Blown Away (18 page)

She looked around five, with a long blond braid and light freckles on her suntanned cheeks. One of her legs looked like it had been smashed by something heavy. Her knee and shin were damaged and bloody.

I looked around for someone,
anyone
who might know what to do. But there was no one nearby. I was on my own.

“Pressure, right?” I said to the unconscious girl. “Put pressure on a wound to stop the bleeding. I think.”

I got out another bottle of wash and squirted it over her leg, washing away the blood to reveal the wound site. It was a huge gash, at least three inches. Fresh blood pooled inside the wound.

“Okay,” I said, getting out a stack of big, thick gauze pads. “I'm putting pressure on it. You just hang in there, sweetie. Help is on the way. I'm your help for now. My name's Drew.”

I got up on my knees, pressing both hands against the wound to stop the blood flow. It seemed to help. But still, my heart pounded with nervousness. This little girl's life was in my hands right now, and I didn't know how to help her.

Within a few minutes, the sound of a voice on a megaphone joined the wail of sirens. It was constant now. I took that as a sign that lots of help was coming. That was good, because this place needed it.

I saw movement in the corner of my eye and turned toward it. Two men in light blue paramedic uniforms were walking down the street.

“Over here!” I called.

They jogged over and I told them what I knew about the girl.

“I don't know what I'm doing,” I admitted. “All I did was wash the blood off and put pressure on it.”

“You did a good job,” the older medic said.

They worked quickly to get her vital signs. I watched, saying a prayer for her.

“Is she going to be okay?” I asked.

“Yeah,” the medic said. “Her leg's messed up pretty bad. I think she's unconscious from shock. We're taking her to the hospital.”

He called for a stretcher on his radio and I got up, again gathering my supplies. Police, firefighters, and medics were arriving in big numbers now. I closed my eyes and breathed out a sigh of relief.

When I stood up, I felt a second wave of energy. Help was here now, but this town was still a disaster area. I had a feeling our work here was only just beginning.

Twenty-seven hours after I'd started searching for storm survivors, I climbed into bed next to Drew and pulled her against my side. She put down her cellphone and pressed a kiss to my bare chest.

“Just texting my sister about what's going on,” she said softly. “You smell good.”

“You do, too.”

Her honeysuckle scent and warm body made me reassess just how tired I was. When I'd stepped into the shower a few minutes ago, I'd been exhausted. I still was, physically, but it didn't stop me from wanting her. That was an around-the-clock thing these days. It still hadn't sunk in that she was mine.

“Is it me, or is it a miracle that no one died?” she asked, propping herself up on her elbow and looking down at my face.

“It's pretty remarkable,” I agreed. “Especially when you see the devastation there. The guy who died of a heart attack at the nursing home may be counted as a casualty, though.”

“But that family you rescued…they're all fine?”

“Yeah. Just some broken bones and contusions.”

She kissed me, her lips soft and sweet on mine. “I fell a little more in love with you today. Or however many days it's been since the storm hit. Seeing you rescue people like that…Aiden, I've never felt so proud.”

My heart swelled as she looked down at me, her eyes filled with tears.

“I don't do it for glory,” I said.

“I know. Which makes me all the more proud. Your family would be incredibly proud, too, Aiden.”

“You think?”

“I
know
. You're selfless and brave.”

Her praise felt good, but compliments always made me itchy, so I changed the subject. “The fuck is this place we're staying at?”

She laughed. “You don't care for the Golden Gate Motel?”

“Where's the golden gate? It's just a shithole in the middle of nowhere.”

“Must be in another room.”

“I seriously doubt it.” I ran my hand down the line of her body, tracing her hip and thigh with my fingertips. “You're here, though, so how bad can it be?”

People from Adelia had been put up in motels near there, so we'd had to travel more than an hour to find a place with vacancies. And when we'd gotten here, I'd unceremoniously told Murph I was paying for my own room and that he could split the two paid for with project money between him, Tex, and Millie. Tonight I needed to be with Drew.

“I ordered pizza, it'll be here in”—she rolled over to pick up her cellphone from the nightstand—“thirty-five minutes.”

“I'm so fucking hungry I could eat the cardboard box right now,” I grumbled, reaching around her waist and pulling her against me again.

I put my lips on her neck, kissing her softly for a few seconds. But my primal side took over and I was soon nipping her skin while I kneaded her nipple between my thumb and forefinger.

She moaned and I slid my hand underneath her shirt, pulling it up so I could suck her nipples and then knead them while they were wet and hard.

“Mmm, Aiden,” she said, pulling my shirt up and running her fingers up my back.

The burning hunger I had for her was something I'd never experienced. Today had been tough for me. Searching through wreckage for a family whose house had been flattened by a tornado brought back my worst memories.

Usually I internalized things, working them out with muck runs or heavy weight-lifting sessions. I'd always wanted to be alone until the fog of my mood passed. But this time was different. This time I wanted Drew.

We pulled off each other's clothes and I took my comfort, burying myself deep inside her. Our heavy breathing and her moans of pleasure were the only sounds in the room.

This time I couldn't go soft or slow. I just wanted to get closer and go deeper. To feel something stronger than the memories that had haunted me today.

And mercifully, I did. Here and now I was with Drew, who was letting me love her the best way I knew how to. I was enough for her, wounds and all. As our eyes met in the few moments building up to our release, I realized maybe it was our wounds that connected us so deeply. We'd both experienced loss and survived it. We both knew there was no guarantee of tomorrow.

She gripped my shoulders and we came together, neither of us caring who heard our moans in the next room.

“I love you, Aiden,” she said, tears shining in her eyes as she held my cheeks in her hands.

“I love you, too. I feel whole with you, Drew. I've never had that.”

She blinked and the tears trickled from the corners of her eyes. I leaned down and kissed them, grateful that when the day came that there was no tomorrow for us, I'd always have this moment to remember. I hoped that day was decades away, though, because there was so much more I wanted to experience with Drew by my side.

After two days of helping clean up in Adelia, we'd gone back to the campground for one last dinner as a group. The last night at Red Road Campground had been bittersweet for me. Murph, Millie, and Tex were more than friends to me. Our few weeks together had shown me what they were made of, and they were all the best kind of people.

Aiden and I were packed and ready to leave now, and it was time to say goodbye to the others. Tex would drive back to his home in Texas and Murph would drop Millie off at her apartment in Champaign before heading back to Lipton.

“Let's get together for dinner soon,” I said to Murph, hugging him tightly.

“Anytime. My social schedule's pretty light…as you may have gathered.”

“When you decide the time's right, you're gonna make some woman very happy one day,” I said to him.

He grinned and pushed up his glasses, his cheeks pink. “Well…I hope you're right. And I hope you're coming back next year?”

“I wouldn't miss it. And I promise not to get lost in the woods next time.”

Tex squeezed me into a massive hug and I got a whiff of his potent aftershave. “Take care of Big A for us, Drew,” he said.

“Never call me Big A again,” Aiden muttered from nearby.

“Shit, man, I was doing you a favor,” Tex said to him. “We shower in the same place, remember? I should've called you Average A.”

“Fuck you. And stop staring at my dick.”

Aiden was above average, at least in my limited experience, but for whatever reason, he and Tex bantered some more about it.

Millie rolled her eyes as she opened her arms for a hug.

“Your boobs are bigger than mine and I feel absolutely no envy,” she said flatly. “Women have better things to do with our time, do we not?”

“We do,” I said, laughing.

“You know, I'm only about an hour away from Lipton.” She pulled away and looked at the ground. “If you ever wanted to, you know…but I mean, we wouldn't have to or anything.”

“I'd love to hang out. You've got my number and I've got yours so let's plan something. Aiden has to go on a work trip in a couple weeks, so maybe then?”

She smiled brightly. “Yeah, okay.”

When the goodbyes were over, Aiden led me to the truck, opened my door, and helped me in. We both waved and I couldn't hold back a few tears.

It wasn't that I wouldn't see these friends again, because I was going to make sure I saw a lot of them. I was feeling emotional because of how much I'd changed in my few weeks here with them. I'd arrived here a shampoo girl who was scared out of my mind to reach for anything outside my comfort zone. I was leaving a changed woman. I'd seen tornadoes up close, survived a night alone in the woods, and helped bring comfort to survivors of a disaster.

I looked at the driver's seat and smiled as I thought about what else I'd done. I'd opened my heart back up and let in a man who was sometimes sullen, often silent and always strong. We'd seen each other's fears and weaknesses on this trip and gotten close fast. I couldn't wait to get home and settle into an everyday routine that included Aiden.

What would Colby's mom think? What about our friends? My family? I was curious, but I knew no one's disapproval of us would change my feelings for Aiden.

“You okay?” he asked me.

“Yeah. Just a little overwhelmed.”

He took my hand, his touch a tangible reminder that we were together now. And I hoped with all my heart we'd stay that way.

Jackie and Shayla embraced me together, making me feel like the filling in a powdery, perfumed sandwich.

“We missed you!” Jackie cried. “And I see you've injured yourself, which is absolutely no surprise. You're lucky you didn't do anything worse, off chasing tornadoes like that.”

“You're so tan,” Shayla said. “And you look so happy, Drew. That makes
me
happy.”

She sniffled and I knew she was crying. I'd missed these two more than I even realized.

“I was worried sick,” Jackie said as she pulled away. Apparently the sweet reunion was over. “When that tornado hit in Iowa I was inconsolable.”

“I texted you right back that I was okay,” I reminded her.

“I know, but those were the longest seconds imaginable. I mean, did you see that place? It was destroyed. Flattened.”

I nodded and flipped through the salon's appointment book. Shayla's niece, Dana, had penciled in appointments in neat cursive. She'd kept things running smoothly in my absence from what I could see. And surprisingly, I felt no insecurity about it.

“So Dana liked it here?” I asked.

“She did. Said we can call her anytime you want a day off,” Shayla said.

I took a calming breath, telling myself it was now or never. “Do you think she might have any interest in keeping the job? Like maybe starting next month?”

Shayla and Jackie turned to me, eyes wide and mouths open.

“What?” Shayla squawked. “Why? Oh, I
knew
this would happen. You want to go chase storms all the time now, don't you? Drew Nicole McGovern—”

I put up a hand to quiet her. “No, that's not it at all. No more storm chasing until next summer. I've got something else in mind, but I want to talk to Aiden about it first.”

“Aiden?” Jackie approached the front desk, where I was sitting, leaning her elbows on it and giving me a hopeful look. “Aiden O'Neal?”

My cheeks warmed and I smiled. “Yes. We're seeing each other.”

Shayla and Jackie squealed and jumped up and down, holding on to each other's arms.

“You two,” I said, rolling my eyes but still smiling. “Good thing we're not open yet.”

“Oh, he's such a hot hunk of man,” Shayla said. “And he seems like such a nice one, too. He saw me trying to carry bags of potting soil out to my car one day and he threw them over his shoulder like it was nothing. And then he followed me home and unloaded them.”

“That sounds like him,” I said, feeling a surge of pride in
my
man.

“Have you seen that house he's building?” Jackie asked.

“The cabin? I haven't yet, but he's told me a lot about it. I'm going over there for dinner tonight.”

Jackie snorted. “Cabin, my ass. That place is a log palace. It's gorgeous.”

Now Shayla was the one with tears in her eyes. “I know his uncle. After what he's been through, and what you've been through…I just couldn't be any happier for you, Drew. You deserve all the happiness in the world.”

I went around the desk and hugged her. “Thank you. And I hope you know that no matter what I do or where I work, we'll still see each other. You guys are stuck with me.”

Shayla wiped her eyes and composed herself. “All right, well, you let us know. We won't say anything to Dana until you're sure.”

I nodded.

“Now get in my chair,” she said. “Your roots look terrible and you need a deep condition.”

I followed her to her station and sat down. She wrapped a cape around me and I thought about how ironic it was that none of the places that felt like home to me were where I lived. My apartment was just where I ate, showered, and slept. Home was wherever the people who mattered to me were.