He nodded and went back to packing, dropping a box of microwave popcorn into a paper sack.
Callie turned the battery-operated radio on. “If you live in coastal areas—I’m speaking to those in Kitty Hawk, Kill Devil Hills, Nags Head, Rodanthe, Waves, all the way down to Hatteras—it’s advised, if you can, to pack up valuables and family memorabilia. The swells are going to get quite high and the amount of damage we’re looking at could be serious.”
She looked at Frederick as if he could provide some relief for her worry, but even though he’d probably experienced something like this before, he couldn’t offer much more than to say, “This house has weathered many hurricanes. It’s just another storm, Callie. Tell yourself that.”
By the time they had their bags packed, Callie was wondering how she’d get it all, along with the cooler, in the trunk of her car. Luke came driving in with another SUV behind him. “Don’t take your car,” he said, getting out. “We can go in mine. It’s bigger, so we can get more into it. Mom and Juliette are in the car behind me with Mitchell. She’s got two rows of seats. Wyatt and Mitchell can sit in the very back.”
Aiden, who had started packing the cars, came out with more bags.
“Aiden and Olivia can ride with Mom, and you and Frederick ride with me,” Luke told them as he began to transfer Callie’s things from her trunk to his vehicle. He popped the back open—it was already full. He moved his bags to one side to make room for the cooler. “I got three rooms at The Berkeley in Richmond,” Luke said, shifting one of his suitcases. “I reserved all they had left.” With a pause, he looked down at his painting, blinking for a moment, his face neutral. He put it in the back.
“We can make it work,” Aiden said over his shoulder as he headed inside one more time.
Frederick came out and climbed right in with his things as Olivia and Wyatt walked briskly over toward Lillian, each lugging a suitcase. Luke jogged toward them and took both bags, lifting them easily. He slid them into the back while Olivia helped Wyatt into Lillian’s SUV.
“Hop in,” Luke told Callie, opening the back door. “Let’s try to get ahead of the crowd. Anything else inside that you need?”
Luke looked around, as the group offered a collective “no” from their various locations with head-shaking and worried glances. Callie couldn’t help but feel safe watching Luke take charge. He was calm, direct, and focused, and it set her racing heart and flooded mind at ease. She was so worried about their safety that she didn’t allow herself to think about the fact that they wouldn’t have the funds or time to repair any major damage from this storm or that Frederick was coming along and she had no idea how that would work. She got in the SUV and shut the door, the others doing the same. Luke jogged around and climbed in the driver’s side.
Callie turned back to take one last look at The Beachcomber before they drove away.
Twenty-One
By the time they’d made the almost four-hour trek into Richmond, it was nearly dinnertime, and they were all hungry and tired from driving. The journey had been mostly silent, the only sound being the radio spewing updates—the same information over and over until the station received new weather data, which was about once an hour.
Callie felt like she was going to burst with uncertainty. Every time she looked over at Luke, he wouldn’t respond, keeping his eyes on the road. She didn’t know what to say anyway because Frederick was in the car, and she hadn’t told him that Luke knew everything. Her mouth was bone dry, her hands icy with worry.
They’d stopped for a snack and a bathroom break when they’d crossed the North Carolina state line and entered Virginia. Callie noticed that Lillian had stayed in the car, and she wondered if Luke’s mother had realized that Frederick was with them. They’d climbed into the cars so quickly. How would she feel seeing him again? Were they on good terms? After all, she’d hidden all of this from Luke.
Had Luke even confronted his mother yet? She’d wanted to ask him all these questions, but stayed quiet. The blank look on Luke’s face was unnerving. She wanted to read him like she’d gotten good at doing but it was clear that he wasn’t going to allow her. He hadn’t even offered a glance in the rearview mirror at Frederick.
They didn’t stop again until they pulled in front of The Berkeley Hotel. Luke lined up their bags on the curb of the cobblestone street as the valet parked the SUVs. The weather wasn’t great in Richmond either, the outer band of rain from the hurricane stretching as far as Virginia, leaving a light drizzle on everything. Callie moved under the large green awning stretching out from the front door of the hotel.
It was an odd sensation to be back in Richmond with Luke. Callie had lived here nearly her entire adult life. Her mother was here in the city. Callie had worked down the street, and she had lived along the James River in an apartment on Tobacco Row. She’d walked past the Berkeley more times than she could count, but this would be the first time she’d stayed here, the first time she’d be considered an out-of-towner.
The hotel was a gorgeous, historical landmark, its elegance incomparable to anything else on the street. It sat along the cobbled road, a grand awning stretched out, a smiling, suited doorman ready to help them. It was a stark contrast to the beachy vibe she’d just left.
The two vehicles were parallel parked, one behind the other, and Lillian, who’d jumped in to help unload the bags from the car before the rain, was struggling to pull her suitcase out. Both Luke and Aiden were already occupied inside and the valets, with their black vests and white gloves, were loading the luggage onto brass caddies. Callie could see Frederick hanging back—only for an instant—as if he were trying to figure out when best to approach Lillian. Callie could hardly breathe. They hadn’t seen each other in decades, she was sure.
“Let me help you,” Frederick finally said, stepping forward, his words heavy with unsaid thoughts, his eyes on her.
Lillian stopped cold, and it was clear that she just now realized who had been on the drive with Luke for four hours. She looked like she’d seen a ghost. And, Callie thought, in a way she had. Tears filled Lillian’s eyes, but she blinked them away, coughing into her fist once as if to take the focus away from her reaction. She squared her shoulders, but emotions kept flooding her face. Callie looked away a moment, feeling as though she were intruding, her head swimming with anxiety.