Second Chance Sweethearts

He’d been working the La Misión neighborhood, checking every home for people staying behind in the community where he’d grown up. Gloria and Inez were alone in a sea of water with a very pregnant woman in a house only four blocks behind him.

The command center, where he was expected to be as the storm blew in, was about twelve blocks ahead.

In his younger days, Rigo knew his reputation had been something of a hothead. And those hasty decisions had impacted Gloria’s life not once, but twice. Once when they were eighteen and he left her behind with a broken heart. And again, two years ago, when her life was shattered and he didn’t have the courage to face her.

Gloria didn’t know he’d changed, and no words he could say would convince her. Only actions and time could make up for the hurt he’d caused. He wasn’t going to leave Gloria to face one more uncertain night by herself.

Rigo knew he’d come back to follow the rules, not to hide anymore.

“This is Vasquez. I can’t make it back to the hotel.”

“10-4, Vasquez. Can you get to the shelter at the high school?” The voice on the radio went in and out as the weather conditions cut at the ties of electronic contact.

“No. I’ll take shelter at my aunt’s house in the La Misión neighborhood. I’m not far from there.”

“10-4. God keep you safe, Vasquez. Get here if you can.”

“Amen.” Rigo agreed out loud into the night and hoped that God could hear him over the howl and thrash all around.

The radio’s crackle went silent and Rigo knew this was it. The fury of nature had been building to an extreme all day, but it was now about to be unleashed in a way that Port Provident hadn’t seen since 1910.

Without streetlights, it was impossible to judge the depth or speed of the water. Rigo hadn’t been lying when he said he couldn’t make it to the Grand Provident. Conditions had been precarious for hours, but now it was definitely not safe to drive.

He pulled his truck into what was left of the closest driveway, climbed into the truck bed, and untied the small boat he carried. A flat-bottomed johnboat, it was convenient for search and rescue because the design meant he could maneuver easily in shallow water. He generally carried it everywhere in the bed of his work truck. He’d hauled it out a few times already tonight when he couldn’t reach someone begging for help. Water and waves slapped at him from the sky and the land and he struggled with the plastic boat in the fiercely whipping wind.

With a growl, he righted the boat on the surface of the water which now stood more than bottom-of-tailgate deep. He got himself inside, powered up the motor and set off in the direction of Tía Inez’s house.

Alone on the waterlogged streets, he had everything to lose.

And everything to prove.

* * *

“Gloria?” Tanna’s shrill voice came from the bedroom. “The contractions. They’re stronger.” Ever since Tanna’s water had broken, all of the telltale physical signs had followed quickly one after another. This baby was coming and it wasn’t waiting for a sunny day.

Tonight, Gloria and Tanna were going to face the greatest storm Port Provident had seen in more than a century and they were going to face the greatest force Tanna had ever known as she brought her baby into this crazy, rain-soaked world.

And they would do it with no power, no modern conveniences and no medical backup.

It would take every ounce of skill and training Gloria had. She knew this test would actually take more than that. It would take every word of prayer Gloria knew to utter.

Except she didn’t know how to utter many anymore.

Since the night she’d lost both Felipe and Mateo, she’d become convinced God had better things to do than to work in her life the way He used to. He’d taken everything and she hadn’t known what to say back to Him in reply.

They were pretty far apart these days, Gloria and God.

And now there stood the wrath and fury of the storm in the gap. There was no bridge that could cross that. She was alone with one pregnant woman and one elderly aunt who went to bed an hour ago saying she “always liked sleeping to the sound of the rain.”

Crazy lady.

Of course, Gloria wondered what was more crazy: Inez’s idea of ideal sleeping weather or Gloria’s idea that she could deliver this baby under these circumstances.

She felt pretty sure the answer was not Inez.

There must have been a lot of cries being lifted from the citizens of Port Provident tonight. Gloria didn’t think it mattered much, but the icy chill in the pit of her stomach and the howl of the wind outside came together and nudged her to add one more request from Port Provident to Heaven.

“Querido Dios, dear God, give us the strength we need to get through tonight.” She closed her eyes and let out a sigh. “Please.”

She didn’t have anything more to add. Talking to God for basically the first time in two years was much like placing that call to Rigo earlier. Awkward. And just a reminder of the bad times, when she was all but abandoned by someone she thought would never leave her.

“I’m coming, Tanna. I’ll check you again. You may be getting closer to transition.” Gloria tried to master the fear inside as she walked down the hall. First-time labor brought enough uncertainty to a mama. Tanna at least deserved a midwife who sounded confident, even if the midwife was scared to death on the inside of the conditions all around.

Gloria paused and looked over the railing and down the stairs. On the level below, the water had risen to more than a foot deep. Gloria could no longer see the baseboards. Since the turn-of-the-century home stood on pilings that were about six feet high, plus the slope of the lawn down to the street, Gloria estimated the storm surge was easily already more than ten feet deep outside.

She rummaged through the boxes that had been stowed earlier at the open area at the top of the stairs, both for easy access and the hope they’d remain high and dry. Inez had packed a box with food and some supplies like batteries and candles, and there also was a smaller box. Inez said Rigo had packed it with things like a hammer and a small plastic sheet that could be used like a tarp.

Shortly after arriving at the house, Gloria had pulled together another box with sheets, blankets, a coil of twine, extra scissors and some bottled water, just in case she needed to use it. And she’d also placed her box of midwifery supplies alongside these critical supplies.

As she grabbed a sheet and a new pair of disposable gloves, something crashed into the front door with a thud.

Her breath came short. Surely someone wasn’t trying to break in on a night like this. Was it debris? The thud hit again and rattled the doorknob, then the front door swung partway open. The sky behind it glowed strangely red and a familiar figure stood silhouetted in the frame, water lapping almost to his knees as he stood a step or two down on the stairs at the front door.

“Rigo?” She’d never been more thankful to see him. Not when she was madly in love with him as a teenager. Not even when he showed up at the seedy apartment complex to help get Tanna to safety. The world seemed to be collapsing all around her, but at least she wouldn’t be alone as Tanna’s labor progressed. His presence was better than nothing.

Maybe a lot better than nothing. But she didn’t want to admit that quite yet, not even to herself.

“The power’s out completely now. I couldn’t make it up to the command center at the Grand Provident. The streets are like rivers. I barely made it back here. Is Tanna okay?”

At that moment, Tanna let out a low moan. The guttural noise told Gloria’s trained ears that Tanna was moving toward the next phase of labor, the one where instinct and the body took over and left the thinking, controlling mind behind.

“Yes, she’s been having steady contractions since we got settled and things seem to be picking up. I was just gathering what I needed to check her again.”

Gloria needed to get to Tanna but stood rooted, drinking in the sight of Rigo’s silhouette, dark with untold layers of rain, framed by crimson in the sky behind.

“Rigo?”

“Yes?”

“Why is the sky red? Is that normal?”

“It is if a marina is on fire.” He kicked the door shut with his foot and began to cross the room toward the kitchen as he answered. “Although I’ve been told the sky’s color in hurricanes can range from midnight blue to teal and even shades like pink.”

“The marina is on fire?”

“Yes. The whole thing. The fire department can’t get to it, so they’re just letting it burn. It will be a complete loss.”

She rolled her eyes in disbelief. More destruction, in ways she never imagined. “My sister Gracie’s sister-in-law has a really nice boat down there.”