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“Is also trespassing. Now leave, before I call the police.”
Her gaze swiveled from the voice to Brooklyn’s location. “Buddy, do you not see the car wedged into your landscaping?”
“The what?”
Del was about to tell Mr. Unwelcoming just what she thought of his threat when her gaze landed on a small black box mounted to Harry’s mailbox. He had a security camera now?
On a growl, Del started forward once more, needing to get to Brooklyn to make sure she was all right. Their ridiculous town hermit could go ahead and call the cops for all she cared. At least Earl would be man enough to come out into the elements and help them.
Then again, maybe that wouldn’t be such a good idea. Who knew what something like this could do to Brooklyn’s driving record.
“Is anyone hurt?” Harry called. “Do you need me to call an ambulance?”
Okay, maybe the guy wasn’t a complete jerk. “I don’t know yet!”
Another fifteen steps or so and she reached Brooklyn’s car. The driver’s side window was down, the car’s interior lit by the glow of a cell phone screen. Del squirmed her way through broken branches to get to her niece and was relieved to find the view devoid of blood.
“Honey, are you sure you’re not hurt?”
Brooklyn lowered her phone in midtext. “I’m fine, but that was Harry, wasn’t it? What if he goes all crazy on us? Or calls the police? Will they take me to juvie? Or take away my car? Aunt Del, I just got this car. I don’t want to have to go back to walking to school!”
“Whoa, slow down there, sweetheart. Everything is going to be all right. What’s important is that you’re not hurt.”
“But Mom will—”
“We’ll worry about your mom and Harry later, okay? First, deep breaths. We can’t think if we’re too busy panicking.”
Brooklyn frowned and took a slightly longer breath. “Fine, now what?”
“Let’s have you put the car in reverse and see if we can’t get you backed out of this mess.”
“I tried that before you got here. The tires spin, but the car doesn’t budge.”
Del sighed. Of course this wasn’t going to be easy.
“You must be stuck on something, let me check. Wait—when did you crack your phone screen?”
“Um”—Brooklyn tucked her phone under one leg—“before…”
“Brooklyn Annette French, donottell me you were texting and driving.”
“When?”
“Brooklyn.”
“What? The weather alarm went off and I tried to silence it.”
Del shot her a “don’t BS me” look. “We’ll talk about this later. Right now, we need to get you out of Harry’s yard and back on the road. Where were you even going in the middle of this storm, anyway?”
“To the farm. I wanted to make sure the ducklings were okay.”
Del pinched the bridge of her nose. “Next time it’s storming? You call Grandpa and let him give you a phone update instead, okay?”
At Brooklyn’s sullen nod, Delaney ducked under the nearest mangled branch and shimmied her way toward the front bumper. Though she didn’t have a clear view, there didn’t seem to be anything preventing the car from backing up. More likely, the rain-soaked grass wasn’t providing enough traction for the Vibe to escape its evergreen jail.
“I think our best bet is to try to pull you out,” Del said. “Sit tight, I’ll be right back.”
She eased out of the arborvitae and spun to find a man she didn’t recognize exiting a late model SUV, now parked on Manning’s driveway. Surely, that couldn’t be Harry; hermits couldn’t look that appealing. This guy was tall, dark, and handsome…and now soaked to the bone like her. His black V-neck tee and khaki cargo shorts showed off lean limbs and sun-kissed skin. A Yankees ballcap was tugged low over shoulder-length dark hair that curled around his ears, and scruffy facial hair covered his face and neck.
