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‘I’ll collect it another time. I have a car for the meantime.’ She followed the jerk of his head towards a sleek double garage more than heard his words. But then he was slamming her door and walking away. Barely stopping to call over his shoulder. ‘Goodbye, Tia.’
Mutely, she obeyed, sliding her car fob into the central console and pressing the ignition button and moving inexorably off the drive. She couldn’t fight him. She didn’t even understand what she was fighting.
Tia was already out of Westlake and on the route home when her mobile rang.
Was it Zeke? Calling to tell her he’d changed his mind?
Dammit, why hadn’t she connected to Bluetooth?
Pulling over into a layby, Tia fumbled through her bag, the phone seeming to slip elusively away from her each time. She certainly wasn’t prepared for her father to be calling, asking her if she was okay.
‘I’m fine. I’m on my way home, why?’
‘That’s good,’ his reassuring voice crackled over the connection. ‘As long as you’re safe.’
‘What is it?’ she asked, unable to shake the sense of disquiet.
‘It’s nothing. I’ll see you when you get back here. Drive safely, and if the weather gets too bad, stop at a motel for the night.’
‘What’s going on, Dad?’ It took all her effort to keep her voice calm. ‘Please. Tell me.’
And then she listened as her father reluctantly told her that there had been a major incident at sea and that both Westlake and Delburn Bay lifeboat stations had been called on to attend. They would assist with a search and rescue helicopter already flying out to the scene.
Tia didn’t think twice. She confirmed that her father was happy to look after Seth for the night, and then she terminated the call, turning her car around and heading back into Westlake.
If there was a shout now, then Zeke was heading out to it. And after the conversation they’d just had—the emotional state his head must surely be in—she couldn’t just leave it at that.
She had to be there. She had to know he was safe.
Whatever that said about the way things were between them, now wasn’t the time to worry about it.
CHAPTER FIVE
TIA CLUTCHED THE cool resin countertop of the lifeboat station’s compact kitchen and waited for Albert—a volunteer who had been at the station from even before she herself had started there aged a mere fifteen—to terminate the radio call and update them. The last few hours had been unbearable, without a single reprieve, and the atmosphere amongst the other volunteers left behind, concerned for their colleagues and feeling helpless, was sombre, at best.
Her only consolation was the fact that Albert had been so absorbed with the shout that he hadn’t had a chance to do more than look shocked at her arrival, then hug her tightly, before focussing in on the emergency.
He certainly hadn’t had time to ask her any questions, or, worse, reminisce about the good old days when her mother had been a coxswain and her father the medical officer.
As the old man plodded heavily into the room her heart hammered in her chest, and she fought to try to calm herself.
Even as she had arrived at the station it had been scant relief to hear that the initial report had said that a cargo ship had been slightly listing as a result of some of the hundreds of containers on deck that had shifted in the violent storms. The treacherous conditions at sea had meant that it would most likely take hours before the Delburn and Westlake lifeboats—who had been asked to attend in support of the rescue helicopter taking the lead for the incident—reached the scene.
Now, a few hours later, they were still waiting for news. A temporary loss of radio communications had only heightened the tension all round. Albert cleared his throat, his steadfast, calm voice belied only by the strained lines around his eyes.
‘It seems the situation has degenerated. There’s about a five-metre swell out there, which has caused the cargo to slide further and made the ship list to such an extent that the portside rails had become submerged. They’ve lost power and at least two of their crew are already injured.’
‘Our guys won’t reach them in time,’ someone muttered, concerned.
‘Zeke has increased his speed to twenty knots to try to ensure that they do.’ Albert’s frown deepened.
As the murmurs rippled around the room, Tia’s grip tightened. As did the fist around her heart. But she couldn’t speak. Couldn’t even utter a sound.
‘They’ll never make it.’
‘Those seas will be mountainous; the lifeboat will be tossed around like it’s a kid’s bath toy.’
‘They’ll be airborne more than they’re in the damned water. They’re more likely to injure themselves just getting there than anything else.’
