by Tara Rose
“This isn’t your fight. Either of you. And I won’t put you through it.”
“Don’t you think that should be our decision to make?”
“No. I do not.”
He closed the door quietly behind him, which was somehow worse than if he’d stormed out and slammed it shut. It signaled a finality that might as well be a death knell. His last parting shot was a glance at Vivian, so full of longing that it actually tore at Luke’s heart. He could only imagine what it had done to her.
Chapter Sixteen
Vivian stared at her front door as every inch of her body simply went numb. It was all a big mistake. Any second now he’d come back through that door, tell her he loved her again, and everything would be right in her world.
“I’ll clean up the pizza.”
She heard Luke’s voice, but didn’t turn around. If she stopped watching the door, Preston wouldn’t come back. Even when she heard the sound of his Jag pulling out of the driveway and roaring down the street, she watched the front door.
Luke made enough noise in the kitchen to wake the dead, but Vivian didn’t take her eyes off the front door. He came up behind her and put his arms around her, and she mentally acknowledged how warm and comforting his embrace was, but she had to watch the door.
“Come to bed, love.”
“I can’t.”
“Yes, you can.” Luke moved in front of her, blocking her view of the door, and gently titled her face up to his. Vivian stared into his eyes, so full of love and warmth, and something snapped inside.
Her body shook again, and when she began to cry, she couldn’t stop. Her breath came in huge, gasping sobs that tore her heart right out of her chest and made her sides ache, but she still couldn’t stop crying.
Preston is gone. He’s gone and he isn’t coming back.
Luke walked her into her bedroom and removed her clothes, then led her into the bathroom and left her alone long enough for her to brush her teeth and take care of business.
He loves you but he left, just like Cletus did.
When she came back into her bedroom, Luke took her hand and led her to the bed, then crawled under the covers with her and simply held her. He didn’t ask for anything, or make a move toward her other than to stroke her hair and softly kiss her neck.
Vivian’s tears still trickled down her cheeks, but now at least she could breathe normally. Her entire body hurt, like someone had punched her over and over again.
This can’t be real. He can’t be gone.
Panic washed over her, frightening her because she didn’t understand the source of it. She sat up. “We have to call him. We have to tell him to come back.”
Luke pulled her back into his arms and moved closer to her. “Leave him be for now. He needs time to think is all.”
“Will he come back?”
“Yes. Just give him some time to come to his senses.”
“When? When will he come back?”
“I don’t know, love. Soon. He’ll figure it out in a bit.”
If he was lying to her, he was doing a good job of it, because she believed him. Or maybe she simply wanted to believe him. Either way, Vivian was suddenly exhausted, as if she’d been awake for days and days.
Maybe she’d sleep for a while. Just for a little bit. And when she woke, she’d find that all of this was only a bad dream. Preston would be here with her and Luke, and they’d find a way to work through this together, the way it should be.
* * * *
Preston drove aimlessly, not really caring where he was. It didn’t matter. He turned on the GPS and set it to maps only so he didn’t have to listen to the annoying mechanical voice. When he reached Interstate 24, he drove south instead of north, simply because he hadn’t done so yet. There was nothing here. There was nothing in most of Tennessee. He’d never seen such a large expanse of nothingness, but so damn pretty at the same time.
It totally sucked that in such a short time he’d grown to love the damn state. This would be a lot easier if he hated it. But there wasn’t much to hate. Oh no, not much at all. Well, okay. Maybe there was. But narrow-minded people existed in Chicago, too. He could attest to that first hand. And he couldn’t blame anyone for this except Renee and Kay-Jean. They were the two who had lied.
He also couldn’t help wondering yet again what would have happened if he hadn’t gone into that patient room with the closed curtain. Would Renee have found another way to ambush him? Likely she would have, since that seemed to be her ultimate goal.
But why had Kay-Jean done this? Was it really as simple as revenge on Vivian for what her sister had done? And why couldn’t a grown woman like Kay-Jean realize what harm she’d done in disappearing like that off a unit for hours? What the hell was wrong with her?
Preston had never had any respect for people like that. They refused to take responsibility for their own actions and instead blamed others for the way their lives had turned out. It was always the other person who was wrong, or who had the issues that needed fixing, never them.
They couldn’t see that if they hadn’t done anything wrong in the first place, the chain of events that cascaded after that one act wouldn’t have taken place. The cause and effect of their own behaviors was lost on them, because it was easier to blame others.
And now, because one nurse couldn’t hold herself accountable for what she’d done wrong, and had decided instead to ruin him in some misguided act of revenge, he’d walked out on Vivian. Or at least, that’s how she would always perceive it.
He’d left her, just like her asshole of an ex-husband had done. She would never see this from his point of view. She would never understand that he had left because he loved her too much to see her go through this.
He let the memory of Vivian telling him that she loved him wash over him, and he allowed the heartache it brought along to fill him up, too. It was best not to let such strong emotions fester underneath the surface. He’d learned that the hard way. He would never find another woman like her, and he knew that, as well. She was the one he’d waited for. And now he had to leave her.
Thunder rumbled in the distance, and lightning flashed to the south. He asked Siri whether there were storm warnings, and was taken to his weather app, which confirmed severe thunderstorm warnings for Bedford County. “Fuck.”
He got off at the next exit and turned around, but he’d had to drive over twenty miles to reach it. By the time he drove a few miles back toward the US 231 exit, the storm was closing in fast. He hated having the Jag out in heavy rain. The tires were shit on slick roadways, and the storms here usually contained hail. He didn’t want the body banged up with tiny dents.
Trust him to choose a night when it was storming to take a long drive into the middle of nowhere.
* * * *
Vivian woke up in the middle of the night when the tornado sirens went off. Her pulse raced, and she turned on the light, glancing around for Luke. Where was he?
She hopped out of bed, threw on a pair of shorts and a tank top, and grabbed her bag. She knew the drill.
Luke came sprinting into the room, fully dressed. He held out his hand. “Come on. It’s a bad one.”
“Where is Preston? Have you talked to him?”
“No. He’s probably home. Come on.”
“I want to know he’s okay.”
“Storm shelter first, Vivian.”
She knew he was right. They ran outside, and hot fear shot through her at the blast of warm, moist wind that greeted her. Why hadn’t she known this storm was coming? Because you were too focused on other things.
Luke had built the storm shelter on the western side of his house—the side that faced her house—after an EF4 tornado had struck Murfreesboro on Good Friday six years ago, damaging over eight hundred homes and killing two people. No one had basements in this area. The ground was too much of a bedrock. But storm shelters were abundant, and Luke had outfitted his with an Ethernet connection and power from a generator.
When
he’d shown the set up to Preston last week, he’d been very impressed with it, and asked if Luke could help him build one at his house. Luke said he’d be happy to.
He could hardly get the door open because of the wind, and Vivian placed a hand on his arm, stopping him, as a familiar sound reached her ears. “Wait!”
“Why? Come on!”
“No…listen…”
“All I hear is the wind and the sirens.”
“Luke, please. I hear Preston’s car.”
“Vivian, you do not. Come on. We’ll call him as soon as we get inside.”
“We won’t have cell service in there.”
“Yes we will. Come on. The sirens have been going off for ten minutes already.”
They had to shout to hear each other over the noise, but Vivian knew she wasn’t wrong. A beam of light swept the end of the street, and she screamed over the sound of the wind. She started to run toward the car, but Luke held her back.
“Get inside! I’ll wait for him.”
“Promise?”
“Vivian, I promise. Now get inside.”
He shoved her into the doorway so hard she almost fell, but she didn’t descend the stairs. Instead, she watched Preston drive like a demon up the street, pull into her driveway so fast he almost lost control of the car, then emerge and run toward them.
Only when Luke had one hand firmly on Preston’s arm did she bound down the stairs. She’d been inside the shelter before, but never under circumstances like this. Luke turned on the lights and his computer, and she stared at Preston. She’d never seen anyone look so afraid.
“I was driving,” he said, his voice small and shaky. “On I-24. Thunder and lightning to the south, and then I brought up my weather app, and the storm was just on me. In seconds.”
“It’s a bad one,” said Luke. “Take a look.”
They sat next to him as he showed them the radar feed.
“I was so damn scared. I didn’t know where to go, so I came back here. I knew you had a shelter, and hoped I could reach you two in time.”
Vivian bit her lip. Then she crawled into his lap and held him close. He was covered in sweat and his body was trembling. “It’s all right. You did the right thing. We’re all here now.”
“I feel horrible for before. I never should have—”
“Shhh.” She cut him off. “Let’s get through this first and then we’ll talk.”
He looked at her like he couldn’t believe she was real. “After what I put you through earlier, you’re not upset with me?”
“No, I’m not. I’m just grateful you’re here right now instead of driving around in this.”
Luke shook his head and pointed toward the screen. “Shit. There’s a debris ball, just south of Shelbyville. It touched down. You probably wouldn’t have reached us on your cell if you’d tried to call. The circuits will be jammed.”
“They already were,” he said. “I did try. The call wouldn’t go through. Is it heading this way?” asked Preston.
“No. It’s moving northeast toward Beechgrove and I-24.” He stared at Preston. “Where did you turn around?”
“Fuck if I know. I had no clue where I was. But I was south of Beechgrove. I know that. I remember seeing the sign for it.”
Vivian and Luke exchanged a glance.
“A few more minutes and you might have driven right into it,” said Luke.
Vivian pulled him closer. “But you didn’t. It’s all right now. You’re safe.”
“Can you two ever forgive me?”
“There’s nothing to forgive,” said Luke, “Like the lady said, you’re safe now. You’re with us.”
Preston still looked visibly shaken, and Vivian understood that. They’d all lived through enough of these types of storms to be both fearful of them, and respectful. In time, he’d be okay and would get used to this. “Luke’s right. There’s nothing to forgive. I’m so glad you came back here.”
“I never should have left. But how did you know I was out there? Or, did I really time this so perfectly?”
Luke shook his head. “No, you almost missed us. Vivian stopped me because she said she heard your car engine.”
He stared at her like he’d never seen her before. “You’re kidding.”
“I’m not.”
Preston pulled her close and held her. Luke continued to watch his computer screen, and then he said the warning had been lifted. “And there’s nothing behind it. We’re done for tonight.”
“I’d rather stay down here,” said Preston.
“The storm is mostly to the south in Alabama and Georgia,” said Luke, pointing toward the radar screen. “See? This was just the northwest corner of it. Behind it, it’s clear for this area. We can go back to Vivian’s house now.”
“When can we build the storm shelter at my home?” asked Preston.
“Does that mean you’re staying?” asked Luke.
He glanced from Luke to Vivian, his eyes filled with so much love, she nearly started to cry again. “Yes, I am. If you’ll let me, that is.”
She kissed him. “Just try and leave again. I’ll slash all four of your damn tires, and call up Dan at Christian Brothers to tell him not to carry your brand anymore.”
As they turned off the computer and lights inside Luke’s storm shelter, and made their way back into her house, Vivian clung to Preston like her life depended on it. She glanced toward his car, and the light on the outside of her house caught the tiny dents in the paint. He’d driven through hail.
But she realized he probably knew that. It didn’t matter. His car could be repainted. What mattered was that he was here now, and safe. Everything else would take care of itself in time.
Chapter Seventeen
Preston slept with his clothes on, at the edge of the bed. His heart was still pounding long after he heard both Luke and Vivian breathing softly in their sleep. How many more incredibly foolish things would he do before he figured out what was truly important?
He could have been killed tonight. And all because of his silly, stubborn pride. What mattered were the two people lying next to him right now. Nothing else.
When his cell phone rang, he jumped, and it woke up both Vivian and Luke before he could answer it. He glanced at the caller ID and frowned. “Benson here.”
“Hey there.” It was Tom Conway, the ER director, and one of the few doctors who had gone out of his way to make Preston feel welcome. Had he heard about Kay-Jean’s accusations yet? “Sorry to bother you in the middle of the night, but we got overflow victims from the storm coming in. Shelbyville can’t handle them all. Can you come in and give us a hand? Some of them are pretty banged up according to EMS.”
“Of course,” said Preston. “I’m on my way.” He told Vivian and Luke to go back to sleep, and promised to call them as soon as he could leave the hospital again.
* * * *
Vivian and Luke didn’t get much sleep the remainder of the night, and finally ate a quick breakfast and made their way to the hospital to see if they could help. Vivian couldn’t shake the premonition she’d had last night about calling Preston, and was convinced that she’d somehow known he was in danger while out driving.
Now, she still had a bad feeling, and wanted to be there in case something happened. Luke called his parents to let them know where he was, and to make sure they were okay at the store today without him. Vivian made sure Luke got a visitor’s badge, and they went first to the ER and spoke with Emma, Vivian’s sister, who was a nurse there.
“We have about one hundred and fifty people coming in total,” she said. “Most of them are here already, and it’s bad. We’ve been on the phone with hospitals all over trying to find beds, and they have them, but we’re waiting on ambulances to transport them.”
“Is there anything Luke and I can do to help?”
“Not here. You might check with Mama. I think she’s trying to coordinate something with a few of the local take-out places so we can keep these folks and their famili
es fed.”
They went to the cafeteria, where Mary Francis, Vivian’s mother, was standing on one of the tables, giving out orders to most of their neighbors. The word had apparently gone out, and volunteers had simply come in. Mary Francis spotted her daughter and Luke, and motioned them over.
“Thank you. I was going to call you but I figured you’d know to come in.”
Vivian hadn’t told any of her family members yet about Luke and Preston, but she suspected they already knew. “What can we do to help you?”
Her mother pointed toward a cart loaded with bags from Chick-fil-A, and Vivian rolled her eyes. Why was it always Chick-fil-A? But then, if she hadn’t gone out of her way that morning to try to avoid passing it, she wouldn’t have seen Preston stuck by the side of the road.
“Can you take that up to the ICU? It’s for the nurses and doctors, and whatever patients are allowed to have food.”
“Sure. We’ll be happy to.” She and Luke smiled at each other as they pushed the cart to the unit. Once they were there, it wasn’t nearly as chaotic as the ER had been. She found Jackie, who told her all their beds were filled and they were simply waiting to move patients out before taking those from the ER who needed an intensive care bed.
“But I called and asked for extra staff anyway, just in case. And we’ve asked all the family members to wait downstairs for now until we get the ER victims into rooms.” She leaned close. “Preston is in with a patient, and just so you know, Kay-Jean is here, too. But she’s got patients on the other side. They haven’t crossed paths yet today. I’m trying to make sure they don’t.”
“Thanks for the heads-up.” Vivian made sure which patients could have solid food, and then she and Luke proceeded to pass out the bags.
Luke finished before she did, and when she finally came back out to the nurse’s station, it was to find Jackie and Kay-Jean having an argument. A loud one. And there were nurses and doctors watching and listening.