Page 7 of Bailey

“But they’re advising everyone in this corridor to leave,” Bryce said. “So that’s what Codi and I are going to do. We can stop by and get you if you need us to.”

“Where are you going to go?” Bailey asked.

“We haven’t worked that out yet. Maybe up to Adam’s, or Morris’s.”

More male names, and by Reeves’ count she was up to four. He shouldn’t be surprised in this small town of cowboys, and he reasoned that they could be her clients. He honestly wasn’t sure how many clients would call Bailey and express such concern and offer an evacuation route, but while she had her back turned, he shed the blanket and stood. His jeans weren’t anywhere near dry, but he pulled them on anyway, barely shimmying them up over his hips before Bailey turned around. Her eyes had widened to the status of full moons, and she said, “I just saw the water, Bryce. It’s creeping up to my patio.”

“Yeah, you’ve got to get out of there,” he said. “We’re leaving now.”

“You can’t come this way anyway,” she said. “You’ve got to go north.”

“Can you get out right now?” he said. “Codi and I just got in the truck. We can try to come that way.”

“No,” Bailey said, and she swallowed. Reeves watched as she hitched strength and determination into her face. “My neighbor is here, and he has a second story at his house.” Her eyes searched his, and Reeves remained still and silent as he tried to figure out what she was trying to convey to him silently.

“I think we’ll try to go to his place next door,” she said. “The water surely can’t rise twenty feet.”

“I don’t know, Bay,” Bryce said. “It’s only been raining for a half-hour, and the stream is already flooded where you are.”

“They’ll dig it out,” Bailey said firmly. “They’ll flood the Apple Highway and the orchards, and your place will be flooded before long.”

Bryce didn’t say anything, but Reeves walked his coffee cup into the kitchen, turned off her coffee maker, and made sure the electric kettle was unplugged. He hooked his thumb down the hall, hoping Bailey got the silent message that he was going to get her cats, and she nodded.

“Listen, I’ve got to go,” Bailey said. “Reeves and I are going to go to his house, and I’ll text you or call you when we’re safe.”

“Bailey,” Bryce said, and her name carried a note of helplessness and warning at the same time.

“I’ll be fine, Bryce,” she said. “I need to focus on getting out of here right now.” Her footsteps sounded behind him, and she entered the laundry room right after him.

“You should unplug your computer,” he said. “And maybe put it up on your dresser, just in case it floods.”

She nodded. “If you’ll grab the cats,” she said. “I could carry them in the bin.”

Reeves had no idea how he was going to fit Bailey, a plastic container of two cats, and his pair of canines on his ATV, and he told himself that the dogs could run. It was a two-seat off-road vehicle, and if the police had really closed the highway in front of their houses, he could go down her driveway and up the road without an issue.

“I’m just gonna grab a few things for the clinic.” She spun and dashed back out of the laundry room.

“And some clothes,” Reeves called after her.

“Right,” she yelled back.

Reeves took the cats out into the living room. Pansy and Sir looked at him, and he said, “You guys might have to run alongside me.” Sir squinched his eyes closed, as if Reeves had just offered to give him a full-body massage. He slid the clear bin of cats on the dining room table and went to Bailey’s back door. He wasn’t exactly sure where she’d seen it, but the water had just started to lap against the edge of the cement part of her patio.

He had sandbags at his place, and if he could get back quick enough, he could probably prevent his basement from flooding. “No, you can’t,” he told himself, his breath fogging the glass for a moment. He had enough sandbags to build a barrier, yes, but he would have to do it around the entire house, and there was no time for that.

“Okay,” Bailey said, her voice breathless, as she rushed back into the room. She put one arm through a backpack and swung the bag the rest of the way on. “I’m good for a couple of days. Let’s go.”

She swept the cat container into her arms and slid open the back door before Reeves could so much as move. He admired a woman of action, and he simply added Bailey’s tenaciousness to the list of qualities he already liked about her.

“Come on, fellas,” he said to his canines, and he followed her out of the house and slid the door closed.

He’d parked the ATV under the roof, and he took the cats from Bailey as she got on the ATV first, then he handed them to her, and she lifted them up high while he took his place in front of her.

“Come on, Pansy,” he said, and he patted the tiny patch of seat in front of him. The heeler jumped up, balancing on all fours in a tight, six-inch area, and then turned and sat on his left thigh.

“Sir, you’ll have to run with us, okay? We’re gonna go home.” He looked at the boxer, still on the ground. “Home. Go home, Sir.”

Sir looked at him, and Reeves pointed west, suddenly praying with everything he had that if he sent his dog out into the storm, he’d show up at the back door, wet, but none the worse for the wear.