Trapped in Tourist Town (24 page)

“He said he was on duty in the harbor. That he had to make sure no tourists were stupid enough to take their boats out with a storm coming up.”

“It's a start.” Burke stepped toward the door, only to have Cady jump in front of him.

“Are you crazy? You can't go back out in that. I can't—”

“Lose me? I'm going to be just fine. And I'm going to find a way to make your pain-in-the-ass brother owe me big time.”

“Oh, well, as long as your motives are noble.” The half-smile she pasted on trembled slightly. She looked torn between wanting to keep him from leaving and needing him to rescue her brother.

“I'm going to be okay. And Chase is going to be okay. Let me bring him back so you and Amanda can smother him together.”

“I'll call the station. Check again to see if they've heard from Chase yet. It's probably so crazy down there that they might have forgotten to let us know. I'll call you if I learn anything.”

Her hands were fisted at her sides and he knew she was terrified, not just for her brother but for him. Burke had to do this. Because somewhere along the way, Chase had become his family too.

Weren't thunderstorms supposed to be over relatively quickly? Burke tensed the muscles in his neck as another boom rumbled around him. If he wasn't careful, he'd end up a few inches shorter by the time he got out of the car. And this was just a summer squall. Who knew what he was in for when a hurricane decided to hit the coastal town? Or a blizzard. With a growing dread, he realized he'd really only seen Scallop Shores at its best.

Getting his bearings, Burke headed east, toward the harbor. Now that he was in town, the damage from the storm wasn't quite as devastating. Fewer trees meant fewer chances for downed power lines and broken branches. Lights glowed in the windows he passed, a sign that most residents were cozy and sheltered.

But where was Chase? The guy loved a good joke, and teased him incessantly, but he would never go so far as to worry his extremely pregnant wife into an early delivery. Okay, technically it wouldn't be early at this point. But Burke was damned sure that Chase intended to be there for every single moment of it.

Slowing to a crawl, since he wasn't going to aggravate anyone behind him with the road being empty, he scanned both sides. Chase's squad car wasn't along this stretch of beach. He hadn't seen it as he drove past the nicer boutique shops in this part of town. Following a hunch, Burke turned off on a residential street. He took note of each turn he made, so he could find his way back to the main road.

Burke was on his fourth right-hand turn. He was heading away from the water, uphill. How far was he from the middle of town? He blinked to refocus his gaze, as the windshield wipers were really starting to do a number on his vision. There! Parked in front of a little bungalow with a cobblestone walkway lined with rose bushes.

Granted, this could be anyone on the Scallop Shores police force. And if it wasn't Chase, then at least Burke had a new recruit to help him find Cady's brother. What the hell was he doing, having tea at someone's house? Burke sprinted from his borrowed car to the bungalow, rapping on the door and shuffling from one foot to the other as he shivered in the rain. Nothing. He pounded again, harder this time.

He heard movement inside, saw a shadow pass across the window. Still, it took this person ages to get to the door. Just as he was about to bang on the door again, it creaked open an inch. A rheumy eye peered suspiciously at him.

“Officer Eaton?”

“No, but I'm looking for him. Have you seen him? He's not answering his cell phone and his wife is scared to death.”

The door opened a bit wider. An old woman in a ratty purple bathrobe held the doorknob in a tight grip. Her other hand was curled around one of those canes that had four prongs for more stability. She looked confused, and this immediately set off warning bells for Burke.

“He's here. Well, he came here. He was going to help me get LouLou Tomkins out of the tree.” She looked around, as though trying to remember something more.

“Where's the tree, ma'am? In the backyard? How do I get there?”

“I must have dozed off. I'd forgotten he was here. Why hasn't he brought me my LouLou Tomkins yet? My precious little boy isn't used to scary storms. He's bound to be terrified.”

“Ma'am? The tree? How do I find Officer Eaton?”

“Well, it's in the backyard, of course.” She looked at him as though he were the one who was confused.

Burke closed his eyes, took a deep breath and tried again.

“Can I go around the house or will you need to let me in?”

“Boy, you're dripping wet. You can walk around the side of the house, same as Officer Eaton did. Don't come back without my cat.” And with that, she slammed the door.

Feeling like he was in some sort of low-budget screwball comedy, Burke wiped the rainwater out of his eyes and jogged around the side of the bungalow.

“Chase! Dude, you'd better have a damned good reason for hauling my ass out into this crazy freaking weather!”

Where the hell was he? The yard was lined with mostly pine trees. Had he tried to climb one of those? No, wait, there was one on the other side of the house, lots of branches. Burke ran across the grass, slipping and sliding in the mud and the muck.

Shit! He'd spotted Chase, lying at the base of the old tree. His leg was bent at a scary angle and he wasn't moving. Shit. Shit. Shit. When he'd pictured this scenario, he'd figured Chase had run out of gas somewhere and his phone had died. Something they could laugh about later. He wasn't laughing now.

“Aw, buddy, what the hell did you do? Amanda is going to have my ass if I don't get you to her in one piece.”

Burke dropped to the ground, shook his friend by the shoulder and grimaced when he didn't get a response. He slapped at Chase's face. Still nothing. What to do? He wasn't trained in first aid. Panic pushing bile up into his throat, Burke ripped open Chase's rain slicker. A startled hiss and a flash of fur had him flying backwards in surprise. He recovered quickly and leaned over the unconscious man.

“You try to give me mouth-to-mouth and I swear to God I will shoot you in the balls.”

“Jesus, Chase, you scared the hell out of me!”

“Yeah, seeing your mug leaning over my face wasn't much of a picnic either.” Chase's face was a nasty gray color and he looked as though he might pass out again at any moment.

“I'm no medic, but I think your leg is broken.”

“No shit. Here. Take this damned cat and bring it to Mrs. Moulton.” Chase moaned as he shifted so he could scoop the kitten out of the shelter of his coat and hand it to Burke.

“It's so tiny. Cute little furball.”

“Don't be fooled. Damned thing has claws like meat hooks.”

“I'll be right back.” He couldn't resist adding, “Don't go anywhere.”

“Bite me, jerk!”

In the time it had taken him to run around to the back of the house, find Chase and return with one LouLou Tomkins, the cat's owner had already forgotten he'd been on a rescue mission. She seemed startled to find her kitten being handed to her by a man she swore she'd never seen before. Burke made note of her address. The folks at Kittredge Manor needed to know about Mrs. Moulton.

Hurrying back to Chase, Burke was relieved to find that Mother Nature appeared to have worked off her temper tantrum. The wind had finally died down and the rain was little more than a drizzle. He slipped his phone from his pocket, intending to text Cady that he'd found her brother. But she'd want details and he didn't want to worry them further.

“Hey, I'm gonna call 911 and get you an ambulance. Why didn't you call earlier? You must have been lying out here for hours.”

“We don't need 911. Save that for the emergencies. Just help me stand up and take me to the ER.”

“This is an emergency, dummy! Your leg is ... aw, hell, that's a compound fracture isn't it?” Getting a better look at Chase's injury, Burke might have thrown up a little in his mouth. Sure tasted like it, going back down.

“Why the hell do you think I've been out here all day? Got knocked out when I fell. Then I may have passed out a time or two from the pain.”

Chase gritted his teeth and pulled himself into a sitting position. He swayed a bit, and judging by the look on his face, Burke wouldn't have been surprised if he'd keel over one more time. The guy was seriously green around the gills.

“Where's your phone? Couldn't you call for help?”

“Landed on it. Pretty sure there are pieces of it stuck in my ass.”

“Nice picture. I told Cady I'd find you and bring you back. You're on your own with that.”

He reached a hand down and waited for Chase to grip it tightly. Together they got him upright, Burke widening his stance to keep Chase's weight off his injured leg. It felt like years before they reached the front yard and were within sight of the car.

“Why are you driving my dad's car?”

“Long story.”

Helping his friend into the passenger side as gently as possible, Burke scrambled around and got behind the wheel. If he didn't call Cady and fill her in now, the hospital would have to make up a bed for him too, after she got done with him. He dug out his phone, spoke quickly and passed it off to Chase when Cady explained Amanda needed to hear her husband's voice.

He wouldn't be surprised if the guy had also broken a rib or two. He knew the fracture had to hurt like a sonofabitch, and Chase didn't seem to be able to draw a full breath. He was panting and his eyes were scrunched tight against the pain.

“You should try to get some rest.” He suggested, after Chase hung up with his wife and handed his phone back to him.

“You seriously aren't going to go there.” Chase coughed, his expression a mixture of pain and exhaustion.

“Go where?”

“I climbed a stupid tree to rescue a frickin' kitten and I fell. During a rainstorm. You owe me for the raccoon thing. Just get it over with. Let me have it.”

“No way. You're in too much pain.”

“Really? You feel too bad to razz me over this?”

“Didn't say that. I'm saying you're too distracted by the pain right now. I'm going to wait until you're feeling better and it'll bother you much worse.”

“Dick.”

“Yup.”

Burke pulled up to the curb right outside the ER. They had a welcoming committee waiting for them. Cady and Amanda stood on the edge of the curb. Wallace, May, and Auntie waited just outside the doors to the ER.

As he watched, Cady directed two orderlies with a wheelchair toward the passenger side of the car. The men helped Chase into it, barely getting out of the way before Amanda flew at him, peppering his face with kisses.

“We owe you, you crazy, stubborn fool.” Cady wrapped her arms around Burke's waist as soon as he stepped from the car, pressing her cheek to his chest.

Just stay in Scallop Shores and we'll call it even.
Burke wished he could voice the words out loud. He palmed the top of her head as he held her close, breathing in the scent of her shampoo and thanking God that his woman had escaped harm today.

“Ma'am, we need to take your husband in for an X-ray, but you're welcome to have a seat in the waiting room.” One orderly pushed Chase's wheelchair toward the lobby of the ER. The other paused to speak to Amanda.

“Tell you what, why don't you get me settled in a room in labor and delivery and when you're done fixing up my husband, you just park his bed next to mine?”

Everyone turned to stare at Amanda.

“My water just broke.”

• • •

Like any hardy New England town, Scallop Shores was business as usual the following morning. Folks helped each other clean up branches and other storm debris. Neighbors shored up fences and broken mailboxes. And Cady had made her father swear he wouldn't allow Burke to use his chainsaw to dig out that shiny new sedan from under the tree in Chase's drive.

And, as if it were any other day, and they hadn't just had a storm for the history books, Old Man Feeney and crew were seated along the counter. In between coffee refills, Cady forced them all to sit through another round of pictures on her phone. Her precious nephew, Willem Burke Eaton, had been born just before midnight, surrounded by family. She was the proudest auntie in the world.

She thought back to the previous night. While Chase and Amanda got some recuperative sleep, Cady had taken the opportunity to bond with baby Will. She nuzzled him close as she settled into the rocking chair, nudging it into a comfortable rhythm with the heel of one foot. There was nothing like the smell of a new baby. She could actually feel her ovaries squeezing.

She'd made a decision then. Burke would think she was settling, but she wasn't. There was no way she could leave Scallop Shores. Everything and everyone that mattered to her was right here. And if she was worried that life would be too dull, routine? This summer had given her just about all the excitement one lifetime could handle.

Sure, her pride would take a hit when she had to explain to Mr. Logan that she wouldn't be quitting after all. She'd have to work ten times as hard to prove she wasn't the ditz she seemed. But she'd have her espresso maker and her customers—who she also considered family—though she'd save them the embarrassment of actually admitting it out loud.

What would Burke say when she told him she was staying? Her stomach filled with butterflies at the notion. Last time he'd gently insisted she go. But she felt they'd been through so much since then. Surely he'd change his mind now? They could be together. They could have a future.

“I suppose you'll be wanting one of your own now?” Old Man Feeney's scratchy growl broke through her reverie.

“Why? You offering?” She sent him a saucy grin.