The Last Woman (All That Remains #1) (29 page)

We stop just inside the door
in pitch black. I can hear Joseph trying to catch his breath over the sound of
the hail and rain hitting the roof.

“Damn, Abby! That was too
close.”

I pull a flashlight from the
emergency pack and flip the switch. This isn’t a bad place to shelter. It’s
pretty clean for a barn. It’s dry and smells faintly of horses and hay. Two
stalls along one wall are piled high with hay or straw, I can’t tell which in
the gloom. A small hole in one corner of the roof leaks, and the dirt floor
underneath is becoming muddy.

The radio blares, and I hand
it to Joseph. “Where the hell are you?” Airen demands, his voice crackling with
static.

“In the barn near the cave.
We’re fine. The storm snuck up on us,” Joseph explains.

“Stay there, it’s really bad
out here right now.”

“Yeah, we noticed,” I reply
sarcastically.

“Are you okay, darlin’?” he
asks, concerned.

“I’m fine. We have an
emergency pack with us. We’ll head back when the storm passes. Tell the kids
not to worry.”

“Keep the radio on so I can
reach you.”

“We will. By the way, there’s
a casserole in the fridge you can put in the oven for dinner.”

“Julie’s on it.” Airen
chuckles.

“Good, Julie is there.”

“Right here, dear,” she replies.

“Take care of Airen for me,” I
say. “Oh...and the kids,” I add with a giggle.

“Be careful and stay put,”
Airen orders again.

“I’ll call when we’re on our
way back,” I promise.

After I put the radio away, I
hand Joseph the second flashlight. The storm pounds away outside, showing no
sign of letting up. Joseph looks pitiful, soaked through and shivering, with
his hair pasted to his head.

“You look like a drowned rat.”
I giggle.

With a dirt floor and a hole
in the roof to vent the smoke, I figure it’s safe to start a fire and try to
dry ourselves. I hate to admit it, but Airen’s emergency pack has been a
lifesaver. Using some dry lumber we found piled in a corner and a few handfuls
of straw, we manage to start a small fire. Joseph locates two saddle blankets, a
little dusty, but otherwise fine, and unfurls one for us to sit on.

“Better?” I ask.

“Much better.” He smiles at me.

“It’s not letting up at all.” My
voice sounds small, as another sheet of hail blows against the walls and
lightning flashes, illuminating our faces.

“Yeah, it may be dark when it
does, and I’m not sure about finding our way home in the dark,” he admits.

The thought of getting lost in
the woods at night sends shivers down my spine. “Perhaps we should wait here
until the sun comes up,” I reluctantly suggest.

As if he’s reading my mind,
the radio beeps, and Airen’s voice blares. “Abby! Joseph!”

“We’re here,” I reply.

“You two may be stuck for the
night.”

“We know, don’t worry. We have
a fire, and we’ll be fine.”

“It’s going to get colder,” he
warns, obviously concerned.

“We found a blanket, and there’s
a pile of hay we can lie in,” Joseph reassures him.

“Stay close to her, buddy, and
keep her warm,” Airen pleads. “If you two come back with pneumonia, I’ll kick
both your asses.”

“We’ll get naked and huddle
together for warmth.” Joseph grins at me, and I smack him.

“Ha!” Airen scoffs. “Since
Abby’s feet and ass drop thirty degrees when she’s naked, I doubt that’ll
work.”

“Airen!”
Jeez

“I’ll take care of her,”
Joseph swears, grinning at me.

“I’m not exactly helpless, you
know!” I swear, sometimes they treat me like a two year old.

“I know, sweetheart. Take care
of Joseph. He’s delicate.”

“Good night, Air.”

“Good night, I love you.”

“I love you, too,” Joseph and
I answer in unison, and I hear Airen chuckle before he signs off.

Joseph sighs. “It’s going to
be a long night. We probably have around ten hours before sunrise.”

“I’m dry at least. How about
you?”

“Almost. It was mainly my
shirt that was wet.”

“Are you hungry?”

“Depends on what Mr. Prepared
has packed in that bag.”

I dig through it and find
packs of peanut butter crackers, cheese crackers, raisins, and dried apple
slices. He has also packed two large bottles of water.

“Mmm.” Joseph munches on an
apple slice. “Thank goodness for Airen’s obsessive overprotective tendencies.”

“It could have been a lot
worse. No light, no fire, no food, or water. This isn’t bad.”

Joseph grins at me, displaying
those charming dimples. “The company could be worse.” Something crashes in the
woods, too close for comfort, and I glance up in alarm.

“Probably a tree, we’re okay.”
When I scoot closer to him, he puts his arm around my shoulders. “You aren’t
afraid of storms, are you?” he asks, an amused glint in his eye.

“No, I love the sound of a
good thunderstorm. I’m scared of tornadoes. The sirens and warnings always used
to freak me out, but at least we knew what to expect.”

“True, but the odds of being
in the path of a tornado are pretty slim, honey.”

I nod nervously. “It’s just a
bad storm.” Joseph gazes at me. “What?”

“I don’t believe I’ve ever
heard you admit you were afraid. You’ve been kidnapped, shot at, and had
another gun pointed at you, and you never blinked.”

“Of course I was afraid. I
just try to stay calm to keep from panicking. I was terrified when you and
Airen went to Evansville, and when Mandy had the gun on Airen, I nearly had a
heart attack.”

“Well, you’re a pro at hiding
your feelings.”

“Not anymore! I used to be,
but I’m a regular cry baby now.”

Chuckling, he tosses another
board on the fire. “That’s not a bad thing. A lot has happened to you, and
anyone would be more emotional.”

“Tell me something that scares
you.” I lean into him, and he tucks me against his warm body. His eyes meet
mine, and I can see the flames reflected in them.

“Lots of things.”

“What’s your worst fear?”

“Losing Walker,” he answers
instantly.

“Same here. If something
happened to Carson, I wouldn’t even try to survive.”

“And being alone forever,” he
adds quietly.

Oh no
. “Oh, Joseph! You don’t have to worry about that.” I
hug him. “You’re such a wonderful guy, and someone is going to come along and
fall madly in love with you.” He’s blushing when I let him go. “How did you
meet Tim?”

“In college.”

“Will you tell me about it?”

There is another crash
followed by a clap of thunder that shakes the ground, and I peer up at the roof
apprehensively while envisioning a tree slamming through the barn to crush us
both. Joseph squeezes my hand. “It’s farther away than it sounds,” he lies. “I
was eighteen when I met Tim, and he was nineteen,” he says, trying to distract
me from my fear.

“Was he handsome?”

A sweet smile raises his lips
as he answers. “He was hot, and he knew it. He was a little taller than me,
with broad shoulders and a chest a mile wide. He had dark brown hair and brown
eyes, and he worked out religiously so he had an amazing body. He was fun,
really outgoing, and always surrounded by friends. The girls were all over him,
but he wasn’t into girls. I gave him a ride home from a party one night, and he
told me I had a beautiful smile.” He grins, remembering.

“Those dimples won him over.”
I poke him.

 “He leaned over and kissed me
before he got out of the car, and I was shocked. I didn’t know he was gay. He
asked me to meet him for lunch the next day, and we never spent a day apart
after that.” He continues, his forlorn gaze focused on the fire.

“We were never officially
married, living in Illinois it wasn’t possible, but I called him my husband,
and he did the same. We both wanted children so we hired a surrogate mother and
used both of our sperm to inseminate her. We joked about seeing who had the
strongest swimmers.” He laughs. “When we discovered we were having twins, we
were ecstatic. Twin boys! It was a dream come true.

“When they were born, it was
clear that Walker came from me with his light hair and green eyes. Mason was
dark-headed and had brown eyes, like Tim.” His voice falters, and his eyes
glaze with tears. “I loved them so much, Abby. I miss them every day.”

“I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have
asked you to talk about them.” I slide my arm around his waist, and he rests
his head on my shoulder.

“No, I like to talk about them.
I don’t want to forget. When we left, I was half crazy with grief. I didn’t
bring anything with us, and I really wish I had a picture of them now.”

“Someday you’ll go back and
get the pictures. You’ll be able to see their faces again, along with the rest
of your family,” I reassure him.

“They
were
my family.
I’m an only child and my parents...” He sighs. “That’s another long story with
a bad ending.”

“Do you want to tell me about
it?”

“Let’s get you warm first. You
have goose bumps.” He rubs his hand up and down my arm, warming me. I build up
the fire while Joseph rakes out a pile of hay, covering it with a saddle
blanket, and we curl up together on top of it. He spreads the other blanket
over us and tucks it around our bodies.

“If we get too cold, we can
burrow down in the hay and use both blankets to cover up,” he suggests. His arm
slides around my waist, and tugs me closer to him. His body is warm and firm
against mine while I breathe in the rugged manly scent of him. My mind flashes
to Airen, who might not like this if he knew. He told Joseph to keep me close
and warm, but this may not be what he had in mind.

Joseph feels me stiffen and
amusement sounds in his voice. “Airen won’t mind, Abby, but I don’t want to
make you uncomfortable.”

“I’m fine, but maybe we could
keep the sleeping arrangements to ourselves.”

“Your secret’s safe with me.”
I lay my head on his shoulder and wrap my arms around him. He’s so warm. I’m
spending the night cuddled with another incredibly sexy man, even though it’s
completely platonic. It’s like I hit the ugly girl lottery. I relax into him,
and he hugs me close.

“Are you tired?” I ask.

“Wide awake, do you think you
can sleep?”

“Not yet. This is comfortable,
though. The hay is softer than I expected, and you don’t make a bad pillow,” I
chide.

“Any time, honey. It feels
nice to sleep with someone.” I chuckle at him, and he tickles my ribs. “You
know what I mean.”

“I do, and I hope the right
person comes along for you soon. I know what it’s like to be lonely. Just know
that Airen, the kids, and I all love you, although I know that’s not the same.”

He kisses my cheek. “I’m still
a lucky guy.” We lie in silence for a few minutes, listening to the rain patter
on the roof. Joseph is deep in thought, staring at the rafters sullenly.

“Hey.” I speak softly. He
glances down at me and flashes a tight smile that doesn’t reach his eyes. They
are a dark emerald green in the gloom of the barn. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to
bring back painful memories.” I hate seeing him this way. He’s usually so
upbeat and happy.

“You didn’t. They never really
go away. You asked me about my parents.”

I nod against his chest, and
he tightens his arm around me. “What do you want to know?”

“Did they die in the plague?”

“I don’t know. I hadn’t seen
them in thirteen years,” he confesses. “Not since I was fifteen years old. They
never met Tim or my boys.”

“You moved away from home at
fifteen?”

“They kicked me out when I
admitted I was bisexual.”

Christ, his family sounds as
heartless as mine. “Oh, Sweetie, where did you go?”

“First, to a homeless shelter and
then to a group home. An organization that helped displaced gay kids find a
home stepped in and saved me. They placed me with a foster family, the Crane’s,
who were lovely people.”

“You took their last name.”
Now I understand why he prefers to be called Joseph instead of Joe, like his
father.

“Yes, I did. They were also
caring for a young girl, Jayla’s age, whose parents disowned her when she began
questioning her sexuality. I lived with them until I finished high school, and
I used to visit them often after I moved out.”

“Do you wonder about your
parents?”

“I’d like to know if either of
them are alive, or if they’re both in their heaven they were so confident I’d
keep them from reaching.”

My tears overflow as my heart
aches for him, and he brushes them softly from my cheeks before kissing my
temple. “Don’t cry, honey. It’s all in the past. I have a family now that
doesn’t judge me.”