Storm Watch

6

LIZZY WAS GLAD for Jason’s silence. But a mile down the road, he slowed to nearly a stop. In front of them, a fire engine blocked the road.

Lizzy knew most of the fire personnel in town from working at the hospital, and she was happy to see it was Sam and Eddie manning the roadblock. They stood in rain gear, looking as wet and miserable as she and Jason were.

Sam and Eddie were from Firehouse Number 34, her favorite because the crew that worked it were like family to her. She attended a monthly card game there with Eddie, and often won. As for Sam, she’d actually gone out with him twice. He was cute, sexy and funny, but she’d learned that he made a far better friend than a potential lover, a decision that had turned out to be the right one since he’d recently hooked up once more with his high school sweetheart, Sara.

The guys were both happy to see Jason, and the three of them spent a minute catching up. She heard the name Matt for the second time and wondered who that was.

“Where are you trying to get to?” Sam finally asked Lizzy.

“Third and Cove.”

“Ah.” He shook his head. “You can’t get there from here. And, hey, you weren’t at the game the other night.”

“I picked up an extra shift. And we have to get to Third.”

Sam cut his gaze to Jason and shook his head. “Glad you’re back, man. Good to see you safe. But to stay that way, you have to stay off Third.”

“It might be an emergency,” Lizzy said.

“There’s twenty-four inches of water running through downtown,” Sam said. “We’ve got backup units coming from all over the state, but what we really need is for the storm to pass. I’m sorry, Lizzy, but Dustin would kill me if I let you risk your neck.”

“Dustin isn’t here.”

Hearing her desperation, he reached for her hand, eyes warm on hers. “What’s the matter? Tell me what’s going on.”

“Cece’s renting one of the Third Avenue condos. I think she might still be there.”

He hunkered over to get his face level to hers. “Are you sure? They were told to clear out.”

“You know how stubborn she is, and she’s pregnant. Nine months’ pregnant.”

Sam let out a low whistle through his teeth. “She’s not answering her cell?”

“It’s off. I’m thinking she’s out of battery.”

“Or she’s evacuated and out of range,” Eddie said. “The river’s taken over Third Avenue.”

“I know, but I have to get in there to make sure.” She turned to Sam, the softer of the two. “Please.”

He grimaced, torn. “Lizzy-”

“Look, I’ll come right back out again, I promise. But if you don’t let me in, I’ll just go in on foot.”

Not doubting her for a minute, Sam nodded reluctantly, but he held her gaze as he leaned in and pressed a warm, careless kiss on her lips. “You have my cell.”

“Yes.”

“Use it. If you find her or if you can’t-either way I want to hear from you. Ten-four?”

“Ten-four.”

They pulled away, Jason handling the road with much more confidence than she could have even faked. “You and Sam,” he said. “A thing?”

She was surprised at the question, but she knew she’d given him the right to ask when she’d crawled into his lap and nearly eaten him up. “We went out twice.”

“I got a fairly possessive, protective vibe back there from him.”

“No, you didn’t.”

He laughed softly. “Lizzy, the last look he gave me said ‘I don’t care that you’re Dustin’s brother, if you hurt her, I’ll beat the shit out of you.’”

She took in Jason’s broad-as-a-mountain shoulders, the sinewy arms that she’d seen without a shirt, the six-pack abs. Sam was built, too, but Jason had an edge that said he’d been to the bowels of hell and fought his way out and had no problem doing it again. “You’re not afraid of Sam.”

“No. I like Sam. I’m just trying to figure out if you like Sam, too.”

She’d had boyfriends. Lovers. Not all that many, and she’d never kept one for long because she’d always put Cece first, even when Cece hadn’t needed to be put there, and yeah, so maybe she’d used her as a guard against getting hurt, but whatever. She’d still been with enough men to at least know her own needs. And right now that need was to remain single. Besides, she refused to take a giant step backward just because the guy of her early fantasies was sitting next to her, looking at her, rendering her a teenager again with one slant of those slate eyes.

He’d known about her crush.

That was bad enough. She had no intention of telling him she’d apparently never stopped crushing on him. “Sam and I are just friends. And there’s no one else, either. I would never have kissed you the way I did if there was. I’m single if that’s what you’re asking, and I intend to stay that way.”

He looked at her for a quick beat before turning back to the road. “Me, too. Look, to be honest, I’m damaged goods at best.” Once again, he glanced over at her. “Screwed up in the head,” he clarified. “It’s not exactly conducive to a relationship.”

“Does that have anything to do with Matt?”

“I guess it does.”

“And he’s…”

“Dead.” His fingers tightened on the wheel. “And, Jesus, that never gets easier to say.”

“A close friend?”

“The closest.” His voice had lowered, and was laced with pain. “He died on a rescue mission in the Midwest floods six weeks ago.” He eyed the flooding all around them. “Try to appreciate the irony. I certainly am.”

“Oh, Jase.” She understood the pain. “I’m so sorry. What happened?”

“We were there pulling people out of a building that had collapsed. I was in the rescue boat and Matt was in the water, trying to reach the victims. There was a hillside, creating a sort of waterfall. We were working not to go over while trying to get everyone in the boat.” He was silent a minute. “Matt was shoving people up to me and I was lifting a badly injured kid when the boat got caught in the current and cap-sized. Matt was trapped beneath it, and drowned.”

His voice broke a little on the word, and her heart broke for him. “Were you hurt?”

“Cracked a rib, concussion.” He shrugged. It was nothing, the gesture said. Nothing compared to being dead.

“Shit. Hang on.”

She turned forward and saw the problem-two fallen power lines across the road, with the water rushing over and under them so that they writhed like snakes, and sparkled like fireworks.

Lizzy braced herself as Jason hit the brakes, but he handled the Jeep like he’d been born to it, and the vehicle came to a controlled stop right in front of the downed lines.

Staring through the howling winds and curtains of rain, he shook his head. “Not good.”

“Should I call the PUD?”

“Definitely.” He pulled out his cell and tossed it to her while he backed the Jeep up, away from the live wires. “I’m going to take a closer look.”

Lizzy nodded as she called information, but when she could only get a recording at the Public Utilities Department, she hung up. The wind shook the Jeep, making it shudder. She looked out the windshield and literally saw nothing but gray as the air thickened with rain and God knows what else.

She could see no landmarks.

No Jason.

She opened the door and, squinting against the spray of rain, yelled, “Jason!”

Nothing.

She pictured him trying to move the line and getting electrocuted, and was about to run out into the storm when suddenly through the thick air she saw his outline.

Relieved, she pushed away from the Jeep, hands out until she slid her palms over his shoulders.

He turned to face her, his hands immediately reaching for her. “What are you doing?”

“Hoping you weren’t electrocuted.”

“Come on, back in the Jeep.” Turning her away from him, he stayed steady and solid at her back as they staggered to the Jeep.

Inside, he sagged back and wiped the rain from his face. “Hoping I wasn’t electrocuted,” he repeated. “Jesus, I know how not to get electrocuted.”

“It’s so bad,” she murmured, staring out the window. “So very bad. The whole day…”

“I don’t know.” He looked over at her, drenched to the skin, his lashes spiky black. “It’s had some good moments if you ask me.”

Something within her turned over. Her heart, she realized, exposing its tender, vulnerable underbelly.

“Tell me why you’re not a doctor,” he said quietly.

“What does it matter?”

“It matters to you, or it did. That was all you talked about, going to Los Angeles, being at UCLA, going through medical school so that you could be an E.R. doctor. Everyone knew how much it meant to you.”

“It’s complicated. My parents died. Two weeks after graduation.”

“My God.” He shoved his hair back from his face. “How did I not know that?” He just shook his head, clearly stunned. “You were so young.”

“Older than you when you lost your dad.”

“But I wasn’t alone. I had my mom and Dustin and Shelly. Who did you two have?”

“No one, which is why I couldn’t just go to L.A.”

“So you stayed and gave up your dreams.”

No. She’d never given up the dream. But after six months, she’d known she wouldn’t be able to leave Santa Rey. Cece had been a lost, grief-stricken hell-on-wheels teenager. It’d taken a lot of attention and effort to keep her reined in, which meant she’d had little time for anything else.

But it’d been worth it. Cece had grown up and taken responsibility for herself. She was doing great, too, with the sole exception of having gotten pregnant by a complete asshole loser. “I’m good with how it all turned out,” she told him quite honestly. She’d come to love her job, and would be sad to leave it. “And actually, I’m going in the fall. The hospital gave me a scholarship for medical school.”

“I’m glad for that,” Jason said quietly.

Yeah. Everyone was glad for that.

Except, oddly enough, her. She kept telling herself it was because it hadn’t hit her yet, that’s all. She’d be over the moon once she got started.

A heavy gust shook the Jeep. In front of them, the street was becoming lakefront property. She’d never seen anything like it, with the swirling sheets of rain, the shocking howl of the wind.

Complete havoc.

“So now I know how you got to be so tough,” he said, reaching over to lightly stroke a finger on her temple, pushing a wet strand of hair away. “So tough, and so unwilling to accept a hand. You lost your support system, and then had to become Cece’s. You’re used to counting only on yourself.”

“Yes.”

“Is it really so awful to let someone help you?”

“I’m letting you help,” she pointed out. “Even when I know that this is all a moot point, that Cece is fine.” She paused. “But I’m grateful.”

“I don’t want you to be grateful.”

“What do you want?”

“So suspicious.” He ran his thumb along her jaw, played with her earlobe. “Maybe I just want a peek at your sweet and sunny disposition.”

She had to laugh at that, even as parts of her tingled. She wasn’t sure what they were going to do with all this shimmering chemistry, but she had an idea, and it made her shiver. “Jason.”

“Lizzy.” He leaned in, his mouth nearly connecting with hers, letting the anticipation build for a beat, until-

Something smacked into the car hard enough to make her gasp and jump. It was a large branch, which rolled off the hood, landing in front of them. It caught on something in the water and snagged, blocking their way.

Jason looked out and shook his head. “I’ll get it.”

He’d just shut the door when his cell phone vibrated in her pocket. She’d forgotten she had it. She debated with herself for a minute, then flipped it open. “Jason’s phone.”

There was a moment of silence, then a soft, unsure female laugh. “Well, hello, strange woman answering my brother’s phone.”

Oh, boy. “Uh, hello. Hang on, I’ll get him-”

“Oh, no, please don’t. I’d much rather talk to you because Jason won’t tell me a damn thing except that he’s alive. Is he okay? Is he really okay?”

Lizzy took a peek at Jason as he came back into the Jeep. “He is.”

“Is he exhausted?” his sister asked. “Pale? Are his eyes haunted like they get when he’s first on leave? Because he says he’s fine, but that’s all he ever says since Matt. So maybe you’ll tell me the truth. Is he still hurting?”

At the love and worry in her voice, Lizzy softened immediately. “Maybe a little.”

Jason slid her a look. “Who is it?”

“Your sister.”

“Don’t tell him I’m drilling you!” Jason’s sister whispered frantically. “He’ll take the phone and tell me he’s fine. That he’s not still blaming himself for Matt’s death.”

Lizzy felt an overwhelming surge of emotion for his sister, and for Jason. It felt like protectiveness, empathy. Affection.

And more, so much more. She felt the need to wrap herself around him and squeeze until he felt better, or until she felt better, whichever didn’t come first-

“Listen,” his sister said quickly. “Whoever you are, promise you’ll at least feed him. That you’ll-”

Jason gently relieved Lizzy of the phone. “Shelly. It’s sort of a bad time. Can I call you back?” He listened to what sounded like a long litany and rubbed a spot between his eyes. “Well, I am fine.”

Lizzy had been looking at him all day, and yeah, no doubt he was incredibly fine, but she could see beneath the surface now, past the rugged face and body which tended to rob her of cognitive thought, and she agreed with his sister.

Beneath the easy, calm, I-can-handle-anything air he wore, there was that edge she’d already seen, that haunted hollowness she now understood. And added to both was a sheer exhaustion that probably went to the bone. As she’d worked all night, he wasn’t alone in that, but Jason was more than just physically tired, and her heart ached for him.

“I promise,” Jason said in the affectionate but frustrated voice that was a universal sibling-to-sibling tone. “I’ll come see you and Mom the second the storm’s over and I’m free.” He looked at Lizzy. “I’ll invite her, yes, but the decision is hers.” A reluctant, fond smile curved his lips. “Yeah, you, too, brat. Bye.”

“They love you,” Lizzy said softly into the silence.

Well, not silence. There was no silence, not with the whipping wind and rain hammering the poor Jeep.

“They love me,” Jason agreed, craning his neck to look around them. “But love isn’t going to get us out of this mess.”

Water was rushing and running beneath the Jeep’s tires, the force of the storm rocking them back and forth. No. Love wasn’t going to help them. “I’m sorry. I can’t believe I took us out in this.”

“Don’t be.”

She knew Cece was capable, dammit, she knew. But a small part of her couldn’t help but try to be there, just in case Cece still needed her.

Hell, maybe even a small part of her wanted Cece to still need her. “Aren’t you glad you came home for some food and rest?” she asked drily. “And…what else was it you wanted?”

His eyes heated, and her breath caught. “Oh, that’s right,” she murmured. “Sex. You wanted sex.” At just the words out of her own mouth, something deep inside her belly quivered. She peered out the window toward where she knew the power lines were. “And I nearly gave you electrocution. Man, did you get ripped off.”

“Guess that means you owe me.”

She turned back with amusement. “Is that right?”

He just smiled.

“Are you really suggesting I owe you sex?”

He arched a brow. “Is that on the table?”

“No. I was just wondering.”

He laughed. “God.” He swiped a hand down his face. “Somehow, even in the middle of hell, you can still make me laugh.”

Lizzy took in his smile, and how good it looked on him, and smiled, too. “I really like this whole not being in awe of you thing.”

“Well, damn. I am going to miss the awe.”

Now she laughed. “Are you ready then?”

“For the sex?” he asked hopefully.

“Ha. No, but nice try.” She grabbed her bag and tossed him his. “I assume we have to walk from here.”

“There’s no way to get the Jeep past the wires.”

“Okay.” She looked at her watch. Past noon already. Unbelievable.

“Wait,” he said when she reached for the door handle. Leaning in, he pulled up her hood, his fingers warm and callused, the touch going right through all her protective layers and her inner brick wall, making itself at home right in the center of her heart.

“That’s not going to help for long,” she told him, her voice a little husky.

He kept his fingers on her, and lightly stroked her jaw. “Stay close. There’ll be underwater currents, and if your feet get swept from under you-”

“I’ll be okay. I will,” she said with soft steel when he started to speak again.

“I know.” He looked at her, then hauled her to him and kissed her hard and long, with a promise of more to come. Then, still breathing hard, they opened their doors and headed out, meeting at the back of the vehicle. Jason grabbed her hand, and together they trudged for higher ground, with Lizzy hoping that Cece-in labor or not-had done the same.