Forbidden Affair: The Bold and the Beautiful (8 page)

“Assess the situation, I guess. Work out if we can escape. Bit hard in the dark, though. And dangerous.”

“My night vision’s kicking in,” Steffy said.

“Yeah. But light would be nice.”

“Dayzee keeps a couple of flashlights in a holder on the wall of the kitchen,” Steffy said. “Just near the door next to the light switches.”

“So just—” Bill orientated himself, “—around here?” He reached around the wall from where they were standing. His hand felt for the light switch and found beside it a flashlight. “Got it,” he said, pulling it off the wall then feeling for the other one and pulling it off too, handing it to Steffy.

They flicked them on in unison.

Neither of them were prepared for the sight that greeted them.

The entire coffeehouse had caved in.

“Holy crap,” Steffy said as their twin beams of light probed the mass of rubble in front of them. The roof and second floor had collapsed on the front half of the shop. It was quickly evident there was no way out via the front or the top.

Bill quickly spun and shone his light toward the door leading from the kitchen into the alley behind. It too had collapsed in a pile of rubble.

“We’re trapped aren’t we?” Steffy asked.

Bill shone the flashlight around their immediate area, inspecting what was left of Dayzee’s pride and joy.

“Bill?”

He placed the beam of light beyond Steffy’s head so he could see her properly. Bits of plaster and dust coated her hair but she looked unscathed. She’d obviously been freaked out during the quake—so had he—but she looked like she’d pulled herself together. She’d certainly been thinking calmly when she’d remembered the flashlights. Thankfully, she didn’t look like she was about to dissolve into hysterics, because that was the last thing he needed.

“It doesn’t look good,” he admitted, confident she could take the truth. Confident that she’d rather it straight up than sugarcoated. “If we’re not found by the morning we’ll explore more, but it’s too dangerous to go traipsing around in all this rubble. There’ll be aftershocks and the narrow beam of a flashlight isn’t going to give us a big enough picture on how stable this whole mess is. No point bringing it all down on our heads by stumbling around in the dark. Or getting hurt by something we can’t see properly.”

“You think they’ll find us before then?”

The distant wail of a siren rent the air and Bill gave an ironic smile. “Maybe.”

“But you don’t really think so,” Steffy pushed.

Again Bill decided not to sugarcoat it. “I don’t know, Steffy, but I gotta tell you, I think this earthquake was
huge
. In which case there’ll be massive damage on who knows what scale … Sunday night about nine o’clock, everyone will have been in their homes …” Bill shrugged. “I don’t know. We’ve no way of knowing how bad it is out there, and how quickly we’re found is going to very much depend on that.”

Steffy nodded. What he was saying made perfect sense and she suppressed the girly urge to cry; Bill didn’t need a wimpy, weepy woman on his hands. She had to be strong and she
was
strong. She’d proven that to herself this last year or so. Time to prove it to the world.

It was okay to be scared. It wasn’t okay to let fear take over.

“Wait,” she said, suddenly realizing they might not be so isolated. “My cell.” She reached into her back pocket.

Bill shook his head. “Already checked mine while you were coughing,” he said. “Cell service is dead.”

Steffy tried hers anyway. “Dead,” she confirmed.

“Let me just have a look around our immediate area, see what we’re left with, okay?”

Steffy nodded. “Do you want me to come with you?”

“Let me check it out first. Just stay in the doorway and keep your flashlight on me.”

Steffy nodded. “Okay.”

It took Bill less than five minutes to explore the space the building collapse had left them. Watching him walk away from her caused some anxiety and she was glad when he came back to her side.

“We’ve been lucky,” he said. “A small portion of the kitchen area to the left appears intact, complete with a full fridge, including water bottles. It terminates in an area of partial collapse but you can duck under some beams and one restroom is still accessible. Beyond that there’s just a wall of rubble.”

Steffy nodded. She supposed water and bathroom facilities would come in handy if they were here for any length of time but she didn’t want to think about that right now.

“Is the storeroom intact?” she asked.

“Where is it?”

Steffy nodded. “Off to the left.”

Bill switched on his flashlight. “Show me. Watch your step, there’s debris everywhere.”

Steffy located the door to the large walk-in storeroom that held all the kitchen supplies. One wall had partially collapsed but three sides still stood.

“Doesn’t look like we’re going to starve,” Bill said as his flashlight lit up a veritable treasure trove of tinned and dry food.

“Best of all,” Steffy said, advancing cautiously into the room, “is the sleeping bags Dayzee keeps.” She shone her light on a neat pile of rolled bedding on the top back shelf.

“God bless Dayzee’s forward thinking.” Bill grinned as he moved in to pull them down, knowing Steffy wouldn’t be tall enough to reach.

“She keeps them for any homeless people who come in during winter and don’t have any warm bedding,” Steffy said. “If we pile them up it might help cushion the floor a bit for us.”

“Yes.”

“And, yay,” Steffy said as she reached down to one of the bottom shelves and grabbed her bag, lifting it triumphantly, “this is safe too.”

“You planning on touching up your lipstick?” Bill teased as he passed a couple of sleeping bags to her.

Steffy laughed despite their situation. “No. But I do have some Tic Tacs in here that you’ll appreciate come tomorrow morning!”

“I’m sure our rescuers will care about our minty fresh breath,” he said.

“Hey,” Steffy said as she followed him out, “When Tic Tac hears their product sustained us while we were trapped in a building collapse—just imagine the advertising advantages.”

Bill laughed as he carefully made his way back to the doorway. “Wow, I really hit the jackpot with you, didn’t I? Even in the middle of an earthquake you’re thinking of the company.”

“Of course.”

They set up camp in the doorway, unzipping the sleeping bags into squares and piling one on top of the other until the floor was covered.

“What do we do now?” Steffy asked.

Bill switched off his flashlight. “Try to conserve our batteries and get some sleep.” He lay down on his back. “We’ll be able to see more in the morning. Who knows, we might even be able to dig ourselves out.”

Steffy looked down at him. “You’re going to sleep?”

“Yeah,” he said, shutting his eyes. “I got off a plane from London twelve hours ago, remember? And I’ve worked like a slave for the last seven of those hours, not to mention I’ve survived a reasonably huge earthquake. I’m exhausted.”

“How can you sleep, knowing the whole building could possibly collapse on us at any moment?”

“If it’s going to collapse, it’s going to collapse,” Bill said, more weary than he’d been in a long time. “Lying awake worrying about it’s not going to make any difference.”

Steffy looked down at his closed eyes and poked him in the chest. “What if someone comes for us and we’re sleeping?”

“I’m a pretty light sleeper,” he said.

Steffy stared down at him. He really was going to go to sleep. She lay down beside him, staring into the darkness, the continual sounds of sirens too distant for her liking. She said a prayer to send the sirens their way. She prayed that her loved ones were safe too.

Bill’s breathing seemed even beside her but it didn’t stop her asking into the cloying dusty dark, “Do you think our families are safe?”

“Yes,” he answered straight away and Steffy felt comforted. “Our families are rich, Steffy. They live in mansions that have world-class earthquake proofing. They’ll be just fine.”

Steffy knew he was right. But it still didn’t stop her from lying awake for what seemed like hours, worrying, straining her ears for any sounds of rescue from outside. Every creak and moan of the building made her jumpy and morning couldn’t arrive fast enough.

She wasn’t sure what time it was when the first aftershock hit but her heart leaped into her mouth as she reached for Bill’s hand. He was already moving, reaching for her, rolling on his side, scooping her against him, her back to his chest.

“It’s okay,” he whispered against her neck. “It’s just an aftershock.” He whispered it over and over as the ground shook again, far less violently this time, the building protesting around them. “It’s okay. It’s okay.”

He held her tight against him, his big hand splayed on her belly and as the earth settled, he dropped soothing kisses on her neck. “It’s gone now,” he whispered. “It’s okay.”

Only he didn’t let her go. He kept hold of her, his body wrapped around hers, and Steffy made no move to get away as he relaxed again, falling back into slumber. She felt safe here, cocooned in his arms, and she wasn’t leaving.

She tuned into the steady thump of his heartbeat and drew on his rock-solid confidence. And much to her surprise, they lulled her to sleep.

It was a fitful night’s sleep. Regular aftershocks made deep sleep impossible, as did the constant background noise of sirens.

The only thing that had kept Steffy sane through the long, tense night had been Bill’s body folded around her, his hand anchored on her belly, his sweet, soothing kisses at her neck as the earth rumbled beneath them. And to find him still holding her close when she woke to the horrible truth of their situation, clear in the gloomy morning light, helped her fight a tide of panic.

Steffy shut her eyes again and hoped it was all a bad dream, that she’d open her eyes and be lying in her king-sized bed in her apartment. But, alas, as her eyes scanned the destruction around her, it was all depressingly real—and far worse than their flashlights had indicated.

A surge of hopelessness and panic rose in her but she beat it back.
At least you’re not alone.
The thought slid into her head and set up camp. How would she have coped, trapped in Dayzee’s all by herself? If Bill hadn’t shown up to help yesterday and she’d been alone washing the dishes last night? She’d probably already be dead, considering the sink where they’d been standing when Bill had yanked her to the doorway was now buried under a pile of rubble. He’d saved her life.

She hadn’t given that a lot of thought last night but she did now, reliving that moment over and over. She’d just stood there trying to compute what was happening while Bill had actually done something.

He stirred behind her, his slack lips brushing her neck, causing goose bumps to skate across her shoulder and down her spine. She stilled as he settled again but the pebbling of her nipples took her back to the moment the earthquake hit.

They’d been about to kiss. She’d known it. He’d known it.

They’d been caught in that moment—that delicious moment—when the stars align and the tension builds and it’s only a matter of seconds before lips meet. Just a few beats in time that slow and stretch as every cell comes alive, every heartbeat slows with sluggish anticipation and every breath feels like syrup.

And they’d been there.

What would have happened had the building not fallen down around them? Would they have kissed and stopped?
Could
they have stopped?

Steffy knew they wouldn’t have. The tension between them had been building for the last couple of months. They’d been drawn inexorably toward each other for too long now.

They’d have made love last night. Steffy had never been more certain of anything. Whether on Dayzee’s kitchen floor or in the bedroom upstairs or in the front seat of Bill’s sports car—she’d have finally known what Bill was like as a lover.

And there wasn’t one part of her that doubted Bill Spencer would be amazing. No man who kissed like Bill ever wound up being a dud between the sheets.

But the building had
fallen down around them. An act of God if ever there was one. What more of a sign did she need? Clearly, she and Bill just weren’t meant to be.

Steffy moved reluctantly. She wanted to lay right where she was and pretend for a moment that Bill and she
could
be. That they were in her bed or on his yacht or in a fancy hotel room somewhere. That she could turn in his arms and kiss him awake and make love to him.

But they were in a collapsed building with no way to get out. And she was starving and thirsty and she needed to use the restroom.

“Bill?” she said, pulling his hand from her belly as she rolled onto her back.

“Mmm,” he said, his eyes still shut.

“It’s morning,” she said.

Bill opened his eyes and for a moment their gazes locked and she saw the same flare of recognition she’d seen just prior to their kiss last night. It was too much. Not now. Not in the cold light of day. Not in the midst of chaos.

Steffy sat up. She pulled her cell phone out of her pocket in the vain hope that the signal might be back. Nothing.

“I need to use the restroom,” she said.

Bill rolled on his back, straightening his long frame and stretching. His eyes traveled around what used to be the main area of the coffeehouse then he turned his head to peer into what was, until last night, a state-of-the-art kitchen.

“Holy crap,” he murmured as his eyes took in the level of destruction around them.

“Yes,” Steffy agreed as she got to her feet.

“Wait,” Bill said. “I’ll come with you.”

“I can go to the bathroom by myself,” Steffy said feeling irritable and churlish that he could look so fine after a night spent in hell when she felt—and no doubt looked—like something the cat dragged in.

Bill stood. “I need to go too and things could have moved overnight with the aftershocks. We need to be careful.”

Steffy nodded, instantly contrite. “Of course, sorry.”

As she ducked under the two collapsed beams that appeared unmoved since last night, Steffy was grateful that at least she had this facility still available to her. Things could have been a lot worse.

“Don’t flush,” Bill said as he indicated for Steffy to go first. “I doubt there’s any water working in the area.”

Steffy nodded. She guessed that was going to be one of the many indignities she was going to face if this thing dragged on and on. Like the horror of her appearance as she peered into the bathroom mirror that had remained remarkably intact through the earthquake and its aftershocks.

Steffy gave a groan at her reflection in the crooked mirror, absently straightening it. There was all different matter of debris in her hair and she ran her hands through to pick out the clumps of plaster and God knew what else.

She had dirt of her face and, on autopilot, she turned on the tap to wash it away. Nothing came out and she remembered Bill’s words. She sighed, knowing there was nothing she could do to put herself to rights in here, and quickly took care of business before stepping out and letting Bill use the facility.

She looked around at the mounds of debris, her heart rate picking up at the enormity of the fix they were in. She felt it all crowding in on her. She sucked in some breaths but the air felt cloying and stuffy. The desire to sit down and cry reared its ugly head and, for a moment, she almost gave into it.

But then Bill appeared in the doorway, smiling at her like they weren’t in this horrific situation, and said, “Okay, let’s see if we can’t dig our way out of here.” He was looking at her like he was expecting her to help, to be part of a team, and she would not be weak and girly. She wouldn’t fall apart. She wouldn’t be useless. She’d survive, like she’d survived every other setback in her life, and she’d come out of it and she’d be stronger.

Steffy nodded, her organizational side kicking in. “Could be a big job. I think we should eat something first.”

“Good idea.”

Steffy led the way back to the storeroom. She opened the door and looked at the supplies. “I think we should probably assess what we have,” she said. “Figure out how long the supplies will last if …” She paused. “In case.”

Bill slid his hand on to Steffy’s shoulder. She’d been frightened last night, he’d felt her body trembling against his every time an aftershock had hit, but she hadn’t crumbled, hadn’t lapsed into hysteria. She’d stayed strong and he knew how hard that was.

The earthquake had been terrifying and their situation was potentially grim. He was man enough to admit to his moments of fear. The fact that they might die in here wasn’t lost on him. Just because they’d survived the initial quake didn’t mean the whole thing wouldn’t come down on their heads during an aftershock or from instability alone.

There were a hundred different worst-case scenarios he could think of, all of them resulting in their deaths. All of them scaring the crap out of him. He just knew how futile fear was.

He gave her shoulder a squeeze. “Good idea,” he said.

An hour later they’d snacked on some muesli bars and figured out their food and water situation. There was a variety of dry food and plenty of tinned goods, most of which had ring pulls. They’d also found a supply of plastic spoons and a couple of battery-operated lanterns, together with packs of spare batteries. Not to mention two bottles of very nice red wine, which they might need if their situation dragged on for days and days.

“Just in the storeroom alone we have enough for a bottle of water a day for three weeks,” Bill said. “And there’s more in the fridge. Thank God Dayzee carried a lot of stock.”

“She always stocks plenty of bottled water,” Steffy said. “She keeps it for the homeless.” Steffy didn’t even want to think about how the people who lived in cardboard boxes not that far from here must have fared during the earthquake.

She looked at Bill. “You don’t think it’s going to be that long, do you? Weeks?”

“No, I don’t.” Bill shook his head emphatically. “Our families will know we’re missing and they know where we are.”

Steffy nodded. “Mom knew I was coming.”

“And so did Hope,” Bill confirmed. “And Dayzee does for sure. So they’ll come looking in this area for us. It just depends on how bad it is out there.”

Bill knew that was the real issue. With no idea of how much destruction was around them, he had no way of knowing whether they’d be found sooner or later. If this quake was the big one they’d been expecting for decades now, then the destruction would be widespread.

They probably weren’t going to be found quickly. The authorities would need to methodically search through the affected areas but they’d want to be sure there was no risk to their people first. And if large areas of LA were flattened, then who knew how long that would take?

“Of course,” Steffy said. “Maybe we can use some of the water for washing?” The thought of spending weeks without some basic hygiene—especially when they had the means—wasn’t something she wanted to contemplate. “Sparingly, of course.”

“I don’t see why not,” Bill said. If they were out quickly then it wouldn’t be an issue. “We can always reassess if this thing drags on.”

Steffy nodded. “Good.”

“Ready to see if we can rescue ourselves?” he asked.

“Yep,” Steffy agreed. “Let’s do it.”

*

Four hours later, they’d exhausted all their potential avenues for escape. Small fissures in the mountains of rubble around them let in thin slices of light, which were the starting points for digging and shifting debris. But it had been hard going and dangerous. Loose rubble was too hazardous to use as footholds and the heavy beams were too difficult or unstable to shift. They were hampered by regular aftershocks that shook the already precarious foundations they were trying to dig into, and mini collapses were frequent.

Bill barely escaped being trapped as a small avalanche of rubble gave way during an aftershock, causing him to lose his footing. He crashed to the ground, a bunch of loose timber and brickwork covering his leg and Steffy had to help him drag himself out from under it.

With a sizable gash in Bill’s leg they gave up, knowing that they were just as likely to bring the whole lot down on their heads as they dug their way out. The sirens still seemed far away and no voices could be heard nearby. In fact, from what they could tell, everything was eerily silent around the immediate vicinity.

It made more sense to only risk the mounds of rubble again when their rescuers were nearer.

Steffy used the first aid kit from Dayzee’s storeroom to clean Bill’s wound. “Does it hurt?” she asked as she mopped at the drying blood.

Bill shrugged. “A little.”

“You could have been killed,” she muttered as she relived that awful moment Bill had disappeared before her eyes, yanked down the face of the rubble as it gave way. Her heart had been in her mouth and she’d never been more pleased to hear his voice.

Bill placed his hand on hers. “But I wasn’t.”

Steffy glanced at him. He was looking at her with calm reassurance. What if he had
died in the fall? If a heavy beam had fallen on his head and killed him? She shut her eyes briefly to block out the thought. “Don’t do that again.”

He nodded. “I won’t.”

“Good,” Steffy said as she applied a bandage then pulled his jeans back down.

Bill looked up at the hole he’d been working at before he’d landed on his butt. It wasn’t big enough for much but maybe they could poke something through—a sign of some sort, for when rescuers did come their way. He looked around at the debris.

“What?” Steffy asked.

“If we could find something skinny to stick up through that hole and attach a sign …”

Steffy frowned. “You mean like a flag?”

“Yes,” Bill said brightening. “Yes.”

“There’s some dish towels in Dayzee’s storeroom. And I have a pen …” She grabbed her voluminous bag and hunted through it, then cried out triumphantly as she brandished a pen in the air.

Bill grinned. “Thank God for women and their obsession with handbags.”

He got to his feet, his shin throbbing where it had been injured. Some narrow conduit piping stuck out from the rubble and he put his foot on it and worked the length back and forth, trying to get it to snap off.

Steffy came back from the storeroom with a plain orange dish towel. “What should I write?” she asked as she watched him work the pipe.

“How about, ‘Two survivors in Dayzee’s?’”

Steffy transcribed it onto the cloth, making the letters big and fat and hopefully noticeable from a distance. She held up the flag just as the pipe snapped off and about two meters came free.

“Good. We just need to attach it to the end now.”

Steffy thought for a moment. “There’s a pair of scissors in the first aid kit.”

Bill joined Steffy on their makeshift bed and they cut a small hole in the fabric at each end of one of the cloth’s short sides and threaded the pipe through to make a crude flag. It was a snug fit but Steffy didn’t want to leave anything to chance, securing the fabric to the pole with some tape as well. If the fabric somehow worked loose and didn’t flap in the breeze then it was useless.

“Okay,” Bill said when Steffy was satisfied. “Now let’s wrap the towel around the pole, shove it up through the hole and then it should unfurl when it’s on the outside.”

Steffy nodded, winding the towel as instructed. When it was ready, they both looked at the mound of rubble again. She knew one of them was going to have to go up there far enough to poke the pipe out of the hole and then anchor it down among the debris on their side.