“Flash flood,” Jeremy yelled. “Get up!”
Rodney roused, too. “Did he just say flood?”
“Oh God,” Dee cried as she flung off the covers and grabbed her watch from the nightstand. It was five in the morning. “We’re coming!”
As she and Rodney dove into their clothes, she looked out the window. The sight of the river eating half the front yard sent her heart into her throat. They opened the bedroom door. Her father, wearing a rain poncho and overalls, stood there holding a flashlight.
“Holy hell,” Rodney exclaimed. “I’ve never done one of these. What do you want us to do?”
“Help Dee drive her car up the mountain a ways before it floats away,” Jeremy ordered. “I’m going to get the inflatable boat ready and help your mother move some stuff to the attic. Then, we’ll see who else around here needs help.”
“I can’t believe this,” she said, wiping away a tear. “I hope they don’t lose the house.”
Rodney gripped her shoulder. “Let’s just make sure no one loses their lives.”
After finding some plastic bags in her bureau, she handed one to Rodney for his cell phone. Then she dug into her purse for the essentials—car keys, phone, money, driver’s license, and health insurance card—stuffed them into the bags, and shoved them into the pockets of her tight jeans.
Next, she poured drinking water from the basin in the bathroom into two plastic bottles and found two big garbage bags she quickly fashioned into rain ponchos. She used more for their overnight bags.
“You’re so organized,” Rodney marveled. “I’m impressed.”
“Thanks,” she replied as she packed them some bread-and-cheese sandwiches. “Where’s my laptop?”
Obviously, she wouldn’t be catching up on her workload as she’d promised her boss.
“I already bagged it for you,” her mother said, handing it to her as Jeremy joined them.
Dee hugged her parents. “Thanks. I hope we all stay safe.”
“So much for our relaxing getaway,” Rodney said as they rushed out the front door.
The water, brown and angry, was rising. She and Rodney stowed the bags in the car and got in, and she drove it on the non-paved road leading up the mountain. Rainwater filled the deep ruts. About halfway up, she got stuck. He jumped out and tried to help get the car loose, but it was no use.
With their legs completely soaked, they ran back down toward the house. When dawn turned the sky a pearly gray, Dee gasped at the river. It had become a roiling mass of fury bent on swallowing everything in its path.
By the time they returned to the house, the water had risen to lick the porch, and her parents were ready to head out. Dad’s face looked grave as he adjusted his grip on the inflatable boat. They took a high footpath toward town, and Dee gripped Rodney’s hand, glad he was by her side during this ordeal.
After walking about half a mile, they rounded a bend, bringing a horrifying sight into view. Water had risen higher here, swamping a low bridge. A few cars floated in the water. Some victims stood on their roofs while others flailed around in the swift current.
Luckily, an emergency crew was on the scene. Red lights pierced a sky the color of dead fish, and some men in a boat were trying to rescue the stranded. With no warning, Dad took off, running toward the scene.
“Jeremy, no!” Adele shouted. “It’s too dangerous.”
“One boat can’t save them all. Those people are going to drown if I don’t help.” Before they could stop him, he’d launched his inflatable boat into the water.
Dee mashed her face against Rodney’s shoulder, not wanting to see her loved one perish before her eyes. He gently moved her aside and pulled a nearby long branch toward the water. Not him, too!
“Stay here,” she told her mother before racing after him.
Damned if her father hadn’t delivered a woman and her child safely to shore, and Rodney’s strong arms, wielding the branch, had snagged a guy floating downstream. But the force was so great, Rodney tripped on a root and fell. She ran toward him before he could be sucked into the river, too.
She pulled back on him with all her might. Unfortunately, the river was too strong for both of them.
“Let go of the branch!” she shouted to Rodney, but he wouldn’t. At least, not soon enough.
Before she knew it, they were both in the water, being flung around like corks. With her arms and thighs, she hung onto him for her very life.
No! No! No! I’m not ready to die!
Their heads dipped underwater. Strangely, it reminded her of their lovemaking in the bathtub. Might as well think about something happy before she croaked…
Resurfacing again, they raced around another bend, rushing toward downtown Wheeling. Where, thankfully, someone finally rescued them. She stumbled onto a concrete dock and fell to her knees, coughing up water. Her entire body was numb. The water hadn’t been freezing cold but not exactly warm either. Luckily, they hadn’t been in it very long.
Thank, thank, thank God. Rodney hugged her so tightly her bones ached. As soon as her lungs were clear, she kissed her man. Couldn’t stop. Couldn’t ever let go of him. Hang on. Hang on. Seeing him jump in and help others, like her father had done, only intensified her feelings. So had his compassion for his unfortunate little brother.
“I love you, Rodney Walker!” she yelled. “I had to say it.”
Next to seeing Rodney naked in a bathtub, the sight of crowds, emergency lights, and even a helicopter was the best thing she’d ever laid eyes on. There was even a news crew. She looked down at herself, seeing nothing except skin and bra. When had her blouse fallen off?
A flash of light broke her out of her thoughts. What now? A thunderstorm? And where were her parents? Oh God.
“We’ve got to find my parents,” she told Rodney as he pulled his sodden, black T-shirt off and draped it around her shoulders.
“We will,”
