“Perhaps.” Tony continued a monologue discussing options and engines and probably making half the stuff up until, finally, they reached level ground. Lucca took his first easy breath. “It’s not sleeting on this side of the mountain. We should be good to go. Sorry I dragged you guys along on this wild goose chase. This whole bad- weather-and-basketball-buses thing preys on my psyche.”
James said, “Not a problem. I think you needed to pay attention to your angel.”
Lucca did, too, which was why he increased his speed, hoping to catch up with the school bus. Honestly, he wouldn’t rest easy until he saw Hope step into her house and shut the door.
He intended to have her leave the bus in Creede and ride home with them. His Range Rover handled the road much better than her bus. They could make the return trip over the pass without trouble as long as they attempted it in the next hour or so before the ice began to stick. Tomorrow, someone from Creede could drive the bus back and deal with their own broken one. The weather report called for sunshine and temperatures above freezing. Plus, the plows would be out. That should work.
“I see lights up ahead,” Tony said. “Doesn’t look like a car. Might be her.”
Lucca’s foot grew heavier on the gas, and within moments his headlights illuminated the familiar back end of the yellow school bus. “Thank God.”
He no sooner exhaled a relieved breath than he saw the lights of an oncoming vehicle and then a shadow cross in front of them. In seconds that seemed to take hours to pass, he watched the oncoming vehicle strike the shadow … and veer into the school bus.
It happened in an instant. Hope saw the elk, saw the oncoming truck strike the animal. When the truck headed her way, she knew a collision was coming and recognized it as unavoidable.
Thank God, the district had installed seat belts in this bus. Thank God, she’d made everybody buckle up. Grabbing hold tightly to the wheel, she prepared to put the lessons she’d learned in Texas to use.
Control the crash, she told herself, and she turned the wheel just as the truck collided with her bus.
It seemed to happen in slow motion. She fought the wheel to keep the bus on the road, hearing the echo of Johnny Tarantino’s calm instructions all the while. Behind her, boys yelled in fear and panic, but she tuned them out, listing to Johnny talk in her memory. Just when she thought she had won—that she’d managed to keep the bus on the road—the truck that had hit them completed a spin by clipping them again. Momentum carried the school bus onto a bridge.
The front of the bus crashed through the guardrail. Hope felt herself fall forward, and in that instant, for the first time since the initial hit, bone-chilling fear washed through her. She didn’t recall this section of the road. This was a bridge over what?
Her first thought flashed through her mind.
Sound that had seemed muffled during the wreck came roaring back. The boys were yelling, cursing, hollering for help. Even as she tried to rouse herself to full awareness of their situation, she heard the most miraculous sound.
Lucca called, “Hope! Hope! Are you okay? Answer me! Hope!”
“We’re okay, Coach,” one of them called. “We’re all okay.”
“Thank you, God,” she prayed as she became aware of flashlight beams and creaking hinges and men’s voices.
She attempted to look behind her and take stock, but she couldn’t see anything past her shoulder. All right, then. Think. The bus sloped downward, so it made sense that the back of the bus hadn’t left the bridge. She saw no water in front of her. They hadn’t landed in a river or creek. Maybe a dry gully only a short drop from the road. Again, she repeated, “Thank God.”
“Hold on, Hope,” Lucca said. “We’re coming. We’re going to help you.”
“Help the boys first. Get them out of the bus.”
“I’m on it,” James Preston called. “Don’t worry.”
Lucca said, “Hope? Are you hurt? Honey? Are you okay?”
She didn’t miss the panic in his voice, so she injected calmness into hers. “I’m fine, Lucca.”
But, was she fine? The seat belt went across her lap. She’d jerked against it hard.
Now that the immediacy of the accident was behind her and there were others on the scene to take responsibility for her passengers, Hope was free to focus on what was happening inside her own body. Pain. Soreness. What else? Any cramping? Any fluid between her legs?
Then, Lucca was beside her. He tested the handle that opened the door. It worked. She saw him—no, his brother, his twin—standing outside. Lucca said, “You made it down okay. Good. Which way will be easier to get her out?”
“This way,” Tony replied. “Hand her to me, bro.”
Lucca maneuvered to plant his feet against the console and dash. Then, tenderly, he touched Hope’s face. “All right, baby. Let’s get you out of here. Ready?”
She saw that fear filled his eyes. “Lucca? Don’t let me fall through the windshield.”
“I won’t let you fall. I’ll never let you fall.” Lucca released the seat belt catch and she slumped into his arms. “Gotcha. It’s good. Now, let’s get out of here.”
Stepping carefully, he moved toward the door where Tony stood reaching inside. Hope felt Tony Romano’s strong arms slip beneath her knees and around her shoulders, and Lucca released her into his brother’s care, then scrambled down beside her. “Here. I’ll take her.”
“I can walk,” Hope said. “Set me down.”
“Are you sure?”
“I think so.”
Carefully, he set her down. “Ankles okay?”
“Yes.”
“Good. Let’s get you up out of this draw.”
It took only a couple of minutes for Hope to climb back onto the road. An ambulance and a sheriff’s department’s Range Rover arrived at the same time. Hope sighed with relief when she heard James Preston say, “We don’t need an ambulance here. The kids are all okay. No cuts or scrapes or anything.”
Zach all but flew out of the sheriff’s vehicle. “What have we got?”
Lucca carried Hope toward the ambulance, saying, “Hope needs medical attention.”
“I could use a hand from someone,” Tony called out, and Hope realized he was still in the gully. “Twisted my knee.”
“Damn,” Lucca muttered as Zach went to help his brother. Standing beside the emergency vehicle, Dr. Rose Anderson gestured for Lucca to place Hope on the stretcher. Speaking softly so that only Rose could hear, he said, “She’s pregnant.”
Rose stopped a moment, considering this new information. Then she nodded. “Okay,” Rose said. “Any pain, Hope?”
She opened her mouth to say no, but she started shaking, trembling like a tree in a gale. Rose called to Zach. “Any other transport needed?”
Zach looked at Tony who shook his head. Following a quick survey of the teens, he said, “We’re good, Rose.”
“Then let’s start back. Lie down, Hope. We’ll get a warm blanket around you.” The doctor and a tech moved her into the ambulance. Lucca started to climb in with her, but Rose placed her palm against his chest. “There’s no room for you back here.”
“I’m coming with her, Rose.”
“Ride up front, Lucca. I’ll take good care of her.”
