wearing. Understandably, they were anxious about the possessions, pets and neighbors they’d had to leave behind.
After he compassionately explained that it might be days before the people could leave this temporary shelter, Rick Smith asked, “Have any of you volunteers ever driven a Jeep?”
Amelia hadn’t seen Chase all morning, and she was startled when his voice sounded close behind her.
“I did, during my four-year stint in the army. I probably haven’t forgotten how.”
Amelia was surprised to learn that Chase had been in the army. That had apparently happened after they’d broken up.
Another man indicated that he’d once owned a Jeep, and Rick Smith said, “Good. We’ve borrowed a couple of Jeeps from the National Guard until we can get our rental vehicles, so you guys can drive them and scout out some of the isolated hollows today.” His gaze scanned the few volunteers.
“Amelia, I see you’re dressed for outdoor work, so you go with Chase, and…”
Stunned by this turn of events, Amelia didn’t hear the rest of the assignments. She could not spend the day alone with Chase! Her erratic heartbeat almost took her breath away, and she became more uncomfortable as her dismay increased.
Rick had moved on with the daily plans, not giving Amelia the opportunity to accept or reject the assignment.
When Chase appeared at her side, saying quietly, “This will be like old times,” Amelia knew it was too late to politely refuse. Were her steps destined to travel a path that would disrupt the even current of life she’d developed in the post-Chase era, as she always thought of the last fifteen years?
The eagerness in Chase’s clear gray eyes was disconcerting, and she forced herself to regard him dispassionately, as she might look at a stranger. Amelia considered the man facing her was a stranger. Very little that she’d noted in the short time they’d spent together yesterday had reminded her of the man who’d loved her, married her and disillusioned her so thoroughly that she had no interest in marrying again.
Chapter Three
Amelia decided to accept the inevitable. She wouldn’t be able to avoid contact with Chase, but she was determined to prevent him from hurting her again.
“While you load provisions in the Jeep, I’ll bring my laptop,” she said, praying that her casual tone would convince Chase that he was no more to her than a business acquaintance. Which was true, wasn’t it? “I can use the computer to record our findings,” she added.
Amelia went to her makeshift bedroom for the laptop and a hooded plastic parka, because more rain was predicted today. She filled a tote bag with personal items she might need.
Seated in a camouflaged Jeep, Chase waited in front of the church, and he handed her a white Disaster Relief vest with a red band around the bottom and a large red cross on the back. “We have to wear these all the time when we’re out on a volunteer mission.”
The Jeep didn’t have any doors, just a fabric roof, so Amelia climbed in beside Chase and adjusted the seat belt. She removed a woolen cloche from her tote and put it on her head. She pitched the tote into the back seat, opened her laptop, steadying it on her knees.
“Let’s go,” she said.
How could a man wearing a heavy woolen jacket, jeans, a pair of rubber boots and a hat covered with plastic appear attractive? On Chase, the work clothes lent an air of masculinity that enhanced his handsome features.
Thunder sounded in the distance and a few sprinkles accumulated on the windshield.
“It was a good idea to bring your parka. I have a raincoat on the back seat if I need it,” he said.
Chase nosed the Jeep toward the edge of the mountain and down the steep incline toward the river valley. After driving a few miles eastward on the paved highway, he turned left on a narrow, rutted, muddy road, and shifted into four-wheel drive. Red clay mud flew in all directions as, with difficulty, he maneuvered the Jeep upward along the hazardous mountain terrain.
“Are you sure this is the right road?” Amelia said as she clutched the seat with both hands.
“I’m beginning to wonder. Rick Smith said to take the first road to the left, but this must not have been the one he meant.” Glancing over his shoulder at the steep, crooked road, he said, “I can’t go back now.”
The road wound up and down and around the mountain, and within fifteen minutes, sweat dripped from Chase’s forehead into his eyes. Knowing he didn’t dare take his hands from the steering wheel, Amelia held on with one hand and took a handful of tissues from her pocket. She wiped the moisture from his face. Her fingers tingled when they brushed the day-old stubble of his whiskers, reminding her of the days when she’d awakened at his side, her smooth face resting against his scratchy one.
“Thanks,” he said.
His words stuck in his throat as they entered a sharp dip and the front wheels of the Jeep dropped into a demolished culvert. The decline was so sudden that, in spite of her seat belt, Amelia’s body bounced forward and her head hit the windshield.
“Ouch!” she said.
Struggling to pull the Jeep out of the gaping ditch, Chase couldn’t spare her a glance, but he asked quickly, “Are you hurt?”
“Not much. Don’t worry about me. Just get out of the ditch. I’d hate to be stranded up here.”
In an attempt to control the twisting and turning vehicle as it writhed like a serpent in the sticky, reddish mud, Chase gunned the engine and gripped the steering wheel until his knuckles whitened. When he maneuvered the Jeep to level ground, Chase stopped and lowered his head on the wheel, his shoulders heaving as he struggled for breath.
“I don’t know if I can take much more of this. I’ve never driven on such a road.”
“Road? This isn’t a road—it’s a disaster!” Amelia took a small bottle of water from her tote. “Want a drink?”
“And how!” Chase said. He unscrewed the lid and gulped more than half of the water. “I don’t know what to do now, but I guess we’ll keep going forward—it couldn’t be any worse than retracing our route.”
“I shouldn’t think so,” Amelia agreed.
Shifting into gear, Chase said, “Talk to me while I drive. You’re too quiet.”
Torn by conflicting emotions, Amelia chose her words carefully. “This road has scared me silent, and I don’t know what to say to you, anyway. Maybe you haven’t been upset by our surprise reunion, but it’s been awkward for me. I don’t want to talk about the past, and this flood disaster isn’t a pleasant subject.”
“Then talk about your parents. How are they?”
“I don’t see much of them. You know that Mother and Dad had been married ten years when I was born, and they’d already molded their marriage without a child. When I went home after our divorce, Mother insisted that I move into my own apartment. I assumed that a divorced daughter was an embarrassment to them, that their friends would think they
