by Ali Vali
“Libby, you really need to move away from the window, honey,” Alma said. At Libby’s request Gaston had unboarded one of the windows facing the road so they could keep an eye out for Tully. “If something comes flying through there, you could get hurt.”
A glance at her watch showed Libby it was after one in the morning, close to an hour since Tully had gone out into the storm. It had seemed surreal to watch the taillights of Tully’s car disappear and know she was left behind with the Badeauxes and Jessica.
“Did she tell you where she was going?” Jessica asked.
“Mama, Libby answered that already,” Bailey said in an exasperated tone.
“She didn’t really say. She just said she’d be back in a little while,” Libby answered.
Alma put an arm around Libby’s waist and brought her other hand up to make her let go of the curtain.
“If she said she’d be back, she will. Tully’s good at keeping her word,” she said softly.
“Yes, she always was the white knight every girl dreams of,” Jessica added. “Until some other cause came along, and then forget it.”
“She’s coming back, right, Libby?” Ralph came up on her other side and stared at her as if begging her for reassurance. His question gave Libby the opportunity to ignore Jessica.
“We have a house to get ready, and she told me she wanted your help getting that tree out of the pool, buddy, so of course she is. You think she’d miss the opportunity to put you and Bailey to work?”
Libby turned away from Alma so she could put her arms around him, gazing over his shoulder at Bailey sitting with Chase. The house shook with a ferocious gust of wind, and Libby pressed him closer, putting her body between the window and Ralph. What had started as a bad rainstorm was turning into hurricane-force winds.
“Come on, Ralph, let’s me and you go check the house,” Gaston said.
“Do you think we should’ve evacuated?” Chase asked when Ralph and Gaston left to go upstairs. “It’s getting bad out there.”
“Jeez, Chase,” Bailey said, getting up and going into the kitchen.
“What?” Chase asked, seeming perplexed by Bailey’s reaction.
“Her mom is out there, so it’s not a good time to remind her about how bad it’s getting,” Libby said before going after Bailey, Jessica behind her.
Bailey was sitting at the kitchen table holding herself and rocking as if she was in pain. “You okay?” Libby asked gently.
“She promised,” Bailey said, not stopping her rocking.
“Promised what, sweetheart?”
“That she wouldn’t leave us and that we’d be okay—she promised. If something happens to her, what happens to us?”
“You have me.” Libby knelt down in front of Bailey’s chair and rested her hands on her lap. “And since when do you count her out so easily?”
Jessica crossed her arms over her chest. “Because she knows Tully would rather play the hero than stick around for the mundane things in life for too long. You can’t expect her to be happy just playing house. Don’t be that naïve.”
“I can’t force you to think like me, or to have my faith, but you know that’s not true, Bailey Bean.” Libby took a chance and used the nickname, rewarded when Bailey fell into her arms and cried.
Libby held Bailey until Alma came into the room and guided her back to the living room. When Jessica began to follow, Libby stopped her with a forceful, “Wait.”
“As soon as the weather clears I’m taking my children out of here and home,” Jessica told her.
“They have a home to go to after this, and they aren’t going anywhere until Tully gets back. And if you talk about her to Bailey or Ralph like you just did again, I’ll put you out of this house myself. I don’t care what the weather is.”
“Yeah, right.” Jessica ran into Gaston when she turned around to leave.
“I’d listen to her, Jessica, because I agree with her,” he said. “If I were you I’d sit down and shut up before you find yourself out the front door.”
Not expecting an answer, Libby asked Jessica, “What did life do to you to make you so angry?”
“It cheated me when it came to making choices. All the ones I’ve made up to now except for Kara were to please someone else,” she spat out.
“How sad for you that you think that,” Libby said, trying to find some reason to feel sympathetic toward Jessica. “But that doesn’t give you the right to make your family pay for your mistakes or bad choices. Tully is my choice, and I won’t stand for one more snipe at her expense.”
Jessica didn’t answer her and just walked out, leaving Gaston and Libby alone, and it was Libby’s turn to cry.
“I don’t want to add to your worry, Libby, but the water out back’s starting to come up,” Gaston said. “That’s got to mean the levee breached somewhere along the line. Even if we wanted to leave we can’t, at least not without some ferrying back and forth to the Alma Mae.”
“Do you think that’s why Tully’s not back?”
“Could be, darlin’, so you and I have to have a talk.”
“I’m not leaving without her,” Libby said, meaning every word.
“While Tully’s not here you’re in charge of those kids, and if we have to move them to the boat I need your help.”
“Do you think it’s going to get that bad?”
He unlatched the shutter to one of the kitchen windows and pointed outside. “The tide was high when the wind started, and these southern gusts are pushing even more water in. The last time that happened we ended up with eight feet over flood stage here. We’re up twelve feet, but if this is anything like what just hit New Orleans, I don’t want to be stuck in this house if we can help it.”
“I’m not going to let anything happen to her family, but I won’t desert her either.”
Gaston secured the window again just as the power went out. “Just remember you’re her family too.” His smile was as bright as the beam of his flashlight as he said it.
Libby stayed behind to light some candles, remembering how her mother would do the same thing before saying a prayer in church. “Please, God, if it has to be one of us, pick me,” she said as she lowered the match to the wick. “Bailey’s right, Tully. You did give your word, and I’m holding you to it.”
Chapter Thirty-four
Tully’s lungs screamed for air and she struggled weakly to the surface. The true panic set in when no matter how hard she tried, she couldn’t make headway against the current. After spending her life on the water, she never figured it would end this way.
It was hard to accept that it would, but when she couldn’t get her head above the surface she had no choice. Her lungs felt like they were about to burst so she tried again, but the total blackness she was submerged in gave her no clue as to how far she had to go to save herself. As she swam in what she assumed was an upward direction, the churning water slammed her into a thick wooden surface she at first thought was a tree. In reality it was the answer to her prayers—she’d run into Jim Bob’s dock.
Tully wrapped her legs around it just as the rope tied to her waist became taut, and in her weakened condition it almost ripped her from the lifeline, but she refused to let go. With the will of someone who embraced life, she shimmied up the pole until just her face was above the water. The gulps of air that filled her lungs were like a gift, and she greedily sucked them in between coughs.
“Now if you could only figure out how to haul yourself onto the dock,” she thought as she clung to the piling. The rope from the boat was biting into her waist, so whatever she did, it’d have to be quick before the pain gave her no choice but to let go.
A huge bolt of lightning split the night, followed by an instant boom, making goose bumps break out on her arms and legs from its nearness. Though being fried in the water scared Tully, the only way to get out of the situation filled her with dread. The illumination of the lightning helped her see the ladder about fifteen feet downstream from her, curving down
from the dock and used to board smaller boats in low tide. It was the last thing between safety and the unknown.
The only way she could reach it was to release the piling and pray she could grab the ladder at the right moment. Guessing wrong would push her farther up the channel and she would drown, she was sure. Her other option was to cut Kara loose and hope the boat didn’t capsize, bringing Kara the same fate. That was the best option, because keeping herself tethered to the boat would only drag her away from the pier. With her mind made up, Tully took a deep breath and let go.
Working on pure adrenaline, she pushed her body out of the water and threw both her hands above her head. She wanted to cry when she felt the solid iron of the ladder under her fingers. Knowing the force of the boat was coming, she quickly looped her arm through the lowest rung. She willed herself to move and looped her other arm through the next rung, high enough now to put her feet on the lower one and pull up. Not for the first time she was extremely grateful for all the exercise Libby had encouraged her to do. If this had happened a year earlier she’d have been fish food by now.
Once out of the water she looped the rope over the top of the ladder to take the strain off her waist. Standing on the pier, she reeled Kara in, and when Kara was close enough Tully could see she had come to and was gripping the side of the boat with white knuckles.
“Hang on,” Tully yelled. “Kara, you have to let go and get out.”
For once Kara didn’t argue. She grabbed the hand Tully was holding out to her and didn’t let go even after she was on her feet. They were safe for the moment, so it was time for Tully to tackle their next problem—the water was lapping at the boards under their feet.
“We have to get out of there before the water gets any higher,” Tully yelled over the wind.
“How?” Kara asked, her voice sounding raspy from a couple of days’ nonuse after she’d finally quit screaming for help.
“By finding something that floats and has a motor attached to it.” With a squeeze to Kara’s fingers Tully dragged her to the large boathouse at the end of the dock. She put her shoulder into the door to force it open, wishing she hadn’t lost her flashlight.
The inside of the building was dark, and she could barely see two boats hanging overhead on straps that kept them out of the water. They both had motors, but the winch that lowered them was electric and she didn’t have time to look for the manual override. Inside, most of the noise disappeared since the caretaker had thought to lower the door that led to the channel.
Tully felt around for something either sharp enough to cut through the straps or capable of unhooking them from the winch itself. Her fingers closed around a wrench, meaning she was in for a climb. “Get up on the worktable in case the water’s coming in faster than I think.”
“Where are you going?” Kara grabbed Tully’s bicep so hard Tully was sure she would have a bruise.
“I’m going to make sure Jim Bob Delacroix sues me for destruction of property.” Tully made it to the first boat and turned on the spotlight on board. She worked to get the bolts out of the front of the boat, figuring she only had to release one side and the craft would slide out. Hopefully it would stay afloat once it hit the water at such an odd angle. The first bolt came out, then the second bolt came loose, and she banged it out the rest of the way by using the wrench as a hammer.
The bow of the boat went below the waterline up to the first set of seats when it hit, but the vessel popped back up like a cork. When she was sure it was going to stay afloat, Tully retrieved the gas can from the other boat and climbed down.
“How are you going to get us out of here?” Kara asked.
“The door should have a crank. If not, I’m crashing through it.” Tully got on board. “Hell, it works in all those Bond movies I’ve seen through the years.”
“Are you sure you know what you’re doing?”
Tully connected the gas can to the motor, keeping her fingers crossed that the thing would crank. “Do you mean am I going to kill you in the hurricane or in a fiery crash in the boat?”
“I can see why Jessica didn’t like you much—you’re a smart-ass.”
“Jessica didn’t like me because she decided to start cheating on me and I took offense to it.” Tully walked back to the bow and looked over the edge to make sure Kara had a clear path to the boat. “Let’s get going.”
“I thought you said she did you a favor.”
The manual crank to the rolling door was where she thought it would be, and she opened it just enough for the boat to clear. She didn’t need to trash everything in the place just to escape. “You both did,” she said. “If anything, you showed me that I was just cruising through life instead of enjoying the hell out of it like I used to. A long existence doing nothing but hanging around is only fun if you’re a priceless piece of art—for people it’s a cop-out.”
The higher Tully lifted the door, the more the noise increased, and Kara just sat clutching the back of the seat. “Why did you come back for me, then? If you have everything you want now, why chance it?”
They would have to duck to get out, but Tully secured the line to the door and moved back to work on the motor. It took ten yanks to get it started, but thankfully it sputtered to life. “Because I want my kids to always think of me as someone who does the right thing, no matter who it’s for. I might not always be successful, but at least I try.”
Tully squatted on the floor of the boat and signaled for Kara to put her head down. The wind was still blowing stiffly, filling the channel with whitecaps. “Hang on, because we’re going to have to go through some choppy water before I can get us to safer ground.”
“I don’t think I would’ve come back for you,” Kara screamed at her.
“Aren’t you glad I’m not you, then?” Tully yelled back before she gunned the engine.
In the channel the spotlight was a godsend, but it also let her see just how extensive the flooding was and just how much trouble they could’ve been in if she hadn’t reached that ladder to get out. The dock wasn’t visible anymore, and the island Kara had been stranded on had all but disappeared. Figuring the water was deep enough to accommodate the boat’s motor, Tully headed toward her parents’ house, planning to continue down the drive she’d come up if there was water all the way to the road. The last thing she wanted to do was wait out the storm with Kara while her family was miles away and worried.
Tully noticed more debris and fallen trees than she would’ve expected, but the water was still a few feet from flooding the first floor of the elevated houses. She was relieved that Libby was safe and surrounded by family and not going through this alone.
When she’d given in to her feelings for Libby, Tully had worried about the demons of Libby’s past and what had happened to her parents. Not that she didn’t love Libby deeply, but a small part of her had feared Libby was picking the safe choice, not one that would bring her the most happiness.
“I’m an idiot,” Tully said to herself. Libby could no more hide her feelings than she could be outwardly mean to someone just for kicks. It just wasn’t in her.
“Did you say something?” Kara asked.
“Talking to myself, don’t worry about it. We’re getting close, so try and hold out a little longer.”
“Good. I’m tired of being wet.”
As Tully steered the boat toward the front steps of the porch, she noticed the house was dark, but it had never looked better. The anxious faces pressed to the window of the living room made her smile again. As much as she loved her whole family, it was the three people closest to the door that made her give thanks that she’d had the will to fight her way back. Seeing the relief in Libby, Bailey, and Ralph’s faces made every agonizing moment worth it.
Thankfully, no one stopped Libby as she threw the front door open and ran into Tully’s arms as soon as she made it on the porch. Tully was soaked through, her T-shirt clinging to her and her chinos hanging low because of the weight of the water, but she was alive,
and that was all that mattered as Libby greeted her with a long kiss.
Kara sat in the boat, then finally stood up when Jessica called her from the door of the house.
After they dried off, Tully spent the remainder of the storm in her old room sleeping with Libby, the kids close by on air mattresses.
At daybreak the water was still there, but the wind had died down to a stiff thirty-mile-an-hour breeze. Tully knew that as long as it blew in from the south and the levee was damaged, the flooding wouldn’t go anywhere. As she checked to see if she’d damaged Jim Bob’s boat in any way, she watched Ralph and Bailey be cordial to Kara. Earlier that morning they had told Jessica who they wanted to live with and why. They would agree to a visitation schedule, but they wanted to stay with Tully and Libby.
“I guess you won all the way around, huh?” Jessica asked Tully when they were alone on the porch.
“I didn’t realize I was in a contest.”
With the water still high she was planning to return the boat to the boat shed before anyone missed it, then have Gaston give her a ride back in his small boat.
“The kids don’t want anything to do with me, and your young bride can’t stand me either.”
“The kids will come around if you give them the time and attention they want from you, and Libby was probably just taking up for me.”
Kara walked out and put her arm around Jessica’s waist, still appearing dazed from her experience. The bruise on the side of her face had gotten darker from the extra blow Tully had delivered, but she had no apparent long-term damage.
Jessica continued her tirade. “There’s one place you’re going to lose, Tully, and this time there’s nothing you can do about it.”
“What’s that?”
“I’m going to take pleasure in bringing down your precious clients who started this whole mess on a whim. Elijah did that to Kara, and now he’s going to pay for it with the longest sentence I can talk a judge into. He left her out there to die.”