"I was stung by a bee," I joked, trying to make light of my mangled appearance.
"Really, you allergic or something?" she stuttered, mystified.
I laughed, although I paid the price when my face vehemently rejected the movement.
Vanessa's exuberant reaction caused a crowd to form around me, so I launched into a brief replay of what had happened. It was an uncomfortable story to retell since even I could hear how ridiculous it sounded. The only part I changed for the benefit of the people at the station was how Evan had ended up on the floor. I lied that he had lost his balance because of his drunken condition. Josh walked into the reception area, immediately zeroing in on my eye. My words dried in my throat as his eyes swept across my face. His features tightened and from the way he tenderly stroked my arms, it was clear our relationship was no longer a secret.
Chapter 12
"Did I hear you say Evan did this?" he asked
in a deadly serious voice. "When?" he inquired when I stepped away from the crowd.
"After you left," I answered. "He came by wasted off his ass.
"Damn it. I knew I should have walked you to your door and made sure you got in your room safely. What kind of chump drops a girl off and drives away?"
I shook my head. "This was an accident. Sure, it was enhanced by an abundance of liquid dumbness, but Evan didn't mean to hurt me. He was hurting, and I was just trying to be his friend."
He snorted. "Yeah, I'm sure that's all he wanted. The Evan I know has all the friends he needs."
A mixture of emotions coursed through me as I categorized his short statement. If I were in Josh's position I would be skeptical of anything Evan did. Truthfully, I felt the same way, but in spite of the differences in our economic standings, I honestly felt I understood where Evan was coming from. Strangely, Josh would discover that considering their parents, he and Evan had a lot in common if they ever got to know each other. I never saw that happening in anyone's lifetime though.
"You're not disgusted by this monstrosity?" I asked, lightly changing the subject to make a joke.
Josh frowned, not appreciating my lame humor. "The only disgust I feel is at the asshole who did this. I seriously want to pound his face in. I don't care how it happened. He should be sporting his own black eye."
I sighed. "It was an accident," I muttered for what felt like the millionth time. Reaching for Josh's hand, I squeezed it gently, silently appealing for him to let it go. With the heavy winds battering against the building, we had bigger worries on our plates. Judging by Vanessa's nonstop ringing phone, things were a little more intense than what everyone had originally thought.
As if to prove my point, Mitch appeared at our side. "Rain, your face?" He sympathetically grimaced like everyone else had. "I could really use your help today. We got a solid category two hurricane and its path shifted slightly to the west, meaning it's going to hit us harder than we anticipated, but I'm thinking in light of your injury, you and your parents should evacuate."
"What, this?" I asked, pointing to my face. "This is nothing. I want to stay. Besides, I already told Vanessa we'd help with the phones and stuff," I answered.
He looked like he wanted to argue, so I threw out my last plea card. "Plus, it's part of my sentence. You wouldn't want the judge to throw me in jail, would you?" I asked, folding my arms across my chest to emphasize my point.
"I think a judge would understand under these circumstances," he said dryly. You didn't get to his position by falling for bullshit. "If I didn't think we needed all hands on deck, I'd send you and your folks packing, but I'm going to need all the manpower we can get. We're organizing crews to evacuate as many residents as we can. We have a few short hours before it will no longer be safe to remain outside and all travel will be stopped. Busses have been dispatched, and they're waiting to take the residents to Taylor High School."
"Will we evacuate after that?" I asked.
"We won't need to. This building was built to withstand hurricane winds, and we're high enough to avoid any flooding. It's the beachfront residents who will need to be evacuated if they haven't already left," he said.
"I can help evacuate too," I said, ready to jump in and do something useful.
Mitch was already shaking his head. "Absolutely not."
Our conversation was cut short when Vanessa joined us. "There's a report of a downed tree blocking Anderson Way. It's caused a mess of problems over on Beach Avenue," she told Mitch, handing him a slip of paper.
"Josh, go out with Larry and Butch and see what kind of mess we're looking at. A blocked Anderson Way puts a damper on evacuation access. The sheriff or fire department may already be on hand. Watch out for any downed power lines, got it?" Mitch barked out. "And you," he said sternly, pointing at me. "Stay in the building. I catch you trying to leave, you'll be answering to me," he added before leaving the room.
"Yes, sir," I answered, not overly happy I wouldn't be doing anything more useful.
"I guess I better head out," Josh said, looking like he wanted to say more.
"Be careful."
"Always am," he answered, winking at me.
We parted ways outside the break room. Josh headed out the back door followed by Larry and Butch who had been given his own beach patrol rain slicker. Buttercup and I headed out front where Vanessa sat at her desk on the phone. She had several Post-it notes scattered about. She held her hand over the phone and asked me to take them to Mitch while she continued. "It's going to be a bitch of a day," he muttered when I handed him the stack of notes. He took a swig of coffee before heading back toward his office.