Chapter One

"What are you doing, April?"

I hear my husband, Brad asks, as he comes into the house. I'm just in here watching the weather channel. We have a hurricane headed to the east coast.

"You and those hurricanes."

I laugh. You know how fascinated I am with them. They are predicting this one to strengthen to at least a Category Three before landfall. It's taking aim at either North Carolina or South Carolina. It appears to be about five days out.

My cell phone rings. AH, it's Tara. We have been friends ever since she started working at the factory I had been working at. I quit a couple years ago my husband went into business for himself and I help him in the office. We run a trucking company. Tara quit about a year ago. She got married and doesn't need to work anymore.

"April! Have you seen the weather? We got one coming this way possibly."

Yes, I just saw the weather. It is only suppose to be a category three. You want to?

"Are you serious?"

Serious as a heart attack.

"This is going to be awesome. I'll talk to Shane."

Would y'all like to come over for dinner tomorrow night? We can discuss it further if you all decide you want to go.

"I'll call you in a little bit."

Ok, bye. Hey, Brad would you want to go to the beach and watch the hurricane come in?

"That sounds like fun. Which beach do you think we should go to?"

I was thinking Myrtle Beach. Tara is asking Shane if he wants to go. If they do I have invited them over for dinner tomorrow night. She is going to call me back later.

"Sounds good. I'm sure they will want to go."

I get up and fix us some dinner. I fixed shake and bake pork chops with boiled potatoes and fried cabbage. I also made cornbread. I love it with cabbage. I call Brad to dinner once it is ready. We sit down and eat. I figured some shake and bake would be good. We haven't had it in a while. It was very good. I love cooking for my hubby, it makes me happy seeing him enjoy what I fix for him. I take our dishes to the sink and my phone rings.

It's Tara again. Hello.

"Shane said he wants to go! Which beach do you think we should go to?"

I was thinking Myrtle.

"That will be great. Even if it misses us there it is so many things to do."

That is what I was thinking. I'll see y'all for dinner tomorrow.

"Ok, see you then."

I go back in the kitchen to do the dishes and Brad has already started them. He is so good to me. I start drying them since he is almost done with the washing. Tara said they want to go. So, they will be here tomorrow for dinner to talk about everything.

"What are you planning on fixing?"

I was thinking about that chicken with pasta you love. In the garlic, olive oil sauce with the cherry tomatoes.

"That would be so good. Yes, fix that."

I'll go to the store in the morning and get everything I need. I finish drying the dishes and we sit down to watch some TV in the family room. Brad puts it in wrestling. I don't really care for it but I watch it and act like I'm interested in it to make him happy. There are some of the wrestlers I really don't like and I tell him. He seems to enjoy the conversation about them. I like watching ghost hunting shows and horror stories. Brad doesn't like me watching them. He said he is afraid something might come out of the shows into our home. I'm not sure I believe that could happen. Although I don't like for the tv to be on static. It makes me think of the poltergeist movie.

"Do you want to get ready for bed?" Brad asks.

I guess so. He cuts off the tv and gets our dog Jake. He takes him outside. Jake is a beagle. He is spoiled rotten. While he does that I get myself ready for bed. Jake comes running into the bedroom and jumps into the bed. Then stretches out at the foot of the bed. Brad comes in and goes to the bathroom. When he comes out I'm already in bed and Jake is snoring. He just laughs at him and gets into bed.

"Goodnight, honey. I love you."

I love you, too. And I kiss him goodnight.

We awaken in the morning to the alarm going off. He just lays there. Brad is not a morning person. I get up to start the day. Jake follows me so he can go outside and potty. I come back in and Brad is already starting breakfast. He has sausage out and has started cooking it.

"I'm cooking breakfast this morning." He looks at me and smiles.

I go start breaking the eggs. We cook breakfast together. I enjoy cooking with him. It is so much fun. After we eat I get everything cleaned up. He heads to his office and I head out to the store. I need to get some things to fix dinner. I'm not gone long and I get back to the house and put everything away. I go ahead and prepare everything for the salad tonight. I don't need to start the pasta until almost time for them to be here. That dish doesn't take long to fix at all. I think that is why I like it so much. Plus, it is really good.

I start going around vacuuming and straightening up a bit. I throw some laundry in the wash. I want to go ahead and get some of it ready to pack. Brad hollers for me. So, I go into his office.

"Honey, look what I found at Myrtle Beach. It is a two bedroom, ocean front house. It is on stilts. We park the cars under it."

That looks nice. Can we afford it?

"Yes, I figure we leave tomorrow. That will give us some time at the beach before the storm gets there and then we stay a couple days after. May be do a total of seven days. I'll see if I can go ahead and book it."

I leave the office and get back to cleaning. It isn't no time I hear him holler at me again.

"April, we've got it."

That's great. I'm so looking forward to this. I've never rode out a hurricane before. It isn't long before Tara and Shane will be here. So, I go change out of my cleaning clothes and start the pasta. I hear them at the front door.

"Good evening. How are y'all? It is great to see you all." I hear Brad say.

"Where is April?" Tara asks.

I speak up. I'm in the kitchen. Tara comes walking in carrying a brown sugar pie. You didn't have too.

"I thought I should bring something for dessert since you are fixing dinner." Tara says.

Thank you. So much. We love brown sugar pie. I've got everything ready if y'all ant to get your plates. Everyone grabs a plate for their pasta and a bowl to fix their salad. We sit down and pray. We eat our food. It is so good. We finish and I get out some plates for the pie and cut everyone a slice with a cup of coffee. Then we all go to the family room to talk.

Brad pulls up on his laptop the house we are renting and tells them we can check in at two o'clock tomorrow.

"Wow that is a nice house. It's two story and on stilts. That is good in case the water comes up. "Shane says.

Brad speaks up. "I figured we get there a couple days before the storm that way we can have a little fun and get everything we need if the hurricane does come that way."

I ask them. Have y'all heard the name of the storm?

"Ivy." Tara shouts.

Yep. You know what they say about storms with names beginning with an "I". Watch out you can't trust them. And also there are more retired "I" named hurricanes than any other.

"Really." They all say at once.

Yes. But we should be ok. It is just going to be a Cat. 3.

"Once we get settled in, we should go load up on wine and beer. Get lots of snack foods. Have a big party. Waiting on Ivy to make landfall." Tara says.

"A hurricane party." We all say at once.