Page 100 of Turn the Tide
“I don’t know. We haven’t been able to reach her.”
“Who are we talking about?” Another handsome, dark-haired FWC officer stepped up beside them.
“Mama T,” Marco said. “Hunter, meet Sarah Dutton. We all went to school together. Sarah, this is Hunter Boudreau of FWC.”
“Pleased to meet you,” he said, and his smile indicated he meant it.
“Hi, Sarah. Long time no see. What’s going on with Mama T?” Sarah turned to see Charlee’s brother Josh. Several years ahead of her in school, he’d always looked like he just stepped off the pages of a sports magazine and had a smile that lit up the world. The one he sent her now was a shadow of its former self, and Sarah briefly wondered what had happened in the intervening years.
“She didn’t come by the clinic to pick up her insulin yesterday.” The community center and medical clinic were pretty far out in the Forest, but they were housed in the same building to make it easier for those who lived in the area to get access to services.
Sarah watched the four of them exchange concerned glances. “You working out there now?” Marco asked, eyeing the dirt on her scrubs.
“Yes, I started yesterday. The staff said she’s regular as clockwork, comes by with her grandson, Donny.” They’d told her that Mama T’s daughter and Donny lived with her and monitored her diabetes. In return, Mama T kept watch over Donny after school. “I decided to take a quick drive out there, deliver the meds, and make sure her blood sugar is okay. The last time she ran out of insulin, she almost went into a diabetic coma.”
Sarah felt her own tension ramp up as they exchanged worried looks.
“You tried to call her?” Josh asked.
“Yes. No answer.”
“She has a landline but doesn’t know how to use the answering machine,” Hunter said. “She might have been outside in her vegetable garden and didn’t hear the phone.”
Sarah appreciated their attempts to reassure her, but her instincts were screaming that she make sure. “Maybe, but I still need to go.”
Marco stepped closer, arms crossed over his chest. “If you’re working out here, you need a four-wheel drive, not a Mercedes.”
Sarah lifted her chin at his tone. “This is what I have.” She started to explain that her grandmother had given her the car for her college graduation but stopped herself in time. Marco had spent much of high school using her family’s wealth against her. “Could someone give me a ride out there?” Sarah glanced at everyone but Marco, hoping one of them would offer, but no one did. His friends were all looking to him to make a decision.
When the awkward silence lengthened, Marco scrubbed a hand over the back of his neck, then nodded. “I’ll take you.” He turned to the rest of the group. “You guys head over to the community center without me. I’ll give you a hand battening things down after I drop Sarah back in town.”
Sarah felt a moment’s panic at being alone with him. Not because she was afraid of him. Just the opposite. What if she spent time with him, and the walls around her heart started to crumble? “Look, Marco—”
“Everyone calls me Sanchez. And don’t be stubborn, Princess. Take it or leave it.”
Sarah’s head snapped up at his surprising use of her old nickname. In high school, he’d only called her that when he was trying to be condescending, to keep distance between them and point out how they came from different worlds.
The others had been watching the exchange with a little too much interest.
Sarah felt another flush race over her skin and bit back the words struggling to get out. She had more important things to worry about today than his attitude. She looked from Hunter to Josh to Charlee, then back at Marco’s stiff posture. “You sure you don’t mind taking me out there…Marco?”
Despite the tension radiating off him, he shook his head. “It’s no problem. Mama T is a sweet lady. I’ll feel better knowing she’s okay.”
Hunter nodded. “We all will. We need to go check on a few more people. Let us know how she is.”
Marco turned back toward his ATV. “Then let’s get moving before the weather turns to complete crap.”
Sarah followed him, determined to keep her focus where it belonged, on Mama T. But knowing it’d be just the two of them, it wouldn’t be easy.
