She pulled her knees to her chest as he walked away, suddenly aware of the drop in temperature. She shivered until her teeth chattered. Now that the storm had passed, her taut muscles relaxed and she felt weak. She could hear Keaton moving around the house and opening the front door. Then she heard his footsteps coming into the kitchen and saw the bobbing flashlight as he opened the back door. He turned the beam around the yard and then shut the door.
"You can come out now, it's over."
She slid out from under the table and stood, hugging herself and shivering violently as she peered out the kitchen window into the darkness. It was raining, and in the brief flashes of lightning, she could see a tree down in the back yard. Thunder echoed in the distance and lightening flashed.
"Was it a tornado?"
"Looks like it might have touched down in the field for a minute. I think it got a transformer."
"And a tree." She retrieved the broom from the corner and started sweeping up the glass.
"I think the wind blew that old maple over. It should have been cut down years ago. I'll bring over a chain saw in the morning and cut it up."
He set the flashlight on the table where it would shine on the floor and started for the living room.
"You're not going to leave, are you?" Too bad the darkness didn't hide the anxiety in her voice as well as it hid the color in her cheeks.
He stopped. "Not right now. I'm going to see if I can find something to cover that window."
"Oh."
"Do you have another flashlight?"
"No, but I have some candles." She opened the refrigerator and removed the candles she had noticed when she first arrived. This must be the reason the thick short candles were stored there. How often did these storms strike? The pilot light had gone out on the stove, so she took a match from the box in the cabinet and lit one of the candles. She stood and held it in her hand awkwardly.
"Here." He took a jar lid from the cupboard and lit a match, holding it on the bottom of the candle until it began to melt. When it began to drip, he quickly pushed it against the lid and blew out the match. His teeth sparkled a smile in the candlelight. "How's that?"
"Great. I'll use it in here. You can use the flashlight."
The screen door slammed as he left the house. A few minutes later he returned with a scrap of wood, some nails and a hammer. He nailed the wood over the window while she cleaned the rest of the glass from the counter. Then he lit the pilot light and set the coffeepot over a burner again. He was so calm and collected. And what must he think of her? She bit her lower lip and settled down on the bench.