Read Online The Trouble with Andrew by Heather Graham - Free Book Online

seem uncomfortable in the least. Katie could hear every word he had to say.
    â€œHi! Yes, I’m fine, and this place is fine, but the development isn’t so fine.” He was silent for a moment. “By God, I swear, I don’t know, but I will find out.” A few minutes later, he said, “Something went very wrong. I haven’t had a chance to see quite what yet… I have the little battery television. We’ve seen a lot. We—yes, I have a neighbor and her son here. Her house caved in. Three of them came down, four of them stood just fine.” The woman talked again, and he listened, sitting on the sofa, heedless of the plaster that covered him. He rubbed his temples. “I will find out. Someone was falling off somewhere,” he said. Katie felt herself shiver at the threat in his words. She wondered what he was going to find out—and she was suddenly glad she wasn’t the someone who had been falling off somewhere.
    The woman talked for a few more minutes, then Drew assured her that though the electricity was gone, everything else was okay. She must have told him she loved him, because he said, “Love you, too,” then hung up. He sat there thoughtfully for a few minutes, and neither Katie nor Jordan moved.
    Then he stared across the living room at them, as if just remembering that they were there.
    The battery-operated television was still on, and with the room so quiet, they could hear the news again. More reports were coming in. It was becoming obvious that Broward County had fared well, that even North Miami and downtown Miami itself had survived the storm well enough. The destruction had started in the Coral Gables area, moved southward and had become devastating.
    Homestead Air Force Base had been damaged. The reporter said that for mile after endless mile from the Falls area all the way down to Homestead, there was destruction. People were beginning to wander around. They were warned to stay off the roads. They were advised about shelters. They were alerted about office buildings and stores that no longer existed.
    Listening, Katie found herself moving into the living room with Jordan next to her like a second skin.
    The three of them were staring at the little television.
    She hadn’t realized that half of her county lay in the same condition as her home. Perhaps it wasn’t so strange that her house had fallen—it was stranger that Andrew Cunningham’s had stood.
    As they watched in silent horror, more and more of the destruction began to unfold. The National Guard was arriving in places hardest hit. Although the tower had blown off the National Hurricane Center in Coral Gables, the downtown area had sustained the storm well. The homes in Gables Estates had taken a beating, and people were already calling Gables-By-The-Sea Gables-Beneath-The-Sea. Still, it was becoming apparent that hardest hit had been Naranja, Goulds, Homestead and Cutler Ridge, with the Falls area—their area—taking a massive strike as well.
    The television crews were out, skirting the devastation, the uprooted trees, the downed power lines. Estimates were pouring in. Tens of thousands of people were homeless. Boats had been swept incredible distances onto the shore—and right into houses.
    Officials worried about the death toll, about digging beneath the crumpled houses. Again, they warned people to be careful of downed wires, to drive with caution when they did begin to drive again. They advised people not to make calls if they didn’t have to, but of course, such advice was ludicrous, for everyone had family.
    â€œOh, God! My father!” Katie exclaimed.
    Drew Cunningham’s brooding attention was drawn to her. He picked up his phone, set it against his ear, heard a dial tone and handed it to Katie.
    â€œThey just said not to call—”
    â€œMake it fast, then. Just tell him that you’re okay.”
    â€œYou don’t know my father. He