Читать книгу Second Chance at Love - Irene Brand - Страница 11

Amelia decided to accept the inevitable. She wouldn’t be able to avoid contact with Chase, but she was determined to prevent him from hurting her again.

“While you load provisions in the Jeep, I’ll bring my laptop,” she said, praying that her casual tone would convince Chase that he was no more to her than a business acquaintance. Which was true, wasn’t it? “I can use the computer to record our findings,” she added.

Amelia went to her makeshift bedroom for the laptop and a hooded plastic parka, because more rain was predicted today. She filled a tote bag with personal items she might need.

Seated in a camouflaged Jeep, Chase waited in front of the church, and he handed her a white Disaster Relief vest with a red band around the bottom and a large red cross on the back. “We have to wear these all the time when we’re out on a volunteer mission.”

The Jeep didn’t have any doors, just a fabric roof, so Amelia climbed in beside Chase and adjusted the seat belt. She removed a woolen cloche from her tote and put it on her head. She pitched the tote into the back seat, opened her laptop, steadying it on her knees.

“Let’s go,” she said.

How could a man wearing a heavy woolen jacket, jeans, a pair of rubber boots and a hat covered with plastic appear attractive? On Chase, the work clothes lent an air of masculinity that enhanced his handsome features.

Thunder sounded in the distance and a few sprinkles accumulated on the windshield.

“It was a good idea to bring your parka. I have a raincoat on the back seat if I need it,” he said.

Chase nosed the Jeep toward the edge of the mountain and down the steep incline toward the river valley. After driving a few miles eastward on the paved highway, he turned left on a narrow, rutted, muddy road, and shifted into four-wheel drive. Red clay mud flew in all directions as, with difficulty, he maneuvered the Jeep upward along the hazardous mountain terrain.

“Are you sure this is the right road?” Amelia said as she clutched the seat with both hands.

“I’m beginning to wonder. Rick Smith said to take the first road to the left, but this must not have been the one he meant.” Glancing over his shoulder at the steep, crooked road, he said, “I can’t go back now.”

The road wound up and down and around the mountain, and within fifteen minutes, sweat dripped from Chase’s forehead into his eyes. Knowing he didn’t dare take his hands from the steering wheel, Amelia held on with one hand and took a handful of tissues from her pocket. She wiped the moisture from his face. Her fingers tingled when they brushed the day-old stubble of his whiskers, reminding her of the days when she’d awakened at his side, her smooth face resting against his scratchy one.

“Thanks,” he said.

His words stuck in his throat as they entered a sharp dip and the front wheels of the Jeep dropped into a demolished culvert. The decline was so sudden that, in spite of her seat belt, Amelia’s body bounced forward and her head hit the windshield.

“Ouch!” she said.

Struggling to pull the Jeep out of the gaping ditch, Chase couldn’t spare her a glance, but he asked quickly, “Are you hurt?”

“Not much. Don’t worry about me. Just get out of the ditch. I’d hate to be stranded up here.”

In an attempt to control the twisting and turning vehicle as it writhed like a serpent in the sticky, reddish mud, Chase gunned the engine and gripped the steering wheel until his knuckles whitened. When he maneuvered the Jeep to level ground, Chase stopped and lowered his head on the wheel, his shoulders heaving as he struggled for breath.

“I don’t know if I can take much more of this. I’ve never driven on such a road.”

“Road? This isn’t a road—it’s a disaster!” Amelia took a small bottle of water from her tote. “Want a drink?”

“And how!” Chase said. He unscrewed the lid and gulped more than half of the water. “I don’t know what to do now, but I guess we’ll keep going forward—it couldn’t be any worse than retracing our route.”

“I shouldn’t think so,” Amelia agreed.

Shifting into gear, Chase said, “Talk to me while I drive. You’re too quiet.”

Torn by conflicting emotions, Amelia chose her words carefully. “This road has scared me silent, and I don’t know what to say to you, anyway. Maybe you haven’t been upset by our surprise reunion, but it’s been awkward for me. I don’t want to talk about the past, and this flood disaster isn’t a pleasant subject.”

“Then talk about your parents. How are they?”

“I don’t see much of them. You know that Mother and Dad had been married ten years when I was born, and they’d already molded their marriage without a child. When I went home after our divorce, Mother insisted that I move into my own apartment. I assumed that a divorced daughter was an embarrassment to them, that their friends would think they hadn’t guided me correctly. Since I didn’t think they’d want me living in the same town, I moved out of state. After Dad retired, they sold their holdings in Illinois and moved to Hilton Head permanently. I never did fit into their plans. I used to resent that, but I’ve gotten over it.”

As she continued, Chase wondered if she had come to terms with her parents’ neglect.

“To make up for their lack of devotion, they offered to give me a generous monthly allowance to cover all my needs. They didn’t like it when I got a job. I convinced them that I can make it on my own, but they still shower me with gifts. They bought a new Buick, which I didn’t want, for Christmas. I make enough money to buy a car when I need one, but I was perfectly satisfied with my five-year-old Volkswagen.”

Her parents had liked Chase and, without knowing the circumstances, had blamed Amelia for the divorce. She’d remained silent, letting them believe what they wanted to. On the other hand, Chase’s parents had always resented Amelia, and were pleased when he, in their words, “got rid of her.”

In spite of his preoccupation with the difficult driving, Chase remembered that Amelia’s parents had bought costly, and often inappropriate, gifts for her birthday and Christmas, but that hadn’t compensated for the lack of their presence. After they’d spent thousands of dollars to give Amelia a lavish wedding, they seemed to think they’d done their duty by her. They occasionally stopped to see Amelia and Chase, but only for brief visits on their way to business conferences or frequent vacations. The Stones took a cruise each Christmas, and Amelia had spent few holidays with her parents after graduating from high school. And since his parents didn’t like Amelia, Chase hadn’t gone home for holidays, either, until after their divorce.

After a mile or two of torturous travel, the mountain road dipped into a hollow and joined a graveled road along a creek. Only a scant amount of water remained on the road, but the creek was still bank-full. Abandoned railroad tracks lay along the bank of the stream. Evidence of disaster was everywhere. The floodwaters had covered housetops, and rain-soaked curtains drooped drearily from open windows that had been broken by the swift current. Chain-link fences had been torn out by the deadly torrent, the metal twisted together and dumped in mutilated heaps beside the creek bed.

As they drove slowly upstream, Chase said worriedly, “I wonder if I took the wrong road. Rick said there was a town up this hollow.”

“If so, the residents might have perished in the flood. Not many people could have survived this deluge,” Amelia said.

They reached a spot where the strong water had stripped off the surface of the road, and Chase braked abruptly. For several yards, only two or three feet of roadbed separated two yawning ditches filled with pieces of pavement and foul-smelling water. A sharp curve blocked their view of what lay before them.

“Looks like the end of the road. I’ll walk for a mile or so to see if I can find any survivors,” Chase said.

Amelia unlocked her seat belt and stepped out of the vehicle into an inch of water on the roadbed.

“You don’t have to go,” Chase protested.

“This is a joint venture,” she replied. “I’ll do my part.”

Shifting the Jeep into Reverse, Chase backed up cautiously until he found a place wide enough to turn the vehicle. Although it hadn’t started raining yet, the clouds looked ominous, and he wanted to be headed out of this hollow if there was another cloudburst. He pocketed the keys, adjusted a heavy pack filled with food and first-aid supplies over his back. He hurried to join Amelia, who’d already crossed the narrow pathway and waited for him.

In places, they walked through water, and Amelia was thankful for her heavy boots. After they’d journeyed about a mile, Chase suggested that they turn around, but Amelia pointed to a spiral of smoke ahead of them. She was already tired from the unfamiliar exertion, but her steps quickened. She was both eager and fearful to learn the condition of the town’s residents.

After rounding another bend in the road, they climbed a small hill and saw several buildings scattered haphazardly at the head of the hollow. Some houses had been washed off their foundations, outbuildings were now piles of shattered wood, tops of automobiles projected from the creek, a thick layer of black mud covered the ground, plastic bottles and other debris hung from tree branches. Chase pointed at a ramshackle mine shaft and tipple on the mountainside behind the houses.

“According to Rick Smith,” he said, “this used to be a coal town, but the mine was abandoned several years ago. The coal company let the people buy their houses at a reasonable cost.”

Amazingly, a debris-covered bridge still straddled the stream, but water lapped at the wooden floor. Chase tested the stability of the bridge by taking a few uncertain steps on the wet surface.

“Careful!” Amelia cautioned him, holding her breath.

“It’s safe enough,” Chase said, and he took Amelia’s hand and held it tightly as they crossed the wobbly structure.

They sank ankle-deep into the black mud that sucked at their feet as they walked up the town’s one street. Layers of mud and trash covered the ground. Cars were tangled in a net of mud and dead trees. Except for the swirling echoes of the still-swollen stream, a deadly silence greeted them. A few dwellings had collapsed under the force of the water, which had also forced doors and windows open on the remaining houses.

“Anybody home?” Chase called several times.

At first, the town seemed deserted, until they heard the faint sound of music. Momentarily, Amelia and Chase stared at one another in amazement, before they broke into a run, following the curve of the street. Disbelieving, they stopped in their tracks.

A two-story house had been torn in two by the energy of the water, and the lean-to rear section had toppled to the ground. The half-house seemed sturdy, smoke drifted upward from its chimney, and on the front porch, an elderly man sat in a rocking chair, eyes closed, strumming a banjo.

“Hello!” Chase said.

The man’s eyes popped open, and his chin dropped several inches.

“Where on earth did you come from?” he said. Laying aside his banjo, and favoring his presumably arthritic knees, he clambered off the porch. The squat man, who looked as if he were in his eighties, grabbed Chase’s hand.

“Young feller, I’ve never been so glad to see anyone in my life. You got any water? I ain’t had a drink for three days.”

Without waiting for Chase to remove the backpack, Amelia unzipped it, took out a bottle of water, uncapped it and handed it to the man. While the clear liquid gurgled down his throat, she unwrapped two granola bars and handed them to him. His hands were filthy, but he held the bars in the wrapper and ate them. The way he wolfed the food indicated that he probably hadn’t eaten for three days, either.

He leaned against the porch and motioned toward the mine shaft. “An old sedimentation pond broke open and spilled gallons of slurry into our houses and polluted our wells. I’ve been afraid to eat or drink anything.”

Amelia handed him some antibacterial hand wipes. While he cleaned his hands, she quickly peeled an orange and gave the sections to him.

He ate greedily, but between bites, he said, “‘Scuse my manners, but hunger and thirst was about to get to me.”

“What happened to all of your neighbors?” Chase asked.

He shook his head worriedly. “There’s only twenty-five folks living here now. Some of them were gone when the flood struck, so I suppose they’re staying with family. A few others took to the hills before the water surrounded their houses, and walked over the mountain to their kin. I watched the creek rise, and I stayed as long as I could. When it got to the edge of my yard, I grabbed my banjo and climbed the mountain. I stayed up there in an old lean-to until the water went down.”

“Why was the banjo more important to you than your other possessions?” Amelia asked, wondering about his choice.

“This was my daddy’s banjo,” he said, patting the instrument fondly. “I prize it more than anything else I have.”

“The Red Cross has a shelter set up not far from Williamson,” Chase said. “We have a Jeep parked down the road about a mile, and we can take you to the shelter.”

“No, thanks.”

“But, Mr….” Chase paused. “I guess we haven’t been introduced. I’m Chase Ramsey, and this is Amelia Stone. We’re working with the Red Cross to help flood victims.”

“My name’s Willie Honaker. Call me Willie.”

“But, Willie, you shouldn’t stay here,” Amelia said. “The road has washed away, and no vehicles can drive up the hollow to bring fuel or food for you.”

“I ain’t leavin’ my home. The forepart of the house is stable, and my fireplace is all right. The water didn’t get upstairs, and I’ve got a bed up there. I aim to watch over my things and protect my neighbors’ homes from thieves until they can come back. We ain’t got much left, but I’m staying here.”

Amelia slanted an apprehensive look toward Chase. It would be a long time before the road would be passable for any of these residents to come home, let alone any thieves.

“There’ll be government grants to help you rebuild, I’d imagine. In the meantime, you’d be more comfortable at the shelter,” she insisted.

Willie resumed his seat in the chair, and slowly rocked back and forth, shaking his head negatively. “Nope. I don’t want government help. I’ve been lookin’ after myself for a long time. If you’ve got any more water or candy bars, I’ll make do until some of my kin come to look about me.”

Not knowing how many other needy people they’d encounter before the day was over, Chase gave Willie only half of the provisions he carried.

Before they left, Chase explained to Willie about the hazardous road they’d encountered. “Is there an easier way to get back to Williamson?”

Willie’s clear black eyes widened in astonishment.

“Man, you surely didn’t take a road across the mountain!”

“Rick Smith said to take the first road to the left. That’s what I did.”

“You must have been on a log road, made by contractors who’ve timbered that mountain. How’d you do it?”

With an embarrassed laugh, Chase said, “It wasn’t easy.”

“Young feller, I’d say you’re a pretty good driver or you’d still be on top of the mountain. You just follow the road in the creek valley, and it’ll take you to the highway.”

Although he’d been in doubt about whether he should stay any longer in the disaster area, on the way back to the Jeep, Chase made up his mind. He received four weeks’ vacation each year, and he’d take part of it to help here. He would get in touch with the bank to make arrangements if he could find a place to use his cell phone.

Would Amelia be pleased that he was staying? As they plodded through the thick mud, he told Amelia the decision he’d made. She nodded without saying anything, and he couldn’t tell from her expression if she was annoyed, pleased or just didn’t care what he did. He compared the Amelia he’d known to the woman with him today.

Because Amelia’s mother had kept her in new clothes, and since she’d had an unlimited credit card, she’d set the fashion on campus. She’d bought anything that had caught her eye, and all clothes had looked good on her. Amelia hadn’t been a snob, but because of her affluence, she’d outclassed most of the other students. She’d been a beautiful girl, and he’d wanted her the first time he’d seen her.

The roadbed was narrow in places, and Amelia walked in front of him, allowing ample opportunity for Chase to consider the person she’d become—a tall, willowy woman with a resolute mouth, candid dark eyes and long, very straight, brown hair that, today, fell in scraggly tufts over her shoulders. In her college days, she wouldn’t have been caught dead looking as she did now. Soft rain had started, and they’d forgotten to bring their raincoats. Amelia’s heavy sweater was soaked. Her jeans were splashed with mud, and the boots that had been clean and shiny this morning were filthy. She limped from weariness, and Chase figured that Amelia had never spent such a miserable day. Yet she hadn’t complained once, and sympathy for Willie Honaker had brought tears to her eyes.

Chase knew that thinking of “what might have been” was futile, but momentarily he wondered what their lives would be like now if their marriage hadn’t failed and they’d continued to live together.

Amelia slipped in the mud, and he reached a hand to help her. She steadied herself without his assistance and moved on, unaware that he was watching her. Chase knew he couldn’t redeem the past, but what did he want from Amelia now? Was it too late for them to start over? Did he want another chance with Amelia?

While the idea stirred his emotions, he questioned if Amelia would welcome an opportunity to start over. He recalled her words when they’d left the lawyer’s office on the day their divorce had been finalized.

“When we married, Chase, I meant it when I said, ‘‘Til death do us part.’ But I couldn’t see any way out except for a divorce, and I’m glad it’s over. Please stay out of my life. I don’t want to see you again.”

He’d taken Amelia at her word and had made no effort to contact her. Had time caused a change in her feelings toward him, or did she still feel the same way?