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I follow Taeli and Ansley into the ballroom, carrying sheets and pillowcases.
Morris meets us to help.
“How are you holding up?” Taeli asks him.
“I’m okay. Langford and Weston are on edge though. Both their homes and businesses are in danger.”
Taeli and Ansley walk straight to their future brothers-in-law and give them hugs.
“This sucks,” I choke out.
Morris lays a calming hand on my back. “It’s going to be okay,” he assures me.
I wish I believed him.
The biggest lie I was ever told was, time heals all wounds. There are some wounds too deep for time to touch.
Death has chased me for the past few years. My grandparents, my father, and my mother.
I haven’t wanted to get close to anyone else because I never want to feel that depth of pain again.
The reality is, you can’t feel that depth of pain unless you feel that depth of love.
That’s why my mother tried so hard to save my father from himself. It wasn’t because she was weak. It was because she loved him that much.
I’m such an idiot.
While trying to protect myself from ever falling victim to a man, I’ve become a victim of a prison of my own making all these years.
Please, God, give me another chance.
We quickly make the cots up for the citizens who are awaiting word on their homes.
Sara-Beth gathers them and talks them into lying down, promising that she will let them know the moment she hears word from the base camp.
Once everyone is tucked in, we dim the lights and shut the doors.
“Don’t worry, Mom. Corbin knows what he’s doing,” Weston says as he escorts Sara-Beth back to the kitchen.
She lets out a sob. “Telling a mother not to worry is as useless as telling the river to stop being wet.”
He pulls her in tighter, and she buries her face into his chest until the sound of the door opening causes her to look up.
We all turn to see Hilton and Graham entering the hall.
Their expressions are grim.
“What is it?” Sara-Beth asks, still clinging to her son.
Hilton walks over to her. “All we know is that Lifestar has been called in,” he tells her gently.
Her knees give way, and Weston has to catch her before she falls.
I look at Langford. “What’s Lifestar?” I ask.
“It’s a critical-care helicopter from the University of Tennessee Medical Center,” he says.
“That’s a good thing, isn’t it?”
