“Oh, Jay. Thank goodness. I didn’t know when anyone would come to find me. I’m stuck and can’t get out. And of course, I didn’t have my phone on me. I was trying to put some documents up on the top shelf to keep them safe if we get flooding and then the whole bookcase fell before I could get away from it.”
“We’ll get you out. Don’t worry.” He surveyed the damage, trying to figure out how to move the case without causing more harm.
Mason walked up beside him. “We need to prop that end up. Move those boxes so they don’t fall, then we’ll lift this end off of her.”
Jay glanced and saw that Mason had come up with a good plan. He nodded as they sprang into action. “Okay, Etta, you ready? We’re going to lift this off of you and then you try to crawl out.”
“Okay.”
They lifted the heavy wooden bookcase and he saw Etta try to get loose.
“I can’t. I’m still stuck.”
“I’ll go prop that end up more. We’ll try again.” Mason went over to work on finding something to help stabilize the end of the case.
Jay bent down near Etta. “Don’t worry. We’ll get you out of here. Everything is going to be just fine.”
Etta nodded but he couldn’t help but notice how pale she looked.
“Okay, let’s try this again.” Mason returned and they leveraged up the bookcase and he slid a wooden box under it.
Jay reached down, gently took hold of Etta, and helped her slide free. He stood to help her to her feet.
“Watch out,” Mason called as the case began to totter.
Jay grabbed Etta and hurled them both backward, just as the bookcase crashed to the floor. He and Etta landed in a clump on the floor, inches away from the bookcase.
“You okay?” He looked at her closely.
“Yes… I’m just glad you found me.”
“We’ll help you up.”
He rose and he and Mason reached down for Etta. She tried to stand, but he could see the pain on her face. “My ankle. I don’t think…”
“Not a problem. We’ll just carry you to the community center. You’re going to get wet, but you’ll be fine.”
She nodded.
He gently lifted her in his arms. “Clear the way, will you, Mason?”
Mason moved some boxes and cleared a pathway to the door. He looked at Mason as they stood in the doorway to the building. It was almost impossible to see through the sheets of rain. “Stay close. We don’t want to get turned around in this.”
Mason nodded. “Hey, you’re the one who knows the town. I’ll be stuck like glue to you, buddy.”
“Don’t forget to close the door,” Etta said.
Jay chuckled. “No, ma’am. We won’t.”
Lillian paced back and forth, waiting for news about Etta. She tried to busy herself delivering hot coffee to the stranded townsfolk, but her mind was filled with reasons why Etta wasn’t here now. And none of the reasons were good ones.
She walked over to the door to check with Sara, just in case Etta had arrived and she’d missed her. Sara looked up at her from the check-in desk and just shook her head, no.
The door swung open again and Lillian looked hopefully in its direction. But it was Delbert Hamilton ushering Camille inside. “Come on, honey. Let’s get you inside and dried off.”
“But I don’t want to sit here with a bunch of strangers.” Camille’s voice came out in a petulant whine.
“They aren’t strangers. They are the people who live here. We know most of them. And we can’t get off the island now. You heard the bridge was closed.” He turned and smiled at Sara.
Sara smiled back at him. “I’ll add you two to the list. Glad you made it here. The storm is taking a nasty turn toward us according to Sheriff Dave.”
“We were going to ride out the storm at Camille’s family’s house, but then we got the alert to evacuate.”
“And I, of course, needed to pack my essentials.” Camille frowned. “But Delbert only let me bring two suitcases. Certainly not enough.”
“Well, darlin’, it took you quite a bit to just pack those up.”
Camille walked a few steps over to the opening to the main room. “We’re supposed to stay in there? With everyone? On… are those cots?”
“Not sure there are any cots left now. You’re the last people to get here, I expect. The alert went out quite a while ago.” Lillian looked at Camille, annoyed at the woman’s attitude. Annoyed she was even here. Camille should be grateful the town had a safe place like this for people to come to now that the bridge was closed. But then, Camille was Camille. Always.
“I don’t know why the weathermen got the forecast so wrong. If we’d known it was going to get this bad, we would have headed back home to Mama’s house in Comfort Crossing.”
“Hurricanes are unpredictable at best, Camille.” Lillian tried to keep the irritation out of her voice. She was worried about Etta, and a little inconvenience wouldn’t hurt Camille. And it wasn’t like any of the other people here weren’t going through the same inconveniences. Storms were tough on everyone.
Lillian sighed. And, she freely admitted, Camille got on her nerves.
“Well, you’d think they could predict better than this.” Camille shook out her hair. “I need to dry off. Are there at least towels here? Or Delbert, go out and get my suitcase. I have a hairdryer in there.”
“I’m sorry, Sheriff Dave wants people to stay inside once they get here.” Sara looked at Delbert, not Camille.
Delbert took Camille’s elbow. “Come on, let’s see what we can find. Get you dried off and warm.” He turned and smiled at Lillian. “We’ll be fine.”
“But Delbert, I need my things,” Camille’s eyes flashed with defiance.
“Later, darlin’” Delbert headed toward the main room with Camille letting out a streak of complaints the whole time.
Lillian turned to Sara. “I don’t know why that man stays with her.”
Sara laughed.
