Page 58 of Where the Waves Kiss the Shore
When Joey opened the door of the boathouse, Kasia was surprised to see the cold light of dawn spilling through. The wind was still howling, but it had lost some of its ferocity, and the rain had eased to a light drizzle. Clearly, the worst of the storm had passed.
Joey led her down the path from the lifeboat station. The station stood at the far end of the small bay that created the natural harbor. On a good day, Kasia could run there in four minutes, but this journey would take longer, no matter how eager she was to get to bed.
“If you wait here, I’ll run and fetch the truck from your car park.”
“No, don’t leave me. I’ll be okay if we take it slowly.” She was grateful for Joey’s arm around her, and she leaned into their warm sweater as they wrapped their own coat around them both.
Joey halted their slow progress and turned to her. “Whatever’s happened, I want you to remember we can fix it. Don’t freak out, okay?”
Her sluggish brain struggled to understand fully, but a sliver of alarm slipped through.
“What? What’s happened?” She struggled to push Joey aside.
When they sidestepped, she could to see across the harbor, beyond the quay, to where the familiar shape of the hotel stood. Except the shape waswrong. Large black holes gaped across the roof, and ceiling materials hung down the outer walls. She squinted in the half light, trying to make out the extent of the damage. Her legs wouldn’t move, and an icy hand squeezed the breath from her lungs. When she looked up, Joey’s expression reflected the horror she felt. She opened her mouth, but nothing suitable came to mind. Tears slid down her cheeks. “We need to find Tierney.” Her voice came out as a croak.
“Come on.” Joey pulled her back under their coat, and they continued to walk a little more hurriedly.
She’d left Tierney alone in the storm. Was she hurt?
When they reached the car park, Joey swung open the door of their truck. “Sit in there while I check that it’s safe to go in.”
Kasia collapsed onto the edge of the seat and watched Joey run up to the front door. When they tried the handle, it opened and they disappeared inside.
She rubbed her face with her good hand. Up close, the damage was harder to see, but the car park was littered with tiles. She wanted to go inside and inspect the damage, but shedidn’t have the physical or emotional energy to deal with it right now. The only thing that really mattered was Tierney. The opening of the front door drew her attention as Joey emerged.
“I found Tierney. She’s safe.”
Joey stepped aside and Tierney emerged. Fergus was in her arms and her hair was full of plaster dust.
She ran over to Kasia. “Are you okay? Joey said you went overboard.”
She wrapped one arm around Kasia in an awkward embrace, hindered by a squirming cat. Fergus yowled, jumped out of her arms, and ran back inside the hotel.
Kasia watched him go. Relief flooded through her. Tierney was safe. She appeared mostly unscathed, with just a few cuts on her face and hands seeping blood through the layers of dust. “I’m fine. Do you need medical attention?” She was struggling to think beyond the moment.
“No.” Tierney shook herself, raising a cloud of dust between them. “One of the windows blew in, and I guess that let the wind get in and up into the roof. I tried to keep it contained, but it was too dangerous, so I hid in the cellar.”
Tierney’s voice cracked, and tears tracked through the dust on her cheeks.
“We’ll get the repairs done as quick as we can, and we’ll have the hotel open in no time.”
Tierney didn’t sound as if she believed that any more than Kasia did. Kasia’s heart told her she should take Tierney in her arms, but she couldn’t take her eyes from the wreckage of the hotel. All their hard work and attention to detail, all ruined. They were now worse off than they had been before.
“This can’t be the only damage from the storm. Every contractor will be booked up for months, and the first bookings are in six weeks.”
Tierney started to sob. “I couldn’t do anything, Kasia. The storm was too powerful.”
“You could’ve done something when the roof needed replacing, but you didn’t listen to me or push your dad to invest.” Kasia couldn’t hold the words back; she was too exhausted.
Joey stepped up behind Kasia and gripped her shoulder. “Hey, this isn’t the time or place for this. I’ll take you both back to the cottage, and you can get some rest. I’ll get a few of the boys over, and we’ll get some sheeting up. We can stop it getting any worse.” They held the rear car door open. “Do you have everything you need at the cottage?”
Tierney nodded and jumped in. Kasia heard her sniffling in the back for the short journey, and a warming glow of anger started to spread though her cold limbs. It wasn’t really even aimed at Tierney. She should have known better than to trust someone still dependent on her family at the age of thirty-five. She shouldn't have relied on anyone. It was her own fault she was in this position.
Joey pulled up at the cottage and they all got out in awkward silence. Joey hesitated when Tierney unlocked the door. “You’ll call me if you need anything, right?”
Kasia nodded. Even that hurt. “I just need some sleep.”
“Perhaps leave the talking till you’ve both rested?” Joey put a hand on her arm. “Everything will seem more manageable when you’ve had some sleep.”
