Chapter Twenty-Two

CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO

Val

" L ooks like it's going to come a flood out there." Gabby says, as she watches the clouds moving in. "Must be why we've been so slow today."

Typically it would be loud and full of people in here. It has been since we had a couple of people on social media go viral talking about Get Baked. It's exploded so much that we've had to hire interns, and Gabby is discussing hiring one of them full-time when they graduate.

It's slightly unnerving - the quiet - when we've been used to the flurry of activity that tends to overtake this space for the entire time we're open. It's as if everyone can feel the weather coming in. I've not paid much attention to it, but I remember Vaughn saying something about possibly having to work extra tonight if the weather they were expecting came to fruition.

"Probably, but I can't say I wasn't happy about it. I had a late night last night." My cheeks heat as I think back to Vaughn and I doing all the things we did in my bed. There's only one more thing for me to do before I can say Vaughn has had me in every single way no one else has. We came close, but I'm glad he put a stop to it.

"How are things going with the broody lineman?" She grins. "He was running late this morning."

"We both were." I shrug, not meeting her eyes.

"Look." Gabby starts. "You're an adult, but I want to make sure you're okay. You've never had a serious relationship..."

"I've never had any relationship." I laugh.

She tilts her head to the side. "Vaughn isn't pressuring you to do anything you don't want to do is he? Y'all moved in super quick, or he seems to at least be staying with you. There's no family around to take care of you, so I feel as if it's my place to ask. If I'm overstepping you can tell me to fuck off, but I had to say my piece."

Tears pop in my eyes and I do something completely uncharacteristic. I throw my arms around her, hugging her tightly. "No one has ever cared enough to check on me other than you and Vaughn. If I would've had an older sister like you, so much of this would've been different."

"I'm sorry they didn't." She rubs my back. "You deserved so much better than what you got."

I don't disagree with her, I'm beginning to learn my worth. "I did, and I'm starting to get that with Vaughn, and you, honestly. I'm incredibly lucky to have this group of friends to call my family."

She sighs. "Don't make me cry. We have a delivery we need to make. You wanna drive?"

"Do you mind?" I've been practicing on it as often as I can, but I still have a lot to learn. "I'm sick of walking to the grocery store, and would love to be able to drive at least there as soon as possible. It's going to be cold soon."

"I know. We'll get you there. C'mon, let's go make this delivery, and do closing. Maybe we can leave a little early."

I watch as she lets our interns know we'll be leaving and tosses me her keys. "You ready?"

As I'll ever be. I help her grab the boxes of goodies we're taking to our delivery, and then load them in. I slide into the driver's seat and adjust it, along with all of my mirrors like Vaughn showed me. I press the button to start, and then check my blind spots before backing out of the parking lot.

"Good job, Val. You're learning quick."

I nod, watching both ways of traffic before I pull out into the flow of traffic. "I was able to drive some. On our property, but it was so different compared to how it is to drive on the street. I'm still trying to learn to parallel park. Vaughn tells me I shouldn't use the backup camera, but it's so much easier."

She busts out laughing. "Vaughn would be someone to tell you not to use the backup camera. Probably because he's been driving since he was like ten. That's how it goes around here. I'm telling you to use whatever makes it easiest for you."

"Thank you." I reach over and hold my hand up for a high-five. "I appreciate you saying that."

"Us ladies have to stick together. These men we're with they have a habit of believing in us in a way that over states our capabilities sometimes. Which, I mean, God bless 'em, but there are a few things I just can't do. If you were to ask Barrett though? He'd tell you I could do absolutely anything I put my mind to."

"It's sweet." I take up for them.

"It's also delusional." She laughs. "This is it, right up here. You're gonna need to parallel in front of the building, but use that camera if you need to."

I giggle, thinking about how Vaughn would be on me about it. "I will, and it'll be our little secret."

The two of us got back a little over an hour ago, and it's been crickets since. The sky outside is getting darker than night, and the wind has picked up considerably.

In the distance, I see a flash of lightning, and then the boom of thunder as it rocks the building we're in. I'm used to storms, as I've lived here my whole life. The past few years they've gotten worse than they've ever been, and we've dealt with a lot of damage. Out where I lived with my family, we were spared most of it, but Broken Falls has gotten hit a few times.

Rain starts beating against the windows, and that's when there's a loud blaring. "What is that?" I ask, as we're finishing up the closing procedures.

"The fucking tornado sirens. We need to get in the walk-in." Gabby grabs my hand and hurries me toward the middle of the store. "That means there's one radar indicated, it might not be on the ground, but it's probable. I'd prefer not to stick around and find out. C'mon."

I follow her, our hands glued together as we head to the walk-in. I'm beyond glad I'm not here by myself, I don't know what I would do without her. She pulls me in.

"Make sure you take all that stuff off the top." She indicates some glass jars of supplies. "We don't want that to fall off and hurt us. This isn't the best place to be, but it's the best place in this building to be. It's bolted to the floor."

There's a lot of loud noise, and then the lights go out. We hang onto each other, and I do what I've done for most of my life.

I pray. This time not for forgiveness, but salvation.