Stay with Me Forever

by Farrah Rochon

  Paxton frowned. She thought for a second, and then her eyes widened with understanding. “Did you work here while you lived in Illinois?”

  Sawyer nodded. “On this very site.”

  “Why didn’t you say anything?”

  He shook his head. “I try not to even think about this project. It’s not something I’m proud of.”

  Paxton walked around to where he stood and leaned against the back driver’s side door. “Okay,” she said. “Spill.”

  “I really don’t want to talk about this, Pax.”

  “You should have told me before we even got on the plane to fly up here. Tell me what happened,” she prodded.

  Sawyer released a sigh and turned around, assuming the same pose she’d taken. He leaned against the door and folded his arms across his chest.

  “We decided on the levee design because it was more cost-effective. A controlled breach isn’t very hard to fix, if done correctly. It wasn’t until we were in the construction phase that I recognized the unintended consequences. Our scope was too narrow. We didn’t take into account that our system would push water into several of the smaller surrounding towns.”

  He looked over at her. The haunted look on his face sent a chill down Paxton’s spine. “I think that’s exactly what happened to Gauthier.”

  That chill turned even more frigid. “What do you mean?”

  “I think the flood protection system that was constructed around New Orleans following Hurricane Katrina may have contributed to how rapidly the topography in Gauthier has changed. Because of the way the water is being diverted, it’s channeling waters at a more rapid pace and cutting grooves into the landscape where it wasn’t cut before.”

  “Even though Landreaux Creek feeds from the Pearl River?”

  “I think it’s a combination of the wind pushing the waters up from Lake Borgne, along with the river flow. Because of the new levee walls, water pushed back into the tributaries and flooded places that had never flooded before.”

  Her breath caught in her lungs at the simplicity of his explanation and at how easily it had been missed.

  “My goodness, Sawyer. This could change the entire project. Why are you just bringing this up?”

  “Because the last time I brought it up it caused another city to lose its flood protection system altogether. When I pointed out the problems with the levee breach design, the Corps halted the project. It was pushed back by more than a year. In that time there was a flood and several people lost their homes. I took a gamble that they couldn’t have another huge flood event so soon, and the community paid for it.”

  “That’s why you were so adamant about the maps and making sure the people in Gauthier have the flood insurance they need.”

  He nodded. “It’s also why I want to make sure we’ve looked at every possibility before this project moves to the next stage.”

  “Even if it means that Clay comes out ahead of me,” Paxton said.

  “I don’t want—”

  She cut him off. “This is about Gauthier. My career is important to me, but there is nothing more important than seeing this project through.”

  She grabbed the keys to the rental car from his hand and pushed him aside so that she could get behind the wheel. “Come on,” she called. “We’ve got work to do.”

  Their flight back to New Orleans was scheduled to leave in less than two hours. She drove the rental car directly to the airport, and, three and a half hours later, they landed at Louis Armstrong International.

  Paxton turned her phone back on as soon as the plane’s rubber tires hit the tarmac. She had a missed call from Belinda, a text message from Shayla with a picture of her new shelf filled with apple butter and two missed calls from John.

  She decided to ignore them all and instead talked strategy with Sawyer for the hour-long drive from the airport to Gauthier. It was after six by the time they arrived. They stopped over in Maplesville for Chinese takeout, which they brought to Sawyer’s house.

  While he set up the dining room table so that they could work while eating, Paxton finally returned the missed calls and messages, calling Belinda first, then Shayla. She saved her boss for last, hoping that the call would go straight to his voice mail, but he answered on the second ring.

  When she finally disconnected the call, she just stood there for a minute staring at it, her mind reeling.

  “What’s up?” Sawyer asked. He walked over to her. “Pax?”

  She looked up at him.

  “John wants to pull me off the flood protection project,” she said. “I have to leave Gauthier by Sunday morning.”

  Chapter 11

  Sawyer’s stomach plummeted.

  He moved in closer to her, but she was still staring at the phone as if it held the answer to a riddle.

  She finally looked up at him, her eyes bright with enthusiasm. “I can’t believe it, Sawyer! This is awesome.”

  Awesome?

  “The funding finally came through on a project I’ve been working on for nearly three years,” Paxton said. “It stalled because of opposition it faced from several advocacy groups, but apparently they worked something out with the state and the project is back on.”

  Sawyer swallowed deeply before asking, “What’s the project?”

  “It’s a computer-operated hydraulic barrier system in South Carolina. It will be the first of its kind in the country. It’s based on a system that was developed by the Dutch, so the first few months will require me to work in the Netherlands.”

  “So you’re going to the Netherlands?”

  She nodded. “For two months. The team from Little Rock leaves next week.” The smile that broke out across her face was a mile wide. “Do you know what this means for my career, Sawyer? There are as many as a dozen states considering a flood protection system like this one, from New Jersey to the California coast. If I can lead my team to success with the South Carolina project, I will put Bolt-Myer on the map. It can lead to hundreds of millions in contracts and a huge leap for me within the company.”

  Her excitement was like a punch to the gut. Sawyer knew how much her career meant to her, how hard she’d worked to make a name for herself in the industry. But to see the exhilaration in her eyes as she excitedly talked about leaving made Sawyer want to punch the wall.

  Dammit! He wasn’t ready to let her go.

  “What about this project?” Sawyer asked.

  Her eyes widened, her dubious expression telling him that she hadn’t even considered how her leaving would affect all that they’d strived to accomplish these past weeks.

  “Bolt-Myer is sending in another project manager to work with you this week. Perry Conner. He’s more than capable of helping you finish up the revised initial concept package.”

  “What about Gauthier?” Sawyer asked. Her brow furrowed, which made him angry. “You said it yourself, Paxton. No one is going to care about this project as much as we do, because we both love this town and the people who live here. Is this Conner guy going to care whether or not the absolute best job is done, or is Gauthier going to be like any other little town to him? I can’t believe after all we’ve done to save this town from disaster that you would just pick up and leave.”

  “Sawyer, don’t,” she bit out.

  “Don’t? Don’t bring up the fact that you’re leaving your community in a lurch?”

  “That is completely unfair. This is my career we’re talking about here.”

  “Yeah, and apparently your career means more to you than Gauthier does.”

  Her jaw stiffened with contempt. “You son of a bitch. How dare you try to make me feel guilty for wanting to do what’s best for my career?”

  “If that’s what it takes to make you see the mistake you’re making.”

  “You don
’t get the right to make me feel guilty. That silver spoon you were born with negates your right to tell me anything when it comes to my hard work.”

  “Of course.” Sawyer threw his hands up. “Here we go with the spoiled-rich-boy rant. I knew you would bring that up.”

  “You’re damn right I will. You don’t know what I’ve had to sacrifice—what I’ve had to endure in order to get where I am in my career, Sawyer. This project means everything to me.”

  “The same way your mother’s bar means everything to her,” he said. “And the way the Lion’s Hall means everything to the people who have to bring their kids there for after-school day care. And the way the shelter means everything to all those animals that count on it for survival. It’s not just about you and your career, Paxton. This project was supposed to mean more.”

  She crossed her arms over her chest and stared him down with a dark, cynical expression. “That’s really easy for someone who has never had to work for anything.”

  His head jerked back. “Excuse me?”

  “You work because you want to. You never had to,” she said. “You can give up this job tomorrow, and it would just be business as usual for you. You don’t have to worry about your next meal or keeping a roof over your head or any of the other things that a person like me could never count on.”

  She stepped up to him, getting right in his face. “You want to know why we could never work, Sawyer? Because it doesn’t matter how many times I try to explain it, you will never understand my life and what I’ve had to live through just to make it to the next day. You will never fully know what it feels like to wonder if you’ll get to eat when you wake up in the morning, or if the electric company finally decided to cut the lights off, or if one slow night at Harlon’s Bar means that your family won’t have enough money to pay the note on a crappy single-wide trailer that cost less than that fancy truck you used to drive.

  “So, yes, I’m leaving tomorrow, because my future isn’t secured by a trust fund. It requires hard work and sacrifice and tough choices. It’s not always pretty, but it’s what I’ve had to deal with my entire life. Welcome to my world, Sawyer.”

  She picked up her bag and walked out of the house without another word.

  * * *

  “The Netherlands?”

  The look of hurt on Shayla’s face was enough to make Paxton’s stomach churn, but it was nothing compared with Belinda’s dour expression.

  “Honestly,” Paxton said as she poured whiskey into a highball glass, “it’s not a huge deal. It’s only for two months.”

  “But it’s halfway around the world,” Shayla said.

  A crack of thunder rent the air, punctuating her words. The rain had been relentless, pouring from the sky over the past two hours without a break.

  “When you think about it, my being in the Netherlands won’t be all that different from being in Little Rock. I can still call and email and web chat the same way I do when I’m in Arkansas.”

  “Yes, but if there’s an emergency, you can’t just get in your car and drive home,” Belinda pointed out.

  “What kind of emergency do you expect?” Paxton asked.

  As if answering her question, the thunder cracked again, followed by blinding lightning that streaked through the windows. Heinz, who she’d let into the bar once the rain really started to come down, stood and twirled around three times before nestling again at her feet.

  “It’s two months,” Paxton said. “I’ve explained to both of you how much this project means to me. Why can’t you just be happy for me?”

  Shayla and her mother both pouted like schoolgirls who’d been denied recess.

  “What does Sawyer have to say about this?” Shayla asked.

  Just hearing his name made Paxton feel as if her chest was caving in on itself. She didn’t want to even think about Sawyer right now. It hurt too damn much.

  Donovan, who had been in the kitchen helping Jessie clean out the grease trap since there were so few people in the bar tonight, picked that moment to come up to them, his black gloves covered in grease. If she didn’t know for a fact that it would give him the completely wrong impression, Paxton would have kissed him for giving her an excuse to ignore Shayla’s question.

  “Need something?” Belinda asked him.

  “Just looking for—” he reached behind her “—this,” he finished, holding up the tire iron Harlon had put behind the bar to deter the occasional drunken fight. It had never been used, but Belinda considered it a part of the scenery, so it remained.

  “Why do you need that?” Paxton asked him.

  “My baseball cap fell behind the stove. I need something to hook it with.” He winked at her. “Thanks for being concerned.”

  She, Shayla and Belinda all rolled their eyes at him.

  When Paxton turned back around, she found her best friend staring at her.

  “What?” Paxton asked defensively.

  “You really thought I would let it drop? How long have you been knowing me, girl?”

  “Just give it a rest.” Paxton sighed. She turned and started straightening the liquor bottles that lined the back wall, but she could see Shayla staring back at her in the mirror behind the bar. She spun around to face her. Better to just get this over with.

  “Why does it matter what Sawyer says?” Paxton asked.

  “Because it does,” Belinda said. “You can’t just pick up and leave him like this.”

  Paxton looked at her mother as if she were an alien. “Are you kidding me? You don’t even like Sawyer!”

  “I never said I didn’t like him. I just didn’t trust him,” Belinda said. “But he’s grown on me.”

  “Really?” Paxton huffed out a laugh.

  “He’s not a bad person, Paxton. Just look at what he’s doing with that building on Highway 22.”

  Her forehead scrunched in confusion. “The one with the green shutters that’s been vacant for years? What is he doing with it?”

  “He didn’t tell you?” Shayla asked. Paxton shook her head. “He’s turning it into a rec center. At first it was only supposed to be for employees at the lumber mill, but, according to Mike Bastian, Sawyer’s making it into a rec center that will be open for everyone in Landreaux so that the kids in this area don’t have to travel all the way into town.”

  Paxton remembered what she’d told him during their tour of the Lion’s Club, and her heart melted on the spot. Damn him for always doing the absolute sweetest thing.

  Thunder cracked with enough force to shake the building. Moments later, the front door of the bar flew open. Harlon came in dressed in a yellow rain slicker.

  “We need all hands on deck,” he called. “Tell Donovan to get his butt out here.”

  Paxton raced from around the bar. “What’s going on?” she asked Harlon.

  He shook his head. “Too much rain in too short of a time. The creek is flooding. Some of the homes on Sandalwood are already taking in water.”

  “On Sandalwood?” Shayla asked.

  “The animal shelter,” Paxton whispered. “We need to go.”

  Paxton ran to the kitchen and grabbed her raincoat from the hook, calling out to Donovan to come along. She convinced Belinda to stay behind to watch the bar; then she and Shayla hopped into her car, following behind Harlon’s beat-up Chevy.

  They had to park at the head of Sandalwood Drive, which was at a slightly lower elevation and known to flood even before this weird flooding phenomenon had started to take place. The flashing lights of several emergency vehicles could be seen, along with a short flatbed truck stacked high with sandbags.

  “We started filling these after Tropical Storm Lucy,” Harlon called over the crack of yet more thunder.

  They all joined in with the people shuttling sandbags in an assembly line. It seemed as
if it would take a million of them to stave off the water streaming in from the toppling creek, but with every sandbag that fell into her waiting arms, Paxton knew it was potentially another pet saved, another home spared.

  The rain sluiced down the slick blacktopped roadway, running in swift rivulets. She’d never seen anything like this in Gauthier. The sight caused chills to cascade down her spine as powerfully as the water down the street.

  “We’ve gotta move faster,” Donovan called as he tossed another sandbag her way.

  They continued their coordinated assembly line, the water reaching their ankles. Headlights shone as several other cars pulled up to the head of the street.

  Paxton peered through the darkness and spotted Sawyer running toward them. Her heart flip-flopped within her chest. He acknowledged her with a slight nod before jogging past the assembly line toward the animal shelter. He returned minutes later with a pet carrier tucked under each arm. Webster Detellier followed behind, also burdened down by animals.

  They worked for two hours straight, hauling sandbags and pets, until they finally had some control over the water. By the time they were done the rain had slowed to a steady but much less powerful downfall.

  Members of the community huddled in the street, talking strategy for how to clean up the mess in the houses that had taken in water. Thankfully, only four on this street, along with the animal shelter, had seen any accumulation. And, thankfully, that had only been about two inches, not even enough to reach the top edge of the baseboards, so at least they wouldn’t have to rip out any walls.

  As she held a shivering cocker spaniel and poodle mix in her arms, Paxton couldn’t help the tears that began to stream down her face. The adrenaline from the past few hours had worn off, leaving her drained, her emotions raw and exposed.

  Not a single photo or secondhand story could tell the full picture of exactly what this town was up against. Tonight, she’d seen it with her own eyes; she’d felt the anxiety and desperation deep in her bones.

  And, just like that, Paxton made her decision.