Unbreakable by Ruth Buchanan

Author:Ruth Buchanan
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: christian Fiction
ISBN: 9781522300489
Publisher: Pelican Book Group
Published: 2018-02-18T05:00:00+00:00

13

Hands grasped Rachel’s sleeves, yanking her toward the side of the road. She barely had time to register that Sharon had saved her life before she slammed into the smaller woman and sent them both pinwheeling into the ditch. Tangled together, they smacked into the muck at Mavis Martin’s feet.

Due to having a waterlogged plastic bag pulled down over her head and partially suffocating her, Rachel missed most of what happened next.

At some point, Mavis stopped clawing at her. Rachel pushed the plastic bag out of her eyes just in time to see Lee skidding down the side of the ditch, barreling into his mother and grabbing her in a hammerlock. Howling for Sharon and Rachel to get out of there, Lee dragged Mavis backward up the slope, heels scrabbling against the slick sides. The two women grappled up the embankment, steering clear of the others lest Mavis kick them in the face.

Their caution proved warranted. Seconds later, Lee’s mother gave a mighty twist that jerked them both from their feet, sending them back into the ditch where they landed with a splash. Figuring Lee could handle Mavis better than anybody, Rachel turned her face forward and struggled upward.

Close to the top, hands reached down. Rachel grabbed blindly at the pair nearest her, gasping thanks to the kind soul who had stopped to haul women out of a ditch during a rainstorm. She tried to release the hands after she gained her balance, but they grasped tight and pulled upward. Hard calluses pressed warm against her clammy palms.

Rachel lifted her eyes, met a gaze of cool gray, and almost fell backward into the ditch.

Ian Smith tightened his grip, stabilizing them both. Rachel summited the embankment, her feet sliding in an awkward cartoon run as she scrabbled for purchase against the wet grass. Once stable, she snatched her hands from Ian. Her chest tightened.

There was nothing for it but to pull the bag directly over her face.

Ian stood sideways in a vain attempt to block her from the rain. “Are you all right?” He spoke loudly to be heard over the wind and traffic.

She inched closer, palms flattening the flapping ends of the plastic bag. “What are you doing here?”

“Lee called.”

Oh—of course. He’d come for Lee, not her.

Dressed in a faded athletic shirt, basketball shorts, and sneakers, he was more casual than she’d ever seen him. He must have been off duty.

She tried not to twitch as Ian’s eyes traveled from the top of her bagged head to the soles of her water-logged shoes. He pulled the plastic bag from her head, releasing a rush of scummy water.

Rachel’s topknot listed slowly to the side, sending a heavy stream of cold water down her neck. She pushed her bun toward the top of her head. A clump of rotten leaves dislodged from her hair and plopped onto her chest.

Ian’s gaze followed the leaves, then jerked upward. He turned and stared studiously down the Palmetto Parkway.

Rachel envisioned inching backward, spreading her arms, and freefalling into the drainage ditch.

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