But there was a time for everything. Now it was her time to mourn, to be heartbroken. One day there’d be a time for her to break into a whirling dance of joy, her renewed faith in God whispered. Someday, Jesus would give her beauty for these ashes. Someday, she’d be so grateful for her time in Chapel Cove.
Today, unfortunately, was not that day.
Dust had still not settled on the clearing where the blanket had lain not so long ago.
Haddie’s heels tic-ticked against the wooden floor as she walked across to the almost dust-free square. She set the peony bouquet down on the floor then draped the shell and sea glass necklace over the stems.
“Goodbye, Riley. I’ll try to remember the good times we had and how you saved my life, as I work through this thing called forgiveness.”
“Haddie! Haddie!”
What? Riley? No. What was he doing here?
The thud of racing steps sounded, and Haddie glanced through the window to see Riley heading for the stairs. She couldn’t go out the front door.
Trying to run on her toes, she dashed out of the parlor and down the passage. Thoughts of escape clouding her judgement, she headed up the enormous wooden staircase. She’d find somewhere to hide, even if it was up in that very top tower room.
Riley took the steps two at a time to the old front door. He flung the door open.
“Haddie!” he called again. She must be here somewhere—her car was at the stables and Freckles was munching on gorse outside. But why wasn’t she answering him? Hopefully she hadn’t hightailed it out the back door and was already running for her car.
As he passed the empty parlor, something caught his eye. He did a double take then darted into the room. The bouquet he’d given Haddie two days before lay on the floor, right where they had picnicked.
Where they’d kissed.
Bending, he scooped up the flowers. As he did, something clattered to the floor. He glanced down to see the necklace from Reese’s shop curled against the timber where the flowers had lain. His stomach dropped. What had he done to his Haddie?
Peonies in one hand and the necklace in his jacket pocket, Riley prayed yet again as he snaked his way through the house, checking all the rooms and inside dusty Victorian armoires, the only items of furniture the owners had left in the place.
Lord, please help me find her, and help her to understand.
A sound drew his attention heavenward. Could be a possum had snuck inside the old house. Or it could be Haddie hiding upstairs.
With stealth, Riley slowly ascended the wooden staircase. A shoe or boot tip had disturbed the dust on every step, and here and there leaves that had somehow made their way inside were crushed.
He moved along the floorboards, pausing at every empty room he passed to listen.
The softest sob drew his attention to the last room, the one above the old parlor.
He inched his way to the dark wood armoire and slowly opened one of the doors. Haddie sat inside, arms wrapped around her knees, her head bowed on them.
“Haddie, oh Haddie…” He knelt down in front of her.
She looked up, then without warning, she scrambled out of the closet, shoving him out of the way. “Leave me alone. Go back to your loud-mouthed, red-headed girlfriend. And take those flowers with you.”
She rushed across the room. Her heel caught in a small depression in the wooden floor. One moment she was running and the next she sprawled across the floor. A loud crack followed instantly, and then a scream as the wood gave way and Haddie disappeared from his sight.
Chapter Twenty
“911. WHAT’S YOUR emergency?”
The operator’s voice sounded through the phone on the floor beside Riley. Kneeling next to Haddie, he stared down at her, sprawled out in the dust and dirt like a broken doll. His bloodied hands shook as they clamped over the deep laceration in her leg. Applying pressure to the wound would minimize the bleeding. He just had to remain calm and in control until help arrived.
But this was Haddie, his Haddie, and it was hard not to fall to pieces like the floor and ceiling.
He sucked in a breath and rattled off what he knew.
“EMT Riley Jordan here, Chapel Cove Fire Department. Send help fast to the abandoned house behind Thornton’s stables.” He had to get them the address first to mobilize the ambulance. Seconds could count.
Haddie groaned. Slowly, she turned her head, fixing her gaze on him.
“A Caucasian female has fallen through a second-story floor,” he continued. “She’s winded but conscious. She has a deep laceration to her upper thigh.” They didn’t need to know about the minor scratches on her face. Thankfully, it seemed the long-sleeved, woolen dress she wore had protected her arms from scratches and splinters. Her dress didn’t look in good shape though.
“I can’t tell whether she’s broken any bones. She’ll need x-rays at the clinic.”
Please, Lord, don’t let her have injured her back in that fall or any internal organs.
“I’m applying pressure to minimize the bleeding, but please, hurry.” Now Riley knew exactly how people felt in those minutes before he and Pete pulled up in an ambulance, lights flashing and sirens blaring.
Helpless.
“Riley, stay on the line until help arrives,” the 911 operator said.
He nodded. He knew the drill.
Haddie groaned again and tried to sit up.
Riley eased her back down. “Try not to move. Help is on the way.”
“W–what happened?” Her voice was barely a whisper.
“The floor must’ve rotted from underneath.” A leak, termites, who knew? “Your heel caught in a small depression, and when you fell, the floor gave way. You tumbled right through the ceiling to the first floor.”
“M–my leg,” she mumbled, pain etched on her face.
“You have a nasty cut, but I have it under control. Just stay calm.” No way was he going to let her bleed out. Not on his watch.
She shook her head. “Not…that one. The other. Boot’s so…tight. My ankle…it hurts badly.” Tears began to leak from the sides of her eyes.
Tight boot? That could only mean one thing—swelling. A fracture or sprain.
Concerned that the pressure from the swelling would cut off the circulation to her toes, Riley kept one hand firm over the laceration then reached for her left boot with the other and slid the zipper down. At least that would relieve some pressure until he was free to check on the injuries to her other leg.
He pulled the woolen scarf from his neck and wound the light gray fabric tightly around the gash on Haddie’s leg. Instantly, a bright red streak formed on the gray, growing larger as blood soaked the fabric. Riley tucked the ends of the scarf into the edges to keep the garment from coming loose.
He shimmied down to her feet and gently pulled the boot from her foot. Hard to tell through her thick stockings if she’d broken anything. Using both hands, he ripped the stocking open at the ankle. Her foot, ankle, and calf had already started to swell.
“Riley…”
Riley scooted back to Haddie’s side, anxious to reapply pressure to her wounded leg. Already, the scarf was stained red.
“You do know that you…owe me a new pair of tights now.” She offered him a weak smile.
“I’m sorry. They’re not Liberty Tana stockings, are they?” he asked, trying to lighten the situation.
She closed her eyes for a moment and shook her head. “Doesn’t matter. I’m sure they were already ruined—” she swallowed, “from the…c–cut. So I’ll…let you off the hook for a…new pair.”
In the distance a siren wailed, coming closer.
“Haddie, I’m so sorry about Thursday night. I–I should’ve been totally honest with you. There is nothing going on between Anna Alverson and me. I was merely honoring a debt.”
Haddie’s dusty brow wrinkled with a frown.
“You see, Anna bid on me at Chapel Cove’s bachelor auction back in November,” Riley explained. “One date of
her choice with me. It was for a fundraiser. The town had recently suffered flooding and there was damage to be repaired which, of course, comes at a cost. Anna kept me waiting until last Saturday when she informed me that she’d chosen Valentine’s Day for her date. I couldn’t get out of it—I was obligated. But I should at least have told you the full story.”
“W–why didn’t you?” Although she couldn’t mask the pain in her voice, she continued to put on a brave face. He wished there was something he could give her to take the hurt away.
Hurry guys. Hurry.
“I…thought you’d think badly of me, allowing a woman to pay so dearly for my company.” It sounded so silly now saying it out loud.
Haddie’s mouth curved up on one side. “And what did…the pleasure of your company…set Anna back?”
Total honesty.
Riley swallowed. “Twelve thousand dollars.”
“T–that’s impressive.”
“Although I’ve no doubt it was her father’s money.” He sighed. “But that’s not all I need to tell you.”
Riley pressed his fingers against her wrist to feel her pulse. Not quite as strong as he’d like it to be. The siren had been cut though, so any minute now his colleagues would pound up those stairs.
“There’s m–more?”
“Long before I came to Chapel Cove, I allowed my convictions to be briefly swayed—you know, wanting to be accepted—and so…”
Groan. This was even harder than he’d thought it would be.
Just spit it out.
“I posed for a calendar with the guys in training.” There, he’d said it.
Haddie’s eyes narrowed. “A…nude one?”
“No! I’d never do something like that. It was actually mild—bare chests, sexy poses, that’s all—but when I finally told my girlfriend, she broke up with me. Said she couldn’t live with the knowledge that other women would be drooling over an image of me.” He shook his head. “Or something like that. The calendar had been for a good cause, but she didn’t care.”
“Another fundraiser? Save the world, the town…a person?”
“Raising funds for a cancer patient’s treatment—a thirteen-year-old girl.”
Haddie closed her eyes and winced. She breathed in and out slowly. Riley was certain it was to manage her pain. “C–can I ask you s–something?”
“Anything.” From now on out he’d be completely open and transparent with Haddie.
“D–do you have any more of those calendars? I’ve been…looking for s–something… interesting…to hang behind my bathroom door.”
Riley chuckled. “I’m sure I might find one packed in a box somewhere.”
Haddie lifted her hand and wrapped her fingers around Riley’s arm. “I forgive you…for the Anna thing. And if it makes you feel better, the…calendar thing too.”
He leaned forward and pressed a soft kiss to her head. “Oh, Haddie...”
“Anything else you think I might…need to forgive you for, I–I do,” she whispered.
If she weren’t in so much pain and the EMT’s weren’t rushing up that staircase and he knew beyond a shadow of a doubt that she had no back or internal injuries, he would’ve taken her in his arms and kissed her.
She smiled up at him. “How could I not? Y–you saved my life…again.”
“Judd, please, let me ride with Haddie.” Riley had his foot up on the back of the ambulance, ready to hop inside.
“Sorry, Riley. You know the drill. She’s my patient now. You’re not on duty. Besides, you’re too close to this one. You can either ride upfront or follow in your Jeep.” Judd shrugged then moved beside Haddie, giving her his full attention as Thomas, the ambulance driver, shut the doors. In an instant, Haddie disappeared from Riley’s sight. The second time in less than an hour.
Tash had followed the EMTs to the old house when they’d arrived. She rode Freckles to the stables as they’d hurried back to the ambulance, carrying Haddie on a stretcher. Riley never left Haddie’s side until she was hoisted inside the ambulance.
Tash looked on, concern etching her face. As Riley’s Jeep tailed the ambulance down the dirt road, she grew smaller in the rearview mirror.
The ride to the medical center was the longest Riley had ever taken. When the ambulance pulled to a stop outside the clinic and Judd and Thomas raced Haddie inside, Riley stuck by her side again. Wanting to do something, anything, to help and being refused every time by the emergency team was frustrating. But Judd was right to take the lead on Haddie with Thomas assisting him. They were first-class EMTs. Haddie was in good hands. And unless he’d needed the extra hands, Riley would’ve made exactly the same call in Judd’s position.
A doctor rushed toward them. Hudson Brock. Riley couldn’t miss the shocked expression that flickered across his face when he saw Haddie.
Tearing his gaze from Haddie, Hudson asked, “Who do we have here?”
“Haddie Hayes. Twenty-eight years old.” Judd rattled off what had happened to Haddie, her visible injuries, and how they’d treated her. Hopefully there were no other invisible ones besides that fractured or sprained ankle. He also mentioned her asthma condition and her recent severe attack, knowledge that Riley had filled him in on.
“Who is with her? Does she have family here?” Hudson called out to anyone who was listening.
Riley stepped closer. “I’m with her.”
“Is she family of yours, Riley?” Not only did Hudson know Riley from Bible study and church, but Riley had brought many patients to the clinic for the good doctor to treat in the ten months the new physician had been in town.
Riley shook his head. “She doesn’t have family in Chapel Cove.” At least, not that they could find yet.
Hudson looked down at Haddie’s lacerated leg, and the red stain on the new dressing. “Judd, I’ll need you to assist. I’m alone today.” His gaze turned from Judd to laser into Riley’s eyes. “Don’t go anywhere. I’ll need to ask you some questions once we’ve tended to her injuries.”
Wild horses couldn’t tear him away from Haddie.
Riley claimed a seat just outside Hudson’s consulting room, knowing the doctor’s examination room lay behind that wall. If he couldn’t be with Haddie, he’d be close enough to hopefully hear what Hudson and Judd had to say.
And Haddie.
“Haddie, I’m Dr. Hudson Brock.”
Lying on the examination bed, Haddie focused on the soft brown eyes and handsome, kind face staring down at her, instead of the pain. Was tall, dark, and handsome part of the job requirements for doctors and EMTs in Chapel Cove?
Already she liked Dr. Brock, and any fear she felt seemed to slowly ebb away. Although she also really liked Dr. Johnson. He’d been wonderful when she’d suffered her asthma attack. But somehow, right now in this situation, she felt safer in the steadier hands of this younger, confident healer and was really grateful that he was the one on duty this Saturday morning.
“I believe you fell through the floor in an old, two-story building?” he asked.
Haddie gave a nod. “I— We didn’t know the floor had rotted.”
“You weren’t alone?”
She inched her head from side to side. “Riley was with me.”
“I see.” Dr. Brock snapped on a pair of examination gloves over his hands, and Judd mimicked him. “Haddie, I need to first clean the laceration on your leg. There’ll be dirt, dust and wood splinters stuck inside that wound. Every precaution must be taken to prevent infection.” He tied a mask around his face. It covered his nose and mouth.
“I–is it bad?” From the look on Riley’s face earlier it had seemed bad.
“I have yet to remove the bandaging the EMTs put on, but I can assure you, I’ve seen far worse. This cleaning process won’t be pleasant, but I’ll be as gentle as I can be and make you as comfortable as possible under the circumstances.” His thick brown hair disappeared beneath a surgical cap.
Gloves, mask, cap…all in the matter of a few seconds. He’d d
one this a lot.
Her gaze flicked to Judd, standing close by to assist, now also wearing not only the gloves she’d seen him put on, but a mask and cap too.
“As soon as the wound is clean, we’ll locate the source of the bleeding and stop it,” Dr. Brock continued. “Then I’ll suture the laceration. After we’ve patched up your leg, I’ll take x-rays of your neck, chest, and back and a sonar of your abdomen, just to make sure I don’t miss anything.”
His gaze shifted to the bottom of the bed and her splinted leg. “Also, your ankle. You’ve either fractured it or sprained it badly.”
Great, this accident had ruined her plans of flying home tonight. Her father was going to be so disappointed. Had God allowed this to happen to keep her in Chapel Cove longer? Was her quest not over? Or was Riley the reason she needed to remain? She didn’t want to run away from him anymore that was for sure. Or Chapel Cove. But although she’d forgiven Riley, could they get their relationship back to the place they’d been on Thursday morning?
Only time would tell, and by the look of things, she was going to have several weeks in which to see.
How would she survive though? She’d given up her job and her home this morning. Without warning. Would Ivy take her back in—to her home and business—after she’d left so abruptly? And if Ivy did, Haddie had to wonder how she’d be able to work hobbling around on crutches, nursing her injuries.
She might have to resort to asking her dad for money, which she hated doing. Already he was paying her rental car. Speaking of which, she should return the vehicle because she certainly wasn’t going to need it for a few weeks with her injuries. Hopefully there was an Alamo here in Chapel Cove—she’d save a lot of money by returning the car.
Thinking of her injuries brought Haddie back to the present and what she’d soon need to endure. Already her leg and ankle throbbed like crazy. The rest of her body ached. “W–will I have anything to block the pain?”
Dr. Brock smiled. “Definitely. I’ll inject you with a local anesthetic and add pain medication to the IV. It’ll still hurt somewhat as we clean and suture, so I’ll set up a nitrous oxide mask that you can breathe into whenever necessary for extra relief.”
Accept Me Page 17
