And it is going to be bad. Very bad.
I’m on my way to pick up Kara from her sleepover party and the closer I get to Jackson, the worse the traffic becomes. People are desperate to leave ahead of this storm.
I don’t blame them. We’re leaving in the wee hours of the morning ourselves. I’ve pretty much packed everything. I’ve spoken to my sister-in-law Ava, who’s also our closest neighbor and tried to get her and my nieces to leave with us. Her husband, Caleb is with Matt at the south end of the ranch. They’re out of cell phone range, but I suspect they’ll be at the well-stocked lodge with the men who went with them until this storm blows over.
True to her nature, Ava’s not going anywhere. I admire her grit. She was born for this life. Her daughters are both just as beautiful and stubborn as their mother. I know they’ll be fine.
Ava has already battened down the hatches to wait out the storm. Frankly, if it were just me, I might be tempted to do the same.
I worry about the kids though.
I know I can survive anything. I’ve done that before and I found out exactly how much strength I do possess.
But my children are everything and I won’t take chances that something bad could happen by them staying and waiting out this storm. No, we’ll head to Florida and spend a week with my parents, who flew out a week ago, then come home.
Despite my protests a few days ago, I am looking forward to the beach and the warmer weather. I just wish Matt was going to be with us.
Finally, after what seems like hours of bumper to bumper traffic, I pull in front of the hotel where the girls stayed the night. Kara’s friend, Jackie has parents who are a lot more indulgent of their children than Matt and I are. Amanda and Jeff splashed out for a rented ballroom and connecting suites for the girls after the party.
I was assured it was all well-chaperoned. I can only hope Jackie was being truthful.
I’ve come to like Matt’s old girlfriend, Amanda even if I don’t agree with her parenting style. She and her husband are very wealthy and give their kids anything they want. They’re also a little on the overly permissive side for my taste, but I know my daughter and I know she wouldn’t do anything that would be out of character.
She’s a good girl. All of my children have turned out to be respectful, kind-hearted and honest. I’m proud of the human beings they’ve become.
I pull into the parking lot and head inside to find my daughter.
It’s chaos inside the hotel with hundreds of people milling around, trying to check out and get out of town ahead of this approaching storm. I can barely move toward the stairwell, let alone the elevator. I take the steps two at a time just to get out of the crowded lobby.
Finally, I reach the fourth floor and am surprised by how calm and silent everything is. I head to suite forty-three, which is where Amanda and Jeff supposedly stayed to keep an eye on everything.
I knock on the door and a sleepy Amanda answers, her eye-makeup is slightly smudged.
“Oh, hi Faith,” she yawns. “Come on in.”
“Am I too early?” I ask. “You told us all to pick up our kids around noon.” I peer into her room to see the connecting door is not open but shut.
“You’re not the first parent to show up. Some of the moms have already picked up their kids. I think Kara and Jackie didn’t go to bed until around three. They’re probably still asleep.” She can see I’m not too happy with her admission and gives me a wan smile. “They’re okay. I checked in on them at three-thirty and made sure everyone was here and accounted for.”
I guess my expression didn’t look as if she’d convinced me, because she opened the door wider and ushered me in.
I’ve never stayed in these suites before. Matt and I have dinner on special occasions in the dining room, but we’ve never splurged on an overnight stay. It seemed silly with our ranch only an hour away.
I gaped at the luxurious décor. I half expected that it would be woodsy and rustic. It was not.
Expensive looking wallpaper covered the walls, with matching drapes and bedspreads. The furniture was heavy and looked antique. The bed was massive.
I followed Amanda toward the closed double doors and breathed a sigh of relief as she swung them open and I saw the girls all up and packing their stuff back up.
Kara spots me and immediately starts saying her good-byes.
“See?” she whispered. “They are all just fine. I know you think I’m a wild parent who just lets her kids do anything.”
I opened my mouth to object, but she stops me by putting up her hand.
“Don’t deny it. I know what the other moms say about me.”
“I don’t say anything about you, Amanda.”
“But you think it.”
I get ready to deny that as well, but, how can I? She was right. I have judged her. I was judging her right up until the point she opened the girls’ door and I saw they were all safe and sound.
“I’m a good mother,” she asserted, and I could hear the hurt behind the words.
“I know you are,” I said. “And I apologize if I’ve ever made you feel that you weren’t. Truthfully, you remind me of someone I used to know many, many years ago.”
“Oh?”
“She was one of my best friends and she definitely had a rules-be-damned attitude. I admired her so much and always wished I was more like her.”
“You said was? Are you no longer friends?”
I shake my head.
“She died.”
“Oh.” Amanda puts her arm around my shoulder and squeezes me in a side hug. “I’m so sorry. What happened?”
I quickly wrack my brain for an explanation. I’ve never mentioned Julianna or her murder to anyone. Ever. It could jeopardize me, my parents, but especially my husband and kids.
“Car accident,” I lie. “She was hit by a drunk driver one night while we were in college. I still miss her.”
“How horrible! Did they catch who did it?”
I nod and then move to change the subject before she gets too inquisitive, mentally berating myself for bringing Julianna up at all. Why did I all of a sudden think about Julianna after all these years? I tell myself it’s because Amanda reminds me of Julianna’s free-spiritedness, but that’s not it.
A cold chill runs up my spine.
“It’s freezing outside,” I say. That’s it, talk about the weather. Not your dead friend who was murdered by your psycho ex-husband.
“Are you cold?”
“I think the wind chilled me driving over here and it’s just now catching up to me.”
“Jeff and I are taking the kids to visit my parents in Southern California until it passes. I’ve lived through one of those blizzards when I first moved here. I’m not about to do it again. No thank you. Do you know we were without power for almost a week? We couldn’t get in or out. We had zero communication with anyone for seven entire days. I thought I was going to die right there in the middle of the house.”
I knew Amanda was being dramatic, because like us, she has plenty of food and water to get through months of being snow-bound. Most of us do. But the thing that concerned me and the thing that made me acquiesce to my husband’s concerns was the lack of communication if something did go wrong. If we were snowed under, which it’s looking more and more as though that’s what is going to happen, what would we do if one of us were injured and needed help?
“Kara said your family is going to Miami to wait it out?”
I nod my head. “I didn’t want to go at first. I hate the thought of leaving our animals, but Matt was so worried, I agreed to take the kids and spend a week at the beach. He’s lived through more of these than he can count and didn’t want us anywhere near it, especially since he’s at the south end of the property with our men.”