The Seacroft: a love story (Paines Creek Beach Book 2) (17 page)

As if Mother Nature snuffed out the storm with her sudden benevolence, the winds ceased and all was quiet. The rain changed to a drizzle outside, then pattered to a complete stop. Shafts of sunlight instantly shone through the window, like a guardian angel seeking those she needed to protect.

“Where’s my mother?” Vivian said. “I don’t see her.”

Eileen shook her head. “I don’t know, hon. Let’s get this window open again. Once I get these people out on the roof, I’ll help you find her. They’ll be by to rescue us soon, and if they see us out in the open they’ll be more likely to send in a helicopter or some rescue boats.”

Vivian and Eileen struggled again with the sticky window; together they pushed it up high enough for escape to the roof.

“There you go,” she huffed. “I’m going to look for my mother.”

“Be careful, sweetie,” Eileen said. “Something’s definitely happening to this place.” She braced herself again when another tremor twisted through the structure.

With the sun shining through the windows now, she didn’t need a flashlight to see. And it was clear that none of the residents in the attic were her mother.

“Mom?” she called, walking back to the stairway. “Mirella?” Where could she have gone? And why?

Eileen and the aides began moving the residents out to the roof. Vivian glanced back at Eileen and gave a grim smile. “I’ll be back with my mother to join you as soon as I find her.”

Chapter 32

By the time Cody had passed under two bridges and through several acres of flooded fields, the sun came out.

Just like that.

The howling winds abated, the rain stopped, and here he was, casting a shadow over the water that rippled around the little boat he’d appropriated for his rescue mission.

He relaxed and unzipped his slicker.

Could this be the end of the storm? For real? He hoped there was no such thing as a “double eye” of the storm. He’d never heard of such a thing, anyway. He squinted in the now bright sun and headed in the general direction of the nursing home, running the boat around obstructions in his way. A floating wooden cupola with an attached eagle-shaped weather vane nudged the side of his craft. He steered around a red plastic toddler’s slide, and then had to veer sharply around a floating golf cart.

It seemed the whole world had been picked up and dumped in his path.

In the distance, he spotted a dozen rectangular boxes floating in the river. With dawning horror, he realized they were coffins, somehow unearthed from their graves up on the nearby hill.

He zigged and zagged around the mortal remains of God-knows-who, and chugged up the river, sweating now. He shrugged out of his backpack and slicker, then put the pack on again in case he got swamped.

Former fields had turned to ponds, and he put-putted across them as if he were on a surreal Sunday boat ride. But inside, his stomach churned with worry for Vivian and her mother, and all the others in the nursing home.

In twenty minutes, he’d crossed through the fields and woods behind the Shady Pines Valley, and finally he came out into the open where the sea used to meet the shore. There, in the distance, was his truck, wrapped around the base of a tall pine that still stood in the middle of the “new sea” whose surface glinted in the sunlight.

Cody felt his insides twist with fear.

Was Vivian inside?

He steered toward the poor old truck and tethered the bow of his boat to the pine tree, maneuvering through a current to finally get the craft parallel to the truck so he could peer inside.

Nobody was in there.

Did that mean she’d been washed away? Had damned Delilah killed her?

His breathing turned shallow and he felt his soul harden. Aloud, as if to convince himself, he said, “Maybe she parked it and it washed away after she went inside.”

That had to be it. Vivian couldn’t be dead.

In the distant clear sky, a legion of rescue helicopters appeared to rise as one from the horizon. Headed for the nursing home, they grew larger and noisier, and when they were overhead, one lowered and came close to him.

A man in an orange vest and goggles yelled to him. “You okay?”

He gave a thumbs up and pointed to the nursing home, whose upper level was now visible to him, protruding from the water. He saw a crowd milling on the roof, with arms waving and he heard distant cries for help. “I’m heading to Shady Pines to check on a friend,” he shouted.

The man nodded. “We’re on our way there now. Maybe you can help. Meet you over there.”

Cody gave a wave and increased the throttle on his motor, speeding toward the practically submerged building.



“Mom?” Viv cried, opening the door to the attic stairs. “Are you down there?”

She realized her mother might be back in the state where she didn’t know she
was
a mom, so she decided to try her given name again.

“Mirella? Mirella Wood?”

From below, she heard the sound of weeping.

“Thank God.” She hurried down the stairs and to the flooded landing below. “Mirella? Where are you?”

A weak voice came through the wall. “In here.”

Vivian flew around a corner, through a door, and into a bathroom. Her mother sat on the floor in a foot of water.

“I can’t get up. I need the bathroom, but I can’t get up.”

“It’s okay. Let me help you.”

Her mother’s legs had been weak for years, but now her balance was even shakier, so she spent most of her time in a wheelchair or bed. Whether it was safer for her mom, or easier on the staff, Vivian never really knew. But now the poor thing was trapped, wedged between the tub and toilet.

She held out her arms for her mother and lifted her to her feet, letting her sit for a minute on the toilet to do her business and get her bearings back. “Better?”

The frail woman nodded. “Yes. Thank you, dear.”

“Come on. We’ve got to get out of here.”

The building groaned and shuddered. Vivian felt icy tentacles squeeze her heart. “Oh, no. Come on!”

The building seemed to sway sideways, almost knocking them off their feet. Viv leaned against the wall, supporting her mother. “No, no, no! This is not good.”

It would take long minutes to get her mother up the attic stairs again, and she doubted if she had that much time left. The building shifted again.

She glanced toward the window at the end of the hall. “We’re going out this way. There’s a balcony there, right?”

Her mother looked confused. “Um. I don’t know. I’m not sure.”

“Let’s try it.”

She took Mirella’s hand and slogged through the now knee-deep water. Helicopters buzzed overhead. Each time she heard one fly away from the roof, she felt a sigh of relief for those being rescued.

She unlatched the French doors. Yes. There was a wraparound balcony, and it was still intact. Flooded with about eighteen inches of water, it was submerged, but the railing felt sturdy. She led her mother outside.

One helicopter came near, its blades making a welcome racket. She nearly collapsed with relief. A man in the opened door signaled to her that he would lower a basket, and she nodded in understanding.

The building shook and quivered again, but in minutes an emergency worker descended with a basket, clipping a harness around the wildly protesting Mirella. “No worries, ma’am. I’m here to help you to safety.”

Mirella cowered away from him. “I’m afraid! What if you drop me?”

“We won’t drop you. I promise.”

Viv touched her arm and tried to get her attention. “Mirella. Listen. It’s an emergency. You need to go with this man or you’ll be in danger.”

“No!” Her mother pulled away again.

Viv felt all strength leave her body. She tried to appeal to her mother as a daughter. Maybe she’d listen. “Mom,
please
.”

Finally, after what seemed an eternity, Mirella gave in and allowed the man to lead her into the basket.

He turned to Vivian. “I’ll come back for you, Miss.”

Vivian gave a feeble smile. “Thank you.”

The water rose yet again. Or was the building sinking? Now up to her waist in water, she began to panic in earnest. What the hell was happening?



Cody approached the building just in time to see an elderly woman lifted off from a nearly half-submerged balcony into a helicopter. The chopper hovered over the roof then veered away. He prayed Vivian was inside. Seconds later his heart froze. There, on the balcony, Vivian stood in three feet of water. He veered straight for her.

“Viv!” he called. “I’m coming.”

She glanced up, recognized him, and started to wave.

Then she disappeared.

The entire building sank beneath the surface, causing a huge tidal wave that rocked him backwards and nearly capsized the boat. When it settled enough for him to let go of the gunwales, with his heart in his throat, he twisted the throttle to max and drove the craft toward where he’d last seen Vivian plunge into the water.

He stopped over what he hoped was the center of the disturbance, calling for her. “Vivian!”

A body popped out of the water, floating face down.

Vivian.

Cody dove in and grabbed her, raising her head from the seawater. To his relief, she started to cough and struggle, but he held her tight and towed her back to the boat.

With strength he didn’t know he had, he flipped her up over the starboard side back near the stern. She landed in a heap, collapsing onto one of the wooden bench seats, racked with heavy coughing.

He clambered over the stern. “Oh my God, Vivian. Are you okay?”

Chapter 33

Vivian doubled over and coughed up more seawater. She gulped for air, dragging in the sweet oxygen as if she’d been submerged for years. It had been probably less than a minute, but the horror of being dragged down in the wake of that crumbling building had just about stopped her heart.

“Viv? Are you okay?”

She glanced up and saw Cody’s concerned eyes. “Cody.” A surge of anger passed through her, and then it drained away. “How’d you get here?”

He put his arms around her and helped her up onto the seat. “I stole a boat.” He threw his bad-boy grin at her, then went serious again. “My God, when I saw my truck out there in the water, I thought you were dead. Scared the hell out of me.”

“Sorry about the truck.” She let herself collapse against him, still coughing.

“It’s just a truck, Viv. I don’t care about that. I care about you.”

She glanced up at him in surprise.
He cares about me?
“I had to get here. My mother—”

“I know, you were nuts to try it. But it looks like you saved your mother’s life.”

“I guess.”

“I saw them lifting a woman up into the ‘copter. Was that her?”

“Yes. She was petrified. She didn’t want to go.”

“It must’ve scared her to death. Fortunately, I think they got the rest of the folks off the roof just before the whole place went down. I saw the last copter head out just before you disappeared.”

“Thank God.”

“Viv?”

“Yes?”

“I’m sorry.”

She avoided his eyes and went quiet.

“I mean, I’m sorry about what you saw.”

She sighed and sat up. “I
still
can’t believe you did that with her. My God, Cody.”

“I know.” He gave her a sheepish glance. “I’m a jerk.”

She pulled herself together now, sliding a bit away from him. “Yes. You are. An absolute, complete, unthinking jerk.”

“I’m sorry. I don’t know why I caved with Uvi. She woke me up with her lips on my… Oh, never mind the details. She’s just
very
persuasive. It’s like, what she wants, she gets. And she can’t even imagine not getting it. Do you know what I mean?”

“No, I don’t. I’ve never had her try to seduce me.”

He raised one eyebrow. “She did invite you to the party when you peeked in the doorway.”

“Ugh!” She shoved him. “This doesn’t really get you off the hook, you know. You’re a creep. A sex-driven, horrible man who… who… Argh! I can’t even think of things bad enough to call you.”

“How’s this? I’m a shallow bastard who beds his boss, but is in love with another woman.”

“What?” Confusion filled her. Who was he in love with? Was there another woman on the side she hadn’t met yet?

“Never mind. We can talk about it later. Right now, we’ve gotta get out of this water.”



In the eerie landscape of flooded fields and woods, Cody maneuvered the little boat around several floating cars and beach umbrellas in the sunshine that sparkled unnervingly on calm water.

Vivian wondered how long it would take for the water to subside, and shivered at the thought of what horrors would be found in the wake of the storm. What about the poor animals who lived in the woods? Had they found safety? And how far inland did the flooding go? She couldn’t see the end of the new lake that was surrounded by the trees. Had it reached the village?

Cody seemed to know where he was going. He found a stream that wound through the woods and followed it until it led them to Blueberry Hill. The sign at the bottom of the hill had disappeared beneath the floodwaters. When their boat bumped into the gravel driveway, Vivian realized they were probably halfway up the hill.

Dear God. That’s a lot of water.

“Do you think the water’s done rising?” she asked.

“I sure hope so.” He helped her out of the boat, tying it to a nearby pine tree. “Come on. Let’s get you into something dry.”

“Okay.” She allowed him to lead her like a child, meekly following him up the hill. Sure. She still hated him. But hell, she was tired. Oh so tired.

When they reached the front door, it flew open. Finn grabbed them both in a fierce embrace. “Thank God,” was all he could manage.

“We’re okay, Uncle Finn.” Cody said. “Vivian’s been through the wringer, though. She needs some dry clothes and a bed.”

Finn shot her a grim smile. “Of course. Come on in.”

Libby appeared with a cell phone clamped to her ear and an expression of horror on her face. She nodded to them, but turned her back and shot questions at the person on the other end of the phone. “When? What?” She listened, then covered the phone for a second and hurriedly explained. “It’s Fritzi.”