Free Designed by Love by Mary Manners Page A

at least the light of a single room—the kitchen. She couldn’t manage to cook the lasagna she’d promised him in the dark.
    Dylan stepped from the shelter of the porch to descend the stairs and cross the side yard that served as a boundary between their cottages. Traci’s car sat in the drive and locked tight, just as she’d left it. He climbed the few steps to her front door and gave a series of sharp raps with his fist, calling her name as the wind carried his words, tossing them like kindling.
    No answer. Dylan pounded again, harder this time, and then pressed one ear against the paneled door to listen. Nothing—no music, no singing, no clattering pans. Just the uneasy sound of silence. He grasped the door handle, turned it and pushed. The door didn’t budge, but was locked tight.
    Traci needs you.
    Panic rose like the wind that whipped hair into his eyes like a swarm of angry wasps. He rounded the house, pausing at each window to pound and shout Traci’s name as he peered through the rain-splattered glass. Lightning flashed around him and then, suddenly, a fierce crack of thunder boomed so loud that for a moment he reeled, deafened by the aftershock.
    When he recovered his balance, he turned toward the roar to find an explosion of flames at the edge of the forest. The putrid smell of electricity coupled with charred wood rose to burn his sinuses. He cupped a hand to his forehead, shielding his eyes from the onslaught of rain as the flames illuminated the tree line. A swatch of neon orange shifted along the forest’s edge and rolled a short distance toward the greenway, then stilled.
    Somewhere, in the recesses of his brain, Dylan recognized the distinct, bright-orange color as a running shirt he’d seen once before.
    Traci’s running shirt.
    “Traci!” He shouted her name, plowing through terror while he launched into a sprint across the grass, closing the gap between the cottage and the greenway as the storm kicked up around him. Lightning crescendoed and only one thought filled Dylan’s mind as he wove a path straight to the orange…straight to Traci.
    I’ve finally found her…found the woman I’ve longed to spend the rest of my life with. What will I do if I lose her now?
     
    ****
     
    Traci woke to a throb of pain. She moaned and instantly felt Dylan’s gentle touch along her rain-soaked cheek.
    “You’re safe now, Traci.” He murmured, soothing her. “Everything’s OK. I’ve got you.”
    “I’m so cold.” She tried to sit up and the sky swirled. Her heart raced and a chill swept through, making her teeth chatter against pellets of rain that tore at her skin. Though her clothing was completely soaked, her throat burned with thirst. “What happened?”
    “Lightning struck a tree and one of the limbs fell onto the greenway. You must have tripped over it, stumbled, and got the breath knocked out of you. There’s a scrape along your forehead and it’s bleeding quite a bit. An ambulance is on the way to take you to the hospital. They’ll want to check you over, make sure nothing’s broken. Does it hurt anywhere beside your head?”
    “No...” Sirens wailed in the distance, and the shriek ripped at Traci’s ears. She grimaced and reached for Dylan’s hand. “…dinner…”
    “Dinner can wait.” He tore the hem of his T-shirt with his free hand and pressed the cotton fabric to Traci’s throbbing forehead as he used his body to shield her from the rain. “Just lay still, sweetheart. The ambulance is almost here.”
    Traci sighed as the darkness closed in once again.
    ****
    Daybreak yawned through the living room window, rousing Dylan. He checked his watch…six-oh-five. He must have nodded off, finally.
    It had been a long night—a terrifying night—but the emergency-room physician’s calming words coasted through Dylan’s mind. “Traci’s going to be fine. She’s suffered only a bump on the head…a few scratches. She’s lucky. With the way that storm blew through, so