There was no way anyone was raining on his afternoon. Not when his world finally seemed sunny.

chapter seven

Rene slammed the door to the cabin shut as the walls seemed to shake with the force of the thunder. He could hear the way rain pounded on the roof, and he hoped the cabin had already gone through its yearly maintenance.

“I guess I should have looked at the weather report.” Sylvie was shaking, too, her clothes soaking wet because they’d been sitting in the boat when the heavens had opened up and dumped sheets of rain on them. “It’s lucky we were close to your fishing cabin or we would have had a long ride back to the marina.”

It would have been a dangerous ride, too. Lightning filled the sky, and it was hard to see anything through the pouring rain.

The afternoon had started off lovely. They’d gone out to the island and shared the sandwiches and cookies Sylvie had packed. They’d watched the butterflies and talked about everything from what movies they’d watched lately to stories of their travels. Everything with the singular exception of their relationship. They seemed to be treading carefully around that subject.

Then he’d realized it would be dark soon, and the bayou could be dangerous at night. They’d gotten back in the boat and the storm had come on them so suddenly they’d had no choice but to look for shelter. Luckily they hadn’t been far from the fishing shack his grandfather had built. Shack was a complete misnomer since his grandfather had believed in luxury. It was more of a cabin, and while it wasn’t as well appointed as his home, it was far from rickety. The cabin was warm and there was food and a roof over their heads. It was all he could ask for at this point.

“I don’t know that I would have made for the marina with the rain coming down like that.” He would have worried about lightning hitting them. “I would have found the nearest land and looked for a place to wait it out.”

Thunder cracked overhead and Sylvie looked up as though she could still see the deluge. “Then I’m spectacularly happy about this cabin. The thought of riding this out under a tree isn’t appealing.”

It hadn’t been to him, either, which was precisely why he’d taken the chance to come here. “Are you all right?”