STARTING OVER (19 page)

A hurricane watch has been issued from Mobile to Brownsville. The predicted landfall will be narrowed down and a warning issued within the next twenty-four hours.

All conversation stopped at the breakfast table as everyone listened to the weather report. Rusty and Kate exchanged a look of concern at the storm's strength and direction. In the radar photograph the bands of rain almost filled the Gulf. Soon the coastline would begin to feel the first wave of showers.

Rusty welcomed the distraction. He had spent a miserable night and could see no relief in the near future.

"I think I'd better head back," he said, sorry he would have to cut his holiday weekend short. "I expect they'll start evacuating the rigs tomorrow morning, and I should be there when they call. This storm could be a windfall for C-Breeze."

Kate continued rocking Shanna, but Rusty could tell his announcement didn't make her as happy as he might have anticipated.

"Why don't we pass on this one?" she commented with a casualness he could tell she wasn't feeling. "The other transport services can handle it."

Rusty observed her quietly. Was this the same woman who had been so desperate to put money in the checking account that she had said they would take any reasonable job? What was causing her to want to pass on such an unexpected bonanza as a forced rig evacuation would provide?

"We can't afford to miss this," he reminded her. "There's still that last big bill to pay off, and I'd like to be able to afford to keep a supply of spare parts on hand, so we wouldn't lose any time for repairs."

Kate stood and picked up a baby blanket that had been tossed across the arm of the couch. Her fingers nervously smoothed the wrinkles out of it as she folded it into a neat square before answering.

"I'd rather not leave just yet. I'll bet ol' Cesar will turn north and miss our area's rigs entirely. And if he does decide to come ashore around Freeport, we would be a lot safer here in Austin. Many people on the Gulf Coast will be heading inland anyway, so we could beat the crowd."

"I wasn't planning on taking you and Shanna with me."

Kate's head snapped around. The thought that he would go alone hadn't occurred to her.

"I agree that you and the baby should stay here," he continued. "While I'm making runs back and forth, I'd rather not have to worry about how the two of you are getting along. If I have time before the storm hits, I'll fly back up here and weather it out with you. But if I can't make it, I'll come back to pick you and Shanna up as soon as I can."

She argued with him, but he held firm, Reason finally won out, and she drove him to the airpark where they had left the helicopter. Silently, she watched from the sidelines as he gave the helicopter a thorough check.

He tossed his suitcase into the cabin,
then turned to tell her goodbye. Before he could say a word, she practically threw herself into his embrace. For several long, desperate seconds, she clung to him, her arms wrapped tightly around his neck and her head tucked against his chest.

"Don't worry," he tried to reassure her. "I'll be back as soon as possible. And I'll keep an eye on your house."

"It's not my house I'm worried about," she retorted. "It's you. These storms are dangerous, you know."

"I know, and I'll be careful," he promised, but he could tell she wasn't convinced. He felt unreasonably pleased that she cared enough about him to be willing to sacrifice a substantial income because she was concerned about his safety. "I'll be back," he repeated positively.

But as he climbed into the cockpit, he could see the tears trembling, unshed in her eyes. Kate retreated to a safe distance before he started the engine, but she stood in the field and watched, her hand shading the sun from her face as he lifted off. A glance back confirmed that she didn't move from the spot until he was out of sight.

AS SOON AS THE HELICOPTER lifted off the ground, she regretted letting him go. Not that she could have forbidden it. When they crossed that imaginary line from merely business partners to partners of a new, more personal venture, she no longer felt comfortable being the boss.

That thought brought a wry smile to her lips. From the day Rusty walked into her office, she had been the boss only in the loosest of definitions, anyway. Like a whirlwind of energy and enthusiasm, he had swept into her seemingly hopeless situation and quickly turned everything around until it was all under control. Although he consulted her on all matters and never circumvented her when making a decision, Kate didn't have any pretensions about her contribution to the renewed success of C-Breeze.

But at least she should have insisted that she go with him.

Hurricanes were powerful, unpredictable monsters. Strong, erratic wind gusts, tornadoes and water spouts surrounded the compressed eye, all of which were deadly dangerous to a helicopter. Rusty would be making at least half a dozen runs back and forth to the rigs, gambling with fate that a twist of angry weather wouldn't pluck him from the sky and crush him against the surface of the Gulf.

Just as it had done with Doug.

Kate paced her parents' house like a caged tiger. Shanna was unusually fussy, probably sensing her mother's anxiety. After several hours, it became clear that nothing could be done to calm either of them.

"Why don't you go for a walk, Kate?" Margie suggested. "I'll see if I can rock Shanna to sleep."

Since Kate hadn't been able to sit still long enough to try rocking as a solution, she couldn't say it wouldn't work. The thought of fresh air was also a welcome idea.

Margie took the crying baby from Kate, then shooed her daughter out the back door. "And take your time."

"If Rusty calls—"

"I thought he already called."

"He did. As soon as he arrived back at the office. But he might call again if something happens."

Margie jiggled Shanna on her shoulder and started closing the door to end the conversation and speed Kate's departure. "Don't worry. If he calls, I'll find you. Just go."

The sun was settling behind the oak-covered hills as she stepped outside. The parking lot next to the restaurant was full, and Kate felt a little guilty at taking up her mother's time and not being more helpful. But since her arrival, Margie had arranged her schedule so she could spend as much time as possible with her granddaughter.

It had given Kate and Rusty a chance to relax together. And it now gave her a chance to try to work through her fears for his safety.

As illogical as it was, Kate somehow felt that by sitting in the office, monitoring his flights and waiting for his return, she would be able to protect him from harm. She hadn't been there when Doug crashed.

She would never forget that day. Every event, no matter how small and unimportant, had emblazoned itself on her memory. It had been a deceptively normal day. But it had changed her life.

Doug had seemed a little distracted at breakfast. Now Kate knew he must have been worried about the business. He hadn't had a run scheduled for that day. But he told her he would be taking the helicopter out for a flight to keep his hours up.

Kate had gone back to bed, hoping to avoid the nausea of morning sickness that persisted throughout most first half of her pregnancy. After awakening, she spent the rest of the morning and early afternoon picking up a few groceries at the store and tidying the house.

She was resting on the patio after lunch, enjoying the early unseasonable sunshine, when the telephone rang. The caller introduced himself as an officer with the Coast Guard and began asking questions about C-Breeze's schedule.

At first, Kate forgot about the exercise flight. She was in the middle of informing the officer that neither of C-Breeze's helicopters
were in the air when she remembered Doug's comment.

Cold fingers of intuition crawled down her spine as she realized the call was about an accident. Even though
It took several hours before her suspicions were confirmed, she had known from that moment on that it had something to do with Doug. She couldn't reach him on either the telephone or the radio. A quick trip to the office did nothing to set her mind at rest. The JetRanger sat alone on the helipad.

When the news finally came that the debris of the
LongRanger had been found, she was already in a mild state of shock. For days she sat by the phone, waiting for the Coast Guard to call and report they had found Doug, safe and sound. She didn't allow herself to consider that even a strong swimmer would not have been able to reach land from as far out as he had been when he crashed. Her only hope was that someone had come upon the wreck and picked him up. He could have temporary amnesia, and it could take him a couple of days to be located.

But the days turned into weeks . . . weeks without any encouraging signs Doug had survived. Kate spent hours walking the shoreline or sitting on the beach, looking out at the never-ending tumble of waves and the distant silhouettes of oil rigs and tankers. Stubbornly, she refused to give up hope even after there was no possible chance her husband would ever return.

The Coast Guard suspended its search after three days, but Kate continued to hold out hope until her mother and her in-laws suggested she go through with the memorial service as a first step to accepting the inevitable.

Kate made the arrangements. And she dutifully sat in the first row between her parents and Doug's parents. But the minister's words didn't comfort her. And her neighbors' and friends' offers of help didn't console her. They all had lives of their own, worries and fears to deal with and problems to solve. Their offers of help were of little substance.

It was Rusty who succeeded in convincing her that she hadn't died at the same moment Doug had. He'd brought her back to life, one step at a time. Surely fate wouldn't be so cruel as to take him from her now.

The old saying wasn't true . . . lightning could strike twice. Kate hadn't been there when Doug sent out his Mayday. She hadn't been able to offer whatever prayers, wishes and positive thoughts it might have taken to bring him home safely.

And she wasn't there now to help Rusty.

Kate whirled on her heel and broke into a run as she headed back toward the house. She had to get to him. She had to be there.

The National Weather Service is now issuing a hurricane warning for the area between Beaumont-Port Arthur and Corpus Christi. All persons living in low-lying or flood-prone areas should begin to make plans for evacuation. Right now it looks as if Cesar's eye will come ashore somewhere in the Galveston area. Already we are receiving reports of stores selling out of bottled water and batteries, and lines are forming at gasoline stations as people prepare to leave the island. Later this evening, the causeway is expected to be filled with bumper-to-bumper traffic, so it is advisable to make your travel plans.

This storm is early in the season, but it could prove to be one for the history books. Oddly enough, since the storms have been named, it has been those whose names begin with a C that have caused the most damage along the Gulf Coast. There was Carla in 1961, Camille in 1969 and Celia in 1970, all of which were Category 5 storms, which means they had winds stronger than 155 miles per hour. They all caused many deaths and hundreds of millions of dollars' worth of damage. And we shouldn't forget the tropical storm named Claudette, who never reached hurricane status but dropped more than forty inches of rain on Alvin, a small town south of Houston, in a twenty-Jour-hour period.

Cesar has picked up speed and landfall is now being predicted within the next thirty-six hours. We repeat, precautions should be taken immediately if you live in the warning area.

"Mother, may I borrow your car?" Kate asked as soon as the newscaster's report ended.

"Sure, the keys are in my purse. Will you be back for dinner?"

"No. But Shanna and I will be in Lake Jackson in time for breakfast."

Chapter Eleven

Rusty rubbed his hand over his eyes. He was bone-tired, and it was becoming increasingly difficult to bring the gauges in front of him into focus. But he knew that now, of all times, he had to be twice as alert. Not only did he have a helicopter full of men trusting his flying skill, but there was a certain woman he was anxious to see again.

Rain splattered against the windshield of the helicopter, and bursts of wind battered the small aircraft. It took all of Rusty's strength and concentration to keep on a level course as the helicopter was tossed about like a kite on a short string.

"I think we barely made it out in time," the crewman who was sitting in the copilot's seat next to Rusty shouted over the noise of the storm and the engine.

"Yes, it looks that way," Rusty answered. I just hope we're not too late, he added silently.

He had been in the air since dawn, ferrying men from the rigs to the mainland. After he finished with one job, he had gone immediately to the next. All day he had passed other helicopters, recognizing but not resenting his competition. Today there was more than enough work to keep them all busy.

The muscles of his shoulders ached, and his hands were cramped from handling the controls for so many hours without a break. He had stopped only long enough to use the rest room and grab a sandwich and a soft drink from one of the departing cooks.