At a few minutes before six, Paula finished her daily paperwork and closed down her computer. She was getting hungry and realized there wasn’t much in her house, and the last thing she felt like doing was cooking. Maybe she’d feed Chester and order a pizza. It felt like a good night for that. She’d change into her sweats, crash on the sofa watching TV and go to bed early.

She stepped out into the hallway at the same time as David, who was also done for the day. Her aunt was long gone, and Paula had no idea how her meeting with the realtor went or what that was about. She wasn’t sure she really wanted to know, either.

“Any exciting plans tonight?” David asked as they walked down the hall.

She laughed. “Nope. Beyond trying to decide what kind of pizza to order. What about you?”

“The same. I’m beat today. Probably going to head to bed early.”

They walked across the lobby and Paula noticed the sky outside was darker than usual, the wind was howling, and the rain was coming down even heavier than before. She’d known they were getting a storm but didn’t think it was expected to be this bad. She was glad that she’d remembered to bring an umbrella. Still, with the driving rain she knew she’d likely be soaked anyway by the time she reached her cottage.

They were just about at the door when a huge gust of wind rattled the windows and with a whoosh, the power flickered and then snuffed itself out. They both paused and waited for it to come back on. The power rarely went out for long on Nantucket, and it wasn’t unusual for it to flicker and then come right back to life. The lobby was full of people trying to check in and the girls at the front desk looked a little frazzled.

“The power should come right back on, hopefully,” Paula said.

David looked outside. “That storm doesn’t look like it’s slowing down any time soon. Do you lose power often here?”

“Almost never. When we do it’s usually a horrible snowstorm, and it’s back up the next day. Or an accident when the lines get knocked out.”

“Wouldn’t surprise me if a tree fell on the lines. That might mean it’s out for a while.”