Glory Falls

by Janine Rosche

  “Any word on when he’s coming home?”

  Blue sighed, setting the bowls and spoons down on the table.

  “It’ll work out. To use words from your world, what kind of story would it be if you two didn’t get your happily ever—” Keira paused and closed her eyes.

  “You okay?” Blue placed a soft hand beneath Keira’s elbow.

  Small beads of sweat appeared on Keira’s forehead. “Fine. My back’s been aching, and just now, I felt a bit sick to my stomach. Maybe I’ll splash some water on my face before we start the movie.”

  “Sure.” Once she’d disappeared in the bathroom, Blue called Robbie. “Hey, Robbie,” she said when he answered. “I could be wrong, but I think Keira may be in an early stage of labor.”

  He was quiet for a moment. “We still have four weeks, though.” His voice held a slight panic.

  “You may want to take her to the hospital just in case.”

  “I’ll be there in five minutes.”

  “She’s in—” Nothing. He’d hung up.

  “Blue?” Keira stood in the bathroom, staring down at the tile. “I think my water broke.” Her face twisted, and tears trailed from her eyes. “It’s too early.”

  “Honey, it’s fine. Thirty-six weeks is fine. Thirty-seven is technically full-term. The baby is going to be okay. Robbie’s on his way, and he’ll take you to the hospital.”

  Keira nodded. “I made a mess.”

  Blue laughed. “Girl, don’t worry a bit about that. Come on, let’s get you to the front door.” She helped Keira step-by-step through the kitchen, past the island. “There you go. Wanna take the ice cream with you?”

  A small snicker scooted past the pain that shone on Keira’s face. “Maybe for Robbie.”

  On the kitchen table, the spoons clanked against the bottom of the bowls she’d set out. Above them, the light fixture quavered, much like the tile beneath Blue’s feet. A loud crack drew Blue’s focus to the floor below the mantel where her Clyde Irving award now lay.

  “Earthquake!” Blue tried to hurry Keira to the front door, but the tremors made walking nearly impossible, even for someone not in labor.

  The ceiling above them fissured. No, no, no. The shattering of fallen picture frames was soon drowned out by splintering wood above them. Fear threatened to cement her feet to the bowing floor, but Blue knew better. She forced Keira under the kitchen table. Solid mahogany, her mother used to brag. Hopefully, it would be enough if the roof caved in. An ungodly roar overtook everything. Keira dug her fingernails into Blue’s forearms as darkness washed across Blue’s vision. Her ears screamed in pain as her body was being carried away.

  The baby. She had to save the baby.

  Blue wrapped herself the best she could around Keira. Her back was pummeled, as were her legs and arms, which shielded her friend.

  Chapter Forty-One

  After several moments that felt like hours, the earthquake stopped, and the roar subsided. Keira’s cries sounded like a siren. No, that was an actual siren. From the River Canyon Dam, warning of a possible flood. Had the dam been damaged in the quake? Robbie, Anabelle, Ryann, Shane—they were all downriver. But she couldn’t think about that right now.

  Why was it so dark? She felt around her. Nothing she could recognize by touch alone. Something sliced into her palm, and she gasped.

  “Blue?” Keira’s voice wobbled, but she was awake. “Are you alive?”

  “I think.” Pain throbbed throughout her body, especially in her left hand. And unless all the Bible stories were wrong, there wasn’t supposed to be pain in heaven.

  “Where are we?”

  Blue adjusted her weight onto her knee and thunked her head on something hard. Mahogany hard. She pulled out her phone and awakened it. The screen had shattered in the turmoil, but it provided enough light to show the seriousness of their situation. They were entombed. The same dust and dirt that coated Blue’s mouth made everything cloudy. Angled mostly above them was the solid bottom surface of the table. Or maybe it was Blue’s vision that was contorted. Up and down, earth and sky had come to blows, and Blue, Keira, and the baby were paying the price.

  Keira groaned. Blue was trapped in rubble with a woman in labor. Her pitiful life story had officially jumped the shark. If she wasn’t so scared, she might laugh at the ridiculousness of it. Instead, she decided to try a prayer.

  Okay, God, you created this little pocket for us, but we’re going to need a lot more help if we’re going to make it out. Blue looked up at the table, and as the dust settled, she saw her messy kid handwriting: Blue and Thomas were here.

  What she wouldn’t give to have him here now.

  Like magic, her busted phone vibrated in her hand, and her favorite name in the world appeared.

  * * *

  * * *

  Thomas’s lungs begged for a breath, but his whole body was in shock. He held his phone out in front of him as it attempted to call Blue. Maybe she hadn’t been home. Maybe she’d been shacking up with Hunter. Anything would be better than what he’d been picturing in his head ever since he pulled into his driveway thirty seconds ago.

  The call connected, and he gulped in a breath full of the dirt that hung in the air.

  “Thomas.”

  “Where are you?”

  “In my house.”

  What house? All that stood before him was a heap of boulders, downed pines, and construction rubble. The mountain behind her house had purged a large section of its western slope in the earthquake, straight into the Walkers’ home. The house, or at least what was left of it, had been pushed twenty yards toward the river. How had she possibly survived?

  “We’re in some kind of pocket, wedged under the kitchen table. Keira’s with me. She’s okay. We both are.”

  Back at his house, Molly barked repeatedly. She’d completely destroyed the blinds in the big window facing Blue’s house, but his home looked intact.

  A truck drove through Blue’s yard, coming to a halt near Thomas. Robbie jumped out of the driver’s side.

  “Kat!” He ran straight toward the heap.

  Thomas intercepted him. But Robbie fought. He swung his arms wildly, knocking the phone out of Thomas’s hand. “She’s alive. Robbie, she’s alive.”

  Robbie’s eyes darted across the scene, back and forth. “How?” He fell to his knees and got sick.

  Thomas found his phone on the ground and held it back up to his ear. “Robbie’s here. Can Keira talk?”

  “She can’t right now. She’s in the middle of a contraction.”

  “A contraction?”

  “Yes, her water broke just before the earthquake.”

  How on earth was Blue’s voice so calm right now? “I’ll have Robbie call 911. Then we’ll get you both out.” How, he wasn’t sure. “Robbie, call everyone we know and get them here. Have them bring gloves and shovels.”

  “Thomas,” her voice quieted. She wheezed a couple times. “There isn’t much air. And what we have is all dust.”

  “Try to keep her as calm as possible. If you need to deliver the baby, I can walk you through it.”

  “Pray it doesn’t come to that. There’s no room.”

  “How’s your phone battery?”

  A pause.

  “It’s good.”

  “Unless you need it, don’t use the flashlight. Conserve the battery. Now we need to find you.”

  “We’re in the kitchen.”

  Thomas glanced around. “I don’t know where that is anymore. Here’s what we need to do. I need you to hang up.”

  “No.”

  “Listen, I need you to yell or bang on something. Maybe play a song on your phone at full volume. I’m going to try to track the sound. I’ll call you back if I can’t find you.”

  She listened. For once, she listened to him. He heard her yelling, but it mi
ght as well have been from the earth’s core. The banging had the same effect. Like someone hammering a mile away in four possible directions. He searched for several minutes before calling her back.

  “I can’t tell where you are.”

  “I can yell more.”

  “No, save your oxygen.”

  “I know what to do. Get Molly.”

  “Molly?” The dog still hadn’t stopped barking.

  “She’s at your house. Maybe she can sniff out where we are.”

  “I’ll give it a shot. But we need to start digging. Which means I need to put the phone down.”

  Blue said nothing.

  “I’m going to get you and Keira out. I promise. I love you, Blue.”

  “I love you, too. Be the hero I know you are.”

  What followed was the hardest hang-up of his life.

  Shane, Ryann, and Chuck Matthews arrived. Before all three of them had fully grasped the gravity of the situation, Thomas ordered Ryann to release Molly from the house. Chuck immediately set to work unwinding the winch on the front of Ryann’s jeep. Good thinking. That would help pull some of the trees and larger sections of the roof out of the way.

  Molly exploded out of his house, but she didn’t come to welcome Thomas. Immediately, she pressed her nose to the debris. “Good girl. Find Blue.”

  Faintly, he heard Blue calling Molly’s name. The dog frantically searched, finally zeroing in on one section. The dog climbed up and over some trees, then tried pawing at the shingles covering one area. When that didn’t work, Molly stretched out on her belly and tried to dig her way beneath the wreckage.

  “Dad, over here!” Robbie called to his father.

  Chuck and Robbie snagged the hook on a section of lumber while Shane dislodged some tree roots blocking the way. Meanwhile, Thomas checked the structural integrity of the wreckage. The last thing they needed was a cave-in. One boulder, in particular, made Thomas sweat even more than he already was.

  A siren neared, and Thomas glanced back to see Engine One pull onto the driveway. His old squad mates hopped out of the truck and straight into action.

  Spencer was the last out of the truck. He carried an extra coat with him, and as he neared Thomas, he tossed it to him. “Put us to work, brother.”

  “All right. You, Quinn, and Rex secure that boulder.”

  It wasn’t easy trusting anyone else to keep Blue safe. Not his squad, his friends, and certainly not God. Of all the houses in all of Montana, he’d allowed this one to get crushed beneath this mountain? Thomas heaved the trunk of a pine tree to get it out of the way of the soon-to-be-dislodged roof. It wouldn’t budge. Thomas grunted and dug his heels into the ground, but the slush and mud didn’t cooperate. He yanked once more, and the tree gave way. Just a bit, but enough for Thomas to fall flat on his back.

  Okay, Lord, I surrender. She’s not mine to protect. And this world is not mine to control. I don’t always understand your ways, but I’m choosing to trust you all the same. I’m at your will. Show me what I need to do.

  A hand reached down to him. Hunter Dean Lawrence looked nearly as ravaged as the house. Yet he was here. Remembering what he’d just prayed, Thomas accepted the hand up.

  “I came to check on Blue. Thomas, let me help.”

  Thomas brushed the sodden earth and snow from his backside. Perhaps those movie muscles of his could be used for something worthwhile. “Help me get this tree out of the way.”

  Chapter Forty-Two

  Blue, I’m scared.” Keira barely had time to catch her breath between contractions now. She was in a great deal of pain, and by the end of each bout of labor pains, she nearly passed out from the lack of air. Blue also struggled to keep her wits. She’d heard the ambulance arrive several minutes ago. If they got out of here in time, help would be immediate. But that was a big if.

  “I am, too.” Blue kissed Keira’s sweat-soaked crown. “But Robbie’s up there, and you know better than anyone that he’ll stop at nothing to get to you.”

  “And Thomas . . . for you.” Her breaths were quick. Too quick. Another contraction was starting.

  “Try to take slow breaths through this one.”

  “Ca-can’t.”

  Blue awakened her phone. They’d been here for more than two hours. She called Thomas. “I think the baby’s coming.” Blue paused while Keira screamed through gritted teeth.

  “I can hear you guys. Keep talking.”

  “I can hear you, too.”

  “They’re over here!” Thomas yelled. So close. Her love was so close. “Watch out for that boulder.”

  Keira quieted. Blue shone her phone’s screen over her face. She was unconscious.

  “Thomas, Keira needs oxygen.”

  “Get a tank over here with a long line,” he yelled.

  The rubble near their feet shifted bit by bit until she saw a finger. A pinkie finger. Blue hooked her pinkie around it for a lingering moment. Then she released and pushed against the wall of debris until a hole opened up large enough for an oxygen mask to get through. Blue gathered some slack in the line then placed the mask over Keira’s nose and mouth, securing it in place.

  Thomas and Blue worked together to loosen the surrounding dirt, rocks, and man-made material. She could see his handsome face, though much of it was shadowed. Work lights or maybe headlights shone above his head.

  “Beck, watch it. That rock is sliding. We need to pause to secure it again,” someone said—Spencer from the firehouse?

  “They’re right here. Get ready to help me get them out. Get Robbie over here and have the paramedics prepared.”

  “I’m serious, Beck. The boulder is about to fall. Get out of there!”

  “No,” Thomas growled.

  A hand touched Blue’s shoulder. Keira had woken up, and she was pointing to the table. A crack was appearing between Thomas and Blue’s names on their graffiti.

  They’d run out of time.

  Thomas worked frantically. He tossed his crowbar aside and was pulling at metal of some sort with all his might—the last thing in their way to the outside.

  Blue helped Keira twist and turn until she was ready to crawl through.

  One loud groan and the metal ripped free. Above them, the wood snapped, fiber by fiber. Blue urged Keira through the opening, then followed right on her heels. Strong hands grabbed her waist and lifted her up and over the lip of the heap. She scrambled around, half blinded by the new light. She reached out a hand to Thomas, but he ignored her, volleying himself up out of the pit on his own. A huge boulder eclipsed the moon and much of the sky as it rolled. Thomas dived forward, pulling Blue with him.

  Blue winced as they landed then tumbled several times. Then, she was dragged off the debris field and onto the cold, wet ground. But she didn’t care one bit. She could breathe, she was safe, and the only things trapping her now were Thomas’s protective arms. A glance up revealed that it was Hunter who had pulled her and Thomas away from the crashing boulder. He nodded, then backed away out of her view. Behind her, closer to the road, Robbie carried Keira to the waiting ambulance. She’d gotten Keira out, but had it been enough?

  A hand swiped at her face, touching her cheeks, her hair, then her neck. Thomas seemed to be in disbelief that she was here.

  “My hero,” she said.

  “Are you going to hold that over me for the rest of our lives?” He lowered his face to hers and kissed her forehead. Innocently. Respectfully. Mindful of the trauma she’d just endured. She’d be sore for several weeks, but right now, she felt no pain at all.

  The sound of a baby’s first cry cut through the air. A cheer rose from the rather large crowd that had gathered. Her friends. After giving her and Thomas a generous time of reunion, each of her friends hugged her and praised her for helping Keira. The ambulance drove away, taking Keira, the baby, and Robbie off to the hospital.


  “We should follow them. You’ll need stitches in your hand at the very least.”

  “You’ll stay with me, won’t you?”

  “Always.”

  He helped her get to her feet. She was woozy but strong enough to walk with help. “Wait,” she said, looking around. “Molly, come!”

  The yellow Lab yanked the leash free from the hold of Hallie, who’d been standing close enough to Hunter to raise Blue’s brow if she wasn’t exhausted. Molly galloped as fast as her three legs could carry her, then plowed into Blue and Thomas. This team of theirs was a sight, to be sure, but Blue wouldn’t have it any other way.

  That night, after Blue had been stitched up and checked out, they returned to Thomas’s home. It was far enough away from the fragile mountain not to be at risk. After discovering the guest bed to be missing sheets, Thomas carried Blue instead to his master bedroom and lay beside her, rambling on and on about how much he loved her. Just as she was about to give in to sleep, Thomas rolled off the bed. Then, with a snap of his fingers, Molly hopped up onto the mattresses and cuddled close to Blue, as Thomas sank into the chair by the window.

  She awoke late the next morning as the rich and smoky smell of bacon greeted her. No wonder Molly had already left. An overhead stretch of her arms offered an unpleasant reminder of last night’s ordeal. Blue showered and then dressed herself in one of Thomas’s sweatshirts and lounge pants with a drawstring she could cinch.

  Afterward, under Thomas’s watchful eye, she ate the best breakfast ever made. “Heard from Robbie?” she asked after washing down a bite of eggs with orange juice.

  “He called earlier. Keira’s doing real well.”

  “And the baby?”

  “It’s a boy. He’s alert and breathing on his own. And according to Robbie, the baby has the biggest muscles in the whole NICU.”

  Blue’s laugh sounded more like a cough. “Have they named him?”

  “Yeah. Charlie Blue Matthews.”

  A quickening roused Blue’s heart.

  “I guess it’s their way of saying thank you.” Thomas brushed her damp hair behind her shoulder. “You’re their hero.”