She drove down the road, her worry increasing as branches flew off the trees, hitting her windows with almost breaking force. She was a quarter-mile from her grandfather's house when she found herself driving through inches of water, and it was getting deeper by the minute.
Her grandfather's house sat lower along this part of the river than her dad's house, and it was clear that the flooding was only going to get worse. She pulled up about twenty yards from the house, afraid to go much farther and jumped out.
The water was up to her ankles, and she was glad for the knee-high rain boots she'd put on over her jeans. She slogged through the water to her grandfather's steps, then ran up to the front door and rang the bell sharply three times. Her grandfather might still be asleep, but she needed to get him out of the house before the road became impassable.
Finally, he opened the door, wearing baggy sweatpants and a sweatshirt, a haggard look on his face. "What the hell?" he swore, bleary-eyed. "What are you doing here, Bailey?"
"The river is flooding the road," she said, stepping into his house. "It's already a foot deep. You need to come to Dad's house with me now."
"I'm not going anywhere. I got a generator, plenty of food and water. It's all good."
"It's not all good. Who knows how high the river will go? It could flood this house if the rain continues like it is."
"It would have to come up another three or four feet."
"It just might do that. Please don't be stubborn about this, Grandpa. Let me take you to Dad's house."
"I am not leaving my home, Bailey. I appreciate your concern, but I have never left before, and I'm not leaving now."
"Why?" she asked in frustration. "It's just a house."
"It's not just a house; it's my life. It's everything I have. But you need to go now. Don't worry about me."
"I can't leave without you."
"Well, you can't stay. You'll get stuck here."
She let out a breath of frustration, wishing her brothers were in town or her dad had come with her. She couldn't forcibly carry her grandfather to her car, but she didn't think there was any other way he was going to go with her.
Max strode to the door and opened it. The gusty wind blew a shower of rain into the entry. "Go now," he ordered.
She walked over to the door and shut it. "I'm not leaving you, Grandpa."
"I don't have enough food and water for both of us, and your dad will want your help at the diner. If the storm gets worse, people will evacuate, and they'll be needing hot food."
"That's true, and I should be there, but if you're staying, I'm staying."
He glared at her. "Don't be disrespectful."
"I'm not. I'm trying to make sure you stay as healthy as you are. I cannot let you get cut off from the world and be out here all by yourself."
A blast of wind hit the house so hard the windows rattled and the door burst open. She heard something that sounded like thunder but soon realized that the house was shaking, that one corner of the ceiling in the living room was shattering.
Her grandfather pushed her behind him as a huge tree came through the roof. Rain, branches and leaves rained down around them.
The shock of the tree, the wind, the rain, and the roof falling in stole her breath away. Finally, she said, "Grandpa, are you all right?" As he turned to face her, she saw blood on his face. "You're bleeding."
He put his fingers to his face. "It's nothing, just a cut."
"Come on, get whatever you need for the next few days, and we'll go to Dad's house."
"I can't leave the house like this. Rain is coming in everywhere."
"You can't stay here now," she said, shocked he was still hesitating.
"I need to cover things up. There are tarps in the basement." He was down the hall and through the basement door before she could stop him. When he came up with the tarps, she could see water dripping off the hems of his sweatpants.
"Is there water in the basement?" she asked.
"Help me," he said, throwing her a tarp.
She followed him back into the living room, noting that he'd avoided answering her question. For the next few minutes, they pulled furniture into the far side of the room, away from where the roof had fallen in, and then covered it with the tarps, anchoring them down with heavy books from the shelves.
"Pack a bag," she said. "We need to go." She walked over to the window and looked outside and suddenly realized it was too late to leave.
The water had risen around her car past the bottom of the doors and the road had to be at least several feet deep.
Her grandfather joined her at the window. "It will be all right, Bailey."
As if to make a mockery of his statement, another heavy branch came through the roof.
"It's not going to be all right. We need help."
"No one can make it down that road," he told her.
"Maybe someone with a boat," she suggested. "But Adam and Zane are out of town, dammit."
"Doesn't matter. No one can get a boat here in this current. It would be too dangerous. We have to wait for the river to go down."
Another tree branch came through the roof and the force shattered a nearby window. More rain sprayed into the room. She was already cold, and it had only been a few minutes. They could not stay here. There had to be a way out.
She took her phone out of her pocket and Ryder's name popped up first on her list of contacts. Relief ran through her. Ryder would know what to do. "I'm calling Ryder."
"I don't need a Westbrook's help."
"Oh, just stop it," she said, moving away from him. "I don't care about your ridiculous feud anymore."
Ryder picked up on the second ring. "Hey, Bailey."
"I'm in trouble," she said shortly.
"What's wrong?"
"I drove out to my grandfather's house to bring him back to my dad's house, but the river has flooded the road. It's several feet deep and the current is running fast. Grandpa doesn't think anyone can get a boat out here, at least not until it stops raining."
"I wouldn't think so. Has the water reached the house?"
"Not yet, but that could happen in the next few hours and that's not even all of it. A tree came through the roof."
"Are you both all right?"
"For now," she said, unable to keep the fear out of her voice. "But we can't stay here, and we can't get out. I really don't know what to do."
"Well, I do, Bailey. I'll come and get you in the helo," he said.
"Can you take it up in this storm?"
There was a slight hesitation on his end, then he said, "It will be fine."
His doubts made her worry even more, not just about her own situation, but about what Ryder now wanted to do. "We can wait until the storm lessens," she said. "You don't have to do it now. Maybe the river will go down when the rain stops."
"I'm going to head to the airport. I'll check the weather and wind conditions, and then I'll come and get you."
Her hand gripped the phone as she was torn apart by conflicting emotions. If she was the only one trapped, she could survive, but she wasn't as sure about her grandfather. He'd sat down on the arm of a chair, and he was dabbing at the blood on his face with a napkin. Despite his tough appearance, he was ninety-three years old, and she didn't know how long he could survive in the cold and the rain.
"I don't want anything to happen to you, Ryder. I don't want you to risk your life for me."
"I know what I'm doing, Bailey. You don't have to worry about me. I'll call you back when I get to the airport. If for some reason, we lose contact, keep an eye out for me."
"Okay," she said. "But please be safe."
"We're both going to be safe."
She really hoped he was right.
* * *
"What's going on?" Ford asked Ryder, as he got up from the living room couch where he'd spent the night.
They'd gone to Baldie's after dinner and had thrown back a few drinks, and his cousin had decided to stay at his house rat
her than go to his parents' home.
"Bailey and her grandfather are stranded at her grandfather's house. A tree came through the roof and the road is impassable. She doesn't know if the river will reach the house, but it's possible. I need to get them."
Ford snapped fully awake at his words. "The storm is raging, Ryder. You can't take the helo up in this."
"I'm going to the airport. I'll wait for a break in the wind and then I'll go."
"With who?" Ford challenged.
"I don't know yet. I'll have to see who I can find. But if no one is available, I have a remote control on the helo. I can operate the bucket by myself."
"That would be incredibly dangerous both for you and for them."
He couldn't disagree, but he also couldn't let anything happen to Bailey.
"I'll come with you," Ford offered.
He immediately shook his head. "I can't let you do that."
"You're not letting me do anything," Ford said. "I'm coming. Don't argue."
He didn't want to risk his cousin's life, but also knew it would be less dangerous to have Ford operate the bucket while he kept the helo steady. With the force of the wind, that wouldn't be easy. "All right. Thanks."
Within minutes, they were dressed and ready for action. The drive to the airport did not give him confidence in being able to take the helo up. The wind was howling, and the rain was still coming down in sheets of water. But the storm also reminded him that Bailey and her grandfather's situation was getting more precarious by the minute.
When they got to the airport, no one was there. They'd cancelled the two flights coming in that day an hour earlier and everyone had gone home. But the helo was sitting on the pad, ready to fly when he could.
For the next hour, he and Ford kept an eye on the weather conditions. He was antsy, eager to get out there and get Bailey, but while he was willing to push the envelope, he had to be smart. If something happened to him, it would make everything worse for her.
"You're in love with her," Ford said with a gleam in his eyes. "Last night you said you cared about her, but this is serious, isn't it?"
"As serious as it gets. I can't lose her, Ford, at least not this way."
"What does that mean?"
"It means I don't know if she should stay in Eagle's Ridge. You tasted her food. She has real talent, talent that should have a bigger stage than this town. I want her to stay, but I don't know if it's the right thing for her."
"It's her decision, Ryder. She gets to choose."
"I know. I just want her to be happy, to have her dreams. They were big enough to take her away from here before."
"Dreams change. What she wanted before may not be what she wants now. You need to talk to her."
"I will—as soon as I get her back safe and sound." He checked the weather again. Finally, the wind speeds had decreased. It looked like they had a small window of time to make their rescue.
He called Bailey, relieved that her phone was still working. "I'm leaving now," he said. "I should be there within ten to fifteen minutes. Can you get out to the deck?"
"Yes. But there are trees all around," she said, worry in her voice.
"That's okay. I can hang above the tree line."
"Are you sure it's safe?"
"Trust me," he said. "I'm not going to let anything happen to you."
"Don't let anything happen to you, either," she implored.
"I'll see you soon."
Eighteen
"Ryder is coming to get us," she told her grandfather, both relieved and worried there was a plan.
He didn't look happy with her words, but she didn't care. He'd spent the past hour trying to tell her how they could stay in the bedroom until the storm ended, but the entire house was freezing and wet, and her grandfather had already started to cough.
She'd gotten her father on the phone earlier and explained that they were trapped and that Ryder was going to fly in when he could, but she needed her dad to talk her grandfather into leaving. That had ended in a shouting match between the two of them. Then her grandfather had spent the next twenty minutes arguing with her.
"That damn Westbrook fool is going to kill all of us," Max muttered. "Taking a helicopter up in a storm like this is nonsense."
"Ryder is not a fool; he knows what he's doing," she retorted. "You're the one acting like an idiot. Ryder is a brave, courageous man, who is willing to risk his life to come and get us. And his cousin, Ford, is coming, too, another person willing to put his life on the line for two Tuckers. Have you considered that at all?"
"They're coming to get you, not me. Ryder is in love with you. Anyone can see that."
Her heart swelled with her grandfather's words. "I don't know if it's love, but—"
"Now who's being the idiot? And you're in love with him. I can't believe it." He shook his head in amazement. "A Tucker loving a Westbrook—how could this happen? You're going to end up being one of them—my own granddaughter."
"Maybe Ryder will end up being one of us. Why don't you look at it that way? And while we're talking about it, are you going to sell Ryder the land for the runway or not?"
"I'm still thinking."
"No, you're just trying to torture Ryder, and it's not nice. You know that land is worth nothing to you, and our family will benefit as much as Ryder will from the airport expansion. So why don't you stop thinking through the haze of sixty-five years of anger and do what's right?"
He stared back at her. "You've got a mouth on you."
"I've also got brains and a heart. And I got them from you, Grandpa. At least, I thought I did. I hope you're going to prove me right."
Before he could answer, she got a text on her phone from Ryder and heard the buzz of a helicopter. "He's here. Let's go out on the deck."
She grabbed the overnight bag she'd insisted her grandfather pack. He'd put in a couple of clothing items as well as scrapbooks, photos and his banking information. She hoped when the storm ended, and they came back to the house, he'd be able to get everything that meant something to him. If many more trees came through the roof, everything could be lost. But right now, it was his life she was concerned about.
When they got onto the deck, she saw the helicopter approaching the house. It was still raining, and the wind was gusting, but it wasn't nearly as bad as it had been.
As the helicopter came overhead, she could see Ryder at the controls and Ford near the open door. A moment later, a large bucket was lowered down.
It blew wildly in the wind, and she was a little terrified that this was their only way out. "I don't know if I can do this," she muttered.
Her grandfather grabbed her hand and gave it a squeeze. "You'll be okay," he told her, reminding her now of the strong man she'd always looked up to.
"I know," she said, drawing in a breath. "You're getting in first, Grandpa."
"You go, then I'll follow."
She shook her head. "You won't follow. You'll go back in the house, and I won't let that happen. I need you, Grandpa. I need you to live." As the basket reached them, she let go of her grandfather and grabbed it. "Get in. And for God's sake, don't argue anymore. The longer this takes, the more danger we'll all be in."
He must have sensed she was at the end of her rope, because he reluctantly got in the bucket. She put the overnight bag in the bucket with him, then gave Ford a thumbs up. She held her breath as the bucket was slowly raised above the trees, and her grandfather was pulled safely into the helicopter. Then it was her turn.
When the basket came down again, it took all her guts to get inside. The ride was as frightening as she'd imagined, and she was about six feet off the ground when the wind suddenly gusted, knocking the bucket into the trees. She ducked her head, holding on tight, terrified that she might get thrown out.
But seconds later, she was moving upward again. The rain came down harder on her head as the basket moved up and over the trees. She closed her eyes, praying they'd all make it.
Finally, Ford was pull
ing her into the helicopter with a reassuring smile. "It got a little exciting there for a minute."
She tried to smile back but fell woefully short. "Thanks for not dumping me out."
"Ryder wouldn't have liked that," he joked, handing her a blanket.
She wrapped the blanket around her shoulders and sat next to her grandfather, putting her hand in his as Ryder flew them back to the airport.
When they landed, Ford helped her grandfather out of the helicopter and over to Ryder's car, while Ryder gave her a tight hug of relief and a hot kiss that warmed her cold, trembling lips.
"Thank you," she said. "You saved our lives. The water was getting higher by the minute."
He gazed into her eyes. "There's no way I was going to lose you. Come on, let's get you somewhere safe and dry. He put his arm around her and led her to the Jeep.
They dropped Ford at his parents' house, with more expressions of gratitude for his part in the rescue, and then headed toward her dad's place.
As they went across the bridge, she saw plywood over two of the front windows of the diner, but there were lots of cars in the parking lot. The storm had not dampened business. She pulled out her phone and punched in her dad's number.
"Bailey?" he said, tension in his voice.
"We're safe," she reassured him. "Grandpa and I are on our way to your house. He's fine. I'm fine. It's all good."
"Thank God. I haven't been able to breathe, wondering what was happening."
"How's it going at the diner?"
"Aside from losing a few windows, we're good. I'll be home in a few hours."
"No rush. We're okay." She'd no sooner finished speaking when Ryder parked in front of her father's house.
She helped her grandpa inside and insisted he take a hot shower. While he was doing that, she put his overnight bag in the bedroom that had once belonged to Adam and Zane and was now the official guest room. Then she moved into her bedroom, stripped off her wet clothes, dried her hair, and put on yoga pants and a long sweater.
When she returned to the living room, she saw Ryder in the kitchen and heard the kettle singing.
"Do you want some tea or hot chocolate?" he asked, as she entered the room. "I found both in your father's cupboards."
Ryder (7 Brides for 7 Soldiers Book 1) Page 17