“Oh, Peanut,” Marta wailed as she leaned forward to accommodate the little dog’s tongue. “You bad, bad dog.”
But she didn’t sound at all angry.
I pushed Peanut aside long enough to cover Marta’s wound with a large piece of gauze bandage, using only enough tape to keep the wind and the dog from tearing the sterile covering away. The gauze would keep the wound clean, but mostly it would shield it from the woman’s view, which would keep her calmer.
Then I went to help Larry.
He still had his seat belt on and was leaning back against his seat, his head supported by the headrest. His face, which had undoubtedly struck the steering wheel, was bloodied and I suspected he’d broken his nose.
Still, he managed a smile when I opened the car door and bent over him.
“Hey there, Brooke,” he said, and his voice was nasal and weak. “How’s Marta?”
I smiled back, tried to keep my voice lighthearted as I wrapped a cervical support around his neck.
“She’ll have that arm in cast for a while,” I said. “But she’s gonna be okay. Glad to see that you two are back together.”
Briefly, he tried to shake his head, then realized that the collar was designed to prevent such a movement.
“Dog’s fault,” he said. “He ran off this morning. She kept calling him. Top of her lungs. Peanut. Darling Peanut. I had to help, just to quiet her down. Last time he ran off, he ended up down here. So that’s where we headed. Darned dog waited until we were almost around the curve, darted right in front of us. Barking his fool head off. I swerved to keep from hitting him.”
As I secured his broken ankle against further injury, Larry continued talking. A good distraction from the pain. He told me what a feisty old gal Marta was. And how he didn’t even remember what had started their feud.
“Maybe I should marry her,” he said.
“I’m all for it,” I said, smiling. “It’d sure cut down on 911 calls.”
Larry managed to chuckle.
“That should hold you until the paramedics arrive,” I said a few minutes later, satisfied that I’d done all I could for him.
If he was lucky, I thought, a mild case of whiplash would be the only neck or back injury he’d sustained. But I wasn’t taking any chances. There was no reason to move him, so I just told him to stay put.
“Just be patient,” I added. “Help’s on the way.”
“Mmm,” Larry said.
That’s when he shut his eyes.
I checked his pulse as he began mumbling about fixing a broken fence. And dancing. And a pretty pink dress. And please shut that damned dog out of the bedroom.
Shock, I feared, was making him irrational.
A diagnosis he confirmed by opening his eyes, looking around wildly and struggling up from his seat.
“Marta!” he cried out. “Where’s Marta?”
I put my arm across his body, restraining him.
“She’s fine, Larry,” I said, keeping my voice calm. “She’s sitting by the side of the road.”
“I have to go to her,” he said.
Once he stepped down on his shattered ankle, no doubt he’d abandon that plan. But I couldn’t allow him to embark on such a voyage of discovery.
When I didn’t let him out of the car, he glared at me. Outraged.
“Darn it, Brooke. Let me loose. I have to tell Marta that I love her.”
I invested my voice with confidence.
“She already knows that, Larry,” I said firmly. “She’s known it for a long time.”
Amazingly, he sagged back against his seat.
“Is she okay?”
I smiled as I glanced back over my shoulder at Marta, who was still sitting quietly by the side of the road. With Peanut now curled in her lap.
“Yeah,” I said. “She’s just fine.”
Chapter 19
The fire department arrived faster than I could have hoped.
The ambulance from Harrisburg showed up ten minutes later.
By the time the tow truck had hauled off Larry’s yellow car and I’d opened Dunn Street to traffic again, a tornado watch was in effect for the entire county. Overhead, the sky had grown overcast. On the horizon, the clouds were closer and darker than they’d been an hour earlier.
As I pulled back onto 146, I saw one of Maryville’s volunteer weather spotters speed past me on her way to the edge of town. Breaking the law for all the right reasons. She and a handful of others were scattering to predetermined areas—places from which they could see the weather coming. If a tornado was spotted, they’d radio its