Where Does My Heart Beat Now- Chapter 20

A Chapter by Sympathy Heart

Chapter 20

Long into the night the rain continued to fall, however, it had begun to pound against the windows, waking Gabriel. He slipped out of bed and walked over to the window where he opened the blinds to see out. All that could be seen was the rain hitting the glass, until a bright flash of light lit up the room and a loud clap of thunder shook the house.

That doesn’t sound good. I’d better go and see what the weather channel says, he thought as he headed for the door, but Kate stopped him.

“What’s going on?” She questioned with a yawn.

“I’m going to go check on the weather. Just stay in bed.”

She didn’t say a word when he slipped into the dark hallway, but not knowing what was going on made her curious, so she quietly tiptoed out of the bedroom and pressed herself against the wall where she peeked around the corner to see Gabriel and Rob standing in front of the TV, which cast a blue glow on the walls. From the way they watched the screen intently she figured something wasn’t good.

“This kind of weather is odd for September. Tornado warnings?” Rob mumbled with his arms crossed over his chest.

“Yeah. Normally this would happen in the spring,” Gabriel replied.

As soon as the words were out of his mouth, the blaring of a siren could be heard over the rain and thunder, alerting them of potential danger.

“Get Kate! I’ll wake the others!”

Gabriel immediately turned and sprinted toward his bedroom, nearly crashing into Kate, who stepped out of the darkness. He could tell that she was frightened from the way she threw her arms around his waist and clung to him, “Honey, hurry and put some shoes on. We need to go to the storm shelter,” he hugged her tightly against him before releasing her. “Meet me on the porch. I’ve got to go let Bo and Yankee out of the barn so they can get away. Find Charlie and put a leash on him. He’ll be hiding somewhere since he hates the tornado siren,” his voice faded into the distance, leaving Kate standing in the hallway, alone.

When another clap of thunder rang through the house, Kate bolted back down the hall to the bedroom where she yanked on the first pair of shoes she found, and then ran through the house until she came to the back door. A row of hooks hung beside the door containing several keys and Charlie’s leash. She yanked it off before quickly making her way to the laundry room, thinking Charlie might be hiding in there, “Charlie! Come on, boy! Are you in here?” Kate called, hoping he’d come to her. The sound of the front door banging shut made her jump, but when the dog appeared from underneath the table she snapped the leash onto his collar and pulled him along. “Let’s go, Charlie. We’ve got to hurry!”

Out on the front porch, Gabriel waited for his wife while the others made their way to the shelter on the other side of the driveway by the large oak tree. He saw his father and Corey help Mae and Cherrie, who had Roxanne wrapped up in her blanket, into the shelter before turning to look at him. Both of them looked extremely worried as they stood near the shelter door.

“Hurry, son! I can hear the twister!” Rob yelled over the roar of the wind and rain.

Gabriel turned back to the door expecting to see Kate emerge at any moment with Charlie, but the seconds ticked by and still no sign of her. Oh God, where is she? I need to go find her. After several more seconds ticked by he yanked open the screen door and ran in, “Kate! Where are you?!”

“Gabriel?! I’m in here, in the kitchen!” Her frightened voice responded.

Her husband quickly made his way through the living room and skidded to a stop when he found Kate pulling on the dog’s leash, trying to get him to follow her, “Kate, we’ve got to get to the shelter. There’s a tornado coming!”

“He won’t move, Gabriel!” Kate looked up at him while tugging on the leash, her eyes wide with fright.

Without pausing to think, Gabriel scooped Kate into his arms and took the leash, jerking on it to get Charlie to move. He ran out of the house into a torrent of rain, and when he looked to the southwest a swirling black cloud of dust and debris was visible behind the tall trees. The tornado was close, very close. At a closer glance he could see that the huge wall was at least half a mile wide, “S**t! That thing’s a monster!” As Gabriel was jogging toward the shelter with Kate clinging to him they were almost run over by Bo and Yankee, who blazed by and disappeared into the east tree line.

Kate peeked over his shoulder and saw the tornado rip apart a section of the far back fence and the barn, “It’s getting closer, Gabriel!”

“Hang on, Kate! We’re almost there!”

When they reached the shelter he threw open the door and released Charlie, and then helped Kate into it, where the others wrapped her up in a warm blanket. After her husband shut and locked the door, he moved over to her and took her in his arms. She was shivering from both the cold rain and fright. All that she wanted was to hold onto him and bury her face in his warm chest.

“Shh. We’re safe in here,” Gabriel whispered as he rubbed her back soothingly. “The house can be repaired, but if I ever lost you, that could never be.”

She felt him lay his hand on her belly as if he was protecting the precious life inside her, “How long before we can get out?”

Over in the corner, Rob was messing with a portable radio and replied, “I’m trying to get this blasted thing to work so we can hear what the meteorologist is saying.”

“Dad, I can call Sean and ask him, because I’m sure he’s standing outside like a fool, and-,” Gabriel started, but a loud banging on the metal door made him jump.

“Gabriel! Gabe… Let us in! It’s Sean and Ava!” The familiar voice called.

After hearing the distress in his friend’s voice, Gabriel jumped up and unlatched the heavy door before pushing it open. The sight of Sean and Ava’s soaking and bedraggled bodies made him worry, “What in the hell are you two doing out in this?! There’s a tornado out there, you know!”

“Ava and I were on our way back from the bar when we started down the road to our house and found power lines and trees across the road. That’s when we heard the warning on the radio,” Sean explained while helping Gabriel latch the door. “I hope you don’t mind.”

“Sean, there’s a bad storm out there. Do you think I want to hear that my best friend died while trying to find shelter?”

“Well, I’m just saying.”

The wind continued to whip about, making loud noises whenever it caused something to fall over. Kate rested her head against Gabriel and tried to sleep, but it was useless. She got up after awhile and started pacing around with her hands facing backwards on her hips. It wasn’t long before she felt the baby kick, and she looked down at her belly, a small smile on her face, “The baby’s moving.”

Despite the scary situation, the shelter became warm and inviting with smiles of joy. Mae got up from where she was sitting and stepped over to her daughter-in-law, “Where’s the baby kicking?”

Kate pointed to the spot right below her naval and said, “Right here. I think the storm woke her up.”

“Oh, poor baby,” the older woman gently touched her belly with her fingertips, smiling brightly when a nudge caught her by surprise. “Oh, this is so exciting! I can’t believe I’m going to be a grandma. You do know that I’m going to spoil this baby, right?”

“Of course. That’s what grandmas and daddies are for,” Kate glanced over at her father, who was softly rocking Roxanne to sleep. “I can guarantee Gabriel’s going to be spoiling her. Right, honey?”

Her husband’s head shot up, and he grinned wryly, “What? Me? Nah. What makes you think I’d do something like that?”

“Please. I know you. I’d bet you’ll spend every second with her.”

Wow. I guess she does know me, Gabriel thought, and then he went over to sit beside Corey. He smiled down at the infant resting in her father’s arms, “Would you like me to hold her for awhile? You’ve got to handle her all night.”

Corey was surprised, and even a little relieved by Gabriel’s offer, “Sure, if you want. More practice,” as he passed the baby off, the jostling around woke her and she became fussy. “Whoops. Didn’t mean to wake her.”

“It’s okay. I’ve got her,” Gabriel held Roxanne against his warm chest with his hand underneath her bottom and the other one on her back. She clung to him, burying her face in the hair on his chest as she continued to fuss. “Hey, Roxanne, you don’t need to cry. Shh, go back to sleep,” he began to sing in what sounded like Gaelic. The soft notes floated around the shelter, bringing a calming feeling over everyone, including the baby, who had already closed her eyes and drifted off to sleep.

“What are you singing, Gabriel? It’s beautiful,” Cherrie questioned, entranced by the song.

He looked up from the slumbering baby and answered happily, “It’s like an Irish lullaby, called ‘Come By the Hills’. Dad used to sing it to me when I was a baby.”

“You have a nice voice. Have you ever considered performing?”

“Uh… No. I’m not much for singing in front of big crowds.”

Kate intervened to keep her husband from giving an explanation, “Mom, back off. He’s got no interest in performing…and neither do I,” the last part was difficult to admit.

The small shelter became quiet, Cherrie staring at her daughter completely in shock, “But I thought you did?”

“Hell no. Mom, that may be your life, but it’s not mine. I just want to be normal without having paparazzi snapping pictures of me every time I walk out of Starbucks, or saying trash about me. I prefer to live like normal people. That’s why I moved here,” Kate stepped over in front of her mother, her eyes narrowed. “Being a rich s**t like Twila is not how I plan on living the rest of my life. I’m just going to come right out and say it… She’s a spoiled brat! You wouldn’t even help me buy my Camaro, but you paid every cent for her Jaguar convertible. What’s that telling you, Mom?”

“Kate…”

“No, don’t ‘Kate’ me! You favor her! You always have… and you’ve always wondered why I spent more time with Dad.”

Her mother thought about everything she had just tossed up in her face, trying to come up with a loophole to get out of the situation, but after a while she gave up, “Kate, if I could do one thing over it would be spending more time with you instead of worrying about the fame. I want to be there for you when you have this baby, and to give you advice on being a mother. Can you forgive me, honey?”

“It’s going to take a lot for me to gain back your trust,” Kate said pointedly.

“That sounds like something I’d be saying to you.”

Corey jabbed his wife in the side, “She’s being serious, Cherrie. You need to prove to her that you can be trusted.”

The tension in the shelter diminished when Cherrie stood up and hugged her daughter tightly, feeling the coolness of a tear roll down her cheek and drop to the floor, “I’m so sorry, Kate. I had no idea you felt that way. I promise that I will give you more attention, especially since you’re pregnant.”

“Hey, I think we can get out, now,” Gabriel headed over to the door, preparing to unlock it. “It sounds like the tornado’s passed. I’ll check,” he pushed open the door after unlocking the latch and poked his head out to investigate. The scene in front of him was shocking; debris and trash were scattered all over the yard and in the trees. What looked like part of the back fence was wound around the trunk of the tree; it looked like a war zone. On closer inspection, he saw that part of the roof was gone. “Dad, it seems that we’ve got to fix the roof. A lot of the shingles and boarding are gone.”

Rob rolled his eyes as he got up to assess the damage for himself, “Great. Just what I wanted to do this weekend,” his eyes widened when he saw how extreme the damage was, his mouth falling open. “Gabriel, where’s your truck? Where did you park it?”

“What are you talking about? It’s next to-,” he nearly had a stroke when he saw that his truck wasn’t where he had parked it when they had gotten home. “Where the hell is my truck?!” Taking the rest of the steps two at a time, Gabriel ran out onto the soaking lawn to search for his dark green Silverado, but all that was visible was his father’s truck, beaten by thousands of hailstones. When he looked up, the form of a crumpled up sheet of green metal and wheels twisted around the oak tree caught his attention. “My baby! And I only have liability on her!”

His father joined him in front of the tree and said, “Well, now you can get that green Ram you had your eyes on… That or you can drive Rex for awhile until you do find something.”

“I refuse to drive that tin can on wheels. The last time I drove it, the piece of crap died in the middle of the highway and I almost got my a*s ran over by a semi.”

“I fixed the choke on it.”

Gabriel raised an eyebrow, “Dad, there was a hole in the oil pan. I’m surprised the engine didn’t blow.”

“Oh, well that could be the reason why it died on you.”

“You think?” He said sarcastically before going over to help Kate out of the shelter. “Are you okay, honey? You look a little shaken up.”

She smoothed the bottom of her silk chemise and glanced up at him from beneath her long eyelashes, “Do I? I’m not surprised,” after tossing her damp hair over her shoulder, Kate stared at the debris in the trees and covering the lawn. “What do we do now, Gabriel? There are probably holes in the ceiling.”

“I’ll have to get up on the roof and cover it with a tarp.”

“What do you want me to do, Gabriel?”

He turned around, laying his hands on her hips, and smiled, “Nothing. Just see if you can find Bo and Yankee, and bring them back. My guess is that they are in the clearing. You know which one I’m referring to.”

Yes, she did know which clearing he was talking about. The memory of the absolutely enchanting place filled her head with pleasant images. The silhouette of the willow on top of the bluff was so beautiful and life-like.

“Kate… Are you all there?” Gabriel gently tapped her forehead with his fist and pretended to see into her conscience.

“I’m never all here,” Kate shook her head to clear her thoughts, and then started off in the direction of the clearing in hopes of finding the bay stallion and gray gelding. “Don’t worry, I’ll be back before you can say ‘Tá grá agam duit’,” she disappeared into the darkness, leaving the others to start picking up broken tree branches and wood paneling.

“You know, this kind of looks like paneling from your house, Sean,” Gabriel commented with a faint laugh.

His friend shrugged his shoulders and replied, “I wouldn’t be surprised. My entire house is most likely gone.”

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