Greer chewed the inside of her cheek. She felt so useless. “Okay, try it again. Let’s just keep trying to call him. If nothing else, if he can hear the phone ringing, he’ll know somebody’s trying to find him.”
Allie did as she asked, and this time, when the automated “Leave a message” recording played, Greer took the phone.
“Clint? It’s me. We’re looking for you. I’m on the way to Roberta and I’m going to find you. So hang in there, okay? The police are looking too. Don’t give up. We’re going to find you.”
She tapped the Disconnect button. The GPS voice instructed her to turn in a quarter mile. Greer slowed the car and again peered through the window, looking for the crossing. Just as she was about to turn left, her phone rang, and she froze for a moment.
Allie picked the phone from the cup holder and held it up. “It’s him!”
She pushed the Connect button and the Speaker button.
“Greer?” The voice was thin and muted, but it was definitely him.
“Clint, it’s me. Where are you?”
“I … I don’t know. I’m lost. I was going to see the jeep. I think I made a wrong turn somewhere.” His breathing was loud and raspy. “I pulled off the road, to turn around, but I hit something. A tree maybe. And when I tried to back up I got stuck in the gee-dee mud.”
“It’s okay. We’ll find you. Are you okay? Did you get hurt when you hit the tree?”
“The front bumper’s messed up.”
“Are there any street signs around? Any houses, or businesses?”
“No, just gee-dee trees and mud.”
“Think, Clint. What was the last road you were on, before you made the wrong turn? Was it the state road?”
“Maybe. The one with the bear signs?”
“Right! I’m on the state road now, so I must be getting close to you.”
“I turned off that road, made a left and drove a ways, and then turned again. But I couldn’t read the sign. I can’t remember the name of it.”
“Okay. At the first turn you made, was there any kind of a landmark? Anything besides gee-dee trees?”
“A church. A white church with a white sign near the road. It had a big black cross on it.”
“I know that church!” Allie said. “It always has these funny sayings on the sign, like ‘Highway to Heaven’ or ‘Prayers Answered Here.’ We haven’t passed it yet.”
“Okay, Clint. We think we know what road that is. Can you see anything at all, out the window of the Blazer?”
“No.” His voice sounded weaker, thready. “When I got stuck in the mud, I got out and tried to push. I think maybe I did something to my rib. It hurts real bad. Worse than before.”
Had he cracked another rib? Maybe punctured an organ? Greer was terrified he’d pass out … or worse.
“I’ve got an idea,” Allie whispered. “Mr. Hennessy? I’m Allie. I’m in the car with Greer. Is your phone an iPhone?”
“What? I guess it is. It has all these apps and buttons and things.”
“Okay. Does your phone have Siri?”
“Who?”
“Siri. It’s like a helper app on your phone. You can tap it and ask it things like, ‘Where am I’?”
“Oh, her. Yeah, I got her,” Clint said.
“Well, if you hang up, you can ask Siri where you are and she’ll give you a map, then you can call us back,” Allie said, her eyes shining with excitement.
“No,” Clint said. “I’m not hanging up. What if I can’t get you again? Anyway, I can’t see them little bitty maps on a phone.” He paused, and his breath got more labored. “I can’t see much of anything anymore. I’m a stupid old fool. I ought never have tried to drive all the way over here by myself.”
Greer’s phone beeped and showed an incoming call from Arnelle Bottoms. “Clint? I’m putting you on hold for a minute. The chief of police is calling me on the other line. I’m not hanging up, so don’t get scared, okay?”
She clicked over to the call from the chief.
“Greer? They’ve got your dad’s location and there’s a unit from Magnolia County and an ambulance en route.”
“Thank God,” Greer said. “Can you give me directions? I’ve got him on the other line, but he’s in pain and disoriented, and can’t tell me much except that it’s off the county road.”
“He’s about a mile down Alligator Ridge, two miles east of Hawkins Store Road. If you get to Parker’s Mill Road, you’ve gone too far.”
Greer turned to Allie. “Did you get all that?”
“Got it,” Allie said. “I think we’re super close. Hawkins Store should be up here in a mile or two.”
Greer clicked back to Clint.
“Clint? I’m back.”
Nothing.
“Clint!” she hollered. “Can you hear me?”
She heard a muffled groan, then nothing else. But his phone was still connected.
“Hang on, Dad,” she hollered again. “I’m only two or three miles away. And the ambulance is on the way too.”
63
“Turn here,” Allie directed, pointing to a barely visible road marker. Greer made the turn, and two miles later Allie pointed out the sign for Alligator Ridge. Greer’s heart was pounding. She kept looking in the rearview mirror, praying for flashing red or blue lights.
Allie was on the edge of her seat, her face almost touching the Kia’s windshield. “I see a car up ahead,” she yelled. “See it, back in that bunch of trees?”
Greer leaned forward, too, straining her eyes to see what Allie saw. She turned on the Kia’s bright lights and saw a flash of silver, and then red emergency flashers among a thicket of tall pine trees. She pulled on to the shoulder of the road, being careful not to leave the pavement. In a moment she and Allie were out of the Kia and running for the trees.
“I hear a siren,” Allie said, but Greer kept running. The Blazer was wedged between two pines, its rear tires mired in muck. She could see Clint’s head lolling back against the headrest. His eyes were half open. She yanked the door open. “I’m here, Dad,” she said, touching his shoulder. “Right here.”
Allie was at her elbow. “I don’t think you’re supposed to move somebody if they’ve been in a wreck,” she said.
“I won’t.” Greer kneeled down in the mud, reached in, and unfastened Clint’s seat belt. She took his hand and squeezed it. He was cold, but she could feel a pulse. “Can you hear me, Dad? Squeeze my hand if you can.” His eyelids fluttered, and she felt the slightest pressure on her hand.
The siren was getting closer, and now they could see the flashing red light, followed by two sets of blue flashers.
“Here’s the ambulance, Dad,” she said. “You’re going to be okay. Everything’s going to be okay.”
* * *
Greer and Allie stood a few yards away from the Blazer, huddled under an umbrella, watching while the medics worked on Clint. She’d filled them in on his recent medical history and the fact that he’d complained of pain after trying to free the car from the mud.
A red pickup pulled on to the shoulder of the road, followed by a black and white Cypress Key police cruiser. Eb climbed out, and Greer realized her knees were shaking with relief. He ran up and gathered both Greer and Allie into his arms.
“How’s Clint?”
“They’re working on him. They said he’s in shock, and because he’s having problems breathing, they think maybe he could have punctured his lung with the cracked rib,” Greer said. “He’s also dehydrated, so they’ve started an IV, and I saw they’ve put an oxygen mask on him.”
Arnelle Bottoms walked up, greeted them, then went to consult with the EMTs and the sheriff’s deputies.
One of the EMTs approached. “Okay, ma’am, we’ve got your dad stabilized and we’re going to transport him to Magnolia General.”
“I want to go with you,” Greer said, stepping out from beneath the umbrella.
“No ma’am, I’m sorry, we can’t do that. You’re free to follow us t
here in your own vehicle.”
“Let’s pull your car farther over on the shoulder, and then I’ll take you to the hospital in the truck,” Eb said. “You’re in no condition to drive.”
Arnelle Bottoms rejoined them. “They’ve called for a wrecker to get your dad’s Blazer. I told them they might as well take it to the garage in Cypress Key, if that’s okay with you.”
“Thanks,” Greer said. Arnelle looked over at Allie, who was standing close beside Eb. “Allie, how about I take you back to Cypress Key with me?”
“No!” Allie said. “I want to go to the hospital with Eb and Greer.”
“Not this time, kiddo,” Eb said gently. “We don’t know how long it might be. Go on home and fill Ginny in on what’s going on. I haven’t had time to update her.”
Allie gave Greer a pleading look.
“You are an absolute goddess rock star,” Greer said. “I never would have found Clint if you hadn’t been in the car. You kept calm and kept me from freaking all the way out. But I agree with Eb. Go home and get some dry clothes. I promise we’ll call you as soon as we know something.”
“You better,” Allie said. She turned to follow the chief to her car, then came back and hugged Greer tightly. “He’s gonna be okay. I just know it.”
The ambulance slowly backed out of the woods. Greer was shivering violently. Eb closed his arms around her. “Come on,” he said. “I’ve got a blanket in the truck.”
64
Greer sat hunched over in the plastic chair, her eyes roaming the small waiting room, always returning to the nurse behind the front desk. They’d been sitting in the emergency room for over an hour.
Eb took Greer’s hand and held it, but she was too nervous to sit still for long.
She jumped up and returned to the desk again. “Any word yet on my father?”
The clerk shook her head. “They’ll call up here when they know something. They were taking him back to X-ray and then to do a CT scan. It might take a little while.”
Eb tugged at her hand. “Come on, let them do their job. Let’s go get some coffee.”
“You go. I need to stay here in case there’s any news.” She sat back down, facing the desk.
He didn’t actually want coffee. He just wanted to find a way to distract Greer. She’d been like a caged animal since arriving at the hospital, pacing back and forth, questioning the polite but beleaguered nurses and clerks.
“What about some fresh air? It’s stopped raining. I’ll tell the clerk we’ll be outside if there’s any news.”
Greer shook her head. “I just … can’t…” Her voice broke.
Eb put an arm around her shoulder. “I know it’s scary.”
“This is my fault. I should never have left him at his house. Clint was in no shape to be alone. But he was so damn needy! It felt like these tentacles were reaching out, suffocating me. You should have seen him, Eb. Showing me their wedding picture, talking about what songs he used to sing me to sleep with. He didn’t even know any lullabies. What kind of father doesn’t know ‘Rock-a-Bye Baby’?”
He shrugged, knowing it was useless to tell her everything wasn’t her fault.
“This is why I didn’t want to see him again. Why I didn’t want to get involved with you. It’s why I ran away. It’s probably why he ran away from Lise and me.”
She pounded the arm of the vinyl chair and gestured around the room. “Dammit. I don’t want this. Sitting in an emergency room waiting for bad news? I’ve had my fill of this, after Lise.”
“What do you want?” Eb asked quietly.
“I want to be like I used to be.”
“And how was that?”
“I was happy, okay? I could take a job and go anyplace I wanted, and not have to answer to anybody. I was good at what I did.”
“You were happy?” Eb looked dubious. “I thought you told me you hadn’t had a relationship in two years. And we both know how things worked out with Sawyer the lawyer.”
“I meant besides that.”
Eb pointed to the ER entryway. “You can have your old life back, if you want it that much. Go on. There’s the door. I’ll stay here and see about Clint. Go on, Greer. Really. Take my truck. Go back to your job.”
Her face flushed and she shook her head. “I can’t. Bryce fired me because I didn’t show up for the shoot today.”
“Why didn’t you go?”
She stared at him. “You know why.”
“Tell me anyway.”
“Clint was missing. All I could think about was that he was in a ditch somewhere in that swamp. I had to find him. You can’t walk away and leave an old man. Who would do that?”
“Jared would probably do it,” Eb said quietly. “Vanessa would, too. But you couldn’t.” He took both her hands in his. “Bad news, kid. You love that old man in there. And he loves you. I think you’re stuck with each other.”
She leaned over and buried her head in his shoulder. Her voice was muffled. “I know.” She pounded his chest with her fist. “Dammit.”
He tucked one finger under her chin and turned her face toward him. “So, what are you going to do about it?”
Tears welled up in her eyes again. “I don’t know. I’m no good with this stuff. I’m just as lousy at being a daughter as he was at being a dad. I do know he can’t stay by himself. Not for a while, anyway.”
“Rehab center?” Eb asked.
“Maybe. But aren’t those usually short term? What happens when he’s ready to go home again? His eyesight isn’t going to get any better. He’s going to need some kind of help.” She smiled crookedly. “God help Clint. I guess that’s got to be me. I’ll have to figure out the logistics. Eventually I guess we’ll have to find a home health-care nurse … or something. I do know that I can’t stay at his place, not permanently. It’s a double-wide. I’ll have to find a place nearby.”
Eb looked at her and raised an eyebrow. “I have a place nearby.”
“You want to rent me a room? Why? Because you feel sorry for me?”
He took off his glasses and wiped the lenses on the tail of his shirt, then put them on again.
“You’re doing it again,” Greer whispered.
“I don’t want to rent you a room and I don’t feel sorry for you. I want you to marry me. Because I love you.”
He was clutching both her hands in his and holding on for dear life. There would be no running away this time. For either of them.
“I know this is a terrible place for a marriage proposal. I’m sorry about that. When this…” he gestured around the waiting room, and noticed out of the corner of his eye that the desk clerk was watching, and listening. “When this is over, we’ll go down to the beach behind the Silver Sands, at sunset. I’ll get a good bottle of wine and buy you an engagement ring and we’ll do it right.”
Greer shook her head.
“Okay,” he said impatiently. “You’re the location scout. You pick the spot. I’ll show up with the ring.”
“No,” Greer started to say.
For a moment, Eb felt like he’d had the wind knocked out of him. But then he recovered. He had to make her listen, and believe.
“Okay. I know there’s a lot to think about right now, with your dad and all. And I know I’m not the easiest guy to live with, what with the messiah complex and all. But this morning, when I hadn’t heard from you—when I thought you were leaving town for good this week? I wasn’t just angry anymore. I was desperate. I knew, no matter what, I had to figure out how to be with you.”
“Eb,” Greer said, trying to pull her hands away.
“Just let me finish. All this time I’ve been so busy trying to save the casino and the town and Allie? I was really the one who needed saving. And you did that. You saved me.”
“Me? I saved you?”
“I thought I was responsible for fixing everything around me that was wrong. But some things can’t be fixed. Jared. Maybe not the town.” He shrugged. “I don’t care about any of that. I just care
about you. Marrying you and making a life with you. On whatever terms you say. If you want, I’ll come to L.A. I could get an engineering job again. We can figure it out.”
Eb took a deep breath. “Okay. I got it out. Now what were you trying to say?”
She turned around and pointed to the desk clerk. Who was standing just a few feet away, grinning, with a chart in her hand. Obviously she’d heard the whole proposal.
“Miss Hennessy? Your father’s back down from X-ray, and the doctor will be out in a minute to talk.”
* * *
The doctor was an alarmingly young woman, with soft brown eyes and brown hair worn in a ponytail.
“Eleanor Oetgen,” she said, shaking Greer’s hand. “Your dad is going to be fine. As you know, he had a cracked middle rib from his last accident. Apparently, when he tried to push his car, he punctured the space between the lung and the chest wall, which is the pneumothorax.”
“Good God,” Greer whispered.
“That’s the pain he was feeling,” Dr. Oetgen said. “He tells me he thought he was having a heart attack but he didn’t want to tell you that, because he was afraid you’d panic while driving and get in a wreck of your own.”
The doctor shook her head. “He’s quite a guy, your dad. Anyway, we’ve put a tube in his chest, and he’s been sedated, but right now he’s awake if you’d like to see him. We’ll keep him for a couple days, just to make sure he’s healing properly, then you can take him home.”
Greer shot Eb a guilty look. He shrugged.
* * *
Clint’s eyes were heavy lidded. He was semi-reclined, but he struggled to sit up when he saw his guest enter the room. She walked over to his bedside and shook a finger in his face.
“I can’t believe you’re alive after all that,” Greer said, trying to scold her father. “You really do take a licking and keep on ticking.”
Clint licked his lips and tried to smile. “You can’t kill an old stuntman,” he said wheezily. “I’ve had lots worse wrecks than that.”
“No more wrecks, please,” Greer said. “You might be tough enough, but I’m not. Promise me, okay?”
“Okay,” he said. “Now promise me something. Go on back to work. I ended up here because of my own stubborn pride. You go on back to work. I know you’ve got a big shoot tomorrow, and I don’t need you hanging around this hospital.”
Beach Town Page 41
