I closed my eyes, feeling the worst kind of awful. “Both. They aren’t that far apart, and we had more than one touchdown.”
Behind me, the newsroom was a riot of sound as reporters touched base with their families, and editors began planning our coverage. Most likely, they’d want to send all of us out to different parts of town. I’d make sure I got her parents’ neighborhood so I could verify her family was okay as soon as humanly possible.
Despite all the noise, Edie’s voice was my whole world as I broke the news.
“Oh my God,” she cried. “What if … what if—” she couldn’t seem to say the words, but I understood. What if they were hurt? What if they were dead? “I’ll never get to make things right. I’ll never get to fix anything. Why didn’t I talk to them, apologize again … do something?”
Her voice was thick with tears and regret, and I felt guilt unfurl in my belly. She wouldn’t be in this situation if it weren’t for me. But for once, I couldn’t make this about me. Edie was focusing on the worst possible outcome, and I needed to bring her back from the edge.
“Edie, calm down,” I said firmly. “They could be fine. Your dad’s house has a basement, right?”
She shuddered a breath. “Yes. But my mom—”
“I know.”
A mobile home was the worst possible place to be when a tornado struck. Still, I didn’t have a visual on the damage.
“Look, we don’t know much yet, but I’ll be going out to cover the storm. Her home might not have been hit, okay? Don’t panic yet. I’ll update you as soon as possible.”
“Okay.”
“I’ll call you when I know something. Are you somewhere safe?”
“Yeah, I’m at Wilde’s. We went to the basement.”
“Do you have somewhere to go tonight? A ride to get there?”
“Nick! Wrap it up!” Tanya called behind me.
I took a quick glance around. A few reporters were still on the phone, but most of them were making their way to the center of the room to take assignments.
I nodded and held up a finger while I made sure Edie was okay first.
“I’m good.”
“Okay, I gotta go—”
“Nick. Wait!”
“Yeah?”
“Is your family okay? I should have asked sooner, I’m sorry.”
“They’re okay. They were outside the storm’s path. Lily and Jaime’s houses weren’t hit, either,” I said.
I was a little hesitant to bring up Jaime, but I didn’t want her to worry needlessly.
“That’s great, thank you,” she said, her voice full of relief. “What about Tequila? She’s down on Barber Road on the far south end of town. The tornado hit in the south, right?”
I already knew where Tequila lived. I’d given her a ride home more than once, even met her family after the lake party fiasco. They were a little concerned about an older guy taking an interest in their daughter, but once they heard how we met and probably realized how hung up I was on Edie, it wasn’t a problem. Tequila needed positive support in her life, and I was happy to be a good influence for once.
“Yeah, but not that far south. She should be okay, assuming she was home. Maybe you could call her? Let me know if you don’t get through and I’ll make sure. I should probably make sure my family was home, too.”
I pulled out my cellphone to see I had a missed call from Tony. “Yeah, looks like Tony tried to call. I should let them know I’m fine. I’ll be in touch, okay?”
“Okay.” She sounded fully shaken up, and I could picture her chewing off all her nails until she heard from me.
“Try not to imagine the worst,” I added.
She sniffled. “Thanks, Nick. Thank you for looking out for me and my family. Lil is trying to call. I better take it and let her know I’m okay.”
“I’ll always be looking out for you, Edie,” I said softly.
I wanted to tell her how much she meant to me, how much I regretted all the stupid things I’d done to screw up our friendship. But now wasn’t the time.
“Talk to you soon. Take care.”
I hung up and sent a quick text to Tony letting him know I was okay and checking the status of the family. I joined the group gathered around Tanya as she talked about her plan for the evening, and was relieved when a text buzzed through that my family was safe.
“Damn, I could use an extra reporter right about now,” Tanya muttered. “Reg, I want you to cover the weather side of this. Talk to the weather service, get any and all info you can on how much warning residents got—”
“Tanya?” I cut in. “I’d like to help cover the hit zone, specifically the southwest side.”
She nodded. “Sean’s on emergency crews, casualties and other development. Nick, put your narrative skills to use. I want the emotional impact of the storm to come through.”
She continued to hand out assignments, and Sean nudged me. “Wanna roll together?”
I nodded, and we headed for the door.
Before leaving, I paused by Beth Dunn, the reporter assigned to talking to the hospitals about casualties coming in. I ripped out a page of my notebook paper while Sean stopped to watch. Quickly, I scribbled Edie’s parents’ names down.
“Please check on these names when you make the hospital calls, and let me know right away if any of them are admitted.”
Beth flicked a look down at the list, her fingers still on the keyboard. “Sure, Nick.”
I squeezed her shoulder in appreciation and strolled out with Sean.
As soon as we were in the car, I pulled up Edie’s parents’ numbers on my cell just to see if I could get through, but there was no answer at either number.
“Family?” he asked quietly, as he started the car and headed toward the storm’s wreckage on the south side of town.
“Edie’s family. Mine’s fine. How about yours?”
“They’re all good. Close call, though.” He shook his head in disbelief. “You know, I’ve lived in Kansas all my life, and this is the first time a tornado ever hit close to home. I am sure as hell freaked the fuck out.”
“Tell me about it,” I muttered, watching through the windshield as debris began to clutter the sides of the road. Eventually, Sean had to stop because an entire downed tree blocked the road.
We both stepped out of the car and stared at the devastation.
“Jesus,” Sean breathed.
I stared at the torn landscape, my eyes not quite making sense of what I was seeing. The trees just … stopped, their branches lopped off. Street signs were down and buildings were piles of rubble. My eyes strained to see the missing pieces of buildings and trees on the horizon, but there was nothing. It was like an unfinished picture.
I couldn’t even get a bearing on exactly where we were. I felt like I’d stepped into another world.
“What block is this?”
As stunning as this was, I had a mission and a promise to uphold. I had to find Edie’s parents, if possible.
“Should be Walnut …” Sean shook his head. “Not that you can tell. Man, okay. We better start walking. The station told me they were setting up a disaster zone a couple of blocks from here.”
“I’m gonna part ways here,” I told him. “I’m headed over toward 15th. Text me when you need to go back to the office.”
Sean frowned. “Be careful. The street is full of debris. Don’t go stepping on a nail or some shit.”
“Ditto.”
I turned left and began weaving my way toward the little house where Edie’s father lived, which was closest.
***
This was our town as I’d never seen it, and as a writer, I was already cataloguing it all in my mind — for tonight’s coverage or for a future column.
The streets were full of people. They’d poured from their homes after the storm, checking on damage, talking to neighbors, shaking with shock. They buzzed with questions, and many of them — spotting the reporter’s notebook — converged on me.
&nb
sp; I told them what I could, which was little. The storm had hit the south and west sides of town; there’d been multiple touchdowns; they were setting up shelters at the First Methodist Church on 5th Street, and probably some others. I pointed them toward the emergency responder checkpoint where Sean had gone.
I did my job, taking down their names and their stories, but I didn’t forget about Edie’s parents. Continuing to weave around debris, I continued toward Ballinger Street. And finally, I made it to their block, and watched as a shuttle pulled to a stop. It was from a local hotel, The Comfort Lodge.
I approached as the driver stepped out of the van and began talking to residents.
“The Comfort Lodge was not hit by the storm. We have 20 rooms open, and we’re offering them to you folks on a first come, first serve basis. If you need a place to stay, grab a few things and climb on the shuttle. We’ve partnered with the restaurant next door, the Red Hen, and they are offering a courtesy breakfast to all storm victims.”
I scribbled quickly, stepping forward when I spotted Deb Mason approaching the man.
“My husband and I would love a room. We have to get a few things. Can you save our spot?”
I glanced at her house behind us. There was definitely damage. Windows broken out, the entryway collapsed inward.
The man nodded and handed her a voucher, and turned to talk to other neighbors drifting over to hear the news.
“We just want to do our part for the community,” he said.
“Deb!” I called, as she turned toward the door. As a reporter, I’d gotten in the habit of calling everyone — whether a respected judge or a high school teacher — by their first name.
She turned, her eyes widening. “Nick, you out here covering the news?”
I caught up with her, and we walked toward the house. She turned down the side yard. With the front entrance crumbled, I figured we’d go to the back. But then I saw, as we rounded the house, that the back porch had collapsed and completely buried that entrance.
She stopped in front of a window, and I glanced in to see the master bedroom.
“Partly. But I’m here, specifically, for Edie.”
“Edie? Well, she’s not here,” Deb said. “But while you’re here … can you help me get Paul out?”
I peered past her shoulder. Paul sat on the bed, resting against the wall. The lighting was poor, but he looked haggard.
“Should he go to a hospital?”
She hooked a leg over the window sill and slipped inside. “No. He’s just in pain. But it’s the usual kind he lives with every day.”
I stepped through the window, scraping my spine along the window sill when I didn’t duck enough. Gritting my teeth against the sting, I said: “How well can he move? Is this the only option for an exit?”
She pursed her lips. “There’s the garage.”
She shook her head and laughed. “I should have thought of that before. I was just so anxious to get outside and when the doors were blocked I panicked and ran for the nearest window.”
She shook her head. “Silly.”
“Not at all. You were in shock. Is the garage this way?” I asked, gesturing toward the other end of the house.
She nodded. “Just off the laundry room.”
She paused by Paul, and took his hand, squeezing it. “We’ll leave soon, honey. We get to stay at a hotel, isn’t that great?”
Deb was showing me a side I hadn’t seen when I came to interview her about Edie. She could be caring. Just not about Edie. I hadn’t failed to notice that although she misinterpreted my explanation for being here, she didn’t express any concern or even curiosity about where her step-daughter might be immediately after a tornado hit town.
Paul nodded and mumbled a quiet affirmation he understood Deb, but he didn’t seem to have much energy.
“Hi, Paul,” I said, realizing I should have greeted him sooner. I stepped closer and patted a knee. “I’m just going to make sure the garage door will open, and then I’ll be back for you. We’ll get you guys on your way.”
Just as I reached the door, Paul’s voice called out. “Is Edie okay, do you know?”
I turned, relieved to find a parent who cared. “She’s okay. Shaken up, and worried about you, but okay.”
“Worried? She hasn’t even called—” Deb started, the sour look returning to her face, and I cut her short.
“The phone lines are down. I came here to check on you, and I promised to get some news back to her pronto, so I’d better hurry.”
Ten minutes later, I watched the Masons climb on the shuttle, packed up with a few belongings. Honestly, their house was mostly intact, outside of the entrances. But you never knew how unstable it might be. No doubt it had lost power; I could see power lines down all over the street.
I had enough notes for a story already, and I needed to get to the next parent on my list, and the one I was most worried about: Edie’s mom, Sheila Staples. Just as I’d reached the end of the block and turned right, my cell rang.
“This is Nick.”
“Nick, it’s Beth.”
“Shit.”
She sighed. “Yeah. One of the people on your list, Ray Staples? He’s been admitted. He’s apparently in stable condition, but I couldn’t learn much with HIPPA health laws about privacy.”
“I know, I know. Sheila wasn’t on the list?”
“Nope.”
“Okay, thanks a bunch.”
I shot off a text to Sean to see if he could pick me up and drop me at the hospital. After he replied he would be free in a minute, I messaged him my intersection and sat down on the curb after carefully inspecting it for broken glass or rusty nails.
Taking a deep breath, I scrolled through the contacts to Edie’s name and pressed call.
Sean pulled up a few minutes into our call, and I stood up and climbed in the car without disturbing her. We’d mostly gone over the good news that her dad and step-mom were fine.
“What about my mom?” she asked.
I glanced over to see Sean watching me with interest. “I don’t know yet.”
“Oh.”
“But Ray has been admitted to the hospital.”
Her voice broke. “Oh.”
I hurried ahead to keep her from a meltdown. “A reporter at my office confirmed he’d been admitted, and she was told he was in stable condition. Okay? But I don’t have any more details yet, so you should probably head over there. Do you have a ride?”
“Um … I…”
“I can come get you.”
Sean shook his head at me. “We have deadlines,” he muttered.
I ignored him. Edie wasn’t taking me up on the offer anyway.
“I have a ride,” she said. “Thank you so much, Nick. I know you must be crazy busy with the news coverage.”
“Ha! As if Nick writes news,” Sean said sarcastically, apparently eavesdropping. I could hardly blame him. He was a reporter; it was second nature.
“Sorry,” I said. “That was just the asshole cops reporter who ignored you the day you came to the office to yell at me.”
And also interrupted our very intimate, very hot make-out session. I decided it wasn’t the best time to bring up that memory.
I smiled, though, remembering her angry visit to the newsroom rather fondly. Sean twirled a finger by his head to let me know I was crazy. He was probably right.
“Hard to picture him standing up to cops when he couldn’t even deal with an angry high school graduate.”
I busted a gut laughing, and Sean grudgingly smiled as he flipped me the bird.
“He acknowledges your superior wit by flipping me off,” I said into the phone.
“I better go,” she said, our moment of levity over.
“Hey, be careful on the way over. The streets are weird.”
“Aye aye, Captain. Take care of yourself, too.”
“You got it.”
CHAPTER 18
EDIE
I rushed into the hospital after begging
Logan to drive me from Wilde’s. I owed him even more tips. The guy was like a bookie in training; by summer’s end he’d be threatening to break my legs unless I gave him his 5Gs.
I was vaguely aware of Logan trailing me. He said something about coming in to make sure I had a ride home. I guess he had a tiny bit of chivalry in him — unless he was going to take that out of my tips, too. I wouldn’t put it past him.
I was too busy imagining a thousand horrible scenarios to care about my tips just then, or whether Logan was keeping up as I ran to the counter. Nick had told me Ray was here, but he didn’t know what happened to my mom. If she was a patient, he would know … so that was good. But if she was dead, she wouldn’t be a patient. That terrified me.
I made a beeline for the counter, and leaned around the middle-aged guy filling out some forms.
“My step-dad was brought in,” I said. “Ray Staples?”
I said his name like it was a question. But the triage nurse understood the real question. What now?
“Let me see …” she murmured, and tapped a few keys.
“Edie.”
Nick!
I whirled so fast, I made myself dizzy. Surprise and relief crashed over me. Here was someone who could tell me what to do.
I stumbled a step, and went with it, falling into his chest and hugging him tightly. I knew, at some level, we weren’t supposed to do this, that our friendship was awkward and distant. But I was too emotional to care about those barriers.
“I didn’t know you’d be here,” I said thickly into his neck.
Nick wrapped his arms around me, holding me tight. He smoothed a hand over my hair. “I had to come.”
A whimper of sound escaped me as I tried to restrain the emotions crashing through me.
“Shh, it’s okay,” he said. “Hey, you’re shaking. You need to calm down.”
Over my shoulder the triage nurse spoke. “Do you still need the info on Ray Staples?”
“Is he still in surgery?” Nick asked.
I heard the nurse give the affirmative. I pulled back to get a better look at Nick. He looked worried.
“My mom … is she—”
My eyes filled with tears, and I swallowed hard against the urge to sob. Nick pulled me close for another hug, rubbing my back.
Earning Edie (Espinoza Boys #1) Page 24