Page 113 of The Life Daisy Devlin Designed
“Because you’re an electrician!” Matt sounded exasperated. “And you and I were just having a bit of craic. I doubt the rest of the crew could even have an intelligent conversation. And that boss of yours is a grumpy prick.”
Had Matt always been such a snob, Daisy wondered. How had she not seen that?
“You leave my dad out of it!” Niamh shoved Matt so hard he almost lost his balance.
What? Shit, thought Daisy,I can’t afford to lose Kenny!
“Niamh, forget it – he’s not worth it!”
“You’re Kenny’s daughter?” Matt rolled his eyes. “Figures.”
He turned and waded on, then halted abruptly. “There’s the car!”
The SUV was tipped on its side in the ditch close to the riverbank, water flowing all around it. As Matt headed for it, Daisy dialled 999, shouting into the phone to be heard. As she hung up, she noticed Niamh was heading back towards the house. She cupped her hands around her mouth. “Niamh, where are you going?”
“Leaving!” Niamh didn’t bother to turn around.
“We might need you!” Daisy yelled back.
When Niamh ignored her, she rang Fionn.
“Fionn, can you hear me?” She heard a faint reply. “Message me when Niamh gets back to the house.” Zipping her phone away, Daisy waded on, her eyes starting to hurt as she squinted into the rain and wind.
As they got to the car, another part of the riverbank burst, sending more water rushing onto the road. Daisy tried not to panic as she battled to stay standing. The water was now well over her knees. It was then she noticed that one of the old treesthat lined the riverbank had fallen across the road, completely blocking it.
“Oh shit, Matt!”
“It must have come down just after Kayley got through,” Matt shouted. “It could have hit her car!”
He waded the final few steps and, after a few attempts, heaved himself onto the side of the car.
“Give me a torch, Daisy.”
She handed him one. He wiped his sleeve across the window to try to clear it, before shining the torch into the car.
“I can see Kayley! She’s lying down.Kayley? Can you open the door?Shit, she’s not moving!Kayley!” He pulled hard at the handle. “It won’t budge!”
“What about Drew?” Daisy called.
“He’s in the passenger seat. He seems to be out cold! Or worse. He probably banged his head when the car overturned.”
“Do you think it’s locked from the inside?” Daisy swayed as a wave of water hit the back of her knees.
“Hang on, it might be just stuck. I’ll try to force it!”
Half-standing now, his legs braced either side of the door, Matt gave a loud grunt as he tugged on the door.
It came suddenly away, and Daisy watched, as if in slow motion, as the momentum threw him back off the car onto the flooded road.
He fell backwards, plunging under the water.
CHAPTER 51
“Matt!” Daisy waded forward to help him.
His face had emerged from the water, his eyes closed, his head back, and he seemed to be unconscious. Hunkering down, she tried to slide an arm around his shoulders but her hand snagged on something hard and rough and she realised there was a large jagged rock under the surface. He must have hit his head on it.Shit!She managed to get her arm around his neck andpulled him upwards.
“Matt! Matt, wake up!”
