Willa wrapped her in a hug and whispered, “He will be greatly missed.”
Thelma sniffed and forced a brave smile. “We must soldier on,” she said, and bent to give Buster a pat on the head.
Everyone remained standing while the pastor said a short prayer. He praised the stalwart heart and fine leadership of their lost mayor and asked that the people of Rust Creek Falls might find the strength they needed to endure this difficult time. At the last, he blessed the food.
“Amen,” they all said softly, in unison.
It wasn’t a fancy meal, but when you’re hungry, the simplest food can be so satisfying. They had chicken salad sandwiches, chips, apples, oatmeal cookies and all the water they could drink. Collin sat next to her. They didn’t talk. They were too busy filling their empty stomachs.
The volunteer firemen started coming in, muddy and looking tired. They washed up in the church restrooms and grabbed sandwiches, which they ate standing up. People rose from the tables and surrounded them, eager to join their teams.
Collin leaned close to her. He smelled faintly of her dad’s shaving cream, which made her smile. He muttered, “I meant what I said before. Finish eating and we’ll find a way to get to your house. I can join a team after that.”
She set down her cup of water. “Thank you, but no. You said it yourself in the town hall just now. The search for survivors has to come first.”
He looked at her, a probing sort of look. That dark lock of hair had fallen over his forehead again the way it tended to do. More than ever, she wanted to smooth it back.
But she didn’t. Instead, she took a bite of her cookie and downed her last sip of water.
“You sure?” He looked doubtful.
“I am, yes. First things first.”
* * *
Willa assumed she would end up watching the little ones while their mothers and fathers went out on the search-and-rescue teams. People knew she was good with their kids and trusted her with them.
While Collin went to join a search team, she asked Mrs. McGee about pitching in with child care. Thelma told her to check in with the church nursery. The older woman also volunteered to look after Buster for the rest of the day.
“He’s a nice dog,” Thelma said, her tone bright and cheerful, endless sadness in her eyes. “Taking care of him will be no trouble at all.”
Willa thanked her, gave her another quick hug and ran up the steps into the church, headed for the nursery in back.
Paige caught up with her in the sanctuary. “Willa. I’ve been so worried about you. The whole south side is flooded. Your house, is it...?”
“I don’t know. I haven’t been there since it happened. I left to check on the ranch and track Buster down before the levee broke. On the way, my car got swamped.”
“Oh, my Lord. But you got out all right....”
“Thanks to Collin Traub.” Willa brought her friend up to speed on how Collin had saved her from the flood. “My car’s a total loss. And we ended up waiting out the rest of the storm in the barn.”
“I don’t know what to say. It’s awful. But I’m so glad you’re okay.”
“Yeah. Still breathing and all in one piece—and the barn and my parents’ house are fine.”
Paige asked hopefully. “Gage’s place?”
Willa bit her lip and shook her head. “Bad.”
“Oh, Willa.” Paige held out her arms.
Willa went into them and held on tight. “It’s all so scary...”
“Oh, I know, I know.” Paige pulled back, took Willa by the shoulders and gazed at her through solemn, worried brown eyes. “Collin, huh?” she asked gently.
Willa wasn’t surprised at her friend’s cryptic question. Paige was one of the few people in town who knew about that awful night at the Ace in the Hole and about Willa’s longtime crush on the Traub bad boy. Willa had told her friend everything on one of those Friday nights they shared now then—just the two of them, watching a romantic comedy on DVD, a big bowl of popcorn between them. Paige could keep a secret. She would never tell a soul.
Willa realized it was time to admit that she’d let injured pride cloud her judgment in a very big way. “I was all wrong about him.” There was no one else nearby, but she kept her voice low just in case. “I mean, so what if he turned me down once? It’s not that big of a deal. He’s a good guy, someone anyone would want at their back in a crisis.”
“Well, I can see that, but still...” Paige let the sentence die unfinished.
Willa reminded her friend, “Paige, seriously. The man saved my life yesterday and he was right there, sticking by me all night and this morning, too, when we had to face all the damage.”
Paige put up both hands. “All right. He’s a hero. You’ve convinced me.” And then she shrugged. “I’m not surprised, really. I always believed there was a good guy underneath all that swagger.” Like Willa, Paige knew the Traub family well. She’d even been in love with a Traub once—Collin’s brother Sutter. It hadn’t worked out for them. Now Sutter owned a stable in the Seattle area. He didn’t come home often, and when he did, he never stayed long. “So...” Paige hesitated.
Willa tried not to roll her eyes. “Go ahead.”
“Are you and Collin together now?”
Together. With Collin. The thought made her cheeks grow warm. She hastened to clarify, “No. It’s not like that. He helped me out when I needed a hand, that’s all. He helped me a lot and I’m grateful to him.”
“Right.” Paige gave her a knowing look. “And there is still Dane to consider.”
Willa felt instantly guilty. She hadn’t given Dane Everhart a thought since last night, when she’d made a big show of throwing the poor guy in Collin’s face. “I told you. I really don’t think it’s going anywhere with Dane—and yes, when he proposed marriage, I should have said no right then and there. But Dane is so sure that he and I are a good match. And he’s so charming and confident and... I don’t know. We get along, but it’s never been anything romantic.”
Her friend said softly, “But Dane would like it to be.”
Willa gulped and nodded. “It’s so completely...Dane, to decide to marry me and refuse to take no for an answer. But in the end, he’ll have to face facts. He’s just not the guy for me.”
Page coaxed, “But Collin is?”
“No. Really. Come on, Paige. I said it was nothing like that with Collin.”
“But you always liked him—and not in that friends-only way that you seem to feel about Dane.”
Willa lowered her voice even more. “It was a crush that I had on Collin, a teenage crush, that’s all—and stop looking at me like that.”
“Like what?”
“Like you think I’m lying to myself.”
“Did I say that?” Now Paige was looking way too innocent.
“You didn’t have to. And you’ve got it all wrong. It’s just that Collin and I have patched up our differences and we’re on good terms now.” Okay, she’d spent the previous night in his arms, but only because it had helped them keep warm. And she wasn’t even going to think about that moment in the morning when they first woke up. Uh-uh. She was just wiping that moment clean out of her head.
“So you and Collin are friends, then?”
Friends? With Collin? It kind of felt that way, but maybe it was just the flood and all they’d been through since yesterday. She had to be careful not to read too much into it. He was off helping with the rescue effort now. When he returned, there would be no reason for him to seek her out. Their future contact with each other would be casual: saying hi when they passed each other on the street, stopping to chat now and then when they ran into each other at the store or the doughnut shop. “I don’t know. We’re...friendly, okay? We’re getting along.”
Paige’s soft mouth tipped up in that warm smile that always made Willa so glad to be her friend. She chuckled. “Honey, you sound confused.”
Why not just admit it? “Okay. Yeah. I am, a little...”
&
nbsp; “You come and stay at my house tonight.” Paige lived on North Pine, well north of the flooded area. “We’ll have a nice glass of wine and I’ll set you straight.”
Willa laughed, too. “Uh-oh.”
“Seriously. I want you staying with me as long as you need to. And don’t you dare go out and stay at the ranch alone now. You need to be with a friend.”
Willa felt suddenly misty-eyed. “Thanks, Paige.”
Paige leaned closer. “And I have to say, I like it that Collin stood up in the meeting and got everyone to see that we need to put all our effort on searching for survivors first.”
“Yes—and that reminds me. Are you helping with child care? I was just going to the nursery to see if they need me.”
Paige caught her arm again. “I guess you didn’t hear. The older ladies are taking care of the kids. Women our age in good shape, they want pitching in with the rescue effort. Come on. We’ll get ourselves on a team.”
* * *
Three people were rescued that day: two disabled shut-ins marooned upstairs in their flooded houses, and a rancher, Barton Derby, who lived alone and whose barn had collapsed on top of him. The team leaders kept in communication on their handheld radios and passed on the news when someone was found.
Barton Derby had compound fractures to both legs and had to be taken to the hospital in Kalispell, a long drive with so many of the roads badly damaged or still flooded. The word was that Derby survived the trip without incident.
The two shut-ins were physically unhurt, just very hungry and frantic over the damage to their homes. Willa and Paige’s team leader told them that Thelma McGee, who owned a big house on Cedar Street, had taken them both to stay with her until other arrangements could be made.
For Willa and Paige’s team, the triumphs were small. They pulled two foundering heifers from a pond, contacted old Barrett Smith, the local vet, to treat an injured horse and brought a frightened cat down from up a tree. Mostly, though, they made the circuit of the houses and outbuildings in their section of the search map and found the owners in residence doing their best to deal with the thousand and one challenges the flood had dumped in their laps.
The teams began returning to Main Street at dusk. The phones and electricity were still out, but there was food in the church multiuse room for anyone who needed it. Makeshift dormitories had been set up in the town hall and Masonic Hall for those who had nowhere else to go.
Paige came with Willa to the church, where they ate with their team by the light of kerosene and battery-powered lanterns. Once they had food in their stomachs, she nudged Willa. “Come on. Let’s go to my place and get some rest...”
Willa hesitated. She would have loved a shower and to settle into that nice, big bed in Paige’s guest room. But somehow, she couldn’t do it. “I think I’ll just get a cot in the town hall.”
“Willa. Why? I want you to come and stay with me.”
“And I love you for that. But I just can’t...” It seemed important right then to stick with the other people who had been dispossessed. She wanted to stay close to the center of things, at least for the first night or two, until the search for survivors was finished and she could be certain that everyone in town and in the valley was safe and whole, with food in their bellies.
“You’re sure?” Paige brushed her arm, a companionable touch.
Willa nodded. “Yeah. It just...feels right, to stay with the others for now.”
So Paige gave her a hug and promised to be back for breakfast before the search began again in the morning. Then she asked around to see who needed lodging. She took Buck and Bella McAnder and their two little girls home with her. The McAnders lived a few houses down from Willa, on South Broomtail Road. All over the north side of town, people were doing that, taking in families who lived south of the creek.
So far, Collin had yet to appear for dinner. Once Paige was gone, Willa checked out the team sign-up sheets that were posted on the wall right there in the church multiuse room. He’d joined Team Three, headed by Jerry Dobbs. It was the team that had rescued Barton Derby.
Team Three came in a few minutes later. Collin wasn’t with them. She knew she ought to leave it alone. If he’d been injured in the search, she would have heard about it. There was nothing to worry over.
But then, well, she just had to know for sure that everything was okay with him. She approached Jerry Dobbs and asked if he knew where Collin might be.
“A real asset to our team, that Collin,” Jerry said. “Without him, we might not have gotten Bart out from under his barn. People can’t help but get scared around piles of unstable materials. Some held back, afraid to pitch in. Or worse, some were too brave and not careful enough. Collin reassured the scared ones and kept an eye on the chance-takers. The man’s a born leader, levelheaded and calm and encouraging to others in a crisis. Plus, he’s in top shape and light on his feet.”
Willa didn’t especially like the sound of all that. Had Collin put himself in danger to get Barton out? It would be just like him, after all. “Yes,” she said, and tried to sound cheerful. “Collin Traub has no fear.”
Jerry nodded. “And I think he mentioned something about stopping over at the Triple T to see how they were getting along out there.”
She should have known. Of course he would have to go see how the hands at the family ranch were managing. She thanked Jerry, shouldered the pack she’d been dragging around with her all afternoon and walked over to Thelma’s to get Buster.
By then, Thelma had a houseful of visitors. She’d made room not only for the two rescued shut-ins, but also for a couple of young families who owned houses on the south side of the creek.
“I’ll be over at the church for breakfast tomorrow,” Thelma said, as Buster sat on the step, cheerfully panting, cocking one ear and then the other, glancing from Thelma to Willa and back again. “I’ll be happy to take Buster then. He’s been a comfort, I have to tell you. He likes to stick close to me, but he’s not in the way.”
“He’s a good dog,” Willa said fondly. Buster made an eager little whining sound in response. “Just don’t let him out unsupervised or you never know where he’ll head off to.”
“I won’t,” Thelma promised. “I’ll keep him close.”
Willa thanked her again and said good-night.
In the town hall, the generator was still going strong. It seemed so bright in there compared to the lantern light at Thelma’s and in the church. The chairs in the meeting room had been folded up and stacked against the walls. Rows of narrow cots waited for her and about fifty other people whose houses were in the still-restricted area south of the creek. She was a little anxious that Buster might not be allowed in. But it wasn’t a problem. Marjorie Hanke, the councilwoman assigned to supervise sleeping arrangements in the hall, told her that as long as he behaved himself he could sleep beside Willa’s cot.
Collin wasn’t there. Disappointment tried to drag her down, which was ridiculous. The man had his own life, after all. He had things he needed to do. He could be staying at the Triple T for the night, or over at the church getting something to eat, or possibly bedding down in the other makeshift dormitory in the Masonic Hall. He might even have headed up the mountain to his house.
She truly hoped he hadn’t been foolish enough to do that. Not in the dark. After the storm, there was no telling what condition that road would be in.
It was very annoying. He was so unpredictable. A person hardly knew what he might do next.
And really, she needed to stop thinking about him. She needed to be grateful that he’d saved her life and glad that she’d gotten past her issues with him—and let it go at that.
She leashed Buster to a leg of the cot and took her turn in the bathroom, washing up as best she could in the sink. Marjorie was passing out baggies containing personal grooming supplies to those without, but Willa had her own. She’d raided her mother’s medicine cabinet for soap, deodorant and a toothbrush, and she’d also thought to grab an old
pair of lightweight pink sweatpants, flip-flops and a clean T-shirt from the box under the stairs.
Back in the meeting room, people were settling in, getting as comfortable as possible for the night. When everyone had finished in the restrooms, Marjorie turned off all the lights, save one. She left it on low, for a night-light.
Willa lay back, stared at the dark ceiling overhead and felt certain she’d be awake half the night, worrying about her parents and Gage, who were probably going nuts, wondering what was happening at home. She knew she would end up lying there, eyes wide-open, obsessing over the extent of the damage of her house. She was positive that she would have to firmly remind herself not to get all worked up over the tragic death of the mayor, and not to think about Collin, who surely would not have been so foolish as to head up the mountain in the dark of night.
But strangely, within minutes of zipping up her borrowed sleeping bag, her eyes had drifted shut. With a sigh, she turned on her side, tucked her hand under her cheek, and let sleep steal all her worries away.
* * *
The double doors to the town hall meeting room were shut when Collin arrived. He eased through them soundlessly.
Marjorie Hanke, in a cot by the door, sat up and pointed to an empty one a few feet away. Collin whispered a thank-you and tiptoed to the unoccupied cot. It wasn’t that far from the door, which was great. He had a big plastic bag full of stuff for Willa and a pack for himself. Both of those, he stowed under the cot.
A couple of rows over, he heard a low, familiar whine. A tail thumped the floor: Buster. So Willa was sleeping here. He considered going over there and making sure she was all right.
But come on. His creeping close and peering down at her wouldn’t help her in the least.
Uh-uh. If he went to her, he wouldn’t be doing it because she needed him right now. It would be because he wanted to see her, plain and simple. In the space of one night and the morning after, he’d found it all too easy to get used to having her around. All too easy to wish she might stay around.
He liked her.
Always had, though he knew she used to think he didn’t.
Harlequin Special Edition July 2013 - Bundle 1 of 2: Marooned with the MaverickHer McKnight in Shining ArmorCelebration's Bride Page 6
