Caught in the Current (Pacific Shores Book 2) (23 page)

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Thanks for reading, and I hope you’ll enjoy Justus and Dakota’s story, Song of the Surf.

Song of the Surf, Pacific Shores, Book 3

Coming Winter 2015

Read an excerpt on the next page.

Chapter 1

Dakota Trask couldn’t believe LoriMay had done this to her. Scooting her chair closer to her desk, she leaned over the column of numbers and tallied them again. She grunted when the sum came out the same as before. This couldn’t be right, could it? Either LoriMay had grossly misrepresented the cost to feed the residents of House of Hope, or she’d been feeding them on rice and water.

Dakota clenched her jaw. How was she to balance a budget when every line item had been grossly misreported to her when she took over as the ministry leader?

She dropped her forehead onto her forearm. “Lord, I didn’t sign up for this. Everything needs to be revamped and reassessed from the ground up!” If she had her car she would go see pastor Mark right now. But Marie’s Corolla had died on her again – and with her wedding less than a week away, and tons of errands to run – so Dakota had offered Marie her car. So she was stranded, for now.

Well maybe it would be better this way. She’d finish her assessment and have a better understanding of exactly what expenses the church would be facing to keep House of Hope operational.

Outside the wind picked up and whistled through the eaves. Which reminded her of another thing she’d noticed. The roofing on the place was badly in need of replacement. And the faucet in the first bathroom down the hall dripped constantly, while the toilet in the other one did the same. She needed to put an announcement in the bulletin at church for some volunteer handymen to come out and do the repairs for her.

Where had LoriMay appropriated the money for such things? Dakota breathed out a sigh and forced herself to sit up. Whatever category it came out of was probably severely lacking in funds, if all the others could be a measurement.

A headache pinched at the front of her skull. “I need coffee.” She pushed herself up from the desk and strode to the Keurig she’d brought from her own apartment. Once sip of the brew from House of Hope’s ancient yellowed Mr. Coffee machine that had added its own unique taste to every pot, and she’d made a special trip back to her apartment to bring in her Keurig. She thrust her mug under the spout and popped in a K Cup, then pressed “brew.”

The pot whirred and gurgled and began to drip.

She glanced at her watch. Another hour and Reece and Marie would be by to get her. Striding to the window, Dakota planted her palms against the sill and leaned close to look out at the rain sodden evening. Dark clouds hung ominously, and lightning forked in a jagged shard across the distance. The concussion of thunder followed bare moments later. The trees along the back of the property cowered in the face of the wind, bending farther than she’d ever seen them go before. She bent low and craned her neck to see the tops of the tall evergreens. One of them was swaying like a skyscraper in an earthquake.

“Wow. Crazy.”

Mr. Novak’s garbage can fell on its side and tumbled across his back yard, spilling garbage everywhere. It crashed to a stop against the split rail fence that separated his property from House of Hope’s. Dakota sighed. Looked like tomorrow would be a day of cleanup.

A branch from one of the trees snapped, and hurtled through the air straight toward her. Dakota ducked on reflex, but the branch lifted on a last second current of air and skittered across the roof.

Dakota wrapped her arms around herself, thankful to be inside on such a terrible night.

Behind her the Keurig gave its last gurgling hiss and the scent of fresh hot medium-roast filled her nostrils, making her mouth water, and her tension ease at just the first whiff. A splash of peppermint mocha creamer and life would be righted again, if only for a few minutes. She opened the door of the mini fridge in the far corner and squatted down to snag the tall bottle of creamer from the back.

A huge crash shuddered through the evening, and glass shattered. Adrenaline cinched up every muscle in her body. A wall of air hit her. Her hand slipped, and her forehead cracked into the corner of the fridge. She gave herself a little shake in an attempt to dispel the throbbing pain.

She’d somehow ended up on the floor. Had she really felt air? Another gust blew over her. Yes. Definitely. The chill sweep of icy Pacific air, and the sting of slashing rain. Rain? She turned over slowly, groaning as pain sliced across her temple. Her eyes widened.

Where the corner of her office had been only moments ago, she could see thick gray clouds, flying debris, and sluicing rain.

What in the world…? Pushing her hands into the carpet, she stood and lifted her gaze to assess what had happened. She staggered a sideways step. And shook her head again. Surely she was just seeing things. Disbelievingly, her gaze swung back to the window she’d stood at only seconds before. The glass was now a web of fissures and jagged shards with a frame of mangled metal. But through one of the larger intact sections, she could see that one of the trees that should be standing tall in the back yard, was no longer standing. She pressed a hand to the ache in her head. “Oh, wow. This is so not good!”

Her focus swung back to the missing corner of the house and began to pick out more details. Evening had fallen quickly, but the growing dusk did nothing to hide the serrated wall and splintered siding; the section of roof, and the large trunk of a tree with jagged branches that angled across her desk.

If I’d still been sitting there… She swallowed.

Rainwater was beginning to puddle and snake across the carpeted floor.

She jolted herself to action. “I have to do something!” She scooped her hand back through her hair. What? “Think!”

A tarp. She knew there was a tarp on the shelf in the garage. It wouldn’t stop all the water damage, but surely it would minimize it some.

My computer!

Only one corner of her monitor could even be seen. The rest of it lay smashed under a splintered beam and she could see sparks pinging off of something. The desk lamp?

Electricity first. Then the tarp.

She ran – tried to run, but her legs trembled to the point of near uselessness, and it didn’t help that she was wearing her favorite mint suede heels – down the hall toward the breaker box. She flung it open, feeling pain zing across a couple fingers. Where was the main switch? Daddy had always said in an emergency to throw the main breaker. This box didn’t seem to have one. Of course it didn’t. This house was as ancient as the tree that had just tried to kill it. She gritted her teeth and quickly began switching everything off.

It wasn’t till she got to the fuse that turned off the hallway lights that she realized she had no flashlight. She turned it back on and quickly dashed back down the hallway to her office. When she jogged inside, her feet splashed against soggy carpet.

Hurry!

She yanked open the drawer next to the coffee maker and snatched out the flashlight, then ran back to the fuse box. She finished throwing all the switches and then darted down the hall following the beam of her flashlight toward the garage and the tarp and ladder kept there.

She would have to open the garage door manually. Maybe she should run out to assess the damage first so she would know what she would need to bring with her. She yanked on the cord to disengage the carriage from the garage door motor and then heaved up on the garage door. It groaned and rattled as it trundled upward, and before it was even half way open, rain was slashing into the garage.

She hesitated. Might as well keep as much of the water outside as possible. Leaving the door where it was she ducked under it.

A man loomed in front of her – a dark bulky shape against the gray of the sky.

She screeched and swung hard with the flashlight.

But the man was quick and ducked inside it. He gripped her shoulders and gave her a slight shake. “Dakota, it’s okay. It’s just me. Justus Teague. Reece’s friend. We met several months back. Do you remember?” He pulled her back under the overhang of the eves.

Dakota swallowed. Did she remember. How could she forget meeting a man she’d called “calendar worthy” when she thought he wasn’t around, only have him overhear it and tease her about it?

Despite the chill of the wind and the pelts of rain that managed to find them in their meager shelter, she felt her face heat. “Ju-Justus.” It didn’t matter that she’d been plotting all week how she would avoid him once he arrived in town for the wedding. She was just glad to see someone. “I’m glad someone is here. Can you help me? I need to—I’m not even sure what’s happened—I was just running out to look. There was a crash, and rain, and sparks, and—” Words failed her, but her mind seemed to be working overtime. What was he doing here? Even if Reece and Marie had sent him, they hadn’t planned to stop by for another hour.

Lightning flashed and Justus took her chin firmly in one hand and canted her head to an angle.

Dakota held her breath, chastising herself for continuing to feel attraction for the man at this most inappropriate of moments.

Concerned gaze fixed on her forehead, he slid his hand down her arm and pried the flashlight from her fingers. He lifted it and shone it just above her left eye. One of his brows quirked upward.

She angled her gaze up to see what had drawn his attention. The beam of the flashlight illuminated a stream of red rain dripping from one of her eyebrows. She must have a little cut from where she’d hit her head on the fridge.

But she could deal with that later. They were wasting time here. She pushed his hands away from her face. “There’s a hole in the ceiling. We need to get a tarp over it. But I need to go see the damage first.” She made to dash past him even as sirens sounded just around the corner on Sand Dollar Lane.

He gripped her arm firmly and held her in place. “You aren’t going anywhere. Let the fire crew take care of that for you. They’ll have all the equipment to do what needs to be done. And they’re nearly here. You need to be looked at by the medic.”

Dakota shuddered. She hadn’t even thought to call a fire department. On the mission field, where she’d grown up, you took care of your own emergencies when they happened. Her forehead throbbed and she touched it. “I didn’t even think—how did they know?” Every thought she searched for seemed buried in mud.

Justus’s hands felt warm and comforting against her damp shoulders. “It’s okay. I called them. Is there anyone else in the house?”

She shook her head. “No. I’m the only one here right now.” She glanced toward the corner of the house where her office was. She couldn’t quite see the extent of the damage to this front side of the house in the darkness, but what she could see didn’t look good. And she didn’t know how she would finagle a tarp around those up-thrust branches. She hadn’t thought about maybe needing a saw as well.

Hopelessness begged for entrance. Her shoulders slumped. Fine, if the firemen would do that for her that would be great. It wasn’t like she was dressed for roof rescue at the moment, anyhow. Her black, calf-length wrap skirt probably wasn’t the best thing to be climbing ladders in. She turned back for the garage. “Let me just grab them the tarp.”

He followed her inside, but she realized he still had the flashlight when he took her arm and shone the light on a big metal tool box. “You sit there.”

“I have to—”

“Dakota, it’s too late for the house. It’s not too late for you. Sit.”

There was an edge of something in his voice that made her follow his instructions.

“Thank you. Be right back. Don’t move.” He disappeared into the house.

The exasperating man had taken her only light. But it only took that moment of sitting to recognize that she was trembling from the top of her head to the tips of her toes. She pressed her quaking hands between her knees and winced as pain took a leisurely stroll through her wrist. She tucked her lower lip into her mouth and chose instead to cradle her arm against her chest.

She closed her eyes and saw again the tree toppled over her smashed desk. The orange sparks arcing into the darkness.

Would insurance cover something like this? Would the church hold her responsible? Was there something she could have done? Should she have insisted the trees be inspected when she took over the ministry for Marinville Assembly? She’d only been working this job on her own for two weeks. Before that she’d let LoriMay handle all that sort of thing.

Still cradling her wrist, she leaned forward and pressed her forehead into her knees.

She shuddered as she remembered Justus’ question about other people. Thankfully Riley was the only resident living here right now, and she’d gone with Marie to run wedding errands.

Riley. Tears threatened. Women like her were the reason it was so important to keep this place running. And as if she wasn’t carrying a big enough burden trying to figure out how to keep House of Hope afloat, she had no idea how she was going to be able to help Riley. Dakota had only been working here a few weeks, and Riley was the first woman she’d ministered to who had lost so much. And LoriMay had up and left only a week after Riley moved in. That had been two weeks ago.