The Duke's Fated Love

by Emily Bow

  “You—” Regina started with another theory.

  I cut her off like she was cutting off Lily. “We can’t get across the bridge. It’s flooding.”

  Regina frowned. “Really?”

  “Yeah,” Lily said.

  Regina looked past us as if she could see the bridge from here. She couldn’t. “How deep were the puddles?”

  Lily shrugged because really, how could we tell that? We hadn’t gotten out and stuck a yard stick into the running water.

  “Reggie, who is it?” Sebastian’s voice came from down the hall.

  “No one.” Regina backed up. “I guess you’ll have to come in then. Won’t you?”

  We bundled into the foyer, and I shut the door behind us. The hampers still rested on the bench where we’d left them, and despite the Regina-non-welcome, being inside where the air was dry was nice.

  “Do you think this is a good time to ask about cataloging their possessions for free?” Lily whispered.

  I laughed.

  Regina glared, as if Lily had said something mean about her. I wanted to explain, but what could I say?

  “You were driving?” Regina asked Lily. “Is that right?”

  “Yes.” Lily hunched her shoulders as if she were enduring an especially stressful long typing session at her computer. “I saw the water and thought, ‘Turn around, don’t drown.’”

  Regina’s eyes widened. “Very dramatic.”

  Lily’s left eye twitched. “It’s a saying.”

  Sebastian came into the foyer. He grinned as he spotted Lily. “Changed your mind? Will you be staying for dinner? I meant to ask earlier. But you left in such a rush. We didn’t even go through what lovelies you brought us.” He reached into the hamper and pulled out a family-sized can of oil-packed chunk tuna. A piece of portobello mushroom clung to the side. The fungus slid down as he held it aloft and plopped back into the basket. Sebastian frowned and put the can back.

  Lily held open her palms.

  “Lily says there’s water over the bridge,” Regina said. “They have a car, but they can’t figure a way over it. At all. They’ve considered everything.”

  “Hmm.” Sebastian smiled.

  Regina pursed her lips. “If it’s true, staff will be delayed. Such an inconvenience.” She looked at the hampers. “It’s already dinner hour.” She moved closer to the food. “That probably needs putting away.”

  Neither of them made a move to actually lift the hampers, and neither expressed concern over the safety of the staff who were coming through a storm to wait on their little house party.

  Most everyone goes through a self-centered “how does it affect me” stage. It freaked me out that Regina hadn’t gotten past that yet at our age. Maybe some people stay stuck there. Terrifying.

  Regina gestured to us but spoke to her brother. “They say they can’t get down the drive. Now they’re here.” She sounded like she didn’t know what to do with us. We weren’t aristocrats come calling, and we weren’t staff, so she was at a loss. However, her insistence in doubting our story was getting on my nerves and, by Lily’s new twitch, Regina’s disbelief was getting on hers, too.

  “It’s true,” Lily said, her face flushed.

  “Of course, it is,” Regina said. “I’m not doubting that there’s a sprinkling splashing over the side. That happens. But so much that a car can’t get through?” She arched her petite red eyebrows and wiggled them in a confused damsel kind of way. “I thought about it and, well, that hasn’t happened. And we’ve stayed here during the rainy season before. I’m sure we have, haven’t we, Sebastian?”

  “I doubt it,” Sebastian said.

  Lily said, “The river seemed too high to go through to me.” Her voice dwindled and lacked confidence.

  Regina wrinkled her nose and raised one shoulder. “Are you used to British cars?”

  Obviously not. Lily was American. “I don’t see what driving on the left has to do with it,” I said.

  “You wouldn’t,” Regina said. “We English have a different perception.” She turned back to Lily. “You’re probably not used to a manual transmission either. Is the car manual?”

  “I know how to drive a stick.” Lily sounded more defensive and more than a little pissed.

  Regina did the nose wrinkle again. “You probably wanted an automatic.”

  “My father taught me on a stick. We had a Jeep I drove every summer, even before I had my license.” Something in Regina’s words had pissed Lily off and maneuvered her into attack mode.

  As delighted as I was that Lily was pushing back, we were stuck here so a verbal spat with the owner wasn’t in our best interests. I needed to butt in. It was my fault Regina was so annoying anyway. If I hadn’t been with Thorn at the local pub in front of her, she’d probably act normally. Then again, I hadn’t known she existed so she shouldn’t be mad at me. Thorn simply hadn’t mentioned her when he’d invited me upstairs at the pub. “Come look at the bridge for yourself.” I waved my palm and threw logic at them. “If you can see a way over, we’ll take it.” It wasn’t like I could get any wetter and maybe Regina did know a way across. This tactic was the classic “put up or shut up.” It suckered in my sisters every time.

  Sebastian clapped. “I’ll grab my Wellies.” He raised his voice. “Thorn, we’re going for a drive.”

  Thorn joined us in the peach and green foyer with arched eyebrows. “In the storm?” He gave me a quick look and glanced away but he joined Sebastian and Regina, who were gearing up. All three of them put on raincoats and rubber boots. Each outfit consisted of coordinating beige with a touch of plaid.

  At home, rain was less common, and we grabbed piecemeal raingear. The fact that these three had fancy coordinating outfits shouldn’t be surprising. Maybe their climate demanded the gear, or maybe their wealth kept them prepared.

  Lily’s green eyes widened. She moved close to my side and waved her hand, so I’d lean toward her. “What if the water’s receded? They’ll think I lied.” Her voice held the cringe of a thousand nightmares.

  Thunder cracked outside. The kind I hadn’t heard since we’d been here. Texas level thunder. Raising the hair on my arms level thunder. “It can’t have. The storm sounds worse.”

  Lily nodded in inappropriate gratitude.

  We went outside to a further darkened sky and heavier rain.

  The three of them went to the car’s backdoors and stood there. I looked at my umbrella and decided it would be useless, so I left it on the porch.

  Lily clicked the door locks open, and we all hustled inside. They got into the back. Despite their wealth, bundling into a small European car didn’t seem to faze them.

  They barely fit, but they didn’t complain. At home, the guys would want the front and would complain about the legroom, and the size of the car as if it somehow impacted their masculinity.

  Lightning cracked through the clouds.

  Lily turned on the ignition.

  A love duet poured through the speakers and rain crashed down on the windshield. Lily put on the wipers and started down the drive for the third time in less than an hour. Her pale hand clenched the gearshift, whitening her knuckles. She shifted into second, and the car groaned as she ground the gears. She hadn’t had a problem with smooth gear transitions on the way here, not like this anyway.

  We reached the scenic bridge with its wooden X-shaped crossbeams. The headlights showed how the water had reached the center of the X where the boards crossed. The waves lapped at them, making it clear the bridge was flooding. Their picturesque bridge was uncrossable in this little car. We were right.

  A small smile crossed Lily’s lip. I tipped my head back against the headrest.

  “Hmm,” Sebastian said from the seat behind me. “I’ve never seen the river like that.”

  “Sure,” Regina said. “Me neither, but what is the depth? Two feet? The tires are taller than that. How tall is the car? Four feet?”

  Lily hissed out an audible breath.

 
“You know, I never really asked,” Regina said. “Why did you two come over to the house? Why did you two specifically make the delivery? It’s an odd choice, surely. You’re not staff.” She made an exasperated sound. “This is silly. That’s really barely any water. If you wanted to, you could get over it.”

  Lily gunned the engine. The tires spun in the pea gravel, not gaining purchase, and then the car lurched forward like a drunk off a barstool.

  Chapter 14

  I gasped and held out my hands as if that would stop the car from surging onto the river-soaked bridge.

  Regina screeched, and the music played on. Sebastian laughed and slapped the roof.

  Thorn said, “Stop.”

  Lily grabbed the gearstick and hit the clutch, but she didn’t stop.

  The car sped forward, through the water. My insides reacted as if we were dropping from the highest roller coaster hill. The narrow tires rumbled as the road surface changed from pea gravel to wooden bridge. And we were going; we were going across the bridge.

  The car lifted and tilted down like the spinning raft ride at an amusement park. There was a dip, and then a weightless feeling. And then we weren’t going at all.

  My heart thumped, and the radio played a ridiculous romantic tune about the male singer’s true love not calling him back.

  “Why are you stopping? Drive,” Regina ordered.

  “Shut up, Regina,” Sebastian said.

  “You shut up, Sebastian.”

  Their bickering ratcheted up the tension. Lily clenched her hands on the wheel, positioned incorrectly at ten and two, thumbs looped around the steering wheel. Who’d taught her to drive? Why hadn’t I caught that? It’s nine and three, thumbs on the rim.

  Lily let go and fought the gearstick with two hands.

  No hands on the wheel. No one taught that. The gearstick didn’t take two hands. My muscles tensed. “Grab the wheel,” I yelled at her and took the gear. “Hit the clutch.” I shifted into ‘R’ for reverse.

  Nothing happened.

  The car rose and buffeted against the rail. The vehicle twisted and turned without our permission.

  Sebastian and Regina argued in the back. The cheery air freshener daisy bounced on its elastic chain and for a moment, all I could do was look at it and the raindrops hitting the windshield behind it.

  We slammed into the rail. I jolted against the seatbelt and out of my stupor. As the car slowed and swiveled, my mind sped up. We could tilt and flip over the bridge and into the river. The bridge could wash away entirely. “We can’t go over,” I said in a rush as my pulse raced, matching the river flow.

  I couldn’t get out what I was trying to say. I was trying to say that we had to get out of the car before the car was washed down the river. That inches of floodwater could wash a car away. I’d learned this in driver’s education. Hadn’t they? How many inches before the car raised and floated off? Twelve inches. Twenty-four? Did they judge their floods in centimeters? Was I the only one who knew this?

  The song wound down and transitioned into a bop-beat wedding song and then the song died. We should have had the radio on the car mechanic talk show, so we’d know what to do. Or the weather channel. The English loved talking about the weather. How did we not know it was going to flood? “Water has gotten in the intake and stalled the car.” Stay calm. “Roll down the windows.”

  “It’s raining,” Regina said. “We’re on the wrong side of the bridge.”

  Sebastian turned to her. “You did this, Regina.”

  “I’m not driving. I’m not even by the window. I’m stuck in the middle seat.” Regina threw her hands up. “Shut up, Sebastian, I wanted none of this. This is your fault. No hot cross buns for your tea and then—”

  “We have to get out of the car,” Thorn said, his deep voice steady.

  “Yes,” I said.

  Regina screeched, “As if. It’s lashing. If you haven’t noticed. Go across Lily.”

  Lily fought the wheel uselessly and did the same with the gearstick, unwilling to concede that she had lost control. “I can make it catch.”

  I pressed my fingertips to my temples. “We need to get out of the car.”

  “You’re right.” Sebastian unlocked his door and grabbed for the handle. He pushed. The door wouldn’t open.

  That made sense. “It’s the force of the water.” I dropped my hands and kept my voice calm.

  The car slammed into the railing again, jolting me against the seatbelt and tripling my heart rate so I felt sick.

  The door Sebastian was trying to open was now pressed against the rail. He bit off a curse.

  “It’s going to bust,” Regina screamed. “You’re breaking our bridge. This is not happening.”

  If the car broke the bridge, we’d float down the river with us in the car. Or sink to the bottom of the riverbed with us in the car. My head stayed calm, but my body revolted, flashing sweaty then cold. “You’re right,” I said. “We have to get out.” Repeating myself wasn’t making it happen. I tried my door handle, pulling with one hand, pushing with the other. The door didn’t budge.

  Sebastian shoved at his door again. Thorn did the same.

  I said, “Lily, Thorn, try and open your windows.”

  Sebastian got his door open a crack. Water rushed in, tilting the car in his direction. Water pooled in the back floorboard, covering their feet, and then the door slammed shut. Sebastian bit off a more creative curse.

  “That was great Sebastian,” Regina said.

  I needed to act, not just sit here and hunch queasily in my seat. I unclicked my seatbelt. “Get your seatbelts off.” I pulled up the parking brake in case that would do anything and turned the car heater up in case it would work.

  Lily pushed at the window switch. “Mine won’t roll down.”

  “Mine either,” Thorn said.

  Sebastian pushed with both arms and got the door open wider this time. Not wide enough to fit through but close.

  Stay calm.

  What would Dad do? He’d never be in this freaking situation, because he was too smart to drive through running water. Stop. Think. Plan A. Go out the door. The door wouldn’t open. My fists clenched.

  B. Window. The electric locks wouldn’t work. I wrapped my arms around myself.

  C. I had no freaking clue what plan C was. I needed a plan C. My brain spun.

  I blew out a breath. Think. Stay calm.

  Dad would say break the problem down into smaller, more manageable components. Get the windows whose electric motors won’t roll down to open. “Plan C, guys. We’ll have to bust the glass. The windshield is thicker than the side windows. We’ll bust out the side windows.” I don’t know where that bit of trivia had come from, but it was the kind of fact Dad would throw out there to us. I sounded so calm, while inside I was not.

  Sebastian hit the window with the side of his fist.

  “It’s a rental,” Lily said.

  It was a positive sign that she was talking again.

  “I’ll pay for the car,” Sebastian said. He used the side of his fist again. “Don’t worry Lily.”

  “There’s a moonroof.” Regina reached above her head and turned a hand crank. Rain and wind rushed in. She kept cranking.

  Regina was going to be the one to save us. That shouldn’t suck in my mind. Saved was saved. “Good. Good. We’ll go up through the roof and down the back over the trunk.” I was awed that my voice remained steady. Sebastian looked strong enough to lift his sister if she needed assistance. Though, hopefully, Regina was stronger than she looked. “Sebastian, you go out first, then help Regina up.” I opened my purse and got out my pocketknife.

  I jabbed and sawed, cutting my seatbelt strap in two places. When the long piece came free, I passed the strap back to Sebastian. “Tie yourself to Regina so you stay together. Then Lily. When you get off the car, get away. Don’t get between the body of the car and the bridge. Do it calmly. But as fast as you can.”

  Sebastian took the strap and looped the
fabric through his belt.

  “Who put you in charge? Why do you have a knife?” Regina asked. “What are you, like a survivalist?”

  In the middle of this, she was taking jabs at me? While I was holding a knife? I blew out a breath. “Stay focused. We’re going to make a human rope, to be safe.” In case one of them flew into the river. I turned to Lily. “Let me get your seatbelt.” I cut the seatbelt on her side free which was easier than doing my own and handed the second strip to Thorn.

  I closed the knife. The car spun and slammed into the boards and my pocketknife flew from my fingers into the water covering the floorboard. The bridge groaned. I should have been more careful. That’s all we needed—flood waters and an open artery.

  Regina got the moonroof fully open. Rain poured in.

  Water which had covered the feet of their Wellington rainboots now reached their calves. Seeing that volume of water unnerved me. Their boots had likely never saved them from more than a London sidewalk puddle. Now the floorboard of the car was filling up with us still inside.

  I stuck my hand in the cold water and felt around for my pocketknife.

  Chapter 15

  Sebastian stood and pulled himself through the moonroof and flattened against the back window like a starfish. He clung to the edge. The car spun but he was strong enough to hold on. Regina stood up and pulled herself up and out with Thorn pushing her up from below. Then both siblings were against the back windshield.

  The car shifted again.

  “Keep holding on.” Lily stood on the driver seat. “I’ll tie you.” Lily reached through the rain and tied the seatbelt to Regina’s wrist.

  The car slammed into the bridge and the top board made a cracking sound. The board shot down the river.

  “Lily go next,” Thorn said, his gaze on the free-floating board.

  Lily pulled herself up. “Okay, we’re going to need to drop down to make room for you guys.” She went out the moonroof and linked herself to Sebastian. Then, they tumbled down in an awkward slide and backed away from the car.

  Their escape worked. The relief steadied me. “Thorn, you go next.” I shoved my knife in my pocket and put my purse strap over my shoulder. I should leave my purse behind, like they instructed everyone to do in a regular evacuation, but I wasn’t going to.