Ethan’s brows drew together. He wasn’t sure if she was in some sort of shock from the accident and just repeating things, or if she thought the airbag hadn’t deployed because her engine shut off. But it should have activated at the point of collision, as that’s what usually engaged the inertial switch. Even if the sensor wasn’t triggered by the side impact, it should have been when she hit the tree head on. Perhaps it was defective.
Upon closer examination, he didn’t notice any obvious wounds, which was surprising since the airbag had failed. Granted, she’d just pulled out of the side street, so he doubted she’d been going all that fast. But she’d still gone down an embankment and collided with a tree.
He imagined she’d have one hell of a bruise from the seatbelt, if nothing else. Hopefully, she didn’t have any internal injuries.
“Just hang tight, okay? Don’t try to move around or exit the vehicle yet. Emergency services are on the way.”
The only time he risked moving anyone from a vehicle himself was if they were in imminent danger – if the car was flooding, for example, or if it didn’t have an inertial switch and had caught on fire. Otherwise, he waited for those with more medical training than he had, as well as the proper equipment.
She nodded again, and Ethan smiled in what he hoped was a reassuring manner. Being in an accident was scary, even if you weren’t seriously injured. And while she appeared to be all right, a lot of injuries weren’t readily visible, like whiplash or concussion. He wanted her to stay calm so as to avoid potentially exacerbating any issues.
After determining that she didn’t seem inclined to jump out of the car, he walked around it as much as he could, assessing damage and updating his initial report. He made note of the Florida license plates. Not a great way to spend your vacation.
The sound of sirens grew louder, and he climbed back up the embankment just as another patrol car pulled up, followed in short order by both an ambulance and a fire truck. The tow truck would take a little longer, which was just fine, because there was plenty to do before they’d be able to move the vehicles. He instructed one of the deputies to reposition his car to block the road and then put on a rain slicker and go redirect traffic. Luckily, it wasn’t a particularly busy street.
Deputy Wiggins, he pulled aside. “Field sobriety test on the driver of the sedan.”
The young man shot a glare toward the car in question. “You have to be kidding.”
“Afraid not.”
He sighed, the weary sound of disgust with his fellow man. “On it,” he muttered, and stomped off that direction.
Another patrol car pulled up. Ethan went over what he’d encountered when he arrived on the scene, including his suspicions regarding both the possibility of intoxication playing a role, as well as the question of the defective airbag. Maybe she’d simply hydroplaned, as he initially suspected, or maybe something had malfunctioned on the car.
Ready to leave things in the capable hands of the various first responders, he turned to go. He was off duty, and he had dinner plans he didn’t want to be late for. In fact, he was still hoping to get there early. He wanted to talk to their sister before Sutton arrived, and see if she had additional info on the client who’d died. Willow was the chatty type, and he was often amazed at the things people told her. Things that could help put to rest a couple of the suspicions he had.
Hearing the sound of a car engine, he glanced back to see truck headlights pulling in behind his SUV, and squinted in irritation. He’d just told his deputies to reroute traffic. They shouldn’t be allowing any civilian vehicles through yet.
But then he recognized the truck.
Sutton climbed out, pushed the door shut, but instead of coming toward him or even the fire truck, he darted across the road.
Watching him, Ethan frowned. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Harper open her door and stand on the running board, and he gestured her back inside. She scowled at him, looked toward where Sutton had disappeared, but finally closed the door. No doubt she wondered what Sutton was doing here.
So did he.
Ethan walked across the street. He knew Sutton wasn’t on duty, and he doubted that the fire department would have put out a call for this, given that there didn’t appear to be any serious injuries, nor a situation that would warrant more volunteers. His brother wasn’t wearing any high-viz gear, or even a regular jacket for that matter.
And he’d appeared somewhat frantic.
Coming to the top of the embankment, he studied the scene with a deepening frown. The driver’s side door was open, and Sutton was talking to the woman inside the car as well as to the EMT who stood in front of her. After a brief conversation, the EMT stepped aside, and his brother leaned into the vehicle. Sutton then scooped out the woman, lifting her into his arms as if she were a Fabergé egg.
Ethan’s brows went up. He was pretty sure that wasn’t standard protocol.
He noted that they’d fitted the driver with a neck brace, although that could simply be a precaution until they could further assess her.
Shielding her from the rain as best he could, Sutton carried her up the slope and towards the waiting ambulance.
Ignoring the wind that kept trying to blow frigid raindrops beneath his hood, Ethan watched his brother help get her situated on a gurney, and then climb into the back of the vehicle with her.
Curiouser and curiouser.
After a brief internal debate, Ethan decided not to follow after him, to find out what the hell.
He’d find out soon enough anyway.
Pulling the hood further over his head, he headed back toward his car.
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
ADELINE waited for the familiar sound of her stepmother’s voice, dreading the upcoming conversation, but knowing she had little choice. The longer she put it off, the more upset Sally would be, as well as hurt that Adeline failed to confide in her.
The phone continued to ring, and Adeline thought that she was going to escape temporarily, after all, but Sally answered right before the call went to voicemail.
“Hello?”
“Hey, it’s me.”
“Adeline?” Surprise mixed with confusion. “I almost didn’t pick up because I didn’t recognize the number, but then the area code registered. Did something happen to your phone?”
Adeline debated various ways of breaking the news gently. “It got smashed in the car accident I just had,”
“You… what?” Fear replaced the confusion, “Are you okay? What happened?”
“First, I’m okay.” Or mostly, anyway. Which was kind of a miracle considering she’d been T-boned, careened into a creek and hit a tree, all without a functioning airbag. But Adeline wasn’t going to get into that. Not yet, anyway. Her main goal right now was to reassure Sally. “I hit a wet patch on the road, slid, and collided with another car. Luckily, neither of us was traveling very fast at the time, and so the impact wasn’t as bad as it could have been, considering.”
“But it was bad enough to smash your phone?”
Of course, she would pick up on that. “You know how I always keep it in the cup holder. It got knocked out from the impact and… didn’t fare very well.”
“So, where are you calling from?”
Adeline hesitated again. “The urgent care center. I’m using a friend’s phone. And before you ask, it was just a precaution. You know my shoulder and arm were still giving me trouble from my, um, previous mishap, but they wanted to make sure the pain I was feeling wasn’t a result of whiplash or some other non-visible injury. So far, so good,” she assured her. “They gave me a sling for the arm I’d injured previously, and a list of exercises to do. I know what signs and symptoms to watch out for. But unless those develop, it looks like I escaped relatively unscathed.” Although she was going to be sore as hell. Ibuprofen and warm compresses were about to become her best friends.
Sally was quiet for several seconds. “Maybe you should come home now.”
“Sally –”
<
br /> “I know, I know. You’re a grown woman and have your own agency and yada yada. But damn it, Adeline, that’s two accidents in less than three weeks. You know these things come in threes. I just lost your father.” Her voice started to crack. “I can’t survive something happening to you, too.”
Adeline’s shoulders tensed, and she made an effort to relax them. Sally wasn’t normally a helicopter parent – she’d often gotten on her dad’s case for just that thing – and she was almost never pessimistic. But she’d changed following her dad’s death, and part of Adeline’s reason for leaving was Sally’s newfound tendency towards over-mothering. If she allowed it to continue unchecked, it was going to negatively impact their relationship.
“I borrowed this phone,” she said “because I knew you’d be waiting for a weather update, and would be worried when you didn’t hear from me. Don’t make me hang up on you.”
Sally gasped her outrage, but after a few moments of tense silence, she sighed. “Eight years old, or twenty-eight, you’re still a stubborn brat. My brat,” she added. “But a brat, nonetheless.”
Adeline couldn’t help but smile. “I really am okay. Promise.”
“What about your car? I’m assuming it’s not drivable? How are you going to get back to the cabin?”
Adeline glanced out the lobby window, to where Sutton was waiting for her in his truck. He’d given her privacy to make her phone call.
“The… friend who loaned me their phone is giving me a ride.”
Sally’s pause was sufficient to gestate an elephant. “Does this friend have a name?”
There was really no reason not to tell her. Except it somehow made her feel like she was eight-years-old again. “Sutton,” she finally said. “McCloud.”
“The sheriff?”
“He’s not the sheriff, remember? He’s a vet. And a volunteer firefighter.” And the most damnably appealing man she’d ever met. “He, um, responded to the scene of my accident.”
In civilian clothes, and in his own truck. Adeline still wasn’t sure exactly how that happened.
“So, he’s rescued you twice.”
“Sort of. Three times, if you count him coming out to chop up kindling for me, which saved me a lot of trouble.”
“I’m going to google him.”
“Why?”
“Didn’t we just discuss coming in threes?”
Adeline considered that for a second. “Phrasing.”
“What? Oh, good grief.” But she laughed her amusement, sounding much more like the joyful, sunny-natured woman who’d help raise her. “I didn’t mean it like that. Although now that you mention it, a man does not go out of his way to return a hat – although I’m really happy that he did – or chop wood, or any of these other things you’ve mentioned purely from the goodness of his heart.”
Adeline glanced back out the window. She was pretty sure Sutton wanted to sleep with her. And she was pretty sure she wanted to sleep with him. But much like the exact circumstances of her accident, Adeline wasn’t about to get into that with her stepmother right now.
The phone beeped, and Adeline pulled it away from her ear to see that Sutton had an incoming call.
“I hate to cut the conversation short, but I have to go,” Adeline said.
“Once you get home,” Sally interjected before she could hang up “he should stay with you. The vet. It’ll save him from having to drive any more than he has to, and I’d feel better if you had someone with you, helping you watch out for those signs and symptoms that you mentioned.”
“Right.” Adeline’s stomach pitched, and she shot another furtive look outside. “Signs and symptoms. I’ll call you soon. Love you.”
Hanging up before Sally could suggest anything else, Adeline pushed through the first set of double doors. By the time she reached the second set, she saw Sutton on the other side.
“I thought you were in the... holy shit is it cold,” she said when he opened the door for her.
“Yeah, it is. I left the truck running so that it could heat up.” He popped open an umbrella. “I didn’t want you to have to walk in the rain – or, I guess it’s really sleet now at this point.”
So, he’d waited outside for her. In this frigid misery.
“Thank you for the use of your phone. I’m afraid someone tried to call you while I was talking to my mom.”
Shivering, she passed him the cell, and he looked at the readout. “My sister,” he said. “Probably wanting an update.”
“Why would your sister want an update?”
“Uh, I was supposed to have dinner at her house tonight, so I called and told her why I wouldn’t be there.”
Adeline’s stomach sank. “I’m so sorry –”
“Don’t,” he almost barked. “It’s no problem. Are you ready?”
She wasn’t sure that she was, but she nodded anyway, and he stepped closer so that they both were sheltered. His proximity made her feel as if there were small electric charges going off under her skin, whether from the tension radiating from him or something else, she couldn’t say. But it was strong enough that she sucked in a breath and held it.
He glanced down. “Are you okay?”
She kept her gaze straight ahead. “Just not used to this cold.”
Which was true enough, even if it wasn’t exactly an honest answer to his question.
Sutton opened the passenger-side door, and she started to climb in before realizing that it was going to be difficult without using her arm to help boost herself up. While she tried to devise an alternative plan, Sutton boosted her up, closing the door before she could say thank you.
She rested her free hand on her lap as he settled into his seat, watching the windshield wipers swish away the slushy rain that was falling. It was an alien sight, and given the events of the day she felt discombobulated, as if she were trapped in some sort of vaguely threatening dream. She stared at the little plastic attachment on the vent, which along with heat, blew out the incongruous scent of lavender.
“Covers up the odor of smoke after I’ve been to a fire,” he said, and she realized that he must have noticed where she was looking.
“It smells nice.”
He didn’t say anything in response. Swallowing her sudden and confusing discomfort, she looked his way. “What’s wrong?”
His tone was far too even when he answered. “Wrong?”
Adeline debated whether or not to simply let it go. After all, she’d had a pretty traumatic evening, and would prefer some relative peace. But there was no way to ignore the tension.
“Your energy is… off,” she told him.
It was several moments before he elected to respond, and when he did, she could all but feel the waves of anger propelling his words.
“Are you going to read my palm next, Esmerelda?”
Shock cushioned the initial blow, but when his words finally registered, she sucked in a breath that felt like inhaling glass. The hurt stabbed through her, white hot in intensity. Her instinct was to leave, to get as far away from him as possible. Her hand was halfway to the door handle, her lips parted to demand he let her out before they exited the parking lot, when the headlights of an oncoming car illuminated the cab of the truck.
Sutton turned away, but not before she saw the liquid shine in his eyes.
It shouldn’t matter. It shouldn’t matter what reasons he had for being so deliberately cruel. Not when her hurt was still right there, as fresh as if he’d actually drawn blood.
But damn it, so was his. She could almost feel it now, a foundation beneath the wall of anger he’d erected around himself. Adeline didn’t fully understand what was happening, or why his pain should matter to her at all. But the air between them had become an open wound, and she had to do something to staunch it.
Twisting in her seat, she went with instinct and laid her free hand on his arm.
Sutton stared at it, truck idling while the red light in front of them turned green. He didn’t move, and neither did she
.
The breath he sucked in sounded as harsh as hers, and his voice when he spoke was raw.
“Damn it, Adeline. I don’t want anything else to happen to you.”
While a nice sentiment on the surface, she sensed there were powerful currents running beneath it. And it sure didn’t explain the Esmerelda crack.
“So, that’s why you decided to be a dick?”
Even in the dim light, she could see embarrassment stain his cheeks. A car horn beeped behind them, and Sutton swore under his breath before pulling out onto the main road.
Oddly calm now, Adeline continued to watch him.
He darted a glance her direction. “You’re making me feel like crap.”
“I’m not making you feel anything. You did that all on your own.”
“You’re right.” But a muscle twitched in his jaw. “I’m a shitty person.”
If there weren’t something seriously awry, Adeline might have laughed. “You are, pretty objectively, the opposite of a shitty person.”
“You don’t know that.”
“I think I do.”
“Because you can read my energy?”
She paused, waiting to see if she felt hurt or annoyed that he’d brought that up again. Instead, she was curious.
“Partly,” she shrugged. “I mean, it’s actually not that difficult when you’re flashing Bad Mood like a neon sign. But I was referring to the fact that you’ve gone out of your way to be helpful to me, and I’ve seen your kindness toward others. Dorinda Clancy does not strike me as a bad judge of character. You’re a veterinarian, which isn’t the type of career that usually draws shitty people. And you put yourself in harm’s way as a firefighter, for free.”
Sutton’s fingers tightened on the steering wheel as he stared through the windshield. “It’s not free,” he finally said. “I’m paying off a debt.”
She was just about to ask what he meant by that when the car in front of them at the upcoming red light hit their brakes too hard and slid.
His right arm shot out in front of her, an instinctive attempt at protection, and Adeline screamed. Her heartrate, previously calm, went through the roof.
Slow Burn (Rabun County Book 1) Page 21