Chapter Seventeen #2
Thankfully the car had crapped out where it had and not a mile earlier, where the drop-off to the water was even steeper. As it was, the trip was bone jarring. But the water in the cove was at high tide. If it was low tide, they would crash headlong into the hard mud.
The impact with the water was still painful, and Britt felt her seat belt tighten just as the airbags exploded in their faces.
Then she felt water lapping over her feet and quickly looked down.
The water might have cushioned their impact somewhat, but now they were in trouble of a different kind .
.. because it was quickly filling the vehicle.
Feeling as if she was watching the scene from above, Britt moved quickly, reaching for the window breaker one of Evelyn’s sons had mounted on the driver’s door.
It was held there by a piece of extra-strong Velcro that had been glued to the side of the door.
She tugged hard, and it came off in her hand.
Using the seat belt cutter built into one end of the tool, she freed herself, then leaned over and got Evelyn’s belt undone.
“We need to get out of here,” she told the woman who’d come to mean so much to her.
“Oh my ...,” Evelyn said, sounding as if she was in shock. She had some blood on the side of her head, where Britt assumed she’d smacked against the window when they’d crashed into the water.
They both seemed to be all right for now, but the CR-V was actually drifting away from the shore, and if they didn’t get out right now, they’d be in big trouble. Either from the car sinking or hypothermia. The water in Maine was nothing like the water at the beaches in the South.
Chad had told her the other day that the water temperature was usually around forty-three degrees or so at the end of April, so it was probably much warmer now, but still way too cold.
Britt tried to open her door, but as she suspected, it wouldn’t budge. The water pressure was too much. She’d have to use the window breaker and get Evelyn out that way.
She wasn’t looking forward to this. Not at all.
Still, without hesitation, Britt swung the pointy end of the tool at the driver’s side window, and it immediately shattered, showering her with glass. Using her elbow, she did her best to clear the frame so she and Evelyn wouldn’t get cut as they crawled out.
“Okay, I’m going. Scoot over to my seat and follow me.
I’ll help you out,” Britt said in a no-nonsense tone, praying Evelyn followed her directions.
Taking a deep breath, Britt got up on her knees in the driver’s seat and put her upper body through the window.
It was a bit awkward and took some contorting, but she managed to get herself out.
She fell headfirst into the water, taking her breath away with the immediate chill that filled her completely.
Not wasting time, she stood and turned back to the window. The water was at her thighs and climbing as the car drifted farther into the bay.
“Now, Evelyn! Give me your hands and I’ll help you out.”
Thankfully, the older woman complied. When she was almost all the way out, Britt had an epiphany. “Wait! Let me turn around. Get on my back,” she told her.
Staggering under Evelyn’s weight, Britt prayed she wouldn’t fall as she slowly made her way toward shore.
To her surprise, she heard someone shout Evelyn’s name.
Looking up, she saw two men carefully navigating the ruts in the mud that the CR-V had made on its way into the water.
Seconds later, there were two more people scrambling down the hill toward them.
The relief she felt, knowing they weren’t alone, almost made Britt’s knees buckle. But she couldn’t fall apart until Evelyn was safe.
It took several more steps, then one of the men closest reached out and grabbed her elbow, steadying her.
“Wow, you got out in the nick of time,” someone said.
Glancing over her shoulder, Britt saw the back end of the CR-V bobbing in the water just before it disappeared altogether.
She was shocked at how quickly the car had sunk, but her attention was yanked back to where she was and what was happening when someone got on her other side, supporting her, and they all walked out of the water and mud toward firmer ground.
“I saw you go over,” the man to her right said. “Good job on getting out so fast. You were already crawling out the window by the time I reached the side of the road. Here, let me help you.”
The last words were said to Evelyn. The man helped her off Britt’s back and onto the muddy bank.
Looking at the woman, Britt saw she was shivering. From the chill of the water that had soaked her feet and lower legs or from shock, she didn’t know. Then she registered the far-off sound of sirens, and she hoped they were coming for them. Britt felt okay, but she was worried about Evelyn.
“I’m fine,” the older woman said. “I can stand on my own.”
Relieved that she seemed to have retained her spunk, Britt sighed. Personally, she felt a little wobbly.
“Britt! Mom!”
At the sound of Chad’s voice, Britt’s head whipped up, and she stared in disbelief as he and his brothers scrambled down the incline toward them, almost falling in their haste.
She had no idea how they’d gotten there so fast, but she assumed one of the bystanders must have called them. Everyone knew everyone in Rockville, especially this close to Lobster Cove, and Britt had never been so glad to see anyone in her life.
It took seven seconds exactly for him to get to her—Britt counted. The second Chad had her in his arms, she felt more like herself. Stronger.
“You’re freezing,” he muttered, tightening his arms around her.
“I’m okay. Check on your mom,” she said, even as she clutched him closer.
“My brothers have her. Let go for a second, I need to check you over,” he said.
Britt didn’t want to let go, but she did anyway. The bank of the bay seemed crowded now with bystanders and all four of the Young brothers, but Britt was more than thankful they were all there.
“You’re cut,” Chad said, looking at her forearm. “And you have a bruise on your cheek.”
“Airbag, probably,” Britt mumbled.
Just then a fire truck rolled to a stop at the top of the embankment, followed closely by an ambulance and a police car.
“Hang tight!” one of the firefighters called down. “We’ll get the rope system set up to get everyone back to the road.”
“No need!” Lincoln called back, picking up his mom and cradling her in his arms. “I’ve got her.” Then, with the help of Zach and Knox, he began to walk up the hill, holding his mother tight.
Chad started to pick up Britt, but she stopped him. “I can walk,” she told him.
“Are you sure?”
She wasn’t, but she nodded anyway.
With Chad on one side of her, his arm around her waist, and with the two men who’d originally stopped for her and Evelyn helping as well, they made their way up the slippery slope. The firefighters were at the top to give them a final hand.
Chad ushered Britt to the ambulance, where his mom was already seated on the gurney in the back.
“Is she okay? Are you okay, Mom?” he asked, tension in his tone.
“I’m fine. Barely even wet, thanks to Britt. Are you okay, honey?” Evelyn asked.
“Cold, a few bruises, but I’m fine,” she reassured her.
“I hate this damn road, always have,” Knox muttered from next to her. “I’ve always been afraid someone’s gonna go off the side, especially in the winter. I’m guessing because you’re new and aren’t used to it, you must’ve misjudged the curve.”
Britt looked at Knox and said firmly, “I didn’t misjudge the curve. The steering stopped working. As did the brakes.”
The silence around them was heavy.
“Are you sure?” Zach asked, frowning.
Britt nodded.
“Fuck.”
“Language, son,” Evelyn scolded Lincoln.
“Mom, I’m thinking if there was ever a time to swear, this is it!” he protested.
“If you’d all step back, we need to get Mrs. Young to the hospital to be checked out.”
“I don’t need to go to the hospital.”
“Yes, you do, and we don’t want to hear anything else about it,” Lincoln told his mom firmly. “You too,” he said, nodding at Britt.
“Me? No, I’m good.”
“Nope. You’re soaking wet, the airbag went off, and you’re going,” Zach said with a shake of his head.
“Another ambulance is on the way,” the paramedic said.
“I’ll take her,” Chad informed him. “It’ll be faster.”
“We’ll need you to sign an AMA form then. Saying that you’re going against medical advice to be transported,” the paramedic argued.
“Fine. Just give us the form so she can sign and I can get her to the hospital,” Chad growled.
He sounded as if he was on the verge of either biting someone’s head off or hurting someone. Britt hated how stressed he was on her behalf. She put her hand on his arm and leaned into him. “I’m okay, Chad. Cold, sore, but nothing’s majorly wrong.”
“I swear I think I lost ten years off my life when Lincoln got that phone call.”
It didn’t take long for the necessary forms to be signed and for Chad to hustle her into the back seat of Knox’s SUV. They’d left after the ambulance but arrived at the emergency room at almost the same time.
Hours after they’d arrived at the hospital—after they were warmed up, tests were done, Britt’s arm got two stitches, she answered the police detective’s questions while Chad and his brothers were talking to the doctor about their mom, and Evelyn had been appropriately fussed over and deemed well enough to go home—they were on their way back to Lobster Cove.
The sun had dipped below the horizon, but Britt could see the CR-V still sitting on the bottom of the small cove as they went past the curve where she’d gone off the road, not quite covered with water, now that it was low tide.