Norman was a hundred and twenty miles out and nothing would stop his arrival. Not Morgan, not boards on glass, and not sandbags.
They had to get out of here.
“Dusty, what should we do?” she asked.
“I don’t know. If we get on the road now, Morgan can’t keep her. I don’t know where she’ll go.”
Tessa grunted, and it turned into a hopeful gasp when her phone rang, but it was only Eli.
“How’s the traffic?” he asked without even saying hello.
“I wish I knew,” she said. “We’re still in the house.”
“Tessa!”
She rolled her eyes. “I know, I know. Did you get to Rock Hill?”
“Yes, about an hour ago. Bumper to stinkin’ bumper, but we made it. Maggie and your mom are safe and sound with the biker gang.”
She snorted a laugh, still processing all that Kate had filled her in on when they talked late last night. They’d stayed here to board and sandbag this house and get theGood Time Girlinto dry storage, which had taken hours, but it sure sounded like the real action was at the Summer House.
“That’s good,” she said. “But Olive’s mother hasn’t shown up with her yet. We have to wait or…” Or what? “Find her, I guess,” she added, answering her own question.
“Oh, man, that’s scary, Tess. You know Norman is flirting with cat four.”
“Well, he could blow in at cat fifty and I’m not leaving without Olive or knowing she’s completely safe.”
Next to her, looking at his phone, Dusty swore under his breath.
“What?” she demanded, her heart in her throat. “Morgan?”
“No, but Mid-Bay Bridge just announced. Hard close at six. Possibly earlier if winds rise on the span.”
Without an open bridge, they’d be stuck here.
“Listen, Eli, we’ll call you when we’re on the road,” she said, not wanting anything to distract her from her desperation for Olive.
“’Kay. I’m praying for you, Tess. I want you to get out of there.WithOlive.”
“Thanks.” She hung up as the window over the kitchen sink rattled in a gust.
She and Dusty stared at each other.
“We have some choices,” he said. “We can go look for her—I know where Morgan lives.”
“What if she’s not there? What if she comes here? I could stay here and wait while you go look.”
He made a face. “I don’t want to leave you, Tess. What if I get stuck and they won’t let me back? The bridge is open one-way only. Emergency access? Yes, maybe. But what if we get separated and you’re here alone with Olive?”
She pressed her hand to her lips. “I don’t know. I don’t know. I don’tknow!” The last word cracked with a sob.
Instantly, he wrapped her in an embrace.
“Listen, it doesn’t look like we’ll be in the eye,” he said in his most comforting therapist voice. “It’s headed toward Panama City Beach.”
“That’s close.”
“And we’re on the wrong side of the winds,” he conceded. “Plus, storm surges don’t really care about landfall. We could flood but I don’t think we’ll be wiped out.”
