Raindrops spattered Ellie’s face. She shoved her hair back and threw her arms around the housekeeper. “Are you okay?”
“My leg isn’t too happy right now,” Matilda said sounding out of breath. This was the first time Ellie had ever heard the woman admit weakness.
The damage must be bad , Ellie thought, her mind racing. “Carter, there’s a kerosene lantern in the speakeasy cellar,” she recalled from her run-in with Arnoff. “Could you grab—”
“I’m one step ahead of you, sweetheart.” The lamp flickered to life. When he held it up, the glow shed enough light to see within a four-foot radius.
“Oh, Matilda,” Ellie gasped.
The woman’s ankle twisted at a horrible angle, swollen three times its normal size. “That’s what I get for trying to close the chimney flue and shutter the windows before the hurricane hit,” she admitted trying to sound upbeat despite the excruciating pain she must’ve been experiencing.
“You should be concerned about your safety,” Ellie chided, “not saving the hotel.”
“This is where my heart is, Ellie.” Matilda sniffed. “I don’t know what I’d do without this place.”
“I know.” She hugged the woman. “I know. I’ll finish battening down the hatches. Don’t worry about a thing.”
“Ellie,” Carter cut in, “we need to get Matilda to the hospital. My pilot is waiting outside with a helicopter. Grab a pack of ice and some blankets, and I’ll carry Matilda to the chopper.”
Nodding, Ellie dashed to the kitchen for ice. She packed the cubes in a plastic bag, grabbed some blankets out of an old luggage trunk, and met Carter at the front door. “You’ll make sure she’s safe?”
“That’s what I do,” he said with a reassuring smile, but the curve dipped to a frown. “You can still come with us, Ellie.”
Biting her lip, she felt her heart throb painfully. He’d said there would be no more chances yet he’d offered her one last opportunity to choose him over the hotel. “But who’ll close the shutters and nail down the pantry?”
“Count me in,” said a voice behind her.
“James!” Matilda’s voice wobbled.
“Love,” James said to his wife, “I want to be by your side. But Ellie needs me here.”
Matilda sent him a wistful look. “I understand.” The two shared a tender embrace. “Stay with Ellie. I’ll be back to the island soon, all patched up. Be careful, James.”
“I will, darling.”
A lump formed in Ellie’s throat observing the flame these two had carried for each other over a lifetime. When Ellie looked up Carter was staring at her with the oddest expression, a cross between stubbornness, frustration and longing.
Then his glance flicked away. “James,” he said to the elder man, “you should head to the mainland with your wife. If this damage is only the beginning then the hurricane has reached category two status, even category three. If that happens, the hotel will be under water and no amount of shutters or nails or good intentions will save it.”
“But, sir—”
“Take her.” Carter handed Matilda to James. “I’ll help you get her to the helicopter. I just need to grab my suitcases.”
Then Carter turned to Ellie. “For once in your life, would you forget this hotel and be with the people who matter most?”
Her chin trembled. “I can’t.”
“Why?” His expression, illuminated by flashes of lightening, looked stricken with grief.
When James opened the front door the elements blasted inside. The combination of spinning helicopter blades and treacherous winds hurled leaves and sticks and rain into the foyer. Ellie threw up her arm to shield her face. She backed away to remove herself from the path of the wind. Carter followed her.
“I can’t,” she reiterated, staring out at the blustery, frightening scene. Tears gathered along her lower lashes. “My mother tried to leave once, before a storm like this hit the island. But she…” Ellie pulled in a quivering breath. “She didn’t make it.”
Carter’s gaze held anguish. “I know you’re scared, Ellie. I told you before I won’t let anything happen to you. Trust me, for once. Come with us to the mainland.”
Anxiety tied her nerves into knots that festered within. “I can’t. I can’t…”
“Yes, you can. But you won’t.” He shook his head, his expression hard as stone. “Good luck. Have a nice life, Ellie.” His gaze pinned her to the wall as he backed away.