Baby, Don't Go (20 page)

29

M
arcus couldn’t believe this was happening to Sweetness…again. He hung back, holding his cell phone high to share the light, herding bodies in front of him. He hoped his mother had been able to navigate those steps. Alicia, too. Frustration and fear crowded his chest. He’d helped convince people to come to this town and in some cases, bring their families. And today hundreds of visitors were milling around. If a single person was hurt, he’d never forgive himself.

After what seemed like an eternity, only he and his brothers and Emory remained aboveground. The building began to shake and the telltale sound of a freight train filled the air. “Go!” he bellowed. “I’m right behind you.”

The men scrambled down the stairs. Marcus brought up the rear and slammed the door behind him. When he reached the basement, he shone his phone light all around. He was relieved to see his mother huddled with Dr. Maxwell. He swung the light again, and it picked up the silver collar on Alicia’s dress. He went to her and pulled her to him. “Are you okay?”

She nodded against his chest. It felt so good to hold her. Above them, the building rocked and swayed. His mind raced. Had the concrete in the basement cured long enough? Would the support timbers hold? If they were trapped down here, how long would their air supply last?

Alicia was trembling. Marcus smoothed his hand down her back to reassure her they would be all right, even though he wasn’t sure himself. But he was sure of one thing—he didn’t want to let go of her.

Ever.

The minister was praying aloud and, oddly, there was no trace of his stuttering.

And then a deafening roar sounded…the tornado was upon them.

Alicia burrowed her head under his neck and he held on tight. Concrete dust rained down on them. She started to cough.

“Cover your mouth and nose with your hand,” he said in her ear. She did.

He counted off the seconds because he knew later it would seem much longer. By the time he counted to ten, the shaking had begun to subside and the roaring had begun to die down. In another three seconds, all was still except for the dust raining down on them.

“Are you okay?” he said in Alicia’s ear.

She nodded against his chest and slowly disentangled herself.

“Is anyone hurt?” Marcus shouted, shining his light around. Everyone was covered in white dust. “Please check the person next to you and make sure they’re okay.”

Kendall walked past him. “I’m going up.”

Marcus grabbed his arm. “No, I will. It could be dangerous—there could be a fire, gas leaks, anything.”

“So why you and not me?”

“Because you have a son to consider…and Amy.”

Kendall’s mouth tightened, but he relented. Marcus walked to the stairs, then climbed them carefully, in the event the staircase itself had been torn loose from its supports. He made it to the top and felt the closed door for heat. He didn’t feel anything, so he gingerly opened the door, expecting to see daylight and open sky.

Instead, he was amazed to see the sanctuary was not only intact, but in remarkably good condition. The lights were on and the air conditioner buzzed. The altar had toppled and a few other things had fallen, but the windows hadn’t blown out and even the double doors to the church entrance hadn’t flown open. He sniffed the air for the scent of fuels or chemicals, but all seemed well.

“Bring everyone up,” he called down. Then he strode to the doors and opened them.

He walked out on the steps gingerly to test their safety. A few boards were missing here and there, but for the most part, they had held up well. He looked up and down Main Street, expecting the worst. He saw several felled trees, but at first glance, all the buildings were intact.

Feeling hopeful for the time being, he walked back inside the church where Emory and his brothers were helping people out of the basement. His mother sat on one of the front pews with Dr. Maxwell. They were both shaken, but shooed him away in case there were others who needed help. Dr. Maxwell promised to see his mother back to the boardinghouse where she was staying.

“How bad is it out there?” Porter asked.

Marcus felt a pang for his little brother, who had been home on leave from the Army when the first tornado had struck. Like everyone else who’d been through that monster, he was reliving a nightmare.

“A lot to clean up, but everything’s still standing.”

Porter’s eyebrows climbed. “Really? Wow.”

Nikki stepped out of the basement and went into Porter’s arms. He noticed how Porter’s eyes closed when he held Nikki, as if he’d almost lost something precious and it had just been returned. Suddenly Porter cleared his throat, dropped to one knee and said loudly, “Nikki Salinger, marry me.”

Nikki’s mouth rounded, then her eyes filled with tears. “I thought you were never going to ask.”

Everyone within earshot laughed and chorused, “So did we!”

Beneath the white dust, Porter flushed. “Is that a yes?”

Nikki nodded. “That’s a yes.”

Porter whooped and gathered her in his arms for a kiss. When she pulled back, Nikki said, “Walk me to the clinic, fiancé? I’m hope I’m not needed, but I should be there.”

“Me, too,” Dr. Cross piped up. He was holding his guitar, which was flattened, with broken strings poking out in all directions.

“What happened to the guitar?” Porter asked.

“The altar fell on it,” Dr. Cross said cheerfully. “Sort of a little exclamation point from God, I suppose.”

Porter laughed, then looked to Marcus. “Is it okay if we go?”

“Of course. Call me, any one of you, if you see anything…alarming.”

Amy climbed out next and went into Kendall’s arms. Her face was tear-streaked. “We have to find Tony.”

Kendall held up his phone. “He’s at the diner, he’s fine and he’s on the line.”

Amy grabbed the phone and leaned into Kendall while she talked to her son. Kendall put his arm around her and pressed her back against his chest, looking as if all was right with the world.

Marcus was relieved his nephew was okay, and welcomed the news that the diner had fared well. But again, he was assaulted with feelings of envy as he watched his brother gather his loved ones close.

Then Alicia stepped out. He hadn’t gotten a good look at her in her pretty dress before things had gotten crazy. Now her dark hair and shoulders were dusted white, but he could still tell the fitted dress suited her better than the short skirts and T-shirts she wore every day. With her hair down and simple jewelry, she almost looked like a different person.

She walked up to him, her dark brown eyes glistening. “Thank you, Marcus.”

His mouth went dry. “For what?”

“For making me feel better while we were down there.”

He opened his mouth to tell her she’d made him feel better, too, but it came out as “Do you want to use my phone to call your mother?”

She smiled and nodded, oblivious to the fact that his entire life had just changed because of her.

Good.

30

A
licia disconnected the call, then handed back Marcus’s cell phone. “My mother is fine. She was with her attorney at the city hall building when the storm struck. She said they took cover in the basement, but everything and everyone is okay.”

Marcus nodded. “Good to know. Kendall talked to Tony. He said things at the diner are okay, too.”

She sighed in relief. “I’d still feel better if I saw it for myself.”

“I’ll take you. I rode one of the four-wheelers down here. I need to go to the recycling plant to check things there.”

“Oh, right—the D.O.E. inspectors are here.”

He nodded, grim.

She glanced around the church as they walked toward the front entrance. Everyone seemed to be leaving, obviously eager to check on loved ones, but when she spotted Emory and Shelby sitting curled up together in a back pew, her heart went out to them. Shelby must’ve been terrified down in the basement, reliving her previous experience in the last tornado.

“Were you planning to finish the ceremony?” she asked gently.

Shelby smiled and shook her head. “Emory and I decided that we did it right the first time around.”

“Why fix it if it ain’t broke?” Emory said in agreement. He patted Shelby’s stomach.

“Thanks again, Alicia,” Shelby said.

“Don’t mention it,” Alicia said, moving toward the double doors.

Marcus held the door open for her. “Watch the steps.”

She was careful, allowing him to help her down to the sidewalk. Several large trees lay across Main Street, and trash was everywhere—up against buildings, hanging in trees. Cleanup alone would be a huge effort. That was assuming the buildings hadn’t sustained major damage.

She turned to look at Marcus’s profile and her heart twisted. After all his hard work, this was a devastating setback. She reached to clasp his hand. “We’ll get through this.”

He looked at her, surprise in his eyes, then nodded and squeezed her hand.

When they reached the four-wheeler, the seat was wet. Marcus removed his jacket and spread it on the back of the seat where she’d be sitting, then he climbed on. He fired up the engine and gestured for her to get on.

Alicia stared. The label in the jacket was clearly visible. “That’s a fifteen-hundred-dollar suit jacket.”

He shrugged. “I’ll take it to the dry cleaner.”

“The town doesn’t have a dry cleaner,” she reminded him. She tried to straddle the four-wheeler in the dress, but it was impossible. So she grabbed the hem and ripped the side seam enough for some give.

“What are you doing back there?”

She put her arms around his waist. “Just drive.”

He took off and she pressed into his back. It felt so good to be close to him again. She’d never been in such a terrifying situation as in that basement, yet with his arms around her, she’d felt secure.

They moved slowly down Main Street to assess the damage. The sight of all the downed trees made her nauseous. How would people even be able to get in and out of town?

The white Homecoming banner flapped in the wind, still attached to one pole.

“Looks like we’ll have to cancel Homecoming activities,” he said.

But she knew he was thinking of other things that might be lost, such as the grant, if the D.O.E. team determined that structures had been compromised, or any number of other things.

Marcus pulled out his phone and hit a button, scanning the road as he talked. “Kendall? I need for you and Porter to organize the men with chainsaws and start working on clearing these trees. No, Richardson isn’t answering his phone. Do you want to try the plant foreman? Okay, let me know.” He returned his phone to his belt and resumed picking their way through the debris.

People were starting to emerge from buildings where they’d taken refuge. Marcus stopped frequently to ask people if they were okay, if anyone had been injured. Amazingly, though, they encountered only the occasional scrape or bruise.

“I can’t believe there’s no broken glass anywhere,” she remarked.

“A shatter-proof laminate was applied to every window in every building,” Marcus said. “That way, even if a window is hit with enough force to break or crack, there’s no flying glass.”

She marveled at the attention to detail. The brothers’ forethought and planning had undoubtedly prevented injuries and loss of life today.

Marcus waved to a group of a half-dozen men riding ATVs toward them at top speed. They were covered in mud. The man in the lead slowed down and she recognized him as one of the men who transported the compost bins from the restaurant to the organic garden.

“We were riding on Clover Ridge and we saw the twister set down. Got here as fast as we could. What can we do?”

Marcus directed them to go from building to building methodically checking for victims, and, if they were able to be moved, to transport them to the clinic.

“Start with the school,” he told them.

Overhead the
whup-whup
of a news helicopter sounded, getting aerial footage of the damage, she presumed.

When he pulled to a stop in front of the diner, she noticed immediately their large generic “Diner” sign was gone. It shouldn’t have mattered since they were preparing a new sign, but it still felt like a violation. And it looked as if they would have to put off the unveiling of the new sign until…

After she was gone, she realized with a start.

Feeling out of sorts, she released her grip on his waist and climbed off the ATV. She didn’t want to be away from him right now.

Marcus’s gaze flickered to the expanse of leg revealed in the V of her torn dress hem. “Do you want me to go in with you?” But his brow was furrowed and his shoulders were stiff.

“No. Go check on things on the other end of town. We’ll be fine.”

His phone rang. He unclipped it from his belt and put it to his ear. “Yeah, Kendall.” His jaw hardened. “How bad is it? Yeah, divert the men there—the trees will have to wait. I’ll be there in five.” He flipped his phone shut. “Gotta go.”

“What’s wrong?”

“Fire at the recycling plant.”

“Oh, no. Be careful.”

“I’ll see you later,” he said, then goosed the gas and sped off.

Alicia stared after him thinking the man couldn’t catch a break. He’d practically killed himself to get everything done and have the town spit-shined for an accelerated deadline and the day the inspectors arrive, another tornado touches down? And now a fire?

It just didn’t seem fair. There had to be some way she could help.

With a start, she suddenly understood women who throw themselves into a cause or a project for the men they care about.

For the men they love.

She tucked away that little revelation for later scrutiny, then walked into the diner. Employees and customers and various residents were gathered around a small television.

“They say it was an F-4 tornado that came through here!” Tony exclaimed.

“Not as big as last time,” added Molly McIntyre. “But big enough to make the national news.”

“I saw a helicopter flying over,” Alicia said.

“Here it is,” Clancey said, turning up the volume.

“We’re flying over the mountain town of Sweetness, Georgia, which was leveled by an F-5 tornado over ten years ago. The town was finally getting back on its feet, but it was hit again less than an hour ago by a freak storm system measuring a four on the Fujita scale, which is still a very fierce tornado capable of causing immense damage. But as you can see, other than downed trees and loose debris, it doesn’t appear that the town suffered any major structural damage. No word yet of the extent of injuries. We do see people on the ground walking, and riding all-terrain vehicles. According to a banner we saw flapping in the wind, the town was having some sort of Homecoming celebration, so we can only assume there were more people in town than usual. We tried to land on a helipad, but it was too badly damaged. We understand that rescue teams are on their way, but considering how remote this area is, and those huge trees blocking the roads, it could take a while to reach the residents of Sweetness.”

Molly scoffed. “They act like we’re a bunch of sissies who can’t take care of ourselves.” The boxy woman looked at Alicia. “Where’s Marcus?”

She explained that the D.O.E. team was at the recycling plant when the tornado touched down, and about the fire.

Molly’s didn’t hide her disdain. “They’re here to ‘observe’ when all these extra people are in town?”

“Exactly,” Clancy said. “When I worked in the hotel industry and we wanted to evaluate staff members on how well they could handle a bigger property, we would schedule an evaluation when they were having a big event in the hotel.”

“So you could see how they worked under pressure,” Alicia said.

“Right.”

“So you think the D.O.E. wanted to see how the town of Sweetness would operate with the pressure of Homecoming and a lot of extra people?”

“That would make sense. It’s the best way to predict if the town has the capacity to grow. The tornado was probably just a bonus,” Clancey added. “I wouldn’t be surprised if right now they’re evaluating the town on emergency response.”

Inspired, Alicia lifted her hands. “Then let’s respond. Since the workers have been diverted to the fire, that leaves the trees and the garbage to us. We need as many volunteers as we can pull together.”

“But we don’t have any equipment,” Clancey said. “We need chainsaws and axes and tarps—”

“Leave the equipment to me,” Molly interrupted. “Just get the people here.”