by Ali Vali
“Tully isn’t going to find out a thing unless you or I tell her, and I’m not about to do that.”
He laughed and slapped his hands together. “You can’t be that naïve. Gossip spreads as fast as flood waters around here. Of course she’ll eventually hear about it. As soon as we’re out of here and back to some sort of normal situation, I’m going to have to go to the board and decide what steps we should take in giving Tully and the Heberts what they want.”
“You can’t take someone’s career away over a moment under pressure and unusual circumstances, Neil.” Jessica sat on the end of Kara’s hospital bed. “Especially if she’s a brilliant surgeon, so stop asking me to help you strip her of something she loves. In my heart I can’t believe that she’d endanger a child’s life.”
“Bullshit, Jessica. Tully was right, wasn’t she? You knew about this and said nothing. Do you know what kind of position you put the hospital in?” The stubble on his chin felt rough against his hand as he massaged his face in an effort to stay alert. “Victor and the board will think I knew about this, and I’m not going down for you or her. Especially her, if she put me in a position to be ripped to shreds.”
“I lived with her and didn’t realize she had this kind of problem, Neil. She had it that under control.”
He laughed again. “Yeah, right. Is that the physician in you talking, or her girlfriend? You know damn well this is a huge cluster fuck.”
“Both.” She tugged on her hair before sitting up and pinning him with tired eyes. “What happened to that kid was an accident. For God’s sake, what kind of monster do you think I am that I’d let her kill a child? She told me it was an accident, and I believe her.”
“An accident? What exactly does that mean?” he rasped, haunted by the sound of Tully’s laugh as she left the hospital after offering him what seemed like a gift now—a chuckle that said, “I know how this happened and I’m just the windshield that’s going to teach you a lesson, you little bug of a man.”
“Just forget I said anything.”
He stood up, grabbed her by the arms, and shook her. “No, you tell me what you meant by that.”
“Mr. Davis.” One of the security guards walked in breathing hard from the obvious run he’d taken to get there. “Two armed men just broke through the back door and are demanding oxycodone.”
“Shit.” He let her go and began to follow the guy out. “This isn’t over, Jessica. I know how you feel about her, but she’s not worth throwing your career away for.”
When she was alone, Jessica slid her hand into one of Kara’s, unable to lift it very high since the orderlies had tied Kara down for her own safety. For some reason she thought about the birth of her children and Tully sitting much like this on her bed holding her hand. Next to them had stood the bassinet they put the baby in, and while Tully had never left her side, her eyes never left the tiny life peacefully sleeping beside them.
The day Bailey was born had been gray and overcast, very similar to the sky Jessica imagined was overhead right now. Only then, her future had seemed brighter. Now she wasn’t so sure what it held and how Kara would fit in her life if she were stripped of all the things that defined her as a person.
Chapter Twenty-five
Tully finally got them back into the city two weeks later, using some persuasion at the police checkpoint. Driving down some of the city’s most famous streets was like maneuvering an obstacle course of trees, electrical wires, water, and general debris. She kept turning down different streets, taking a circuitous route to the house since she didn’t want to accidentally injure any of them.
The word “surreal” echoed continuously in Tully’s head. Some flooded parts of the city had been burnt beyond recognition by looters. Yet some people were sitting on their porches rocking and telling stories, most likely of what they had lived through, though most of them were wearing pistols in holsters in a very visible warning.
“Mom, we’re going to have to get out. Mrs. Foret’s tree is blocking the road,” Bailey said, as if Tully hadn’t noticed the two-hundred-year-old oak lying across the street like someone had shot it. Its massive root system had taken part of the street and the sidewalk with it, the cement slabs tangled and hanging in the gnarled wood twenty feet in the air.
“Be careful where you step,” Tully said before she turned the ignition off and opened her door. The heat was overwhelming, as was the quiet once the echo of the slamming car doors ceased. They were only a block from their house, but they couldn’t see it yet because of the fallen vegetation.
“I always wondered how old that tree was,” Tully said as she finally stopped in front of their house.
The huge pin oak whose age Tully had just commented on had taken up a good portion of the corner of their front yard. It now rested in the master bedroom, the storm having pushed it over like a twig even though it was larger than the one they’d had to climb over in Mrs. Foret’s yard.
“I guess we’ll find out when they cut the damn thing out of there.” Finally fully realizing that the master bedroom was now part of the first-floor den area, she couldn’t help but laugh until tears fell from her eyes.
“Honey, you all right?” Libby asked.
Tully kept laughing. “I’m fine,” she said, glad she didn’t see a waterline on it. The Army Corp of Engineers was reporting that the most severely flooded sections of town would take about a month to dry out. “I’m not laughing at the new owners’ misfortune, but I was just thinking. Somebody gave us a pretty clear sign that we need to move out of this place. The room that got destroyed was the place that brought about all these changes in our lives to begin with. It’s truly over now, don’t you think?”
“Let’s go see what else is wrong,” Bailey said, holding her hand out to Tully.
The front door opened easily, but Tully made them all wait outside until she could check to see if it was safe. Upstairs she got as far as Ralph’s bedroom door before she started to see daylight from the hole in the ceiling. The massive tree limbs had stabbed through the floor, creating an indoor jungle effect in her office as well. After a quick walk-through, she discovered that only the pool house had escaped unscathed.
“I want to wait for someone to check and tell me it’s not going to collapse on us if we try to take anything out. It’s a good thing we were already packed and ready to go. Most of the boxes seem okay.”
“What now, Mom?” Ralph asked.
“Let’s go check out the new place and see if all those trees we thought were great a few weeks ago are still standing. Then we’ll probably have to go stay with your grandmother until the mayor’s office reopens the city for good.”
“What about Mama?” he asked.
“The police officer told me they evacuated them all, so it’s just a waiting game now. We’ll have to sit tight until she gets in touch with us from wherever she ended up, and that could be anywhere from Houston to Atlanta.”
“Mom, do you think Chase and her family are okay?” Bailey stopped walking before they reached the car and glanced in the opposite direction. Her friend’s home was about three blocks away.
“You guys up for a walk?” Tully asked.
It took them more than an hour to reach Chase’s house, and when they did Tully let go of Libby’s hand and grabbed Bailey before she made a run for it. All that remained of the two-story house was a pile of ash with a few wall timbers.
“Do you think they stayed?”
“I’m sure they got out, but I can’t let you go in there.” Tully held Bailey and tried to turn her away from the destruction.
“I can’t just leave, she might be hurt.”
“Promise me you’ll stay here, and I’ll go see.” Tully motioned both Ralph and Libby to hold Bailey. “I mean it, Bailey. I’ll be right back.”
Tully walked the property until she reached the back fence, which had held up surprisingly better than the house. The only other structure left standing was a utility shed with a barbecue grill in front of it.
“Hello,” she called, hoping someone wouldn’t shoot her because they thought she was there to steal something.
“Ms. Badeaux?” Chase emerged from the shed, shielding her eyes from the bright sun. “How’d you get here?”
“Bailey walked me over.” Tully walked closer and clasped Chase’s shoulder, ignoring the fact that she was sweating profusely and appeared a little shell-shocked.
“Bailey’s with you?” Chase ran her hand over her unwashed hair and blushed.
“She is, and I’m sure she’s going to think you’re as cute as the day you came to our house for dinner, so stop worrying.” Tully glanced past her to the door of the shed. “You aren’t here alone, are you?”
“My mom’s with me.”
“Where’s your dad?”
“In Arizona the last time he called, I think. My parents are divorced.”
“Uh-huh. What happened to the house?”
“Lightning is the best we can figure,” an attractive brunette said from the door. “Are you a friend of Chase?”
“I’m the mother of Chase’s girlfriend.” Tully stuck her hand out. “Tully.”
“Dana.” The woman took her hand.
“Were you two able to salvage anything?”
Dana sighed. “Just the stuff we evacuated with, but we’ll manage.”
“Mom?” Tully heard Ralph scream from the front.
“Everything’s fine, Ralph. Just give me a few minutes,” she yelled back. “Come on, then. I brought backup with me.”
Dana took a few steps from the door and shook her head. “That’s really nice of you, but we’ll be fine.”
“The way I see it, you have two choices here.” Tully motioned Chase back to the shed for their things. “You can either leave with me willingly or I’ll carry you out of here. But there’s no way in hell I’m leaving the two of you here alone.”
“I’m sure you have enough to worry about.” Dana wiped the sweat from her forehead, appearing aggravated with the heat.
“Chase, pack up what you have,” Tully said when she just stood there. “You can carry the bags and I can carry your mother.”
“Okay, we’ll come with you, but only for a few days.” Dana threw her hands up. “I can’t believe it’s this bad,” she said as they walked past the burnt-out shell of the house. “I’ve been sitting next to my lawnmower for the last couple of days because I couldn’t bring myself to look at it.”
“I wish I could make it better, but I can’t think of anything to say except that you and Chase are fine,” Tully said. “You’re here together, so the rest will take care of itself.”
Chase broke out into a run when she saw Bailey, obviously overjoyed and yelling, “I’ve been so worried about you.”
Bailey drew back from the hug and examined Chase’s face. “Are you sure you’re all right? I’ve been trying to call, but once we left Lafayette, the phone was as useless as a rock.”
“Don’t look too close. The shed didn’t have any running water. Not that it’s running anywhere else.”
“My mom always says looks are only skin deep, babe. Of course, she’s dating Libby, so she can make cute comments about people’s looks since beautiful doesn’t begin to describe her.” She rolled her eyes and laughed. “Being a little funky isn’t going to turn me off, unless you’re going with this look once we get to my grandmother’s and you decide to take a pass on the working shower.”
Tully drove Libby’s car through more than one yard to make it around the fallen trees. She figured ruts in the landscaping would be the least of people’s problems. She let Dana drive the Land Rover and take the kids with her so she could lead them all out.
On the way to the Badeaux home, Libby asked her, “Are we stopping by the new place before we head out?”
“I guess we should, since we’ll probably be having houseguests for a while. We can offer the middle bedroom upstairs to Dana and Chase, if you don’t mind.”
Libby reached over the center console and took Tully’s right hand. “You’re a nice person for doing that, honey.”
“I figure it’ll keep my mind off all the hurricane damage and the other problems I’m going to have.”
“I don’t think they’re going to be that big a problem. Do you?”
“Not a problem having another two people in the house, no. But worrying about Bailey having sex before I think she’s ready will keep my mind humming for months to come.”
With a slap to Tully’s arm, Libby laughed. “You’re telling me that if we’d been dating at their age and were living under these circumstances, you’d be able to keep your hands off me?”
“Baby, I’m over forty living in these circumstances, and I can’t keep my hands off you. I saw the way that kid looks at my little girl.” She stopped at the corner and peered in the rearview mirror to make sure Dana was still with her. “Do you know any more about Chase and her mother than I do?”
“Think I’m keeping secrets from you, huh?”
“More like I think Bailey sees you as someone to confide in more than me with stuff like this.”
Libby slapped her arm again, then pinched her. “And you want me to tell you if she did? Shame on you, Counselor.”
“Not tell on her. More like drop a few major hints.”
“Before I give you anything, tell me what you were like in high school.”
“My mother used the word ‘driven’ a lot. I got good grades, played sports, and read for fun whenever I had time.”
“You’ve just described the kid riding in the car behind us, and she’s crazy about your daughter.” Libby lifted Tully’s hand and kissed her knuckles. “You may not be ready for Bailey to be seriously dating someone, but you couldn’t have picked someone better for her to start off with. Chase will respect her and know what her boundaries are.” She kissed Tully’s hand again and bit gently on the tip of her index finger. “And more importantly, she’ll know what your boundaries are.”
“My boundaries involve a two-by-four to the head if she hurts Bailey. But I really am glad Bailey’s opened up like this. It’s nice to see her socializing after the rough time she and Ralph had at that damn school Jessica insisted on.”
“Speaking of, have you heard from her?”
“I tried the hospital a few times before we left Lafayette but didn’t have any luck, and now the phones are so sporadic that I’m really not getting through. We need to get in touch with her so Ralph and Bailey will stop worrying about her. They say they don’t care, but I know better.”
They drove down St. Charles Avenue, taking to the sidewalk every so often to avoid the streetcar lines that had snapped under the pressure of fallen trees. Because most of the city was still without power, Tully didn’t think anything would be hot, but she went slowly anyway.
The block where the new house was had lost a lot of old trees too, but the water hadn’t reached there either. The kids jumped out of the Land Rover before Tully had the chance to turn off the ignition and say, “Everything looks okay here.”
“Come on, Mom,” Ralph said, rapping his knuckles on the window of the car.
When they opened the front door, they could smell the musty air that came from the lack of ventilation, and from the kitchen window Tully could see a huge pine standing almost perfectly straight in the swimming pool, as if someone had come by and purposely planted it there.
The rooms were still empty, except for the master bedroom where the new bedroom furniture they had picked out and ordered was waiting for them. When Tully turned the faucet in the bathroom, the ferocious gust of air that had been trapped in the pipe made her jump back. Having no running water would keep them out of the city that much longer. If they couldn’t brush their teeth, the fire department couldn’t put out fires either.
“Looks okay in the attic, Mom,” Ralph reported. “We can move in if we want, huh?”
“Eventually, buddy, but until the utilities come back we might be out for a while.” With one last glance at
their new bed, she pointed them to the door. “Let’s just hope it’s not a long while,” she whispered as she locked the front door. “I have a life to start on, and I want to get to it.”
Chapter Twenty-six
Tully shifted and sped up as they reached the Mississippi River bridge. The conversation Libby had kept going since they’d left the house was taking her mind off the empty streets. Considering it was just past noon, normally the streets would be filled with traffic and the sidewalks with tourists and locals. She couldn’t help but think what the lack of activity foretold—the wounded city would take years to heal.
Once they were over the bridge and out of the city, Libby finally contacted Alma, after fifteen minutes of trying. The state roads were just as empty as the city’s, so she told Alma they would be there soon and were bringing guests. The rest of the Badeaux clan had returned home at the first opportunity to check on their boats and property, so Libby had caught Alma in the kitchen preparing dinner for them, as well as her sons and their families.
“I’m sure she has enough for the whole town. Don’t look so worried,” Tully said when Libby hung up and started tapping the phone on her chin.
“That’s not what I’m worried about. I just want to help her out.”
Tully tugged her closer and kissed her temple. “The fact you’re with us is making her happy. You don’t have to do another thing.”
“Have I told you again how much your love of coffee changed my life for the better?”
They reached the overpass that would take them to the small fishing town that was located on the highest point for miles, and the spot at the top before the off-ramp was one of Tully’s favorites. Every time she had left home to drive back to college, she would stop and admire the sugar cane growing in the fields as far as she could see.
“Something wrong, Mom?” Bailey called from the window of the Land Rover.
“Just showing Libby something. Keep going to your grandmother’s if you want, and get everyone settled.” They waved as Dana drove by with Ralph in the front seat giving directions.