet. No telling how we would find his owners though.

We spent the rest of the evening eating and messing around with the TV. The front desk delivered an Xbox and a ton of games, plus treats for Wilbur. He was in doggy heaven with all the love and attention from Summer. At one point I might have wished she would scratch my belly and talk in the cutesy voice to me. But then I decided to man up and deal with it.

Later that night, I pushed the cart into the hall and shut down all the lights and turned off the TV. Wilbur was curled up with Summer in the giant bed, covered in pillows and fluffy bed stuff that was way fancier than the cheap sleeping bag I crashed in the other night. This bed was like sleeping on a cloud. I curled myself around Summer, settling my hand on Wilbur’s furry head, and decided this was the most comfortable position to ever sleep in. I had the girl I was falling for, and a pretty cool dog, in the best hotel ever.

“Gael…”

I blinked, having just started to fall asleep. “Yeah?”

“You hear that?” she asked in a groggy voice.

I didn’t understand at first, but then I heard a mechanical groaning sound. Knowing she wouldn’t go back to sleep until I investigated, I walked around the room trying to pinpoint where it was coming from.

The windows.

I pulled aside the drapes and in the darkness just barely made out the shutters the front desk clerk had told me about. If it got really bad, they would cover the windows like armor.

I let the drapes drop and backed away, about to crawl back into bed, but the phone rang on the nightstand.

“Yeah?” I answered, wondering if I’d ever get any sleep.

“Hello, this is a courtesy call from the front desk.” It was a recording. “The manager is asking all guests to join us in the main ballroom on the third floor. This is just for precautionary measures as we endure the worst part of the storm.”

I hung up and pulled on jeans and a shirt and some shoes. Summer did not want to get up, but I got her out of bed and dressed. Wilbur dutifully followed, and even he looked a little groggy as we got in the elevator and went from the tenth floor to the third. Other guests were still in their pajamas and bathrobes, some carrying kids pissed about being woken up. We all huddled in the ballroom, sitting on cushy chairs, and were served hot chocolate or tea. There were snacks and cookies. They played a movie on a big screen that was usually used for weddings and conferences.

It was the longest three hours I’d ever endured.

Summer slept through most of it slumped against me. Wilbur had to relieve himself and was taken somewhere by one of the hotel staff. They had an indoor garden, apparently, and were more than happy to let him do his business there and clean it up rather than risk going out in the storm.

I expressed my thanks several times, knowing that they went above and beyond. But isn’t that what hotels do for good paying customers?

“Come on.” I helped Summer out of her chair when we were given the all clear to go back to our rooms. We slept in till lunch time, and the next day decided to go outside and see what the city looked like.

It wasn’t pretty.

Chapter 15

I’d never seen so much devastation.

We were safe in our hotel, taken care of by people who no doubt were worried about their lives outside of work. I wondered if they’d have anything to go back to. I wondered if I had anything to go back to. If my brothers were safe. If Vic was doing okay. Had my mom and dad tried to call us? I’d called and left messages for everyone, leaving them the address of the hotel we could be found at in Miami. Summer did the same for her family. We had no idea what was going on only a few hours south of us.

“This is awful,” Summer gripped my hand tight as we walked down the sidewalk outside the hotel. Cars littered the street. People’s belongings were scattered around like confetti. Power lines were down. Buildings lay in piles of rubble. So many people were wandering around in a daze, just blank stares and shock all over their faces. They probably lost everything.

I held tighter to the leash that Wilbur was wearing when he tugged on it at the sight of a squirrel.

“I hope Lou is okay.” Summer absently stroked Wilbur’s fur and it seemed to comfort her.

“I know Vic. He’s my family. And he would never let anything happen to Lou. She’s going to be perfectly safe once we get back. I know it.” I didn’t know it. Anything could have happened. But I did know that Vic would do his best. I just trusted in that and kept going.

We didn’t get far from the hotel. Police were out in droves telling people to go back inside if they didn’t need to be out. It wasn’t safe. Not only was there dangerous debris, but they were concerned people would start looting.

I went back to the hotel, making sure to keep Summer close and Wilbur in check. He seemed like he needed to run around and get some energy out. So we went back to the ballroom on the third floor. It was massive. I took an old shirt I’d fished out of my bag, tied a few knots in it, and sent it flying across the ballroom. Wilbur ran after it and brought it back. He wrestled it from me, tugging and pulling, then let go so I could throw it again. Summer got in the game with us, and we were tossing it back and forth, sending Wilbur flying around the room.