Waiting for the Storm Read Online Free Page A

learned one of her old friends, Lilah, had bought the place about ten years ago, winterized it, and rented it out through the year. That’s when she decided we should all come for a visit. There were only three rentals left on this strip of beach—islanders lived in all the rest of the homes.
    I counted ten houses before Dad turned into a long driveway and stopped the car in front of a two-story blue and white house. The paint was faded and peeling, and the porch steps looked rickety and unsafe. The whole house had an air of disuse and abandonment to it, and I wondered if Mom had been right when she said people actually still rented it.
    Despite its appearance, I could feel a tugging in my chest. I loved it. It was almost as if I could feel Mom here, and that gave me a sense of peace I hadn’t felt in a long time.
    “Well.” Dad put the car in park and killed the engine. I watched his reflection in the rearview mirror as he simply sat and stared at the house. After a few minutes, he shook his head and started to laugh.
    Ella and I exchanged a quick look, and I wondered if my expression was as worried as hers.
    “What’s so funny, Dad?” I asked, reaching up to lay my hand on his shoulder.
    The minute I touched him, he snapped out of it and his expression returned to neutral. Empty. Numb. “Your mother told me this place had fallen apart. I guess Lilah said she didn’t see a point in fixing it up since hardly anyone rented it anymore. Said she might just board the place up if she couldn’t sell it to someone looking for a fixer-upper.”
    He shook his head again, and let out a long breath. “Your mom said she’d pay for the repairs. She wanted to return the place to its ‘former glory’, so it would be the same place she had fallen in love with as a girl. She wanted us to…”
    He trailed off, and his face crumpled. My heart leapt into my throat at the sight. I unbuckled my seatbelt quickly, shifting to the edge of my seat so I could reach forward and take his hand. He was crying now, tears streaming down his face, his body shaking with silent sobs.
    A hollow sort of pain developed in my chest. Was it possible to actually feel your heart break? After the events of the last year, I thought my heart was already broken, but this ache made me wonder if my heart would just keep breaking little by little until it was shattered beyond repair.
    Dad took a deep breath and his tears stopped as suddenly as they’d started. He met my eyes in the rearview mirror and smiled weakly before gently pulling his hand free from mine to wipe his face. “She wanted us to see this place as she had all those years ago,” he continued, as if he hadn’t just had a minor breakdown. “She wanted us to fall in love with it the way she did.”
    Ella scoffed. “Not likely.”
    Dad shot her a hard look. My heart leapt again; I was glad I wasn’t on the receiving end of that look. “Gabriella,” he said in a no-nonsense voice I’d never heard him use before. “You will not make this harder than it already is.”
    Ella slumped down in her seat, turning her face away and muttering something under her breath. Dad ignored her and popped the latch for the trunk. “Anyway,” he said pointedly, “your mother was determined that she’d get this place fixed up, even if…well, even if she couldn’t come back. We had savings, as you know, and she knew we’d be getting money from her life insurance…” He winced and rubbed a hand over his face tiredly. “Lilah said there was someone who lived on the beach that could fix it up for a good price. She gave me the number, and I’m supposed to call right away before he gets too busy.”
    “Good,” I said. “I’m sure there’s stuff we could do to help.” Ella’s shoulders jerked and I knew she had scoffed again under her breath. “Stuff I could do to help,” I amended.
    “If the inside looks anything like the outside, that would be a big help,” Dad said, sending me another weak