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Rafe hadn’t, then Brady would have.
    “I’ll go get an atv with a trailer to bring this stuff up before the storm hits,” Brady said. He took JJ by the elbow and led her off the dock.
    “Did Dan leave a note saying when he’d be back?” Brady asked her as the two of them trudged up the trail.
    “He said he would be back for supper. But the storm…it was bad and it came up so suddenly.”
    JJ shivered against him and Brady hugged her tight.
    “Storms can be fierce. But rest assured Dan is experienced. I’m sure he was holed up somewhere when the storm blew in. Don’t worry. Why don’t you go up and put a pot of coffee on and maybe get started on some supper. I’m starved. Then we’ll wait for Dan. I’m sure he’ll be home soon.”
    He read the doubt in JJ’s gaze, but she nodded and he watched as she walked up the stairs to the ranch house and disappeared inside.
    Brady frowned.
    She seriously had been rattled. He hoped she wouldn’t have an anxiety attack. She’d been doing really well. But tonight she seemed too edgy. Hell, it was making him nervous. And he didn’t like being uneasy.
    Brady gazed up at the sky. Lightning flickered overhead. He hoped to hell Dan would get back soon, because it wasn’t safe to be out and about in a storm. He just hoped to hell Dan was okay.
    But he had confidence his friend could handle himself on his own. Unless something had happened to him…Brady worried his bottom lip and headed to the shed to retrieve the atv with the trailer for the supplies.

Chapter Three
    Thunder crackled through the layers of JJ’s sleep, ripping her from her sleep. Her heart pounded against her chest and she blinked wildly at the lightning that flashed through the living room windows. Wind roared against the house and rain pelted the glass panes. Her heart sank.
    Another storm.
    It took her only a split second to blink away the cobwebs of sleep and realize she’d fallen asleep on the couch and that Dan had not come home. A quick glance at the clock showed it was 4:30 in the morning.
    Last night, after a quick supper, Rafe and Brady had tended to chores. Then the four of them had stayed up until midnight. While Blue and the guys played cards, JJ baked Dan’s favorites, including brownies for when he came home. The guys had tried to reassure her that Dan most likely wouldn’t come back during the night. That he was smart and would take cover from the storms.
    Dan was an expert, Rafe had said. During these situations he knew what to do and this wasn’t the first time one of them hadn’t made it back by nightfall. She’d also been told that she should expect more of these things happening over the coming months. But she’d noticed the
    apprehension in Rafe’s eyes and the constant worried frown on Brady’s face.
    Blue hadn’t seemed overly concerned though, stating that Dan knew how to take care of himself. Unless she was hiding her worry. If that were the case, she was doing a darned good job.
    Blue had lifted the guys’ spirits by bringing in a bottle of homemade blackberry whiskey.
    Straight from the local moonshiner, a hermit woman who lived on Blue’s fly-in mail route. Blue, Rafe and Brady had helped themselves to a few glasses of the rosy-colored liquid and by the time they’d headed off to bed, Brady’s frown had turned upside down and Rafe and Blue had been singing.
    But still…JJ should have told them about her suspicions of someone being in the house.
    Unfortunately, she had no proof. Just some food missing, a messed-up underwear drawer and some weird noises that had made her hide in the closet all afternoon. More than likely they would say she’d been overreacting, just like they’d insinuated about her worry over Dan.
    Thankfully, she’d been able to put Dan’s gun back where it belonged before everyone had come into the house and fired questions at her. Maybe if Blue hadn’t been here, she would have said something…
    Or maybe JJ was overreacting? Her guys had