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The Red Cross had given her a pillow and a blanket, and assigned her to a cot in the corner next to the FBI agents. When she’d raised her eyebrows about the location, Laura had whispered in her ear that Agent Winger had requested it.
Nola didn’t argue, and thankfully Laura didn’t comment one way or the other about the oddity of the request. At the moment, all three of the agents were gone and Nola was relieved. Being around Tate was harder than she would have imagined. All these years she’d been so angry and hurt at the way they had parted. Now she was just disgusted with herself that the attraction was still there.
She’d heard enough conversation between them on the drive home to know that their field office was at the police station, so she assumed that was where they were.
As soon as she changed into a pair of jeans and a T-shirt, she stashed the rest of what they’d given her under the cot. She had one more task to finish and was going to need help, so she began walking through the crowded gym, looking for a familiar face. When she saw Delores Brim, who had been one of her mother’s friends, she headed toward her.
Delores saw her coming and stood abruptly.
“Nola! Oh, honey, I worried about you. Did it take your house?”
“Yes, ma’am,” Nola said. “What about you and Joe?”
“We don’t know. We evacuated early on. We haven’t been back.”
“I need to ask a favor of you. Would you please braid my hair? Just one long braid down my back. My hands are still too stiff to do it myself.”
Delores grabbed Nola’s hands and turned them over, saw the abrasions and the bandages on her wrists, and began to cry.
“What happened to you?”
“I didn’t get out in time. It was a while before I was rescued.”
“Oh, honey, I’m so sorry. You must have been scared out of your mind. Of course I’ll braid your hair. Come sit down on my bed. It won’t take long.”
Nola handed her the elastic band for her hair.
“I don’t have a brush or comb. Just do what you can and I’ll be happy.”
Delores chattered as she worked, talking to Nola about how others had made it through the flood as she combed her hair with her fingers, and she soon had the braid finished and tied off.
“There you go, honey. You have the prettiest hair. Puts me in mind of your mama’s when she was young. Thick and dark, and just a little bit of curl.”
“Thank you so much,” Nola said, and gave her a hug. “I’ll see you around. I’ve got to run a couple of errands.”
The braid bounced against Nola’s back as she walked out. She paused to eye the sky for signs of rain and then headed uptown to the bank. When she finally arrived her legs were shaking, a sign she hadn’t regained her full strength.
Betty Watts, one of her high school classmates, now worked as a teller. When she saw Nola come in, she waved her over.
“Hey, Nola, how’s it going?”
“Hi, Betty. Actually, not so good. I lost my home.”
“Oh, honey! I hadn’t heard! I’m so sorry. Is that why your face is all scratched up?”
Nola nodded. “The National Guard pulled me out of a tree. I’m happy to still be here.”
Betty reached for her hands and then stopped.
“Oh, my gosh. Your poor hands. Honey! Is there anything I can do?”
“I need to withdraw some money from my account, but I’ve lost my checks and my debit card…everything. Can you help me?”
“Absolutely.”
Within a few minutes Nola had cash in her pocket and was on the way to putting her world back in order. Now that she had money, she walked up another block to the Dollar Store for underwear, new hair bands, a hairbrush and some toiletries. It wasn’t her venue of choice, but in a small town, you took what you could get and the Dollar Store was it. It was nearing sundown when she got back to the gym. When she walked past the office, Tate all but leaped out of the room and grabbed her arm.
“Where have you been?”
