Landlady: A New Adult Romance (Northbridge Nights Book 1) (12 page)

“Don't overthink it. Maybe he was just calling to make sure you
heard the evacuation warning,” Terri said.

“Yeah man, you look hungover as hell. And you sleep like a log,”
Mike added.

“Can we call them through the hotel intercom or something?” I
suggested.

“Maybe,” Terri said. “But the hotel staff are probably swamped
by check-outs right now.”

Sure enough, when we made it downstairs, the lobby was packed with
hundreds of irate guests, all eager to check out and leave.

“When is the next ferry?” I asked.

Mike glanced at his watch. “In fifteen minutes.”

“That's not enough time,” I said. “Are you two already checked
out?”

They nodded. “Okay,” I said. “You guys go ahead. I'll hang
around and try to find them. I still need to check out anyway.”

“Are you sure, Asher?”

“Go, I'll be fine,” I reassured them. “It's just a little
rain.”

Okay, so it was a lot of rain. But I wasn't leaving until I found my
best friend and my...Sierra.

Mike and Terri nodded before filing out with the rest of the people.
“Call me as soon as you can,” Mike said.

I looked back at the reception desk. Guests swarmed around it like
ants around sugar. There was no way in hell I was waiting in line to
check out. They could charge me an extra night or two for all I
cared.

My number one priority was finding Cam and Sierra.

I had Sierra's number. It was a long shot, but I could try calling
her.

Please work, please work, please work.

It was going through...but she wasn't picking up!

Finally, just when I was about to give up, she answered the phone.

The connection was poor; static made her voice barely recognizable. I
couldn't understand what she was saying at all.

“Ash—Come—Flood
—
Hur
—
”

“I can't hear you,” I said, trying to talk above the noisy hotel
guests.

“Ash
—
H—He-Help!”

I understood
that
loud and clear.

“Where are you Sierra? I'm coming to get you.”

“Bott-Bottom—hi-hill”

“Bottom of the hill?”

The line went dead.

I looked up and realized my phone was out of battery. Shit. I'd been
so drunk I hadn’t even plugged it in last night.

But I got what I needed. She was somewhere at the bottom of the hill.
Now all I had to do was shove past about three or four hundred
people, find her and help her. In the middle of a fucking
thunderstorm. With potential pitfalls and death traps at every turn.

Easy, peasy?

Ok, so it would be damn near impossible, but I was still going to
try.

The lodge's main entrance was clogged up like toilet; fresh waves of
people joining the obstruction, but barely anyone trickling out. I
didn't have any time to waste. I scanned the pandemonium and spotted
an open window a few feet away. Making a beeline for the alternate
escape route, I managed to slip out of the window and land in an
ankle-deep puddle outside. Sure my shoes and socks were soaked now,
but I probably saved myself a good ten or fifteen minutes.

Scrambling down the hill, my runners skidded across a patch of black
mud. The ground rushed up to greet me and I heard a loud 'oomph'
escape my lips. Fuck! Hot daggers radiated from my tailbone all the
way up to my spine. Who did I think I was? Superman? I was no hero,
and I certainly couldn't fly down to the bottom of the hill. This
fall made that clear. I needed to be way more careful if I wanted to
make it to Sierra's side in one piece.

When I reached the bottom of the hill almost fifteen minutes later,
there were hundreds of people getting into their vehicles and
skidding away. It was anarchy. Mud, rain, grass, yelling,
tears
—
everything. Parents screamed at
children who screamed even louder back at them. Miscellaneous toys,
beach umbrellas and towels were abandoned and trampled into oblivion.
And the stampede showed no signs of slowing down.

How the fuck was I supposed to find Sierra in all this?

And what about Cameron? What if he was in trouble too?

God, how did such a nice weekend turn into a bloody nightmare so
goddamn fast?

“Sierra!” I cried. “Sierra!” But my voice was drowned out by
everyone else's, as well as by the torrential downpour. I was going
to fail. I was going to let her down. She was all alone and I
wouldn't be able to help her. My clothes were already drenched
through, the fabric clinging against every inch of my skin. Fat
raindrops rolled down my nose, my mouth, my arms, my legs. I couldn't
blink away the rain fast enough and it burned my eyes. I couldn't
feel my lower body; it was just so goddamn numb. Everything was so
goddamn numb.

Come on, Sierra. Where are you?

I circled the area three times before I heard someone call my name.

“Over here, Asher!”

I turned around, trying to pinpoint the location of the voice. Wiping
the rain with my wet sleeve and squinting, I saw someone waving at me
in the distance.

I stumbled towards the figure and tripped over someone's luggage,
landing face-first in the mud. It flew up my nostrils, and I coughed.
Wheezing but undeterred, I wiped my face with my shirt and soldiered
on.

When I finally zeroed in on the voice, I realized it was Cameron.
Shit. Not the person I was looking for. But I was glad he was
alright.

“Did you get my call just now?” Cam asked.

“No, phone's dead,” I said. “Have you seen Sierra?”

“You didn't get my voicemail?”

“My phone's dead!” I repeated, every bone in my body screaming
with pain. “Have you seen Sierra?”

“She's already on her way to Saint Peter's hospital,” Cam said.
“Come on, mate, let's go.”

I didn't have time to ask any questions. Cam dragged me by the arm to
his car. Within seconds, we were maneuvering through bumpy, muddy
side roads, away from the main crowd.

“Where are we going?”

“To the hospital, of course,” Cameron said. “I was just trying
to find you so I could give you a ride there.”

“The hospital on the island?”

Cameron tensed. “She's hurt. Bad. There wasn’t enough time to
take the ferry back.”

“What the hell happened? Is she okay now?” I asked.

“Her room was next to mine, so when we heard the evac warning, we
met up and decided to check out and find yous. We found the others,
but not you. I must've called ya ten or twenty times. I told her we
should just go and contact ye later like. But she didn't want to
leave until she knew yeer okay. When we were out looking for you,
there were too many people pushin' and shovin'. She tumbled down the
hill. I don't know what the extent of 'er injuries is yet, but it's
bad, mate. She was unconscious when I found 'er.”

I felt like I was suffering from a stroke. Blinded by fear, I choked
back my panic.

She was fine. She had to be. Sierra Maywood was a fighter through and
through.

“Thank you, for waiting around. And finding me,” I finally
croaked out.

“No worries. Are you okay, Ash? You look like shite.”

“How can I be okay?” I said. “She's hurt because of me.”

“No, that's not true,” Cam said. “It was an accident. She
fell.”

“She wouldn't have fallen if she wasn't in a rush to find me.”

Cam tensed, his knuckles white. “Shut up, Ash. Just shut it. Stop
laying the blame on yerself. If anything, blame me. I should've just
taken 'er to my car and driven 'er to the ferry. Then come back to
find ya.”

“Do you know what room she's in?”

“No, I didn't go with 'er to the hospital. I figured it'd be better
to find ya, then go.”

After a moment, I nodded.“You made the right call. Let's just
hurry.”

If something happened to her, I'd never forgive myself. No matter
whose fault it was.

We arrived at the hospital half an hour later. It would've been
faster if the roads weren't so goddamn slippery and the visibility
wasn't so goddamn bad. I bolted from the parking lot into the
hospital as if my life depended on it.

I launched myself at the reception desk, gasping for air. “Sierra.
Maywood. Where?”

“Calm down, sir. Now who are you looking for?” an elderly,
African-American nurse asked.

“Sierra Maywood. She came here maybe less than an hour ago.
Emergency room. She's got
—
”

“
—
I know the one. She's still in the
ER. Are you her family? We'll need you to fill out some forms.”

“No, I'm her friend,” I said. “Close friend.”

“Sorry, sir. Only family will be allowed to see her for now. Please
take a seat until her emergency contact arrives.”

“Fuck,” I swore under my breath. I wanted to give the counter a
good pounding with my fist just to express how pissed off I felt.

I felt Cam's hand on my shoulder. “Come on, let's just wait. She's
still in the ER, anyway. Not much we can do about that.”

I clenched my teeth and sank into a puke-green plastic chair in the
waiting area. A few curious eyes had noticed my abrupt entrance and
studied me. The hospital was actually quite busy, no doubt
overwhelmed by the accidents caused by the hurricane and subsequent
evacuation warning.

“Do you think she'll be okay?” I asked, squeezing my eyes shut.

Cam nodded. “You said yourself last night that she's a feisty one.
She's a fighter; she'll be fine.”

“She better be,” I murmured, bone-dry eyes prickling with pain. I
had a huge migraine, and the hangover was taking its toll on me. My
calves and lower back hurt the most. If I tried to stand now, my
noodle legs would probably buckle and I'd just collapse on the floor.

The storm outside was getting worse by the minute. I almost expected
the hospital lights to start flickering at any minute. The old
building seemed to sway in the wind, and I was appalled at how
composed all the staff seemed to be. Didn't the hospital need an
evacuation or something? What if there really was a flood? This
matchstick building would get washed out to sea.

Hinges creaked and gurneys screeched against the linoleum. “Jesus,
that noise,” I complained. My stomach growled, but I was too
defeated to heed its complaint.

“Why don't you grab something to eat?” Cam offered. “I'll be
here.”

I wanted to say no, but my empty stomach forced me to surrender.
“Fine, I'll be right back. You want anything?”

“Nah, I'm good.”

I followed the arrows and signs down to the hospital cafeteria. There
weren't many people there so early in the morning so the entire place
felt cold and haunted. I ordered two large coffees and two
ham-and-cheese sandwiches. It was the least I could do to thank Cam.
I'd make it up to him when we got back home.

When I returned to the waiting area, Cam was talking to a huge,
tattooed guy, built like a goddamn semi. Did they know each other?
The man was intimidating, to say the least, and was at least a full
head taller than me–seven foot at least. He easily overshadowed
everyone else in the room.

And he looked pissed.

I sidled up to Cameron, handed him his coffee and sandwich, and
arched my brow.

“Jordan Maywood,” the hulk said.

I faced him and stuck out my hand. “Asher Morgan. I assume you're
related to Sierra?”

Jordan nodded. “I'm her older brother.”

“I see.” I didn't want Jordan to notice how tense I was so I
looked away and offered him a seat. “Have they told you anything?”

“Just that she's still in the ER,” Jordan replied. He sat down
beside me; his tree trunk legs made mine look like twigs. God this
guy was jacked. Never in a million years would I have pegged him to
be Sierra's brother. Hell, I didn't even know she had a brother.

That realization felt like another punch to the gut. How did I still
know so little about her?

“So are you like her boyfriend or something?” Jordan asked.

I shook my head. “I'm...her friend. And tenant. We live together.”
It was the world's worst introduction, and I hated myself for saying
it.

“Tenant?”

“Yeah, she inherited her
—
and I guess
your late grandmother's house. I'm renting it right now.”

“What do you mean?” Jordan seemed confused. He wove his fingers
together and squeezed his hand. A deep line ran across his forehead.

“Your grandmother she
—
”

“I heard you, but I don't understand,” Jordan said, voice rising.
“Grammy's dead?”

I wanted to fucking bury my head in a hole. This news shouldn't have
come from a stranger. I thought he knew.

I looked
over at Cameron for support, but he was just as confused as I was.

“I'm so sorry, I thought you knew,” I said.

Jordan's hands were fists now. He looked like he wanted to pummel me
to death. “And she left the fucking house to
Sierra
? Instead
of
me
? She's only twenty-five for Chrissakes. A
child.
”

I tensed. “She's not a child. And I'm sure your grandmother had her
reasons.”

Jordan's eyes looked like they could cut through steel. “I'll need
to ask her about this myself.”

“Maybe wait until she feels better before getting into this,” I
suggested.

Jordan's face scrunched up. “It's really none of your business, is
it?”

His words penetrated me like an icy blade. I decided to stay the fuck
away from this man and focus on Cameron instead. After all, I didn't
want to pick two fights in the same weekend.

“He's something, isn't he,” Cameron said after Jordan disappeared
into the washroom.

“I'm not going to let that guy anywhere near Sierra. I don't know
what their relationship is but he seems like trouble,” I said.

“You can't really stop him from seeing his sister.”

“The hell I can't.”

I swallowed hard and walked up to the reception desk. I only had one
chance.