Wiping her hands on her apron, she finished cleaning up the mess she had left throughout the mixing and the baking of these cupcakes. Setting aside the containers, she wiped down the countertops and cupboards the best she could.
They’d be coming right back to start on Leah’s baby shower cupcakes as soon as she picked up Ty and Ava. Little did they know about the last minute surprise. She hoped Tyler would be as excited as she was, if not more. Ava would be a breeze, because not only did she like to get dirty, she loved to help her momma bake, too—or at least that’s what Rachel made her believe she was doing.
“I’ll be back in less than twenty,” she called out to Rosie and Granny Mae as she hung her apron on the hook by the back door. Grabbing her keys, she headed out into the sunshine that had been absent the last few days. She had enjoyed the thunderstorms, but two days of storms was too many without the sun.
The warm rays pelted against her face as she unlocked her car and opened the door. Just as she was sliding into the driver’s seat, sirens blared as firetrucks zoomed by, heading east toward the highway.
Pulling out of the parking lot, she fought the urge to follow the line of trucks. It wasn’t the fact her boyfriend was on one of them, but the sight of the heavy smoke coming from the area just north of the highway.
19
Adam had hustled out of the office and into the truck when the tones dropped. A field fire had gotten out of control, dispatch relayed over the paging system. Some farmer must have been burning ditches, but hadn’t gotten the message that there was a burn ban here and the surrounding areas. Damn.
Climbing into the truck, he was met by a smiling face, eager for her first actual fire call. “Welcome to your first fire.”
“Thanks,” Megan said, offering him a high five with her free hand as she struggled with the buckle. It was obvious that her adrenaline was amped, but just about everyone’s would be when the tones dropped, unless of course, they were seasoned fighters and had been there and done that for the majority of these calls.
Crackling over the truck’s radio, dispatch notified them that the fire was now covering the majority of the field and engulfing a nearby barn. Upping the priority to urgent, dispatch also notified responding units that the barn contained thousands of pounds of farm chemicals.
Adam knew the possibility of an explosion was high once the fire managed to take over that barn. Ammonium nitrate, along with other chemicals in fertilizer, once met with an open flame, can cause a violent explosion.
Flying past Granny Mae’s cafe, he hoped that Rachel hadn’t heard wind of this fire. He didn’t want her to worry more than she already did. His main focus, with or without an explosion, was to get this call under control and everyone go home safe.
Heading east on the highway, it was more than evident where the fire was. The north side of the highway was a dirty shade of gray mixed with a tarnished yellow haze. Providing more evidence that this was a bad situation, dispatch notified that Hazmat was less than five miles out, and the farmer was refusing to stand back. What the hell? The perfect ingredients for an out of control fire, all they needed was someone to throw some farm animals into the mix.
“Deputies on scene have advised the barn is fully engulfed,” dispatch yelled into the radio, adrenaline apparent through their voice. They were less than two minutes from scene and Adam could see the ugliness rearing to life.
* * *
Rachel tried to focus on getting the kids and heading back to the cafe, but she couldn’t take her attention away from the smoke that now clouded the whole town with an acrid smell that burnt.
No one she talked to had any idea of what was happening; all they knew was deputies had blocked off five miles east and west of the fire’s location.
Rachel prayed for the safety of all involved, including Adam. He had just told her this morning that it was Megan’s second day on the job and she was doing fantastic. The thought of this being her first and only fire...
“Kids, get inside,” she said, guiding them towards the backdoor of Granny Mae’s. Walking in, the café was buzzing with conversation and worry. The television aired with video from a helicopter’s live recording. Apparently, a farmer was burning ditches and the flames were out of control.
Diverting the kids’ attention from the commotion, she brought them closer to the back of the baking area. Tyler was old enough to know when a situation wasn’t right, and the look on his face told her so. Ava found her own distraction with a makeshift drum set involving pots and pans and a wooden spoon. Tyler, on the other hand, looked at Rachel for explanation. His father, the love of her life, was fighting this raging fire—against the odds of an explosion.
“Hon, he’s good at what he does,” she said, mustering up enough conviction to shadow her own doubts of how ugly this could get. “He’s got one heck of a team out there with him. They’ll get this taken care of in no time at all.”
She tousled a hand through the boy’s damp hair—an effect of the sweltering heat, along with the news of his father fighting this fire. Feeling horrible, but wanting to keep his mind on other things, she offered him the chance to make the first batch by himself—a temporary distraction.
Watching Tyler read through the recipe, gather the ingredients, and mix them together like a pro, she couldn’t help but smile. He was so passionate with baking, making sure he didn’t miss anything as he stirred it all into the mixer prior to turning it on.
Ava had entertained herself well enough over the last hour with the pots and pans, which were now scattered about the floor, covering the back half of the unused space. Rachel knew it was better to leave her be, because she had her hands full as it was with keeping Tyler distracted and staying on track with the requests of all these cupcakes for the coming events of this weekend.
The thought of what would happen if something went awry with the fire, if something happened to Adam, or Megan, or any one of them out there fighting this raging beast...
There was no sense in thinking the worst, but it was something she couldn’t help doing. She reached for the clean mixer sitting on the counter next to Tyler’s area. Gathering the ingredients for her much loved buttercream frosting, she decided to mix it now so they’d have it once the cupcakes in the oven were done and cool enough to frost. Besides, she needed to busy herself to take her mind off of what may be the worst day of their lives.
* * *
Hollering out over the radio, Adam maintained calm throughout his squad. They needed to stay calm and focused. Something that was easier said than done with their first fire of the year, along with the largest and most violent fire to date.
Cedar Valley seldom faced the threat of explosions. In all of the years he had lived here, and even the years before his parents moved here, fires like this hadn’t happened.
Directing a new line of attack on this fire, he managed to form a strategic line of fighters along the front and side of the barn. So far, they were managing to keep the flames away from the chemicals stored inside. The farmer swore he hadn’t heard there was a burn ban, and he thought since there was plenty of rain the last few days, it was safe enough for a fire.
Adam had to bite his tongue on a few choice words as he went on with his job, directing the farmer to stand back, as he motioned toward the deputies who were controlling the crowd of onlookers. People were out of their minds to be standing around, dismissing the fact that this fire could easily cause an explosion that could wipe them out.
The crowd that had formed was slowly being cleared out, but not fast enough. Hell, if he had a choice, he wouldn’t be anywhere near this place. Hazmat had given him a rundown of what could possibly happen, but it didn’t take a rocket scientist to figure that out. The whole thing had a high probability of going boom and taking out everyone within a hundred yards.
He needed to notify dispatch that they needed additional resources—to send additional help from surrounding counties. This fire wasn’t settling for anything less than what they h
ad to offer—their lives included. He had no choice but to push pride aside and radio for more help. This fire was going to take more man power than what they had—especially if everyone was going home safe tonight.
Just when the radio clicked, he witnessed the biggest explosion he’d ever seen in his entire life, right before the feeling of being thrown the length of a football field and everything going black.
20
The news of the explosion was all over the news. It was being broadcast that the explosion occurred shortly after the request for more manpower. The local firefighters had radioed shortly before the explosion that the fire was too large for them to beat by themselves. Surrounding counties had been paged and were en route two minutes after the notification. There was no update on the condition of those involved in the blast—all they knew was that it was bad, and the prognosis looked devastating.
No sooner than the news aired, Rosie panicked. Swearing she should have stood her ground and never let Megan volunteer. Rachel empathized where Rosie was concerned, but at the same time, Megan would’ve been there regardless the situation. The ambulance was staged not too far from the blast, and as far as Rachel could tell, the medics had been too close to the explosion, too.
Everyone was on edge, waiting for the next update, while trying to contact those involved. Rachel had heard a few of the women huddled close to the counter mention that Cedar Valley had never experienced such a catastrophe. She had heard enough when they began talking about fatalities. She wasn’t ready to hear it.
Walking into the backroom, she found Tyler right where he had been when she took a breath of not so fresh air. Ava had moved on to bigger and better things, like banging on the front of the oversized, industrial refrigerator with a metal spoon. Rachel yearned for silence—she needed it now more than ever. The whole café was buzzing with the news and nerves were frayed just thinking about the worst.
Grabbing the spoon from Ava and quickly swapping it with a plastic spatula in time to avert the breakdown, Rachel allowed her to go back to what she had been doing—this time, much more quietly.
Her phone vibrated against the inside of her pocket and her stomach flipped. The thought of Adam texting her to let her know he was okay crossed her mind as she frantically pulled it from her denim capris. Trying to stabilize her emotions as she read the text from Leah, she took a few deep breaths.
I just saw everything on the news. What can I do?
As badly as she wanted to, Rachel couldn’t let her emotions take over. She wanted to crawl into a corner of the room and cry from the agonizing thoughts of losing Adam. Instead, she had to be strong, not just for Adam, but for the kids, too. They, especially Tyler because Ava was too little to understand, didn’t need to panic.
Tyler continued with the last batch of cupcake mix. He had done well in the last few hours. It was nearing six o’clock. This is the time Adam should have been relieved from his shift and heading to Levy’s. Instead, he was...
I have no idea, Lee. I don’t know what’s going on or anything. I haven’t heard anything.
Clicking send on her last message, she felt the weight of panic engulf her as she struggled to concentrate on what mattered most. No news was good news, or at least that’s how the saying went, anyway.
Turning toward the kids, she asked if they’d like to go home. She was ready to call it a night here, knowing well enough the night wouldn’t end soon enough. This nightmare of not knowing could possibly linger on for the next two hours.
Tyler’s cupcake mix was poured into a separate bowl, covered and placed into the fridge that Ava had continuously beat on for the last half an hour. The girl never wavered from that activity, obviously enjoying the musical beat she had created.
Once buckled into the car and on their way home, she could tell Tyler was struggling with the news of the explosion. His gaze was fixed on the east side of town, where the once gray-colored skies had been mixed with a hazy yellow, and were now a lighter shade of smoke gray. She hated that they hadn’t heard from anyone yet with the condition of the responding units, those who had been on scene when the explosion occurred. She would have loved to have an update, like yesterday, so she’d know what to tell the kids.
“Hey, bud,” she said, gently reaching out for his arm to grab his attention from the direction of the unknown. If she hadn’t known any better, she would have headed in that direction, pulled Adam out of the crowd, and begged him to walk away from the department before it cost him his life. Heaviness inside her prayed that it wasn’t too late.
Pulling into the driveway minutes after leaving the café, she rounded the kids out of the car and herded them into the house. Not wanting Ava to get absorbed and wreak havoc with her toys, she put her favorite movie into the DVD player—Frozen, for the umpteenth time that week, and Ava couldn’t have cared less how many times she had watched it.
Tyler followed her into the dining room, where they both pulled out chairs and sat down. It was hard to find words to say when the words weren’t there.
Instead of struggling through a choice of words, she took hold of his hands, told him everything was going to be okay.
“How do you know?” he asked. His question was innocent, without accusation or attitude, but it pierced through her nonetheless. Ten years old, having already lost his mother, and now worried he was going to lose his father, too.
“Ty,” she said, choking back the emotion that threatened to escape along the lines of her trembling lips. “I don’t, but we’ve got to have faith that everything’s okay. That your dad and everyone else involved is okay.”
She watched him bow his head over his folded hands. And as he said a prayer for his father to make it home, she begged God for there to be a happy ending to this horrible nightmare, which had shadowed its evilness into their lives.
* * *
It wasn’t too much later that she received the news she had been dreading to hear. No news certainly wasn’t good news, as far as Cedar Valley was concerned. The explosion had wiped out a good portion of the response team, along with taking everything the surrounding counties had to offer, in order to take care of the injured.
She still wasn’t sure if Adam was among those who were injured, and she had certainly prayed and begged enough in the last hour, to barter with the Lord himself if push came to shove.
Leah’s text messages hadn’t ended. She had continuously made sure Rachel and the kids were doing okay as they waited out the never ending battle of not knowing. She had even offered to come over and sit with them if it would ease Rachel’s troubled mind. Rachel couldn’t say no. If there was any time when she needed her best friend, this was it. Even if that best friend wanted to share a pint of Ben and Jerry’s ice cream, she wouldn’t refuse that either. Except right now, nothing sounded good as her stomach flopped at the thought of Adam being all alone in a hospital bed because word hadn’t gotten to his family yet.
The knock at the door startled her. She had just tucked Ava into bed a few minutes ago, and though she had insisted that Leah really didn’t need to come over, that she’d be fine, she opened the door to an overly swollen pregnant best friend and her husband.
Bringing each of them into her arms, she couldn’t thank them enough for coming over. Tyler had been sitting on the couch, his eyes glued to the television when the news came on to give them an update.
“I’ve messaged him and called surrounding hospitals,” Rachel told them, out of earshot of Tyler. “They’re swamped with patients, but can’t tell me if they have Adam, or anyone for that matter.”
The news reporter verified that it remained unclear how many were injured, but the fatalities were still at zero. Thankful for that, Rachel kept her attention on the update. The reporter couldn’t give any more information as far as who had been injured on scene, but would relay that information as soon as she knew. The camera scanned over what was left from the explosion. The skeletal remains of an old car, the metal frame of what she figured was some sort
of farming equipment, and a few other things she wasn’t even sure what they could have been.
The cause of the explosion was still under investigation, but there was a likelihood that it was caused when the flames came in contact with the fertilizers and other chemicals stored in the barn.
Rachel’s thoughts scattered to Adam’s family. She hadn’t thought once about calling them. Looking at Leah and Liam, she asked if she could make a phone call, if they were all right with keeping an eye on Tyler, who had dozed off on his end of the couch, under a Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles blanket—something that would shield what was left of his youth.
Grabbing her phone off the kitchen table, she walked through the sliding doors and onto the back porch. The night was an eerie calm, with a sky full of brightly shining stars. The moon cast its presence just east of the peak of the house.
Feeling guilty for not thinking to call his parents earlier, she kept her emotions in check as she waited for them to answer. By the third ring, she was about to hang up until Adam’s mother answered on the other end.
Rachel asked if they had heard anything yet, and much like her and everyone else, they hadn’t. They were hoping for the best of course, but they weren’t allowed near the scene—Adam’s father had already tried once in an attempt to find Adam.
Irrational thoughts came to Rachel’s mind as she listened to another mother weep over the possible injury or loss of her son. She couldn’t bear to hear it, so she told her she would call if she heard from him and they would do the same.
Ending the conversation, Rachel inhaled a deep breath. Times like these were few and far between, and something she had never experienced before. She had never before fallen in love with a firefighter, or really, anyone who risked their lives for others. Scott had been far from that category with his construction business.
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