“You need help?”

Zoey opened the truck door. “Nope. I’m fine.” The answer was automatic. As her friends liked to point out, she wasn’t great at accepting help. “Just a few things to put in the barn, then close it up tight and hunker down in the house. I’m painting Hazel’s bedroom this weekend while she’s at her dad’s. I hope to get a second coat on the ceiling today. It’s one of those projects that’s easier to do alone. You know how it is.”

“Yup,” Logan answered. “Kinda like moving porch furniture without the help of a seven-year-old. Still...don’t hesitate to call if you need anything.”

The northern sky grew steadily darker as she drove home. Her phone lit up with alerts from the weather app, but the worst of it wasn’t supposed to hit until the overnight hours. The rain racing in now was supposed to be brief, leading the system in advance of the primary storm front. She carried the lighter chairs into the barn and slid the heavy Adirondack chairs close to the side of the house. She stared at the grill, trying to decide what would be safest. Next to the house seemed like a bad idea, so she wheeled it across the driveway and inside the barn.

By the time she had everything secured and was headed into the house, there was thunder rumbling in the distance. She warmed up a frozen dinner in the microwave. Cooking for one was often more effort than it was worth. Once she’d eaten, she headed upstairs to attack Hazel’s ceiling.

It was very definitely black after two coats. But it was not sparkly yet. She read the instructions on the packages of glitter paint additive. She’d watched half a dozen online videos on how to use the stuff successfully, but she was still nervous. She stirred two packages of silver glitter into a gallon of black paint. Hazel said she wanted it really sparkly. Zoey added two more packages, then stirred until the glitter seemed to vanish into the paint. All the instructions said it would reappear as it was applied, and would sparkle once the paint was dry.

It took two hours to finish the ceiling. The extra-thick paint and glitter mixture made the roller heavier than usual, and her wrist was beginning to throb. She was just finishing up the last corner when her phone buzzed and made a weird alarm sound. It was the weather app. That couldn’t be good.

The predicted storms were now turning into some sort of mega system that was creating both tornadoes and derecho winds—straight-line winds up to 100 mph in spots. Power was out for tens of thousands in Buffalo and now Rochester. And it was due to sweep through the Finger Lakes in the next half hour.