Free Designed by Love by Mary Manners

that brewed in the distance. Her breathing became deep and even, her heart rate steady and strong. She pumped her arms as her feet slapped the blacktopped pavement and beads of perspiration dampened her brow.
    The wound along the path as leaves skittered along the dancing treetops. Their chatter was a song that coaxed her along.
    A series of raindrops fell from the sky, chasing the heat away. Another quarter-mile and she’d come to the wrought-iron bench she used as a mile marker. She’d turn around there, head back and be home to prepare the lasagna and tuck it into the oven before indulging in a shower and joining Dylan for dinner.
    She looked forward to it…forward to time spent with him, to his conversation and gentle kisses.
    Head back—now!
    Traci made it to the bench and turned in a wide arc to head back toward the complex. That’s when she saw it…a sky tinged red and churning like the spin-cycle of a washing machine. Clouds roiled as lightning split the sky, followed by a deafening clap of thunder that shook the ground, causing Traci to stumble.
    Suddenly the breeze shifted and the chattering leaves grew to a chorus of crescendos as the limbs of trees bowed beneath the weight of the wind. The sky opened up, dumping its contents like a wide-open faucet. Traci picked up her pace, her lungs burning and her eyes blinded by the downpour as she bolted to a full-on sprint. Fear seized her as she searched for the lights of Dylan’s cottage through the storm. The wind gusted, lifting her to her toes as tree boughs creaked around her like the hinges of rusty doors. She dodged lightning, struggled to keep her footing as thunder boomed. She wrestled wind gusts to keep her rain-muddled gaze trained to the lights of Dylan’s cottage.
    Until a sudden flash blinded her and the instant explosion of thunder threw her from the path, tossing her into a grove of trees. She heard an ear-shattering bellow—like the gut-wrenching screech of and enormous flock of angry birds, followed by the overwhelming smell of burned wood, and then a limb toppled from the tree above her, crashing down.
    The world went black.
     
     
     
     

8
     
    Dylan padded from the shower to a room masked in darkness. For a moment, he felt like he’d been plunged into a time warp. When he’d gone into the bathroom, the sky was dappled with sunlight. Just that fast, the sunlight faded, replaced by a raging storm.
    It was a good one from all he saw as he toweled his dripping hair and then shrugged into a T-shirt and jeans…what his mom used to call a gully-washer. Rain cascaded over the windows, distorting his view as he took in the angry shade of red that seemed to blanket the sky. He did a double-take, having never seen quite that color, and the lightning that flashed like strobes along the forest beyond, punctuated by booms of thunder, only served to intensify an odd feeling of dread that suddenly crawled into his bones.
    Find Traci.
    Dylan lifted a finger to his ear, scratched as a sound whispered through. The thunder had to be messing with his hearing. Or maybe Traci was right and he was beginning to lose his range to the heightened decibel overload he used when he DJ’d. He’d heed her warning, tone it down a notch or two.
    Go to Traci.
    The voice whispered, nudging him toward the shadowed hall. He peered through the darkness, squinting for an explanation—any explanation. The keys on the ring he’d hung on the hook beside the door jangled as they slipped to the floor. Dylan crouched to retrieve them, his gaze falling on the joined hearts.
    Traci…
    Dylan shoved the keys into his pocket as he crossed the living room and threw open the front door. Though the porch was covered, rain whipped into his eyes from the force of the gusting wind. His skin stung as if pierced by an army of needles while he turned to survey Traci’s cottage. He was shocked to see it stood in complete darkness…odd since the storm had chased away daylight and she’d need