the female persuasion.
Sadly, interesting company was not to be had at the moment save for his own, of course. Nor did it seem that there would be a beer or a martini in his future anytime soon since the rain had begun to fall in earnest. England had its share of the wet stuff so he was no stranger to it, but in Hawaii one must pay attention when it fell like this. Fickle as a mistress, it was. Sweet and gentle one moment, raging with fury the next. And, like a mistress, it was always beautiful but could be dangerous if one didn’t give it one’s full attention. In fact, no one in their right mind would keep driving on the road to Hana in this weather. Stephen Kyle was often accused of not being in his right mind, so he kept driving.
“Damn bloody stuff,” he muttered as a particularly dense curtain fell from the sky.
“Bloody idiot.” Stephen cursed the weatherman who had predicted rain but not torrents, not tempests.
When he was done with that, he began to sing Royal Blood’s Out of the Black with gusto, loving that his voice sounded quite good in the cab of his truck. His singing was so excellent that he forgot the rain, drummed his beefy hands on the big steering wheel, and gave the old trolley of his a little wiggle just as he hit a perfectly acceptable high note.
Unfortunately, in the next minute he hit something else.
***
It was all over in seconds: the crunch, the spin. The frantic attempt to keep the rental on the road failed. The car bumped down the incline just under the bridge and landed sideways in a tangle of ferns, hibiscus, and banyan tree roots. Josie’s hands were still clenched tightly on the wheel minutes after the crash. That was the first thing she was aware of, the second was the sound of the rain, and the third was her ragged breathing.
She let her head fall back, closed her eyes, and did a quick inventory. Her head was spinning, but she hadn’t hit it. Her stomach was clutching, but only because her seatbelt had done what it was supposed to do: grab and restrain. She had gone cheap on the rental so no airbag deployed. Her arms would hurt in a few hours because she’d braced against the fall by pushing out on the steering wheel even though she knew better. Go with it. Roll with it. Finally, she relaxed her fingers, extended them, and let go of the wheel as she opened her eyes. Her purse was dumped on the passenger side floor and that window was cracked. So was the back window on the passenger side. To her left there didn’t seem to be anything different than the right: forest and more forest. Above her the rain went from sounding like a machine gun to a car wash. Water slid off the windshield in sheets. Though she wasn’t hurt, she was darn ticked. Josie couldn’t imagine what she’d hit but whatever it was it felt like a brick wall.
She turned off the engine, unsnapped her belt and nearly tumbled to the other side of the car. Stabilizing herself with her feet, Josie leaned over and gathered her things. Reaching behind her, she grabbed the steering wheel and pulled herself upright and then tried the driver side door. The angle made it nearly impossible to push it open with her hands so she leaned back and put both feet against it. With a great heave she shoved until the hinges caught. At exactly that moment, the wind whipped through the mountains and drove the rain horizontally, drenching her in the process.
“Damn! Damn!”
Josie turned her head as she slid off the seat and took the short drop to the ground. One foot hit a bush and the other slid in a river of mud. Muttering, cursing, wet to the skin, she slung her purse across her body, took one last look at the car, and started to hike. The incline wasn’t much but she was shaken and the terrain was sodden so it was slow going. She slipped, grabbed onto a tree, and pulled herself up a few feet toward the bridge before slipping again and sliding all the way back to the beginning. She set to it once more with a grunt,
Sadly, interesting company was not to be had at the moment save for his own, of course. Nor did it seem that there would be a beer or a martini in his future anytime soon since the rain had begun to fall in earnest. England had its share of the wet stuff so he was no stranger to it, but in Hawaii one must pay attention when it fell like this. Fickle as a mistress, it was. Sweet and gentle one moment, raging with fury the next. And, like a mistress, it was always beautiful but could be dangerous if one didn’t give it one’s full attention. In fact, no one in their right mind would keep driving on the road to Hana in this weather. Stephen Kyle was often accused of not being in his right mind, so he kept driving.
“Damn bloody stuff,” he muttered as a particularly dense curtain fell from the sky.
“Bloody idiot.” Stephen cursed the weatherman who had predicted rain but not torrents, not tempests.
When he was done with that, he began to sing Royal Blood’s Out of the Black with gusto, loving that his voice sounded quite good in the cab of his truck. His singing was so excellent that he forgot the rain, drummed his beefy hands on the big steering wheel, and gave the old trolley of his a little wiggle just as he hit a perfectly acceptable high note.
Unfortunately, in the next minute he hit something else.
***
It was all over in seconds: the crunch, the spin. The frantic attempt to keep the rental on the road failed. The car bumped down the incline just under the bridge and landed sideways in a tangle of ferns, hibiscus, and banyan tree roots. Josie’s hands were still clenched tightly on the wheel minutes after the crash. That was the first thing she was aware of, the second was the sound of the rain, and the third was her ragged breathing.
She let her head fall back, closed her eyes, and did a quick inventory. Her head was spinning, but she hadn’t hit it. Her stomach was clutching, but only because her seatbelt had done what it was supposed to do: grab and restrain. She had gone cheap on the rental so no airbag deployed. Her arms would hurt in a few hours because she’d braced against the fall by pushing out on the steering wheel even though she knew better. Go with it. Roll with it. Finally, she relaxed her fingers, extended them, and let go of the wheel as she opened her eyes. Her purse was dumped on the passenger side floor and that window was cracked. So was the back window on the passenger side. To her left there didn’t seem to be anything different than the right: forest and more forest. Above her the rain went from sounding like a machine gun to a car wash. Water slid off the windshield in sheets. Though she wasn’t hurt, she was darn ticked. Josie couldn’t imagine what she’d hit but whatever it was it felt like a brick wall.
She turned off the engine, unsnapped her belt and nearly tumbled to the other side of the car. Stabilizing herself with her feet, Josie leaned over and gathered her things. Reaching behind her, she grabbed the steering wheel and pulled herself upright and then tried the driver side door. The angle made it nearly impossible to push it open with her hands so she leaned back and put both feet against it. With a great heave she shoved until the hinges caught. At exactly that moment, the wind whipped through the mountains and drove the rain horizontally, drenching her in the process.
“Damn! Damn!”
Josie turned her head as she slid off the seat and took the short drop to the ground. One foot hit a bush and the other slid in a river of mud. Muttering, cursing, wet to the skin, she slung her purse across her body, took one last look at the car, and started to hike. The incline wasn’t much but she was shaken and the terrain was sodden so it was slow going. She slipped, grabbed onto a tree, and pulled herself up a few feet toward the bridge before slipping again and sliding all the way back to the beginning. She set to it once more with a grunt,
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