“We better get back over to the meal tent,” Janey said, and Adam checked his watch.
“Oh, right.” He glanced around for the kids. “Jess, come on. They’re going to make the announcement in a few minutes.”
They wandered back over to the main square of the park, where a small crowd had gathered to hear the announcement. Probably just the people who’d entered, as this contest wasn’t nearly up to the level of the Lavender Festival competition. No crowns awarded, no public panel tasting the food, no speeches to be made at podiums.
“What was your number again?” Janey asked.
“I was thirty-seven,” Adam said.
“I was sixteen,” Jess said.
“I hope you win,” Dixie said, clenching her arms around herself. “Do you win anything?”
Jess turned to Adam. “I don’t know. What do you win?”
“A bit of money,” Adam said. “Not much, mind you. A couple hundred dollars. Just the recognition.”
“A couple hundred dollars?” Jess’s voice lifted into the air. “Wow!”
“We’re ready to make the announcement of this year’s Fall Festival cookoff, with the theme of soups. In third place, number forty-two, Ira Mansville, with the wild leek, sausage, and mushroom soup.”
Adam applauded along with everyone else as Ira, a gentleman about a decade older than Adam, whooped and danced toward a couple of people near the voting box. Adam’s hopes crashed and burned. There was no way his butternut squash soup had beaten that wild leek concoction.
“In second place, number thirty-seven, Chief Adam Herrin, with his butternut squash soup with ginger coconut cream.”
Janey squealed and Jess spun on him. “You got second!” he yelled as if Adam hadn’t heard the man over the loudspeaker.
“Go on,” Dixie said, her face one bright ray of happiness.
Adam went through the crowd and shook hands with Beth Yardley, the director of the Fall Festival.
“Good job, Chief Herrin,” she said, handing him an envelope and nodding for her assistant to continue with the winner. Adam stayed by her and Ira, smiling for the people.
“And our winner this year...number sixteen, Jess Germaine, with his corn and crab bisque.”
Several cheers went up, and Adam watched as Jess ran down the aisle to Beth. She shook his hand and presented him with an envelope and Jess pranced over to Adam, his grin so wide it had to hurt his face.
“I can’t believe it,” Jess said. “The soup wasn’t that good, was it?”
“It’s because you got Dixie to vote for you,” Adam said out of the corner of his mouth.
Jess started laughing, and the sound was so joy-filled that Adam couldn’t help joining in. Later, when he pulled up to Janey’s house to drop Jess off, the boy paused before getting out of the cruiser.
“Adam?”
“Yep?”
“I—I had a great day with you. Thanks for letting me come over and cook.”
Adam looked evenly at the boy, his heart completely open to him. “Anytime, Jess.” He smiled and said again, “Anytime.”
Jess nodded and got out of the car. He took a couple of steps away and then came back. “My mom wants to talk to you,” he said through the window.
Adam got out of the car to see Janey haloed by the porch light and as Jess went up the stairs, she came down. They paused and said a few words, and in that brief moment, Adam knew he loved them both.
The emotion hit him so strongly, he gasped. The love moved through him, making his muscles warm and everything around him soft along the edges.
He moved around the car and met Janey at the front hood. Taking her into his arms was as easy as breathing, and she said, “Thank you for a great day.”
“I can’t believe Jess beat me,” he whispered into her neck. She giggled and he laughed lightly with her. “Greatest day ever.”
She pulled back and gazed up at him, and when she kissed him, he thought maybe she could love him too.
* * *
Halloween came and went, and Adam turned all his focus to the Festival of Trees. Honestly, he sometimes wished he would’ve grown up in a town with slightly fewer festivals on their schedule. He supposed four a year wasn’t too bad, but he felt all he did was maintain relationships with his officers and prepare for big events.
One Thursday in mid-November, he was able to sneak away from the office and get behind the wheel to just drive. He loved nothing better than to drive around, looking at the neighborhoods in town, speed down the beach highway, and loop back around to town on the Lavender Highway.
He’d been in the car for about an hour before he stopped at Duality for something to eat and something caffeinated to help him through the rest of the afternoon.
Back in the car, he ate his sidewinder fries and kept his eyes open as he eased onto Main Street. As he drove along his beloved beach, the rain started to fall. By the time he made it back to town, it was freezing rain and he needed to return to the station.
“Weather alert,” bubbled over the radio. “Sending out the warning to all radios, televisions, and Internet stations.”
Adam recognized Sammy Puth’s voice, the weather expert out of the bigger town of Port Williams.
Only moments later, Trent came on Adam’s shoulder. “Where you at, boss?”
“Heading back.” He turned the corner, the heavy cruiser sitting right down on the road and sticking. He hit a slick patch, but the car righted pretty quickly.
A horn sounded, and Adam scanned, searched, scrambled to find where it was coming from. The volume of it increased, and he still couldn’t see anything. He tapped the brake, but the car slid—and that was when he saw the ice cream truck emerge from the alley between the grocery store and the bakery.
He couldn’t avoid it, so he braced for impact. Time slowed as he looked right into the headlights of the massive truck, only a few feet from his eyes.
He inched by—maybe he’d make it past.
Time jumped forward again, and he gripped the steering wheel as the front of the huge vehicle clipped the rear door on the driver’s side.
He spun, his headlights facing the truck’s now. A yell tore from his throat as the truck hit his car again and pushed it across his own lane. More bright light flashed in his peripheral vision and he had just enough time to look out his side window to see another pair of headlights as they bore down on him.
The car that had been behind him smashed right into his door. The sound of breaking glass and crunching metal filled Adam’s ears. Panic pounded through him, and pain shot up his left leg and sliced his face.
The air bag deployed. Something hot lanced his forearm. He pulled his hands from the wheel and sucked in a breath as everything came to a halt.
Panting, he took a few moments to figure out where he was and that he was still okay. He touched his cheek, and his fingers came away sticky with blood. He depressed the button on his shoulder radio.
“I’ve been in an accident. Sixth and Main. Send an ambulance.” His head fell back against the seat and his first instinct was to jump from the ruined cruiser and see if everyone else was okay.
But the freezing rain—now diving into the car because the windshield had separated from the car, and his side window had been completely smashed. He tried to pull his left leg from the bent metal on that side, and it didn’t budge.
“Chief? A car accident?”
“With another civilian vehicle and an ice cream truck. I can’t get out.” His head swam and he wasn’t even sure why. He could breathe okay. He knew nothing was too hurt, though things were starting to throb now.
“Call my brother and my parents,” he said. “Call Janey.” His voice weakened, and he knew he was going to pass out. “Send an ambulance.”
The last words he heard were, “Help is on the way, Chief.”
Chapter Twenty-One
“Janey Germaine, please report to the security desk. Janey Germain to the security desk.”
Janey’s heart
leapt to the back of her throat at the sound of her name over the loudspeaker at the lodge. When the rain had started, they’d pulled everyone in off the trails, despite their complaints. Tourists didn’t understand how dangerous freezing rain could be, and she’d just stopped in front of the fireplace to warm her hands.
Her hair was plastered to her skull and she tried to fluff the water from it on her way over to the visitor’s center, where the security desk was.
It’s fine, she told herself. Jess was at school. Maybe they’d cancelled the rest of the day. If so, he could stay home alone for a few hours. Before Adam had come into their lives, he used to stay home alone all day on Saturdays.
Everything’s fine.
One step through the door, and she knew everything was not fine. Bekka, who worked the security desk, wore a somber yet anxious look on her face and waved for Janey to hurry.
“What’s going on?” she asked from several paces away, her wet boots making squeaky noises on the tiled floor.
“Adam’s been in an accident. The police just called. They’re sending someone up to get you.”
Janey’s ears stopped working after the first sentence.
Adam’s been in an accident.
She’d heard those words before, but with a different name. Every fear she’d been ignoring, tamping back every time one of them tried to come forward and make her think too hard, surged to the front of her mind.
Bekka said something else, but Janey could only hear the sound of her own blood rushing through her ears.
See? His job is too dangerous.
See? You can’t guarantee that he’ll be around for very long.
See? You’re better off just trying to get Jess raised and on his own.
“Janey?”
She came back to herself when Bekka touched her hand. “Are you okay? Did you hear what I said?”
She pressed her lips together and shook her head. Surprisingly, no tears came. The numbness that had spread through her at the news of Matt’s death didn’t come.
Looking right at Bekka, she said, “Tell me again.”
“They’re sending someone up to get you, because the rain is really bad right now. You can call them back and talk to Sarah there. She’ll let you know more of what’s going on.”
Janey didn’t even know how to call the police station if it wasn’t an emergency. And she knew that went to dispatch, not someone at a desk. “Did Sarah leave a number?”
“Right here.” Bekka shook the paper she’d been holding out. Janey hadn’t even seen it.
She took it and said, “I’ll go call right now.” She spun on her heel and marched back to her office, her head high. She would not dissolve into tears, not until she knew what there was to cry about.
After locking the door and seating herself at her desk, she drew in a deep breath and blew it out. “All right.” She dialed Sarah and while the line rang, she turned up the setting on her space heater so she could finally get warm.
“Sarah Farnsworth,” she answered.
“Sarah, it’s Janey Germaine.”
“Oh, my goodness, Janey.” Her voice turned personal instead of professional, and she said, “He wanted us to call you. Milo’s on his way up to get you, but it’s slow, as I’m sure you understand. The Chief gave him your cell number, so he can call when he gets there.”
“So Adam’s awake? He’s okay?” He was obviously giving out directions, so he must not be too badly injured. The whispers in her mind wouldn’t cease though, and she pushed against them again.
“He called in the accident okay,” she said. “We’ve got an ambulance there now, and I’m waiting to hear how he is.”
So Sarah didn’t really know any more than Janey did. She sighed, wishing for more news and faster relief than Sit and wait and we’ll let you know.
“Can I give you my cell too?” Janey asked. “You can just text me whatever you find out, as soon as you know.”
“Yes, go ahead and give it to me,” Sarah said.
Janey recited the number, and said, “Well, I guess that’s it. Thanks for calling up here to let me know.”
“Drew’s on his way in from the farm,” Sarah said. “We’ll know more soon.” Something beeped really loudly on her end, and she said, “Oh! That’s Trent.”
“Sarah, come back.”
“Here, Trent.”
Janey bit her lip, waiting, hoping.
“He’s passed out, that’s why he won’t answer. The bus is here, and they’re working to get his leg free. Looks like he’s been cut on his face and neck a bit, probably from the broken glass. Russ says he’s breathing fine, and Pete’s in the car with him, trying to get him awake.”
“I’ve got Janey on the line,” Sarah said.
Janey felt like she was hovering outside of her body, but she said, “Thank you, Trent.”
“He’s okay, Janey,” Trent said. “He’s going to be just fine. Nothing life-threatening.”
The relief she wanted flowed through her, and the tears came. “Thank you,” she said again, her voice choked and full of emotion.
“Trent, out.”
Janey wiped her face and her phone buzzed and chirped, indicating she’d received a text. “Thank you, Sarah,” she said.
“Of course, dear.” The other woman sounded like she was crying too, and Janey realized Adam had a whole police department family who loved him as much as she did.
She hung up and stared at her phone, unseeing.
Because she was in love with Adam Herrin, and she’d just now realized it.
* * *
She squeezed Jess’s hand as they entered the emergency room waiting area. Milo came puffing in behind them, and he turned to the right as if he’d been here numerous times before. He probably had.
He stepped up to the desk and said, “Chief Herrin?”
It had been at least almost ninety minutes since the accident. The National Park was a good half an hour from town on a sunny day, and she’d asked Milo to stop by the junior high so she could get Jess. He deserved to know what was going on, be there for Adam too.
“He just got out of x-ray.” The receptionist looked up. “I can let him know you’re here, and talk to the doctor and see if it’s okay for you to go back.”
Milo shook his head. “It’s okay for us to go back.” He stepped around to the door and pushed it open. The receptionist did not think it was okay for them to go back, and she met them in the hall through the door.
“You’re not family. He might not be fit for guests.” She wore a stern look, and Janey’s heart pounded. She needed to see Adam right now. Right now.
“We’re family, Roberta,” Milo said in a low voice. “Just point me toward where he is, and we’ll only stay a minute. We just want to see him.”
“You and every other cop on the force,” she said, folding her arms. “We can’t have the whole department in the emergency room.”
“Just them, then.” Milo stepped back.
Roberta surveyed Janey and Jess, and she softened a little. “Fine. But if I get in trouble for this, I’m telling them I told you no.”
“That’s okay,” Janey said. “I’ll tell whoever I need to that Jess held you back or something.”
“Yeah, totally.” Jess shifted next to her. “I just want to see him. He taught me how to cook, you know? It was his recipe that I won with in the Fall Festival.”
Janey looked at him when she heard the tightness in his voice.
“It’s not fair,” Jess said, swiping at his eyes. He straightened and put on a stoic mask. “Just five minutes.”
“He’s in curtain seven,” Roberta said, stepping out of the way.
Janey didn’t waste a second. She hurried down the hall, glad Milo was with her to say, “It’s to your left, Janey. Left.”
She turned and saw curtain four ahead. Around a bend in the hall, and curtain seven came into view on the right. She slowed, suddenly unsure. “Maybe I should go first,” she told Jess as she stepped in fro
nt of him. “Trent said he’d been cut on his face and neck.”
Jess looked up at her with those dark-as-night eyes. “I’ll be fine, Mom.”
They faced the curtain together, and she pulled it back a bit and said, “Hello?”
Adam lay in bed, partially propped up. It took a long moment for him to turn his head toward the sound of her voice, and she saw in his dull eyes that he’d been given some heavy painkillers.
“Hey,” she said again, softer and sweeter now.
“Janey,” he said. “Jess.” He motioned for them to come closer with his right hand. Almost everything on his right side seemed untouched. His arm, his leg, his side, his face, all fine.
It was his left side that had been battered, bruised, and buffeted. He had nicks and cuts from his fingers to his elbow, and gauze over his neck and ear, and one large spot on his forearm.
Janey went to his right side and reached up and ran her fingers through his hair before placing a kiss on his forehead. “You’re okay.” She took a deep breath of him, but he smelled more like antiseptic and plastic bandages than the Adam she knew.
“My left leg is broken,” he said. “Just got back from x-ray. They’re talkin’ about it with Drew and my mom now.” His voice slurred and his eyes closed.
Jess took his hand and said, “It’s just your left leg, Chief. You barely need that one.”
Adam chuckled but he didn’t open his eyes.
“We should go, Jess.”
“No.” Adam opened his eyes. “Don’t go.”
The area in curtain seven wasn’t that big, especially when a doctor, two nurses, Drew, Joel, and Donna came back.
“Oh, you made it.” Donna hugged her and then Jess, and Janey tried to stuff herself into a corner so the doctors could examine Adam’s leg.
“He’ll be going into surgery in just a few minutes,” she said. “The waiting room is on the third floor, just to the right of the elevators. When he’s done, I’ll come talk to you about how it went.” She nodded in a no-nonsense way but wore a kind smile as she did.
Hawthorne Harbor Box Set Page 36
