Page 100 of The Fault Between Us
He turned back to Iris. If she wanted someone to blame for Dell’s death, he was willing to take it. But what if that put her closer to the edge of the bridge with Jenny?Lord, help me.“I tried,” Red said. “I should have tried harder and maybe I could have saved him.” It was the truth. He wished more than anything that he’d stopped the kid. “I’m sorry, Iris.”
Jenny began to cry in earnest. Iris rocked her back and forth, her gaunt cheeks glittering with tears. Her mouth opened, but no words came out.
Maybe Red was getting through to her. He stepped closer. “Iris,” Red said, his hands out, palms up and pleading. “Can I have Jenny back now? She’s hungry.” He was close now, maybe four or five strides from Iris. The tipped bridge felt sturdy enough, but Iris was so close to the edge. Too close.
“I miss my boys.” Iris’s voice was a groan of agony. “I miss them so much.”
“I know,” Red said gently, his heart twisting for the poor woman. “But you can’t keep Jenny.”
“Jenny?” Iris looked down at the crying baby, then at Red. Her brow furrowed. “This is your little girl.” She said it as if she were seeing Jenny for the first time. “Yours and Claire’s baby.”
“Yes,” Red said carefully. “It’s Jenny. And we love her very much. Just like you loved Sid and Dell.”
Iris’s gaze shifted to Claire, then back to Red, as if trying to decide if that was the truth. Jenny’s cries became more insistent.
Red held his breath.
Iris frowned. “I saw her with the nurse. Pete was looking for Beth and I just wanted to hold her for a little while.”
“I believe you,” Red said. “I know you didn’t want to worry us.”
Iris’s face cleared and she looked at the bridge, the river below and the broken guardrails as if taking them in for the first time. She took a step toward him.
Red moved to meet her, his hands outstretched for his little girl.
Then the world tilted. A shriek of steel and the crack of wood rent the air. Red staggered, trying to keep his feet under him. He shot a look over his shoulder. Claire and Pete were on the ground, rocks tumbling down the embankment.
An aftershock, and it was a big one.
Red staggered toward Iris as she floundered, reaching out for the guardrail that wasn’t there. Jenny, slipping downward. The bridge heaved. The wood decking splintered under his feet. He kept his eyes on Jenny as he vaulted forward.
Iris crumpled sideways toward the tilting edge of the bridge.
He was there, one arm scooping up Jenny, the other shooting around Iris and stopping her headlong fall.
He had them both and he held on tight, riding out the shock waves.
The shaking stopped, but the bridge continued to shudder and tilt toward the riverbed below. He clamped Jenny to his chest and anchored Iris to his other side. Claire was on her knees at the edge of the bridge, reaching out to him, her eyes huge and panicked.Hurry, hurry.Her anguish pulled at him like a rope around his heart. Pete was watching the tilting bridge with a terrified expression.
Red didn’t hesitate. He clutched his burdens—his daughter, and the woman who had taken her—and pounded over the buckled decking with long strides.Lord, let the bridge hold.
He staggered once, then caught his balance. Ten feet, then five. Then he was there, clearing the groaning bridge.
Iris fell into Pete’s outstretched arms.
Red stumbled to his knees in front of Claire. She flung her arms around him, Jenny squeezed between them. Jenny wailed, and Claire shuddered with a sob. Red held his wife and daughter to his pounding heart. They were safe. His family was safely in his arms and he would never let them go.
chapter 65:CLAIRE
“Dad!” Claire waved as her father stepped off the bus at the Depot.
Red stood beside her, Jenny in his arms. He shifted from foot to foot like he did when he was nervous. “Don’t worry.” Claire kissed him quickly. “It’s going to be fine.”
The biggest earthquake in the history of the Rocky Mountains had happened four days ago and the county was in an uproar. As soon as the roads opened, West Yellowstone was filled with tourists trying to get out of Yellowstone National Park—and newspaper reporters, the Red Cross, and the National Guard trying to get in.
Unfortunately, the newspaper reports of the earthquake got to Dad before the telephone lines were back in service. When Claire was finally able to call out, Flo was overjoyed to hear they were all safe, but Dad was already on a train west. “He was beside himself,” Flo said. “He’ll be there at five o’clock.”
“Today?” Claire said in disbelief, her eyes locking with Red’s as he burped Jenny after her morning bottle. “Today,” Claire said after telling Flo goodbye.
