The Summer of Our Discontent (3 page)

Water from a broken hydrant shot straight into the air. Next to it was a brand-new Chevy pickup with a white Corolla sitting in the back. The front tires hung over the crushed bed and rear fender. “Unit seven is ten ninety-seven.”

“Copy unit seven at eleven sixteen,” the dispatcher replied. “Can you confirm injuries?”

Rachel recognized the truck. Gavin Crawford had had it only a week. It was the first new vehicle that he’d ever bought and had proudly shown it off to everyone in town. He stood near the wreckage looking shell-shocked. As Rachel got out of her car, she recognized the white Corolla with a smiley face ball on the antenna. She knew it belonged to Wilda Scott, who was pushing eighty years old. She switched to the private channel and keyed her lapel
mic.
“Unit seven.”

“Go ahead, unit seven.”

“I’m going to have to do some climbing, keep EMS rolling until you hear from me.
Wilda’s
one of the drivers.”

“Ten-four. They’re at the scene of a fire, ETA is ten minutes. MFD has dispatched rescue, but they’re also five to seven minutes out.”

“Ten-four, thanks.” Rachel looked at Gavin as she walked up. “You okay?”

“She just came flying out of nowhere, and I mean flying in the air, Rachel.”

Gavin didn’t appear to have any injuries. “Sit down on the curb and let me take a look at her.” To the bystanders who gathered, she said, “Everyone, stay back, please.”

Rachel tested the tailgate that had flopped open before climbing up on it. Wilda turned and looked at her through the broken driver’s side window as though they’d just stopped to chat. “Good morning, Rachel. How’s your mother doing?”

“Wilda, are you okay?”

“I’m fine, praise God. When everything went crazy, I started singing that country song
Jesus Take the Wheel
, and He did. Of course, I don’t know where I’m at. I can’t see anything through the windshield. My car won’t start, either. You think the engine’s flooded?”

Rachel held up a hand. “Don’t try to start it again, okay?” She keyed her lapel
mic
again on the private channel. “Unit seven.”

“Go ahead.”

“Keep EMS rolling, one injury suspected. She’s alert and somewhat oriented.”

“Ten-four.”

“Wilda, do you feel pain anywhere?” she asked as she moved closer.

“Just in the shoulder where the seat belt caught me. Can you help me out? I have an appointment with Audrey, and I’m late.”

“Audrey’s Alterations can wait, they’re not that busy. You need to be very still for me, okay? You could have an injury that we can’t see, and you don’t want to make it worse by trying to get out.” Rachel looked inside the car. The driver’s compartment didn’t show any damage except for the deployed airbag. “Honey, how’d this happen?”

“Well, I was on the way to Audrey’s like I told you. I bought a couple pairs of pants on sale at the mall. I knew they were way too big, but I just couldn’t pass up a bargain like that. They were four ninety-nine! I got ’
em
at a swank department store, too. Anyway, I was driving along, and the Monson’s dog ran right out in front of me. Rita never keeps him penned up, he’s such a menace. Well, I stomped the brake, but my little
ol
’ car just took off like a rocket, and well, here I am.”

Rachel looked at the tightly packed dirt hill almost overgrown with grass in the Monson’s front yard. Avery Monson had it brought in when he’d decided to build a flowerbed and realized that it was the wrong type of soil. From what she could gather, it had been the ramp that propelled
Wilda’s
car into the air when she mistakenly stomped the gas.

“I’m gonna stay right here with you until the ambulance arrives, so you just sit very still.”

“Oh, no, honey, I can’t. Audrey said if I wasn’t there by eleven thirty, she couldn’t fit me in today.”

“Wilda, you and your car are in the back of Gavin Crawford’s pickup truck,” Rachel said slowly as she began to hear sirens in the distance. “I can’t get you out of here safely until help arrives.”

Wilda’s
face fell. “His…new truck?”

“Yes, ma’am.”

“Is he hurt?”

Rachel looked over to where Gavin sat on the curb. Spray from the hydrant soaked him, and he looked as though he was crying. “He looks okay to me.”

The fire department rescue unit pulled up, and Faith jumped out. Rachel almost laughed at the expression on her face as she took in the scene. She hurriedly climbed up in the back of the truck and asked, “What’ve you got?”

“She’s alert and talking. I can’t find any signs of obvious injury,” Rachel said as she carefully moved out of the way.

“Wilda, where’re you hurting, honey?” Faith asked as she tried to open the door.

“Just where the seat belt got me. How’s Patty? I’ve been meaning to get by there and see her and the baby. Oh, I bet little Sophie has grown so much. Do you know you have soot on your face?”

*******

Rachel sat at a table in the emergency room making notes for her report. Gavin and Wilda were both taken to the hospital due to the severity of the accident, but neither was seriously hurt, despite a few bruises. She could hear Wilda nearby humming
Jesus Take the Wheel
and smiled.

When Faith and EMS had taken over, she’d gone to the pile of dirt and found tire tracks confirming her suspicions. On a piece of paper, she’d crudely drawn the car airborne after ramping off the hill and included it with her notes. She had a handful of witness statements still to collect.

Faith stood with the rest of her fire department buddies and the two medics who had transported Gavin and Wilda. Her face was still smudged with soot from the fire she’d been working, and her hair stood out at odd angles from being in the helmet. As a child, she’d been chunky, but as an adult, she looked slight in the big fire retardant pants and boots. The red suspenders stood out in contrast to the navy blue of her T-shirt. Rachel might’ve considered her attractive if she wasn’t such a shit. Other women did, though—many other women.

Faith’s big dark eyes and nearly black silky hair were an attention grabber, the pouty red lips were known to make promises that Faith never seemed to keep. Her front door should’ve been made into the revolving kind because she moved them in and out quickly. Rachel looked away when Faith turned and caught her staring.

She collected her paperwork and walked out of the ER, her stomach growling for lunch. She’d just opened the door to her car when Faith caught up with her. “Hey, we have a problem.”

“What would that be?” Rachel asked as she draped an arm over the frame.

“My niece and your daughter.”

Rachel pursed her lips. “I assume you’re going to elaborate.”

“Patty just went through an ugly divorce. She doesn’t need any more drama in her life. Sophie’s already asking her to spend the night with Kaycee, so that means Patty wants to get to know you. Be nice to her.”

“Or what?”

Faith squared her shoulders. “You may have a gun on your hip, but I can still whip your ass.”

Rachel shook her head and smiled. “Still a punk-ass brat. I can’t imagine how they let you in the fire department. Your body is almost forty, but your brain is still only six.”

Faith’s face flushed red beneath a mop of dark wet hair. “I’ve had a really busy morning, and I’m in no mood for shit.”

“Then don’t start any. You could’ve begun this conversation a dozen different ways, but you chose to go on the offensive. You’re demanding that I be nice while you’re being a dick. Can’t say that I’m motivated to honor your request.”

“You can be your usual obnoxious self to me, but I’m asking you to give my sister a break.”

Rachel smiled as she climbed into her car. “That won’t be a problem as long as she doesn’t act like you.”

Faith glared at her as she drove away with her smug smile half hidden behind dark glasses. Having to share the same town with Rachel Chauvin was the bane of her existence. It grated her to no end that some fool had actually entrusted her with a real gun.

Alvin Sibley walked up and handed Faith her radio. “Did you run the hot bitch off?”

“You think she’s hot?”

“She’s female, and she ain’t married or knocked up, and even though that sexy mouth of hers is always spewing insults, I’d do her. She’s got a great ass and those bright green eyes. I could fist my hands in that long hair and—”

“Shut up, you’re making me sick. The reasons why are endless. What’s for lunch?”

Chapter Four

“You look tired. How’s Wilda?”

“You heard,” Rachel said as she kissed her mother on the cheek.

“It’s the hot topic in town.” Bev Chauvin rinsed the last of the dishes she was washing and put the plate into the drain basket. “It’s just a miracle that she and Gavin weren’t seriously hurt.”

“Oh, he’s hurting, all right. It’s painful to see a grown man cry. He loved that truck.” Rachel opened the fridge and pulled out a soda. “You’re right, though. It’s miraculous that both of them walked away with only bruises. Where’s my baby?”

Bev pointed toward the kitchen window at the tree house where Kaycee and Sophie were hanging upside down from a low-hanging branch. “They’ve been playing hard all afternoon, and they both smell like wet dogs. Kaycee doesn’t want to go to school tomorrow because it’s only a half day.”

“And miss the year-end party?” Rachel asked in shock. “She must be totally smitten.”

Bev brushed away a lock of pure white hair from her face as she watched the girls with a smile. Her green eyes always seemed to light up when she regarded her granddaughter. “Sophie showed up with a bullfrog she caught in the ditch and offered it to Kaycee. His name is Kip, and he’s in that cardboard box by the swing. Let the poor thing out when you bring her in for the night.”

“Nothing says friendship like a shared frog. I just wish that the bearer of that gift didn’t have Leblanc blood pumping through her veins.”

Bev looked at Rachel with disapproval. “You’re a grown woman. It’s time to put childish things aside. You need to let the grudge you have against Faith go.”

“She’s still a tool. Today, she puffed up on me and demanded that I be nice to her sister. She’s lucky I didn’t
tase
her until the hair flew off the top of her head.”

Bev rolled her eyes and removed a magnet from a piece of paper holding it to the fridge. “This is the camp confirmation. Kaycee wanted me to give it to you the minute you walked in. It’s all she and Sophie talked about while they had their snack. It would be nice if Sophie’s mom allowed her to go with Kaycee. Maybe if you told her that you were one of the chaperones, she’d let her go.”

Camp Summer Sun was the highlight of
Kaycee’s
previous two summers. Two weeks of crafts, swimming, canoeing, and campfires were what she looked forward to all year. To have the new best friend along would be a slice of heaven. The confirmation form was still in Rachel’s hand when a woman walked into the backyard. It was easy to deduce that she was Faith’s sister. They both had the same hair color and build. Rachel hoped that they didn’t share the same personality.

“Well, it’s time for me to meet Sophie’s mom. Wish me luck.”

Bev kissed Rachel on the cheek. “I’m going. I still have your father’s dinner to prepare.”

“Thanks, Mom.”

“Remember, you’re an adult,” Bev said as she patted Rachel’s face.

“With a Taser.”

Bev laughed and tucked her purse under her arm. “Kiss Kaycee for me.”