Total pages in book: 151
Estimated words: 145823 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 729(@200wpm)___ 583(@250wpm)___ 486(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 145823 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 729(@200wpm)___ 583(@250wpm)___ 486(@300wpm)
“Think of it as off-roading,” I told Finley as a powerful gust of wind pushed us close to the curb.
“Have you been off-roading a lot?” she questioned, looking out the side because she was too short to see over the dash.
“Actually, yes. In this very truck, as a matter of fact.” I gripped the wheel and forced our way through the sludge of water and sand. The houses drew closer to the shore, but I refused to look and see if the dunes held.
We were committed now. We’d either make it to my house or be swept away trying.
The houses ended, and we entered the tiny stretch of road that belonged to just Jackson and me. Without the other houses to shield us from the wind, we were exposed, and it took twice as much effort to keep us on the road.
Almost there, Jackson. We’re almost there.
I would have given anything to hear his voice through the speakers. To hear him tell me that I’d made the right choice in bringing them here.
We pulled into my driveway, and I nearly wept with relief. Until I saw the water cresting the dune, then breaching it. The waves came in time with my slamming heartbeats as the water carved a rivulet that quickly became a creek.
It would be an inlet in a matter of minutes.
I hit the gas, careful not to spin out, and took us toward my stairs. The wind was impossibly strong, and the water oozed forward, reaching my pilings. I parked with my side closest to the stairs.
“Okay, same thing, just in reverse, got it, Fin? You’re going in first, and then I’m bringing Grandma.”
She nodded solemnly, and I’d never been so glad that she was short. If she could see what we were walking out into, she would have sobbed like I wanted to.
The door wouldn’t budge.
The wind was too strong.
“You have got to be kidding me!” The water was coming in faster. There was no telling how long we had. We needed the height of the steps to get us all out safely.
Think, Morgan. Think.
Got it.
I drove forward, then turned us around in the middle of our yards, taking out a section of Jackson’s fence in the process. This time, I angled the truck close to forty-five degrees and threw it into park when Fin’s side was closest, pocketing the keys.
“Come here, Fin.” I lifted her through the backseat to stand in front of Vivian, then climbed into Fin’s seat. Bracing my back on the console, I placed my feet on either side of the handle, opened the door, and pushed with everything I had.
The wind did the rest.
The door whipped open unnaturally, slamming into the steel on the other side and destroying the hinges. Forgive me, Will.
Even with the relative shelter of the dune, the wind did its best to keep me inside the cab.
“Time to go, Fin!” I lifted her over the console, then stepped onto my stairs and held out my arms. “Close your eyes, baby!” Through the slats of the staircase, I saw water gush beneath us. The dune was going quickly.
Finley reached, and I gathered her tight. Her little legs wrapped around my waist as I took the steps one at a time, fighting for each and every one. I kept one hand on the railing and the other locked around Fin as we climbed.
My legs strained and burned with the effort it took to make it. Category three meant these winds were probably up over a hundred miles an hour by now, but I didn’t want to think about it.
We made it to the deck, and I struggled across the few feet that lacked a railing to make it to the alcove that sheltered my front door.
The scant amount of windbreak made all the difference, and with a twist of my key, we were inside. I lowered Finley to the ground. “Go wait in the armchair right there in the living room, okay? I’m getting Grandma Vivian.”
Her eyes seemed frozen in the widest position, and I thanked God that I’d closed the steel shutters. Otherwise she would have had double the reason to be terrified. We were about to be surrounded by water.
“I will come right back. I promise. You are not alone.”
Fin nodded, and I raced for the door.
The wind knocked me on my ass as I ran for the deck, sweeping my feet clean out from underneath me.
“Damn it!” I shouted, already fighting to get to the staircase. I bumped down on my butt to give myself the smallest profile possible. The water was up to the rims on the truck, and Vivian’s back filled the front passenger doorway. “How did you get up here?” I shouted over the roar of the wind.
“I’m not helpless!” she yelled back over her shoulder, the beach bag safe in her lap.