“Are you in labor? Ma’am, do you need an ambulance?”
As the sound of screeching from the back seat hit his ears, he jerked his head around, eyes wide at the sight of a small child in a car seat staring back at him, her mouth open in a scream. Blonde hair, the front pulled up in two pieces that stuck straight up with pink bows, reminded him of his nieces. She held a juice box in her hands, but most of the purple contents appeared to be all over her shirt.
“Ma’am, do you need an ambulance?” he repeated, his gaze moving back to her pregnant belly as she slapped his hands again.
“No, I need to get a cloth. And thanks to you, my daughter is terrified!”
Rain was blowing in behind him, soaking the interior. He shuffled forward and climbed into the driver’s seat, shutting the door.
“What are you doing in my car?” The woman’s voice jumped an octave by the end of her question.
His radio squawked. “Sheriff, do you need assistance?”
“Negative. Assisting stranded motorist.”
“I’m not stranded!”
He twisted his head, shooting her a glare that would have most people snapping their mouths shut, but she met his expression with one of her own that made him wonder who would win the glare battle. She broke first, only because her face contorted with a grimace, and her hands went to her stomach.
“Ma’am, do you need assistance?” he repeated for what seemed the tenth time, frustration mixed with concern.
She shook her head, her facial muscles relaxing, and moved her gaze to him before looking toward the back seat. She shifted with difficulty, managing to get to her knees, and leaned between the front seats, her body pressing against his arm and shoulder as she reached toward her child. “No, I’m not in labor. I’ve had a few pains but it’s not labor.”
He tried to shift out of her way, but with his left side plastered against the door handle of her small SUV, he had no more room to maneuver. “Well, then—”
“Rosie, honey, don’t cry. The nice man is just checking on us. Mommy will get a new shirt as soon as we get to Baytown, and I can get you out of the car. Do you want a cracker instead of the rest of your juice?”
The cries turned to sniffles. “I… I… want y… you.”
“Oh, baby, I can’t let you out of your car seat right now, but as soon as this nice man leaves, we’ll be on our way.”
What the fuck? “Ma’am, this nice man isn’t leaving.”
She settled her weight back onto her calves, still kneeling backward in the seat as her head swung around to pin another glare onto him. “What? What do you mean you’re not leaving?”
He stared, incredulity pouring from him as he wondered if her reality was starkly different from his… and he knew his was right. “Ma’am, it’s dark outside.”
She glanced toward the windshield. “Uh… yeah.”
Huffing, determined to count slowly before he lost his cool and upset the now-quiet-but-still-sniffling child in the back. “And it’s storming. We’re in the beginning of a Category 5 hurricane.”
“Do you always state the obvious?”
He blinked just as a drop of water fell from his hair and landed in his eye. “Ma’am, I’m the Sheriff of Acawmacke County, and the streets have been ordered to be cleared. You have not obeyed that order and are costing the county resources by taking our time.”
Her bravado slipped, and she swallowed audibly. As he stared, he now observed her pale complexion and the bluish circles underneath her eyes. “I’m sorry, Sheriff. I’m not trying to be a problem, and I want out of the storm as much as you. We just need to get to Baytown.”
“What’s in Baytown?”
“The Sea Glass Inn. It’s a bed-and-breakfast. Rosie and I have a room there. I knew a storm was coming but I was so close, and we don’t have anywhere else to go.”
“Ma’am, the inns are all full—”
“No, Tori’s expecting me.”
“Tori?”
Her honey-blonde hair moved as her head nodded. “Yes, Tori. Tori Evans. She owns the Inn and—”
“I know who Tori is. I also know her husband is the Police Chief there. Are you saying they are expecting you in the middle of this storm? They know you’re traveling?”
“Well… yes, sort of. Tori knew I was on my way. It’s taken longer to get there than I thought.”
Just then, another blast of sustained wind hit the SUV and it rocked slightly. The little girl in the back whimpered, and the woman’s eyes shot open wider.
“Baytown may only be about thirty minutes away in normal conditions, but in this storm, it would take you over an hour and a half. Plus, there’s no way I can let you continue driving down the road with hurricane-force winds, even if you weren’t pulling this trailer. We’re going to have to find an alternative, ma’am,” he declared, his mind searching for what that alternative plan could be. There’s not a hotel nearby, and they’re all filled anyway. The closest emergency center is as far away in the other direction as Baytown. It only took a second to flip through his relatives' homes in his mind. Shit, none are closer than mine.
The winds picked up and the rains pelted the windshield harder. Looking to the side as the woman leaned her arms over the back of the seat, wiping the little girl’s face, he sighed. “Ma’am, we have no choice. I live a few minutes from here in a house that’s secure and safe. I know it’s not ideal, and you don’t know me, but I have got to get you out of this storm immediately.”
She settled her thighs on her calves again, knees still bent in the seat, and stared. The car rocked again, and she blinked. Sucking in a deep breath, she let it out, her head nodding in a jerking motion. “I can’t believe I’m saying this, but you’re right. I can’t keep driving in this. I was trying to get Rosie and myself to safety, but the storm hit quicker than I thought.”
He wanted to point out that the storm had actually stalled for a day but, glad that she wasn’t arguing, decided to placate her. “After it stalled out over the ocean, it turned quickly. If you’re not used to the way hurricanes can move, I’m sure it caught you off guard.” He twisted and glanced to the very back, seeing suitcases. “I’m going to pull up beside you and transfer your suitcases over to my vehicle—”
“Can’t I just follow you there?”
“Absolutely not! You’re pulling a trailer which adds stress to your vehicle every time the wind hits it. You’ve been lucky so far, but the wind is increasing in velocity, and there’s a good chance it could flip the trailer over, your vehicle following.”
“Damn,” she breathed, her shoulders slumping.
Not giving her another chance to come up with a different scenario that he would waste more time explaining, he said, “Ma’am, I’m telling you how this is going to go. I’m gonna pull up next to your vehicle and transfer the suitcases over. Then we’re going to get your child’s car seat into the back of my SUV and get her transferred safely as well—”
Her head nodded in jerks again. “Yes, thank you. Just tell me what I need to do for Rosie and we’ll get her into your vehicle.”