Callie was surprised to realize it wasn’t even nine yet. After everything that had happened in the past few hours, it felt so much later. After the workers took care of the wire, Matt pulled on his coat. It was still raining lightly. “Do you want to come, too? Or wait here? It’s fine either way.” She looked out into the gloom at the tree in her yard, and squeezed her eyes shut. Her earlier bravado had fled. Somehow she wasn’t ready to face it. She wasn’t strong enough. “I’ll just wait,” she murmured, and he leaned in and pressed a quick kiss to her temple. It startled her, but pleased her, too. The gesture was unexpected and sweet. An almost natural extension of the closeness that had developed between them in the past few hours. He went out in the rain and she watched him carefully pick his way across the street. It wasn’t safe for the kids to be outside until that mess was cleaned up. Just as well they’d be at their grandparents’ house for the weekend.
