Promises by Jo Barrett Page B

into someone else’s hands.   Hands he could trust, because as much as he hated to admit it, he wasn’t sure he could control this insane need to touch her and more.
     
    Exhausted from dealing with Travis and her whacked-out libido, the constant worry over her brother, and the hours she’d spent carving in her shop, Bobbi slipped between the covers of the unfamiliar bed.  
    She’d managed to avoid her unwelcome guest for most of the afternoon.   While serving him dinner, she responded with no more than a curt reply to his thanks and left him to his own resources.   It was her only means of defense, considering how easily he managed to get under her skin.   That almost-kiss was one very big warning.
    Sleep took her quickly and dangerously down a sensual path with Travis in the leading role, but it quickly twisted and turned into a nightmare filled with horrible visions of death.  
    Her eyes popped open at a loud crack of thunder.   The world sounded as if it were ending.   Reaching for the bedside lamp, she twisted the switch, but nothing happened.  
    “Please, be a burnt out bulb,” she whispered.  
    Her heart jumped to her throat as a flash of lightening lit the room followed by more thunder.   With a steadying breath, she eased out of bed.   A smooth coat of fur brushed against her calf as she stood.
    “Hello, Rocky.   I’m okay.   I’ve just got the heebies.”   The floor felt more cold than usual beneath her bare feet, and she rubbed her arms vigorously against the chill in the air.   “The power must be out, boy.   The heat hasn’t kicked in.”  
    She wrapped the blanket around her shoulders and carefully made her way downstairs.   The emergency generator hadn’t been used in a long time, but Uncle Joe assured her it worked.   She only hoped she could get the darn thing started.   She wouldn’t bother if she weren’t so cold.
    As she rounded the corner, she paused a moment in the doorway of her bedroom to see if Travis was all right.   The lightening cast his still form in an ethereal glow.  
    Just like a man to sleep through all this noise, she thought as another rumble of thunder peeled over-head.   With a shudder, she gripped the blanket tightly around her.   The wind howled through the trees like the fabled banshee her grandfather told her of when she was little, sending an icy finger of fear up her spine, spurring her to hurry down the hall.  
    Stepping into the kitchen, she instantly noticed the absence of the soft green glow of the clock from the microwave.   The power was obviously out, but still she flicked the switch on the wall.  
    Nothing.  
    She crossed the room to the counter and fumbled in a drawer for a flashlight.   With a push of the button, a bright golden beam cut through the eeriness, lighting her way to the back door.   Aiming the light through one of the small panes of glass, she spied the generator under the green tarp on the porch being pelted by horizontal rain.   Going outside did not look like a very good idea at that moment.
    “I guess I’ll have to wait and start it up in the morning if the power doesn’t come back on.   Maybe by then the storm will be gone, huh Rock?”
    She received a loud sniff at her feet in reply.  
    “Sorry, boy.   Now’s not a good time for you to go out either.   You’ll have to hold it.”   She scratched him behind the ear before making her way back down the hall to the living room.  
    A fire would have to provide them with heat until the storm let up, and it would give her something to do with her jittery hands.   Twice she’d almost dropped the flashlight when the thunder boomed.
    Minutes later, a roaring fire warmed the room.   Folding her legs beneath her on the couch across from the hearth, she let the flickering flames soothe her jumbled nerves.   She concentrated on the crack and sizzle of the burning logs, mentally shutting out the storm, but her ears picked up the sound of rustling sheets and