Page 67 of The Texan's Secrets

Even sitting down her head was well above water. The stairway was over to her right. The dresser was straight in front of her, and as her eyes adjusted, she could see the faint flicker of the candles she’d lit in the main floor foyer. She pulled herself to her feet and walked forward.

Nico sped through the blacked-out streets of Royal, ploughing through rivulets and splashing through deep puddles that had settled on the pavement around the overflowing storm drains. As he drove, he redialed Emilia’s phone over and over. He couldn’t shake a dreadful image of her down and hurt, the water rising around her.

Traffic lights were out, so he barely slowed down for the intersections. He passed a few emergency vehicles and several others who, like him, had high clearance, four-wheel drive vehicles designed for rural ranch roads.

Emilia’s house was in the lower part of downtown, and the flooding was deeper there. He was driving through a shallow canal by the time he made it to her house.

He parked on the street and rushed through inches of water to the stairs. The terrain sloped away, leaving the backyard as the low spot. With his flashlight he could see the flow of water rounding the corner of the house and draining to the back.

“Emilia?” he called out as he mounted the front stairs. He rattled the doorknob, but it was locked.

“Emilia?” he called louder, stepping back to kick his way in.

But the door swung open, revealing Emilia. She was wet and disheveled, the glow of candlelight flickering behind her. But she was clearly fine. She was standing there in front of him safe and sound.

He stepped forward, pulled her into his embrace, lifting her feet off the ground and holding her there, waiting for the dreadful image to leave his mind.

“You’re okay,” he whispered hoarsely.

“I dropped my phone,” she said against his neck.

He couldn’t bring himself to let her go.

“It’s in the water,” she added.

“We’ll get you a new one.”

She gave a little laugh. “We’ll have to, I think. I seriously doubt it’s salvageable.”

“I thought you were hurt,” he said, setting her slowly down and loosening his hug.

“I banged my knee. I think it’s bruised.”

“Does it hurt?”

“Only a little.”

“I guess we can live with a bruise,” he said and gave her a gentle kiss on the forehead.

“Can you try to get through to Paris?” Emilia disentangled herself and stepped back. “She’s with Chase somewhere. I tried and tried to call her earlier.”

“Hopefully they’re high and dry. Do you know her number?”

Emilia scrunched up her expression for a second. “I haven’t memorized it, no.”

He knew there was nothing Paris could do right now in any case. “Why don’t you show me the damage?”

“Downstairs is a disaster. Water is pouring in under the back door.”

“Everything’s draining to the back.”

“It’s an ugly mess.” They used his flashlight app as she led the way down the stairs.

Nico was shocked as he looked around at the flotilla of Paris’s belongings. “Has this ever happened before?”

“Never as far as I know. We’ve only lived here for six months.”

“You’re renters, right?” He was fairly sure on that.

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