Charmed at First Sight

by Sharla Lovelace

  She covered her mouth with her hands like she couldn’t believe what had just fallen out. I felt my jaw drop even before my brain could fully process what she’d just said. I was operating a little slowly, but invisible hands started pulling back the curtains.

  “Say—what?”

  “I know,” she said, sitting up fully and pulling her legs under her like she needed to be taller. “We’ve known each other only a week, too. And I realize I just downplayed that, so this may not be the right tack, but I just can’t help but think that we would be perfect running this together.” She stopped for a breath, and my brain replayed it before she started again. Because—“I have the business knowledge, and you’re like Mother Earth, and I’d have to talk to Drew and my parents about how we’d do it, I’m thinking no retail, just all wholesale to Grahams and any other florist, and you’d have to talk to your brother about percentage, and he might say no and they—”

  “Yes.”

  She blinked. “What?”

  “Absolutely.”

  Her eyes widened. “Are you serious?”

  The sound of a siren whined in the background, barely noticeable.

  “I mean, I’d have to talk to Thatcher,” I said, already nodding. “And we’d—have a lot of hurdles. And work.” My brain was checking off lists and making more at the same time. “But something—” My eyes filled with tears for only the sixty-seventh time today. “Something of our own, that we are passionate about. That—”

  “No man, no anything—can take away,” she finished.

  The siren grew closer, and oddly sounded joined by a second one.

  “That,” I breathed.

  Gabi’s eyes misted over, too. She held up a fist for me to bump.

  “That,” she echoed.

  I frowned as both sirens got really loud.

  “Is that normal for here?” I asked. “That sounds really close.”

  “Not really,” she said, getting up. “Let’s see.”

  I slipped on my wooden clunkers and we walked downstairs. The smell, however, reached my nose before we ever even opened the door.

  “Something’s burn—” I began, and my words caught in my chest. Gabi’s eyes met mine. “Oh, God, Gabi, something’s burning.”

  CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO

  The glow from the flames was easy to follow, not that two fire engines lit up like Christmas trees were difficult to see. Half a block down, I felt the smoky heat, and Gabi’s gasp made my blood run cold.

  “Micah,” she breathed.

  Gabi took off at a run, dodging the few people still in town that late who were congregating on the sidewalk.

  “Oh, my God,” I cried, yanking off the big stupid wedges and running after her, barefoot, with them in my hands.

  The closer I got, hot gusts blew into my face, souring my stomach with each footfall. It couldn’t be. Please God, please tell me he didn’t…

  I stopped short of the parking lot where firemen were throwing out barricades, and I sucked in a full gulp of singed air at the sight in front of me. The Blue Banana Grille was in flames. Mostly the roof, like a flambéed dessert, but it was licking down the sides. And indoors—the lights were still on inside, and all I could see was flame to one side and smoke and thick moving images. Women were screaming and crying as they stood huddled to the side as what I guessed were their men ran back inside. The smell was familiar, like I’d been there before, tasting the sour thickness of burned fabric.

  An older woman was wailing. “My son! He’s in the bathroom!”

  I caught sight of Gabi running up to the building and gasped.

  “Gabi!” I screamed, taking off toward her.

  She didn’t make it far, as one of the firemen looped her around the waist and lifted her off her feet.

  “My friends are in there!” she shrieked.

  Allie said she and Nick were closing tonight.

  “Oh, my God,” I cried. “We have to help them.”

  “Ma’am, we’re working on it,” he said, setting her down roughly. “I don’t need you in there, too. We already have enough bystanders jumping in there. Let us—”

  “They’re the only ones doing anything!” Gabi yelled. “Where’s the water? Put the fucker out!”

  The front window shattered, making everyone scream and back up. I wheeled around to see what was probably volunteer or new firemen fumbling frantically to hook up a hose, most likely never having had to do this before. People were running everywhere. Two guys broke the lock on an ice machine and were throwing bags of ice inside the broken window. It was insane. It was chaos. And off on the other end of the parking lot, my eyes landed on a Harley, parked crooked, helmet lying upside down on the pavement a few yards away. As if he’d hit the ground running, throwing it aside.

  Leo…

  Enough bystanders.

  Leo was in there. My chest tightened as I looked at the building, more engulfed by the minute, the inner lights flickering off. My already-swollen eyes burned and I couldn’t breathe, and it suddenly had nothing to do with the heavy smoke.

  Figures moved in and out of the smoky haze, a few more patrons running out, two waitresses helping an old man, shadows jumping in the blazing light, and two came farther out in our direction, emerging from the eerie cast.

  “Leo?” I cried, moving forward.

  “Ma’am!”

  The figures stumbled closer, one holding up a smaller one, and I breathed a sigh of relief as I would recognize Leo anywhere, even blackened with soot, holding Allie around the waist as she coughed and struggled for breath.

  “It’s Leo and Allie!” I cried, pushing past the firemen and shoving off their grasp. Running to Allie, I put her other arm over my shoulder while Leo handed his side off to Gabi. “We’ve got you,” I said.

  “No!” she croaked, her voice all but gone as she coughed repeatedly and tried to talk. “Nick! He went after a disabled guy supposedly in the bathroom.”

  “I’ll find him,” Leo said, coughing, looking straight at me as we sat her on the ground. “Keep her here.”

  “Leo!” I called as he turned, but he never heard me. The fire was deafening enough, but the yelling and the water they finally figured out—it was impossible to hear anything.

  I watched him run back in to the angry yelling of the fire chief, and then found the older woman again, on her knees in the parking lot crying as someone held her. Her whole life was in that building. As was Lanie’s—oh, God, someone would have to—No, no, no, that wasn’t going to happen. Because it couldn’t. My heart clenched as I realized how much of me had just run into that building, too.

  I shut my eyes, and suddenly realized why the smell was so familiar. It was the smell of my father. He did this. He ran into hell and saved people, and came home smelling of it with a smile on his face and peace on his mind. Willing to let my mother have whatever she wanted, because it was chump change compared to this.

  Had she felt like this? Had she ever seen the man she loved engulfed in flame? Had she ever been so utterly paralyzed with—

  There was a sizzling, sickening crack, as part of the roof collapsed.

  “No!” I screamed, leaping to my feet. “No!”

  Sparks shot off into the air like fireworks as the beams landed inside and the fire took off in a whole frenzy, feeding on new fuel. I felt the heat on my face, on my skin, on my bare feet against the hot concrete and debris as I ran. I heard Allie’s distraught choked cries behind me, and the horrified voices behind her, but the only thing stopping me from reaching that door was a near-tackle by another semifamiliar body.

  Strong arms scooped me up and ran back with me in the other direction before I even registered what was happening, setting me not just on my feet but in motion.

  I wheeled around, stumbling next to Gabi, to see Bash Anderson glaring down at me.

  �
�Leo’s in there,” I cried, my voice cracking as I tried to push forward, and he stopped me again. “And Nick.”

  “I know that,” Bash said, hard emotion set in his jaw as he breathed heavily. “I just saw him save Allie’s life. Believe me I know that.” He knelt beside a sobbing Allie and pulled her into his arms, closing his eyes in silent relief. “But you going in there just makes it three instead of two.”

  Another beam fell, and everyone cried out. I turned and felt Gabi’s arms around me as I sank to the ground with her, sobbing. We watched the beloved Blue Banana burn with two people we loved inside, water playing with the flames as firefighters rushed in. Everyone standing with me had years of history with this place. I didn’t. But one of the two brothers inside that inferno had slammed my heart around and claimed it.

  Tears poured down my face as I realized that. Even though I was still mad at him—

  “You need to come out, Leo,” I whispered through my tears, begging with my heart. “You need to come out so I can tell you—”

  “There they are!” Bash yelled, crossing the space in seconds.

  A firefighter was on one side of Nick and Leo was on the other, and between all of them they were carrying a young man in his late teens or early twenties. It was hard to tell who was holding who up, as it looked like the whole blackened, sooty group was about to crumble. Bash took the young man off their hands, adjusted his weight, and carried him straight to a paramedic, as his mother held his head and wept.

  Nick and Leo both went to their knees as the firefighter helped guide them down, and another paramedic came running with oxygen. I was on my knees in front of Leo without any memory of getting there.

  “I’ve got you,” I said, wrapping my arms around his smoking torso as his chest heaved for clean air.

  The paramedic strapped an oxygen mask on his face and told him to breathe deeply, and he did, never taking his bloodshot eyes off mine. Until he closed them and reached for my head, pulling it to his with one hand, the other still holding fast to his brother. Nick sucked in air from his mask and clapped his hand over Leo’s.

  For that one moment, everything was almost okay. It wouldn’t be. It would never be okay again. But for one tiny speck of time, there was harmony.

  “I love you,” I whispered, closing my eyes.

  * * * *

  It was surreal.

  Not what I said—although, yes, that was pretty far outside my wheelhouse. I didn’t even know if he heard me, and I never opened my eyes to look. He didn’t respond, and it didn’t matter. Sixty seconds before that, I thought I’d never get the chance to say it to him, so being able to voice the words out loud, holding him close to me—that meant everything.

  An hour later, we still sat on the ground in the parking lot, waiting to hear something from the fire marshall. It was early, but Nick and Allie were determined to find something out. Nick, Leo, and Allie all refused to go to the hospital after they breathed a little oxygen. Nick had a few minor burns on his arms, and Leo had one on his hand, but otherwise their only problem was exhaustion. And stubbornness. A lot of that.

  I watched them all as they talked, as the girls cried together and watched the diner disappear in front of them. Allie looked haunted as she watched her life’s work and her past fizzle into nothing, and Nick just looked lost. Lanie came for him, but ultimately had to go back home, the smoke hitting her nausea triggers. He mumbled that he’d be home later and just zoned out. It was meant to be his legacy. His future. I watched him—I watched all of them with a degree of separation, because no one was mentioning the obvious.

  Only Leo and Gabi knew what I knew.

  That I had caused this. I knew without a doubt who was responsible for this. I didn’t have to hear it from officials. I brought him here. Then Jeremy seeing our chemistry, knowing it was Leo’s bike I’d gotten on, and then ultimately finding us the way he did—that’s what resulted in the charred remains of people’s lives in front of us.

  Leo was quiet, too, not looking up, just staring at some random point in front of him. I knew he was thinking some version of the same. And that this brief, fleeting moment of peace with his brother was about to be history.

  “I did this,” I said quietly, when there was a pause in the conversation. All heads turned to me. All except for Leo’s, which started moving side to side. My stomach, my chest, my entire insides burned to match my eyes. “I did this,” I repeated.

  “What?” Allie said.

  “This was—” I swallowed hard. “This was Jeremy,” I managed. “I know it was.”

  “What?” Allie repeated, her voice still gravelly. “Why? What are you talking about?”

  “He’s done it before,” Leo said, stone-faced. “Years ago.”

  “Years ago,” Nick echoed. “Now what are you talking about?”

  Leo rubbed at his face like he wished doing so would scrub it all away. All of it. Everything he didn’t want to disclose right now.

  “I’m not proud of some of the things I did when I was young, Nick,” he said finally. “You know that. Or you should. But some of it I had to do for us.”

  “I know,” Nick said.

  “Not everything, though. Some of it was just really bad judgment,” Leo said. “Greed. Hooking up with Jeremy’s cousin, Roger, was one of them.”

  He had Nick’s attention, as he sat forward. “Okay.”

  “Roger was a lunatic,” Leo said. “But he got things done. He made us money.”

  “What kind of money?” Nick asked, his tone dead.

  “Bought-you-a-truck kind of money,” Leo said.

  “That piece of shit?”

  Leo looked at him like he wanted to punch him in the neck. “And then he brought Jeremy into the mix.” His hand rested on my knee. “I never knew his name, I swear. I never heard it. I called him Cuz because Roger did, and honestly, I didn’t even know his last name. It wasn’t important at the time.”

  Leo lifted his hand, and I watched it leave, missing his touch instantly and feeling the hole already in my gut for everything I knew was coming.

  “Long story short,” he said, clearing his throat, “Roger wasn’t the only lunatic. Jeremy went too far, and I wouldn’t play, and he burned down his own parents’ house in front of me.”

  “Oh, my God,” Allie said under her breath, clapping a hand over her mouth.

  “What the fuck?” Nick said, getting to his feet, spurring us all to follow. “Why don’t I know this?”

  Leo got up slowly and met Nick’s eyes, so much like his own. “It’s why I left,” he said.

  Nick shook his head and held out his arms. “What’s why?”

  “He used my lighter to do it,” Leo said. “Without blinking an eye. It was the fucking freakiest, most psychotic thing I’ve ever seen in my life, even since. And he told me that if I still wanted to rat on him, he’d pin it on me, so when I told him I didn’t care, he flipped it to you.”

  Nick stepped back. “Me.”

  “He said he’d hurt you. Or Tara. Or the—” Leo gritted his teeth. “Or the baby.”

  Nick looked ready to kill as every muscle in his body tightened, and he ran a hand over his face in a very Leo-like fashion. “You—”

  “After what I saw, little brother,” Leo said. “I didn’t question it.”

  “So you left,” Nick said, tight-jawed.

  “That was the deal,” Leo said.

  “The deal?” Nick paced off, and turned back, chest to chest with Leo, who didn’t budge, but also didn’t bow back. “You put my baby girl at risk,” he said, his voice shaking with anger.

  Leo shook his head slowly. “I left my life so she wouldn’t be,” he said. “I left you. I walked away from everything.”

  Nick paused, and his body visibly relaxed as his brain seemed to catch up with that.

  “And now?”

 
“Now comes me,” I said softly. “I’m such an awesome judge of character that I spent eight years of my life with someone who could do such a thing,” I said, hearing my voice shake. “And never knew it.”

  “Except that you did,” Gabi said. I met her smile through her tears she blinked free. “Something in you, an instinct, a vibe—something knew to get out.”

  I smiled back and whisked tears off my cheeks. “And I managed to hitch a random ride to Charmed with the one person who wanted nothing to do with Jeremy Blankenship,” I said. “He wouldn’t even have known that you were here,” I said, looking at Leo, “if not for me.”

  “And then I yanked him across a table today,” Nick said, closing his eyes and raking fingers through his soot-stuck hair. “He told me I’d regret it and I thought it was just hot air. You think he’s so off his chain that he’d burn the diner to the ground over that?” he asked, his voice going gritty over the last words. “Fuck, this could have been our house.”

  “Yes,” Leo said, before I could say anything. He was protecting me. “But he left Micah her car today, so he had a ride.”

  Nick met his gaze. “The cousin?”

  “If I had to guess.”

  He continued to stare at Leo, hard. “Lanie—”

  CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE

  Nick ran for his truck, but it was blocked in by a fire truck. Leo was already on his bike, cranking up the motor when Nick turned his way.

  “Come on!” Leo yelled over the deep rumble.

  Without hesitation, Nick threw a leg over the seat and they were off. There was something beautiful in it. If the whole thing weren’t so terrible.

  “Let’s go. My car’s outside the shop,” Gabi said, already running down the sidewalk.

  “I need to stay,” Allie said, touching Bash’s arm. “But go. Help them.”

  He kissed her head. “I’ll be back.”

  I felt frozen in place as he ran for his truck and Allie and I stood facing each other.