Page 122 of Hometown Girl

Drew sighed. He never should’ve stopped here. It wasn’t like Willow Grove had a sketch artist anyway.

Behind them, garbled voices sounded on the police scanner, and the phone rang.

“People get so upset whenever there’s a storm.” The woman plodded back to her desk. “You wouldn’t believe what they’re like when it snows.”

She picked up the phone. “This is Nancy.”

Nancy. He’d forgotten her name, too distracted by the hive of red hair atop her head.

“Slow down,” Nancy said into the receiver. “Are you sure?”

The scanner went off now in a steady stream, like audible commotion. Drew listened more carefully.

“A tornado has touched down just west of Willow Grove. I repeat, a tornado has been spotted on the ground just west of Willow Grove.”

Drew glanced at Nancy as the color drained from her cheeks. She hung up the phone. “We need to take cover.”

Outside, a tornado siren went off.

“Get your dog, and let’s go to the basement,” she said. “They’re going on the airwaves now to tell everyone to get underground.”

Drew’s thoughts spun back to Fairwind. He’d left in such a hurry, he hadn’t cleaned up any of the rotted wood outside the barn where he’d been working earlier that day. If the winds were strong enough, those beams could destroy the main barn.

Whether he wanted to admit it or not, he’d been honest when he’d said he was invested now. Not only because of all the time he’d spent on the place, but because he’d fallen hopelessly in love with its owner.

Beth.Did she even know about the tornado?

He fished his cell phone out of his pocket and dialed her number. After five rings, it went to voice mail.

“We should go.” Nancy stood near a door at the back of the station.

“You go ahead,” Drew said. “I need to go check on someone.” Fairwind was on the east side of town. If he hurried, he could beat the storm. Maybe.

“Are you crazy? This isn’t a drill. We have a confirmed twister on the ground. It’s headed straight for town.”

“I know.” Drew hit “Redial” on his phone. “I need to hurry. Thanks, Nancy.”

Still no answer on Beth’s phone. Where was she? This wasn’t the best time for her to be stubborn and refuse his calls.

He rushed out to his truck and pulled himself inside, rain dripping off the ends of his hair and onto his jeans.

Roxie barked, riled up from the thunder.

“I know, Rox. We’ve gotta hurry.”

He drove the now-familiar highway toward Fairwind, trying not to think about the fact that Beth could still be sorting through clothing and linens on the second floor of the farmhouse. She could be in the yard, pulling in the lawn chairs. She could be in real danger. And it was possible she had no idea. Out there, she wouldn’t have heard the tornado siren.

He mentally beat himself up for leaving the way he had as he listened to her outgoing voice-mail message for the third time.

Rain came down in sheets now, forcing him to slow down. Behind him, the sky had turned an ugly shade of green, the color of an old bruise.

And it didn’t look good.

“Come on, Beth.” He dialed again as Roxie whined in the passenger seat. Beth hardly ever went anywhere without her phone. What if something had happened to her? What if she’d gotten hurt and there was no one there to help?

He tried not to think the worst and focused instead on the dark road in front of him. When he finally made the turn that led to Fairwind, his heart kept time with the frantic windshield wipers.

Maybe she’d lost service. That was possible. He glanced at his own phone and saw four bars. His heart dropped.

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