by Lori Leger
Shane, one of the radiology techs, spoke up from Sarah’s left. “What the hell are they doing way up there?”
“They’re buying some horses. A trainer she knows is retiring and thinning out his own herd. The two of them are on their way back with the four horses she purchased. Leah said it’s a long, slow drive pulling that horse trailer, but they should be home by tomorrow afternoon.”
“I bet the twins miss them like crazy,” Barb said.
“We all do, that house is way too big without them around, and the girls keep crawling around looking for them. When they don’t find them, their little chins start trembling. It’s just pitiful. I’m going to take video of when the LeBlancs come home, so y’all can see their reactions.”
“You have twin baby girls?”
The question, spoken from above, took Sarah by surprise. She turned and froze as the waitress, Charley, minus the pink stripe in her hair, beamed down at her, expecting an answer. Sarah finally awoke from her stupor.
“Yes, I do.”
Charley’s face lit up. “That is so awesome!” She took their drink orders and left, leaving Sarah to wonder how she could have forgotten her vow never to set foot in this place again as long as that girl was still here. Once the food arrived, Sarah’s queasy stomach reminded her every time she tried to swallow a bite.
Due to waiting for a to-go box for her barely touched burger, she was the last of the group to pay her tab. She handed the waitress a twenty, wishing she could afford to let her ‘keep the change’ to avoid any more words. Instead, she stood waiting for the fourteen dollars she had coming to her.
“Twins, huh?” Charley mused. “Do you happen to know a doctor named Tanner Collins? He’s a tall, blonde, good-looking guy with gorgeous blue eyes.”
Sarah felt the flush creeping up her face, so thankful no one else in the group was around to see it. “Yeah, I know him.”
“Sarah and her twins … he told me all about you.”
“Really.” Somehow she managed to keep her tone civil. She nearly cringed when Charley’s face lit up.
“He sure did!”
Sarah’s gut twisted. Did this girl have no shame? Pushed beyond the limits of good manners, she couldn’t hold back any longer. “Was that before or after you slept with him?”
Obviously, Charley hadn’t expected a comeback of that nature. She stood frozen in place, holding a ten, four ones, and some change, open-mouthed and speechless.
Sarah took the ten from her fingertips. “Keep the change, and when you see Dr. Collins again, tell him I said to have a nice life.”
She practically ran out of the diner, her breath coming in short gasps to match the wild thumping of her heart. Her temples pounded with pain at the sudden rush of blood to her head. “Dammit!” She covered her mouth, trying to suppress a sob.
“Sarah, I need to talk to you!”
She turned, seeing Charley coming at her. “Please, just leave me alone. She spun around to escape her by crossing the boulevard.
“Sarah! Stop!”
The screech of a vehicle’s tires on the asphalt roadway barely registered as something jerked her back from the path of an oncoming truck.
“What the hell, lady! You got some kind of death wish or something?”
Sarah stared at Charley through eyes blinded by tears. “I didn’t see it.”
“I guess not! You were trying too hard to get away from me. What makes you think I slept with Tanner Collins?”
“Didn’t you?”
“I did not! Who told you that?”
Sarah raised her hand in protest. “Someone saw you leave from Red’s with him.”
Charley’s brow furrowed in confusion. “I never left Red’s with Tan—” Her face cleared as she sucked in a breath. “Oh, they must have seen me the night my shoe broke. He took me to my car.”
“Your car? He took you to your car?”
“Honestly. Look, I saw him inside Stubby’s, but he left right away. I ran outside in time to see him move his car in front of Red’s place and go inside. I walked over there to talk to him, but that uptight barmaid kicked me out for my fake ID. When I left, I stepped in that damn crack in the sidewalk and broke the heel off my shoe. Like that wasn’t humiliating enough, I also twisted the crap out of my ankle.”
She laughed and shook her head. “By the time Tanner walked out of the bar, I was sitting on my ass massaging my foot. He helped me up and offered to drive me where I needed to go. My car was all the way behind Stubby’s and he saved me a painful ten minutes of limping my butt over to the damn thing.”
“Okay, but you honestly expect me to believe that nothing happened when he got you to your car?”
“With a broken shoe and a bum ankle? Look, lady. I don’t give a shit if you believe me or not. I’m just trying to do the right thing and tell you what happened. We talked, okay? He told me to stay the hell out of Stubby’s, go back to college, and contribute something to the world. At some point, he ended up talking about some chick named Sarah and her twin babies. I’m no fuc…freak…ing genius, but judging from your reaction, you’re that Sarah. He said you’d had a difficult time, but rose above it.”
As much as Sarah hated to admit it, Charley’s story seemed plausible. That left her wondering how to deal with the fact that she, as well as others, had misjudged Tanner.
“Then I asked him if you knew.”
Even slightly distracted by the info dump, Sarah noticed that Charley’s tone held a distinct ‘I’ve got a secret’ edge to it. “Knew what?”
“That he was in love with you, of course.”
Sarah whipped around. “What did he say?”
Charley’s eyes twinkled with amusement. “He laughed and said he’d only just figured it out himself. I guess that makes you the ‘love of his life’ he talked about when he freaked in here the other day. I sure as hell hope you didn’t ruin it by accusing him of something he didn’t do.”
Relief rushed over Sarah like warm honey over a bowl of hot oatmeal. This time the sob that escaped was one of happiness. “Oh my God.” She planted a hand on her forehead before facing Charley again. “Thank you so much.”
“Lady, you’re thanking the wrong person. If I’d had my way, I’d have gone home with that guy, and he’d be off the market. Permanently.”
Chapter 17
Tanner tried to eat his turkey sandwich, but every time he looked up, he found Zoe’s gaze locked on him.
“Did you have that dream again?”
He nodded, wishing just once in the last two weeks he’d been able to go a day without having this conversation. He had even tried lying to her, telling her no, he hadn’t dreamed that he’d gone to a funeral for Sarah and the twins. She had seen through the lie, just as he knew she would if he ever tried it again. He’d had it again last night, the sixth time in two weeks.
“I can always see it in your eyes, Doc.” She pushed her coffee aside and picked up her cell phone. “I want you to speak to my granny.”
Tanner growled low in his throat. “I’m not talking to anyone. It’s just superstitious bullshit. I don’t believe in superstition or magic.”
He wasn’t about to mention the six phone calls he made to Red and Tiffany to check up on Sarah and her girls. Nightmare or not, he’d never sleep again if he didn’t know they were safe.
This time, Zoe ignored his protests, and hit a button on her cell phone. “Granny, he had the dream again.”
Tanner groaned at the discovery that he and his dreams had been the subject of conversation between those two on more than one occasion.
Zoe put the phone to her chest. “How many times does this make she wants to know.”
He raised his hands to indicate six fingers.
“Six times, Granny.”
Tanner listened as Zoe and her Jamaican grandmother talked about his situation.
“A seventh night, and it can’t be stopped, she says to remind you. Also, she asks if you’ve had the daytime dream yet.”
She shoved the phone at him, her look daring him to defy her. “She’ll try to speak better English for you. Talk to her.”
He took it grudgingly and stood up to stare out at the bleak, rainy day. After a single day’s break in the wet stuff, it had just started up for another round.
“Yes ma’am, this is Tanner Collins. How are you?”
“Mi betta dan yu, mi teank. Yu had deeay-time drem bout har?”
“No, ma’am, at least I don’t think so.”
“Hmm…You teank back. Dem allus hapn fore de nyat-time drem. I got de gif ta see drems fum mi granny…she grow mi. Sevn nyat-time drems an sum’ady gweh. You no see har inna di lites.”
Tanner shook his head at Zoe. “I’m, sorry, Zo, but I didn’t understand much of that.”
She reached over and grabbed the phone from him. “Granny, sey agin.” She listened carefully and translated. “She wants you to think back. She says the daytime dream always happens before the nighttime dream. It’s like a hint at how the dream will come to pass. She got the gift to interpret dreams from her own grandmother who raised her from a child. She said that after the seventh dream of the same thing, it’ll be too late to stop it. ‘Sum’ady gweh.’ That means ‘somebody will go away’ or they’ll die and you won’t see her tomorrow or any other day.” She put the phone to her ear and listened again. “She says the daydream may be a very brief vision that may only last a second or two.”
Tanner stood looking out the front windows at his parents’ rain soaked lawn, and suddenly got a feeling of Deja vu. He calmed his mind, willing the memory to come to him, and it finally did. He had been staring out of these same windows, and had seen—what was it? Wavy images of Sarah and her twins and the words “live without her”.
“Wavy images of Sarah … wavy …” Sounds of the five o’clock local news cut into his musings.
“Flash flood warnings are in effect for areas of southeast Texas and southwest Louisiana. Good evening. A Liberty county woman was rescued from certain death when strong currents swept her car into a local stream that was swollen and overflowing with floodwaters. Too much rain has caused dangerous and deadly situations in both Texas and our neighbor to the east, Louisiana.”
“Wavy images—watery—Jesus Christ.” A cold dread passed over him as he put it together. “Live without her. It’s water, Zo. It’s the flood waters. They’re in danger of drowning.”
Sarah heard her cell ringing insistently in her purse. No way would she take her hands off the steering wheel. Her girls, both buckled safely in car seats in the back of Leah’s Explorer, chewed quietly on teething rings and chatted away to each other. Leah had called last night, insisting she take her truck rather than Sarah’s lower profile car. You’re liable to run into some water on those back roads, Sarah. You’ll be safer in my Explorer.
“No kidding,” she groaned, stopping the truck to peer out into the fast approaching darkness.
As far as she could see ahead of her, water had covered the road completely. She couldn’t distinguish the edge of roadway from the ditches on either side. She knew she was approximately halfway between Tiffany and Red’s ranch and Leah and Daniel’s place.
“God, why didn’t I pull into their driveway?” She thought about going back, but stared into the rearview camera at a strong current rushing behind the truck. “Oh shit,” she breathed. “Where the hell did that come from?”
She dug her phone out of her purse, saw that she had seven missed calls, a decent signal, but a weak battery. Too panicked to do anything else, she hit the call back button. Tanner answered on the second ring, sounding every bit as panicked as she felt.
“Sarah, where are you?”
“I’m about halfway between Red’s drive and Daniel’s, Tanner. The water is coming over the road, and I’m too afraid to try and turn around.”
“Don’t move. I’m on my way there.”
“What do you mean? Where are you?” She heard the panic in her own voice rising as quickly as the water surrounding her and her babies. “Oh God, why didn’t I just stay at Annie and Drake’s place?”
“I’m nearly at Red’s driveway, but I don’t think my car will make it.”
“Your Lexus is too low to the ground, Tanner. I’m in Leah’s Explorer, and the water is about to cover the lights!” she shrieked.
“Sarah, listen to me. I’m going to let you go so I can call Red, but I will call you back.”
“No! Please don’t hang up! I’m afraid.” She nearly screamed once she realized he’d hung up already. The two minutes it took for him to call back dragged on with nothing to do but watch the water rise. She did remember to plug her phone into the charger.
She hit the button to accept his call immediately. “Tanner?”
“We’re coming. Stay where you are though, don’t try to get out of the vehicle.”
She stared out at the terrifying sight of water rushing around the truck. “How could I, Tanner? I have two babies with me.”
“You’ll be fine. I see Red coming to meet me in his truck.”
She turned around in her seat to watch her babies, one starting to nod off while the other chattered away. “Oh God. Trying to get out of here with the two of them would be impossible.”
“Not with me there to help you. Hang on, I need to get to Red’s truck, but I won’t hang up, I promise.”
She stared at her babies, knowing that any minute the water could carry all of them off. She clung to the phone as though it were her lifeline, hearing lots of static, swearing, and yelling, as well as the sound of rushing water.
“Sarah?”
As soon as he spoke, she felt the truck shift slightly. “Oh God.” She sobbed, her chest aching with terror as the dark, dreary evening fully surrounded her.
“Sarah, we’re coming.”
She turned the beams on high, realizing they were already under water. “Tanner the lights are under water…and…and the truck is starting to shift. Oh God, I have to get my babies out of here!”
“Sara, listen to me. We’re almost there. Get in the back seat with them. Do that now.”
Tanner’s voice, deep, controlled, and soothing, had a calming effect on her. She crawled into the back seat with the girls, bringing her purse with her. “Okay, I’m in the back seat.”
“Look behind you Sarah. We’re right here.”
“I see you! Oh God, I see the headlights…”
“Here’s what I need you to do, sweetie. Turn on the overhead light if it works.”
She flipped on the light, releasing a small prayer of thanks as light bathed the interior of the cab.
“Okay, good. Is the water up to the windows yet?”
“It’s just below it, Tanner, but it’s rising.” She heard Red say something in the background about the window on the cargo lift.
“We’re going to pull up right behind you, Sarah. I want you to take the girls out of their car seats. I want all of you in the cargo area of the truck. You’ll hand me the girls one at a time, through the open window, and I’ll bring them to Red. I’ll carry you to the truck last, and Sarah, we need to do this as quickly as possible. We don’t want Red’s truck to stall. He’s got a boat in the back, but he’d just as soon not lose the truck if he doesn’t have to.”
“Okay.” She put one baby in the cargo area, and then crawled in back with the second. Danni, who’d been drifting off needed some comforting while Sammi crawled around the cargo space like it was her personal playpen on wheels.
Sarah breathed a sigh of relief as Red’s huge work truck pulled up slowly behind them and stopped, with a good majority of the vehicle above water. She unlatched the hatchback window, well above the water line, and pushed it open manually. Seconds after she heard the slam of a truck door, Tanner appeared at the window.
“Here!�
� She handed Danni to him and got Sammi ready. As soon as Tanner left with Sammi, Sarah looped the diaper bag and her purse around her neck. Deciding to make it easier on Tanner, she climbed out, balancing herself on the rear bumper.
Tanner handed Sammi to Red and turned to see Sarah standing awkwardly on the rear bumper. “Stay there!” He swore under his breath and struggled to make it to her in the strengthening current of rising water. When he was only two steps from the Explorer, Sarah’s foot slipped and she plunged into the murky water. He dove for her and grabbed hold of her thrashing arm.
“Gotcha!” he said, as she came up coughing and sputtering. He picked her up, slightly more awkward now that she was thoroughly saturated and shivering like a wet dog. “Didn’t I tell you to stay put?”
“I w—w—anted to m—ma—ake it easier for y—you.”
It took all his concentration and effort to get them both safely back to the truck. The water was nearly waist high on him and filled with floating debris.
“Get the door,” he said. She pulled it open and he deposited her in the back of Red’s truck before he climbed in beside her. As soon as they were safely inside, he took both babies from the driver.
“Get us outta here, Red. I don’t know where the hell all that water’s coming from, but it’s rising and that current is a bitch.”
“G—give me one.” Sarah’s teeth chattered as she reached for Sammi. “What ab—bout Leah’s t—truck?”
Red cleared his throat. “Um, you mean that one?” The three of them sat there long enough to watch an uprooted tree slam into the Explorer. It pushed it off the roadway into the much deeper ditch.
Without another word, Red threw his truck in reverse and backed up slowly until he found a spot elevated enough to turn around. It took another five minutes to make it back to their ranch. Even with the truck’s rear seat heater blasting warm air onto them, Sarah’s teeth chattered uncontrollably. Tanner figured it had as much to do with her nerves as from being wet and cold.
They piled into the McAllister ranch house several minutes later. A hysterical Tiffany pulled her into a tight hug.