The Seacroft: a love story (Paines Creek Beach Book 2) Page 12

  Could she make it to the nursing home on her bike?

  Or should she take a chance and borrow one of the vehicles sitting so primly in the dark garage?

  She knew the keys hung on the wallboard near the staircase. Keys to the Corvette, the Land Rover, the Jag, and two little VW Beetles.

  A strong sense of dread continued to plague her.

  Mom.

  Without another thought, she ran to the key rack. There. Cody’s truck keys hung in an untidy bunch beside the others. She recognized the keychain with Blueberry Hill emblazoned in gold letters. She grabbed them off the board and hurried to the truck.

  Once inside, she turned the key partway to check the fuel.

  Full tank.

  Now all she had to do was get the door open, but Cody had nailed plywood over all the windows and the garage doors. With a sigh, she grabbed a crowbar from the back of the truck and braved the outdoors.

  All was still, not a breath of wind stirred in the yard. Uneasy, yet hopeful, she attacked the plywood until one corner yielded. Another came loose after she worked on it, and then she wrenched sideways at the panel and the other two screws popped free.

  She tossed the plywood to the grass on the side of the garage and ran inside to open the garage door in front of the truck. It wouldn’t budge.

  Of course.

  It runs on electricity. And we still have no power.

  With a shriek of frustration, she took hold of the handle and hauled on it. Slowly, inexorably, the thing lifted from the ground.

  “Come on!”

  As she struggled with the impossibly heavy door, she tried to analyze her fears. She was running to her mother to insure her safety. But she was also running away from Cody and Uvi.

  Where could she go, anyway?

  She had no home. No family. No nothing. Except the nursing home. Or maybe The Brewster Store, where Deidre worked.

  Feeling completely alone now, she fiercely wiped tears from her eyes and jerked, then pushed, the door up until it was just high enough to get the truck through. She grabbed a nearby stepladder and shoved it under the door, just in case it decided to fall as she drove under it.

  With her heart pounding, Vivian eased the truck out of the garage and into the driveway.

  Chapter 28

  The air hung still, ominous, and a little bit smug, as if Mother Nature had enjoyed showing off her supremacy to the lowly humans on the planet. Or at least that’s how it felt to Vivian at the moment. The quiet was almost overpowering. The stillness seemed unnerving. How had it gone from howling to almost… soft humming?

  “It’s over,” she said to herself, shifting the truck into second gear. “That’s all. We made it.” She prayed that her mom’s facility hadn’t suffered too much damage and swerved to avoid several trashcans on the driveway. When she finally got onto the wet asphalt of the main road, she shifted into third and pressed hard on the accelerator.

  Before she’d driven a quarter mile, she had to slow down to twenty miles per hour. It was all she could do to focus on the drive and anticipate the debris that littered the street, rolling in and out of her path. There were no vehicles on the road. Not one. She wondered why she didn’t see any police cars or fire trucks, because some of the road was already flooded with a foot or more of seawater and people must be in need of help.

  So, where the heck was everyone?

  Feeling only slightly guilty for taking Cody’s truck, she continued down the eerily deserted street. A virtual river ran across one area leading to an ocean stream, but she got through it without a problem. She passed the lot for her old house trailer and had to stop and gawk, her mind not accepting what her eyes saw. The trailer had been swiveled ninety degrees by the storm, pulled from its foundation to face east instead of south. She prayed no one had been hurt inside.

  By the time she reached the access road to Shady Pines, the sky changed from dull gray to threatening blue-black.

  In the blink of an eye, the winds started up again, roaring like a freight train magnified a thousand times over. Rain lashed at the windshield, and a massive surge of water crept from the ocean frontage toward her, crossing the lawn like a tiger in search of its prey.

  Vivian froze.

  The enormous surge hit her and the truck stalled, floating and spinning in dizzying circles like a surprised turtle just waking from a nap. Water began to creep in the windows, and just as quickly as the whirling started, the old Chevy slammed into the now-crooked “Shady Pines, Visitor Parking This Way,” sign halfway up the driveway.

  The truck settled into the high water. Lightheaded, she cranked down the window and crawled out into chest-high water.

  Sea creatures floated upside down around her legs. Crabs, starfish, and one horseshoe crab shell bumped into her thigh.

  She screamed in spite of herself and began to slog toward the front door of the facility, pushing hard to make it through the shrieking winds. She held onto one tree when one particularly nasty gust tried to tear her away, but the waves of wind ebbed and waned, and while it lessened slightly, she half-ran/half-swam to the next tree, clinging for her life.

  Dear God, please. If you get me through this I promise I’ll…

  She stopped herself. What could she promise? She’d been such a darned goodie two shoes her whole life, most of her sins were mild. Perhaps she was too quick to anger?

  Yes. But she’d never forgive Cody and Uvi. She knew she couldn’t promise that.

  Could she give up chocolate?

  Not likely.

  She laughed hysterically at her insane thoughts. How could she be bargaining with herself or God at this time? Was she really losing it? Would she end up a raving lunatic before the storm ended?

  And giving up chocolate? What was she thinking? It’s not like she was planning on suffering through some petty sacrifice for Lent.

  Get a grip.

  Focus.

  She glanced toward the swelling tide that rolled over the lawn in monstrous waves. The wind whipped its surface into hungry whitecaps, and there, not twenty feet away, a portion of a wooden dock veered directly at her, its jagged pilings aimed at her chest like spears.

  Oh God. Oh God. Oh God. Please. Please. Please.

  The bargaining began again.

  If you spare me I’ll tell the truth from now on. No more lies of omission. No more hiding.

  The dock miraculously swung in a wide arc and missed her by inches.

  She sagged with relief, loosening her grip around the sapling.

  Thank you.

  Maybe she should have told Cody how she felt, instead of keeping quiet like the obedient little church mouse she was.

  The surge of seawater sucked at her body as it receded toward the ocean. She lost her balance and fell into it, coughing and spluttering as it dragged her sideways. She grabbed hold of an ornamental dogwood tree trunk and wrapped her arms around it, pulling herself back to her feet. Her sodden bathrobe tugged her downward, but she managed to stay upright, mentally thanking the landscaper who had dotted the lawn with the trees that saved her life.

  A woman spotted her from the building, and with beckoning arms, yelled to her to run to the porch.

  She didn’t hesitate. Sloshing forward, she hurried the last hundred feet to the steps leading up to the main entrance. A familiar woman in white grabbed her arm and led her inside. She’d seen her many times in the home, but couldn’t place her name at the moment.

  “Come on, honey. Get in here.”

  Viv glanced at the tag on the woman’s uniform. Eileen. Now she remembered. This was the nicest of all the nurses on her mother’s floor. She’d helped her many times when her mother didn’t remember who she was, or when Vivian wanted to do something extra special for her mother on her birthday.

  “Thank you,” Viv said, stumbling into the building and falling into the woman’s arms. “Thank you so much.”

  Eileen deposited her on a chair and slammed the door shut, shoving a large desk in front of it. “
My gosh. It’s Vivian, right? What are you doing out in this? The eye of Delilah just passed. You could have been killed out there.”

  “What? The eye?”

  “Of course. You didn’t think the hurricane was over, did you?”

  Viv felt like crying, but she held it in. “No. Of course not. I just wanted to be sure my mother was okay.” And I needed to run as far as I could from what I saw back at The Seacroft. Yes, she’d worried about her mom. But she also had nowhere else to go. And she had to get out of there. She couldn’t stand the idea of seeing Cody ever again.

  “Your mom’s fine,” Eileen said, leaning down to her. “Are you okay?”

  Viv shook herself and stood. She was soaked, shivering, and had a bloody scratch running down one leg. But she was alive. “Thank you. Yes. I’m okay.”

  “Good,” Eileen said, taking her arm. “Come into the common room, honey, that’s where we’re gathered. But it’s already starting to flood in here, so maybe you can help me get the residents up to the second floor.”

  Viv glanced down at the wet carpets, then heard a hubbub of nervous chatter in the next room. “Of course. I’ll help any way I can.”

  The volume of the wind increased moment by moment, until Vivian could hear only the moaning and wailing of the storm battering the building. She walked into the common room with Eileen, watching with horror as Cody’s truck swirled past the windows on a retreating surge of water. Now she could see the seawall had completely disappeared, and on the new sea that used to be a lawn, a cabin cruiser rushed straight at the picture window, unmanned and sitting high atop the waves.

  A small elderly woman sat transfixed in front of the scene.

  “Get away from the window!” Vivian cried, rushing to her side. She half carried and half dragged the confused little woman to the back of the room where Eileen had herded the rest of the group. The boat crashed into the room, letting waves of seawater flow behind it. Pandemonium erupted. Screams filled the air and two residents fell to the floor. In seconds, the room was flooded with a foot of water.

  Eileen helped one woman to her feet and tried to yell above the noise of the storm, but Viv couldn’t hear her until she got closer. She reached the second resident and helped the man up.

  He shook with fear and looked into her eyes for guidance. “What’s happening, Miss?”

  “It’s just a bad storm, sir. A very bad storm.” She led him to the back of the room.

  “We have to go higher. Hurry!” Eileen shouted to the terrified and confused residents. Three other nurses appeared from the far end of the hall, urging their own small groups of bathrobe-clad patients to the main staircase.

  In the last group, Vivian spotted her mother in her wheelchair. A young black woman in a blue uniform was pushing her through the water toward the elevator.

  When they reached it, Eileen’s hand shot out. “We have to use the stairs. The generator could give out at any minute. And that thing won’t be safe with all this water around.”

  Vivian anxiously approached her mother, reaching for her hands. “Mom? Can you stand up for a little while? I’ll help you up the stairs, okay?”

  Her mother’s hands tightened on the wheelchair arms and she reeled back, crying out in a weak, wobbling voice. “Help! Take your hands off me. I don’t know this woman. Help me!”

  Chapter 29

  And there it was, the whole awful truth about her life. Vivian’s own mother didn’t know her. Not last week, and not now, in the middle of the worst storm in Cape Cod’s history.

  The frail woman cringed before her, eyes wide with fright.

  “Mom, please. It’s me. Your daughter, Vivian.” Viv felt the tears prick her eyes, and she couldn’t stop the waterfall now. She crouched beside the wheelchair. “Please. Let me help you.”

  “What?” Her mother said, looking muddled. “Don’t be silly. I don’t have children. You know that, Katrina.”

  There it was again, Katrina. Her mom thought she was her deceased sister.

  So be it.

  “Yes, it’s me, Katrina. Come on, Mirella. Let’s get you upstairs to safety.”

  She seemed to relax, and let Viv help her to her unsteady feet. Vivian ducked under her mother’s shoulder and took most of her weight, urging her to the railing on the left side of the stairway. “That’s it. One step up. And another. There we go.”

  Halfway up, they rested. The rest of the residents had made it to the top and had disappeared down the hallway, but Vivian was worried. She could see the water rising at the foot of the stairs; it had already reached three steps below them.

  They would make it to the top. They’d have to make it.

  “Mirella? Let’s go. We need to hustle.”

  Vivian put her arm tighter around her mother’s tiny waist, practically lifting her off her feet. With every last ounce of strength, she heaved her up the next two steps.

  “Help me. Pull yourself up by the railing,” she gasped.

  Her mother seemed to understand, and when she started grabbing at the handrail and drawing herself upward, it helped.

  “Good, that’s great. Keep it up.”

  The water rose fast, but Vivian was one step ahead at all times. When she got to the landing, she wanted to stop and drop down on the floor, but the water ran along in streams behind her and she knew she couldn’t falter.

  “Hurry,” Eileen called from a doorway. “We’re going up to the attic.”

  Another set of stairs?

  Vivian’s heart sank. How could she make it?

  

  Cody woke in damp clothing on the kitchen floor, his head swimming. He smelled gardenias and the sea, and wondered what kind of dream he’d been having that took him so completely away from reality, that made him feel so totally blank and out of touch. If he’d been a partying man, he would have thought he’d been on some kind of bender. But he wasn’t much of a drinker anymore, and there had definitely been no party.

  What day is it? What time? And why am I on the floor?

  “Cody? Are you okay?” Uvi’s voice trembled with fear. “Oh my God, I thought you were dead when you went down. I had a heck of a time dragging you back inside.”

  He opened his eyes, and then slowly closed them again. The back of his head felt damp with blood and throbbed with the slightest movement. “Oh, God. That hurts.”

  “The shed door hit you. It knocked you right down.”

  It all came rushing back to him. The storm. The dark night. The door that flew at him like a missile in the darkness. He couldn’t see. And Vivian—

  “Where’s Viv?” he asked, managing to open his eyes again. He turned to his side, lifting his head from the floor. Resting his chin on one hand to still the dizziness, he pushed up to a sitting position. “Is she okay?”

  Uvi’s lips compressed. “I don’t know. I haven’t seen her since she left.”

  Cody’s heart froze. “You mean she’s still out there?”

  “Yes. You’ve been passed out, Cody, and I haven’t seen her. Maybe she’s holed up in the garage.”

  “God, I hope so. What time is it?”

  “Six.”

  He got to his feet, reeling from the pain in his skull. “This is bad. We’ve got to find her.”

  “We can’t go out there! This is just the eye of the storm, and there’s flooding all over. Power lines are down. It’s dangerous. They say it’ll be starting up again soon.” She pointed to the countertop, where the battery-powered radio blasted. An excited weatherman predicted more severe weather for the rest of the morning.

  “I have to find her.”

  “Cody. You can’t. You don’t even know where she is, for heaven’s sakes.”

  He turned steely eyes on her. “Uvi. This is one time when you can’t boss me around. I’m going after her.”

  When his vision faltered and he saw double, he stumbled to the cabinet over the sink and grabbed a bottle of Advil, downing three pills with one of the bottled waters they’d stacked on the sh
elf for the storm. He stuffed the bottle into his pocket.

  “I need a pack. Something I can put supplies in. I’ll need bottles of water. A flashlight. Some rope. A few blankets. Granola bars.”

  She clung to him, trying to stop him. “No. Cody. It’s too dangerous.”

  “Listen,” he said firmly. “Either help me, or get out of my way.” He pushed her roughly aside. “Now find me a bag.”

  Color drained from her face. She stiffened, then gave in, rummaging in a closet until she came up with an oversized backpack. “Will this do?”

  He took it from her without ceremony. “It’ll have to. Thanks.”

  He began stuffing it with survival items, and at the last minute, he added a fire starter stick, extra batteries, and a bag of trail mix. “Done.” He slid into Mr. P’s dry slicker that had hung by the door forever. “Are cell phones working?” he asked.

  She shook her head. “No. They say all service is down.”

  “Okay. Well. I’ll see you later.”

  He ducked out into the gray morning.

  Chapter 30

  With her wet clothing plastered to her body, Vivian helped her mother shuffle toward the attic stairway. Almost all of the others had already crept up the narrow set of stairs. Eileen beckoned to them urgently. “Mirella, Vivian. Hurry.”

  Viv looked over her shoulder and saw water streaming in through cracked windows. How could the flood move so high, so fast? She wondered if it had something to do with the valley in which the nursing home was centered. Both sides rose high to bluffs overlooking the sea, and at the far end of the dip in the land, the highway stretched one hundred feet on its overpass. It seemed a perfect place for a flash flood.

  “We’re coming.” She urged her mother to the stairway, but when she reached it, she blanched. “We can’t fit up here side by side. How will I help her climb?”