In Your Embrace Read Online Free PDF Page A

and uncle every spare dime they had, she has never seen them so happy.  Standing with her feet in the waves and looking up at the towering inn before her, Hannah senses what drew her aunt and uncle to this property.  It is secluded, peaceful.  Something to call their own.
    Looking down the beach, Hannah can just make out a figure walking a dog in the distance.  Gulls caw and swoop low over the waves.  The near constant crash of the waves calls to Hannah.
    She turns to look at the frothy water, noting how much darker it looks today.  The swells are rising.  The clouds out to sea look ominous.  Hannah sighs and hikes up a dune and sinks into the grasses, drying her feet to put her sandals back on.
    Andrew’s predictions about the storm a few days ago were wrong.  The hurricane has turned and is heading straight for them.  Last night over dinner the trio discussed their options: move inland away from the storm surge, board up the house and evacuate like many of the folks around, or hunker down and ride it out.  Hannah understands her aunt and uncle’s reluctance to leave. She, too, feels a kindred spirit with this grand inn, but she can’t deny there is reason for concern.
    The inn’s foundational pillars go deep into the shoreline, so it should withstand the storm.  The house itself sits high above the waves, but a direct hit from such a large hurricane can bring total devastation.
    Hannah refused to answer her cell phone last night and this morning when her mother tried calling.  She let it go to voicemail, knowing exactly what message would be waiting for her.  Hannah isn't a quitter.  If Claire and Andrew are staying then so is she.
    From this vantage point, she can see the weathered dock where Andrew tethered two bright orange kayaks.  They are buffeted by the rising waves, beating against the moorings with an echoing thud.  Soon her uncle will be forced to drag them to shore and find a safer location to store them.
    With her sandals firmly in place and much of the sand knocked off her legs, Hannah treks back to the house. A slightly warped ramp leads up to the first floor of the inn, which offers a sweeping view of the ocean and will serve as a communal area for guests.  The main deck curves around to the back of the house, where Hannah envisions guests lounging with freshly squeezed sweet tea on a warm summer day.
    She lets herself in the kitchen door just off the wide veranda deck, stepping carefully over several boards nearly rotted completely through.  The house is quiet.  Only the winds beating against the siding can be heard.  Claire and Andrew went into town to load up on bottled water, canned goods, batteries, extra boards and candles.   Just in case , Andrew had said before they left.
    Hannah climbs the first of two staircases in the inn.  The first is a grand, wide staircase with a curved bannister perfect for sliding if you are still young at heart. The second floor holds four large suites, though none of them are anywhere near ready to house guests.  Hannah peeks into the rooms as she passes, feeling the familiar eerie sense of age and disuse when she spies the furniture draped in old sheets and blankets.  Furniture left behind out of lack of desire to move the solid wood frames.   I suppose in one way it actually helps Claire and Andrew with the furnishing cost, Hannah muses as she walks toward the second staircase.
    This set of stairs winds its way to the upper floors where Hannah has claimed one of the rooms designated for family living.  This stairwell is her favorite.  Its steps are nothing more than planks of wood winding upward in a tight spiral. A black wrought iron railing coils around the wall.
    Reaching her closed door, Hannah pushes it open and smiles.  Natural light spills in through the double glass paned, French-style doors across from her.  The light of the sun warms the beige rug that sits beneath her four poster bed and stretches toward the walls, leaving only