by Lila Kane
She was right. He was going above and beyond. I picked up my phone and then my eyes widened when I saw the messages. I read through them, even more surprised as I saw his reasoning. Saw his perspective.
And, oh, God. He wrote love. He wrote love at first sight in his text.
I pushed out of my chair, nearly knocking it over, and said to Stacy, “I need to call him.”
She laughed. “Go ahead. More pizza for me.”
When I walked outside, the sun was bright, and I stepped into the shade of the overhang to call him. It rang once, twice…
“Hello?”
“Ben,” I breathed, relieved to hear his voice. Relieved he hadn’t given up on me.
“Are you okay?”
“Yes.”
“Fuck, Libby, I was worried. I thought maybe—”
“No. I mean, I’m totally fine. I just…”
He released a long breath and I couldn’t help but smile that he was so thoroughly invested in this. It made me care for him even more.
“You sure everything’s all right?” he asked.
“Yes. Are you…okay?”
“I want to talk. I think we need to talk.”
“I agree. I got your texts.”
He didn’t answer right away. I heard the sound of a phone and soft talking in the background, but it was quiet long enough that I spoke again.
“I understand where you were coming from,” I assured him. “And I understand why you left.”
“Do you forgive me?” he asked, hope in his voice.
“God, yes. Ben…” My heart twisted. “Of course I do. I swear I do.”
He laughed softly. “You sure this time?”
“Positive.” After another breath, I said, “I want to see you.”
I needed him here, in front of me. In the flesh. So I could kiss him and assure him that I understood everything. So we could take the next step and move forward.
“I want to see you, too,” he said. “I’m finishing up here. I’d like to talk to you about the theater, too, if that’s okay. I want to help.”
“Yes. That sounds good. I called Mr. Griffin and he asked if I could stop by to talk tonight.”
“What time?”
“Eight.”
“I’ll be there,” he said quickly. “I’ll try to finish before then, but if not, I’ll meet you there.”
“Thank you, Ben,” I said, my voice wobbly. “I appreciate it.”
“I’ll see you soon.”
###
Ben texted me just after four and said he was still working. I tried not to be disappointed—I really wanted to see him and have a chance to talk about a few things before we met tonight—but I figured whatever he was doing was important enough that he needed time.
And then another text came at six.
Just about finished. I’ll meet you at the theater.
But when I took a cab to the theater around eight, I hadn’t heard anything else from Ben. Shit. I wasn’t expecting to have to talk to Mr. Griffin alone.
I swallowed when I got out onto the sidewalk and looked around. No, Ben had said he’d be here, so I believed he’d be here. He was probably just running a little late.
I checked my phone and then blew out a breath. No, I trusted Ben.
Then I lifted my head, my eyebrows furrowing. It smelled like…
Smoke?
I turned around and looked at the neighborhood. There were mostly businesses. And it felt too warm for a fire.
Glancing at my phone, I tried to figure out whether or not to call Ben. He would have told me if something came up, right? He would have texted or something.
He was already a few minutes late and…
I turned around when the smell of smoke hit me again. My stomach twisted, unease suddenly creeping up on me.
Then I saw the flames.
My heart jumped into my throat. The theater was on fire!
“Help!” I yelled, looking around for someone else to do something.
A woman saw me from further down the sidewalk.
“Call the police,” I shouted, waving at the building. “Fire!”
I shoved my own phone in my pocket after she pulled hers out and then ran for the door of the building, adrenaline racing through my body.
When I reached the front, I looked up, trying to make out anything else. But all I could see was the dusty façade and smoke billowing into the sky.
I didn’t have a choice. I had to help Mr. Griffin—he was still inside.
23
I checked my watch again and grimaced. Ten minutes. I was already ten minutes late, and it killed me. Libby said she trusted me—I just hoped this didn’t make things harder for our relationship.
I had a plan. And meeting her tonight was part of the plan. Not only would it help get us back on track, it would help her with something she was passionate about and that made me feel good. That made me excited for her.
Then, once that was figured out, I wanted to tell her how much I loved her.
Sounded like a decent plan—especially if I could just get there.
The cab pulled to a stop on the side of the road, and I frowned, realizing we were almost a block from the theater.
Then I saw an ambulance zoom past us and spotted swirling red and blue lights ahead of us. Then a firetruck passed, and the cab driver glanced back at me.
“What’s going on?” I asked.
He shrugged and gestured. “Looks like an accident or something…”
“Can we get around?” I checked my watch again.
“Don’t think that’s going to work,” he said, gesturing up ahead. “Isn’t that where we’re going?”
I leaned forward in my seat and focused. I hadn’t realized we were so close to the theater. And the commotion was right by it. Or…in it.
Then I saw the smoke billowing into the sky and the occasional flicker of flames above the building.
“It looks like it’s on fire,” the driver said.
“I have to—” I shifted to grab my wallet from my pocket and pulled out a handful of bills to toss over the seat.
“Hey,” the man started.
I ignored him and got out, slamming the door before I started running down the street. I could see the scene ahead and grew even more worried the more it came into focus.
The theater was on fire.
I ran into the fray, pushing through onlookers to reach the firetruck. I caught a fireman as he was walking past.
“What happened?” I asked.
He gestured behind the truck where a barricade was being set up. “I’m going to need you to stand back there, please.”
My heart pounded in my chest, even as I stood helpless with fear. There were people everywhere, but I didn’t see Libby or Mr. Griffin.
I hoped Libby had been late. Maybe she’d gotten caught in this mess like I had and she was pulling over in a cab further down the street.
Stepping behind the barricade and to the back of the crowd, I eyed the road. There were people everywhere, even people walking over from the neighborhood behind the theater.
But out of all the faces I searched, none of them were familiar.
I strode back to the firetruck but spotted a woman on the sidewalk talking to a policeman.
“She—she yelled at me to call the police,” the woman babbled, “and then she just vanished.”
The policeman frowned. “What do you mean vanished?”
The woman pointed. “I mean she ran inside!”
Alarm jolted me, and I raced over, pushing through the crowd of people listening to her. “Who was it?” I asked. “Who went in there?”
My voice was desperate and full of fear. If only I’d gotten here earlier, or—
“A woman,” the lady said. “Light hair, kind of long—”
“Fuck,” I hissed under my breath.
The policeman nodded his chin at me. “Sir?”
I stepped onto the sidewalk, but I could hardly stand still. My gaze kept
sweeping the streets for Libby or someone familiar. There was no way she’d gone inside. But if she thought Mr. Griffin—or anyone—was in danger…
“Do you know what happened here?” the policeman asked me.
“No. I just got here—I was supposed to meet someone.” I looked up at the building as more smoke billowed to the night sky.
Someone behind me coughed and the firemen pushed people further back.
“I need to know who’s in there,” I said, glancing back at the woman. “Please, I need—”
“All right, hold on,” the policeman said.
“I can’t. I have to—” I turned away from him, ready to go for the front door. If Libby was in there, I needed to get to her. I needed to make sure she was safe.
But then a fireman came through, his arm around a hunched figure. My heart squeezed tight, and I shoved through, only to realize it was Mr. Griffin.
The policeman tried to stop me but I pulled away from him.
“Mr. Griffin,” I said, leaning down to peer into his face.
“Ben?” he asked, coughing behind an oxygen mask. “What…?”
“Did you see Libby? Was she in there with you?”
He gave me a confused look, and before I could ask him more, a paramedic was guiding him away. No, no, no…I swallowed hard. If he hadn’t seen her, and she wasn’t out here…
I moved closer to the door, and a hand grabbed onto my arm. I twisted to pull away, but then I heard something.
Just a small cough, and then a voice. A voice that sounded a lot like Libby’s.
Through a thin cloud of smoke, I spotted her at the door.
Libby.
I shoved through the crowd, trying to reach her. She leaned on the arm of a fireman, blinking her eyes as she spotted the crowd.
I reached her in a few short strides, wrapping my arm around her waist and nearly lifting her off her feet.
“Libby, are you okay?”
She reached up to link her arms around my neck, holding me tight. She smelled like smoke and she was shaking, but she seemed okay, and it was the best thing ever to have her in my arms.
The fireman called out to the paramedics, “We need another stretcher over here.”
They were already rushing in our direction, pulling a stretcher and carrying an oxygen mask.
“I’m okay,” she said, shaking her head. “I don’t need—”
She broke off when a fit of coughing overtook her. I lifted her onto the stretcher even as she tried to protest through her coughing.
“Please,” I said, catching her hands between mine to hold her still. “Just let them look at you.”
Her eyes locked on mine, and every single emotion I’d been feeling since this morning came crashing down on me. All of it. The hope and happiness at seeing her in my bed this morning, then the frustration and panic during our fight, up to everything I’d felt tonight.
“Libby,” I said, voice raw and full of pain. “Why the hell did you go in there? Something could have happened to you—”
A paramedic nudged me aside. “Please, sir.”
I swallowed and walked to the end of the stretcher as they wheeled Libby to the ambulance, listening as they talked amongst themselves. “Smoke inhalation—” He glanced at her arm and nodded to the other paramedic. “Let’s check this burn, too.”
The other one said something about a second or third-degree burn, making me wince, but there was so much noise and so much chaos, I couldn’t hear everything. When they reached the ambulance, they gathered around her and I had to stay outside at the end of the vehicle, trying to make sense of it all through the crowd.
They placed a cloth on her arm and forced her to put on an oxygen mask after another fit of coughing. I kept moving to the side to make eye contact with her, to make sure she knew she wasn’t alone—even to reassure myself that she was okay.
But she’d gotten burned. And who knew how much smoke she’d inhaled.
Glancing back to the theater, I saw firemen rushing in and out. It looked like most of the flames were gone. Smoke still rose into the sky, but from what I could see, there didn’t appear to be any damage to the structure.
It didn’t matter—none of it mattered—as long as Libby was okay.
“Ben—”
I looked back to the ambulance and saw Libby holding her mask away from her mouth. I glanced up to one of the paramedics and he nodded, moving aside to make room for me to get in.
I climbed up and crouched next to her, taking her hand when she reached out. “I’m here,” I told her, and then swallowed when my voice came out strained. “I’m right here, Libby.”
She looked out the back of the ambulance. “Where’s Mr. Griffin?”
“He’s here. I saw him—he was back there—”
She shook her head and started coughing again. The paramedic insisted she put back on her mask, but she kept squeezing my hand and pointed.
Dammit, she wanted me to check. To make sure Mr. Griffin was okay.
I grimaced but did what she wanted, hopping out of the ambulance. “Don’t go without me,” I told one of the paramedics. “I’m coming—just give me one minute—”
I whipped around, my gaze zigzagging through the crowd to find Mr. Griffin. He was in the other ambulance, an oxygen mask still pressed to his face.
I jogged over and caught his eye. “Are you okay?”
He nodded. “I…I fell asleep.” His eyes scanned the front of the building and he frowned. “And then there must have been a fire…”
I reached out to reassure him. “There was. But everyone is okay. You’re okay, right?”
“I’m okay. Where’s Libby?”
I squeezed his arm. “She’s going to be okay. I’m going with her to the hospital now.”
“Good.” He nodded. “Yes, take care of her.”
“That’s the plan.”
I ran back to the ambulance and jumped inside with Libby, reaching for her hand and hanging on tight, grateful for another chance with her.
And once I knew she was okay, I was never letting her go again.
24
I was more tired than I realized because one minute there were people everywhere talking to me, asking questions and forcing me to keep the oxygen mask on since my levels were low. And the next, it was all quiet.
When I woke again, my arm ached dully from the burn, but everything was calm. My eyelids fluttered and I made out Ben on the other side of the room, his head bowed as he leaned against the wall.
He looked so tired. I wanted to get up and take him into my arms, to tell him it was all okay. To thank him for being there for me. I knew he’d come to the theater no matter what.
I tugged on the tubes that were still feeding me oxygen.
“Ben,” I murmured.
His head snapped up. “Libby.” He raced to my side and took my hand. “No, don’t mess with those. You need the oxygen—”
“Ben.” I smiled at him. “You’re still here.”
He scooted the chair by the bed closer so he could sit and hold my hand. His other rested on the blankets over my legs.
“How do you feel?” he asked, voice hoarse.
“Not bad. But, you know…” I waved my free hand with a smile. “Drugs.”
He returned the smile. “Are you in pain, though? Do you want me to get the nurse?”
“No.” I squeezed his hand. “I just want a minute with you. Alone. Is that okay?”
“Of course. But…” His gaze strayed to the door.
“A minute, that’s all. So I can see you.” I grinned. “Say hi.”
His eyes narrowed on my face and then he glanced at the IV, probably sure it was the drugs talking. But it was more than that. I was so happy to see him here, so happy that everyone was okay, that all I wanted was to keep him close.
“What happened at the theater?” I asked.
He frowned. “Everything’s fine—”
“I just want to know…you know, to see how bad it is.”
He squeezed my hand. “An electrical fire—but it’s not something you need to worry about right now. Mr. Griffin is fine.”
I swallowed and nodded. “Good.”
His gaze wandered over my face, and I was moved by tenderness for this man who had been there for me through everything that had happened this last month.
“I’m glad you’re here,” I murmured.
“Me, too.”
I patted the bed next to me. “You could be here instead.”
He opened his mouth like he might argue, then he shrugged and climbed into the bed with me so he could put his arm around me. He rested his cheek on my chest, as if listening to my heartbeat.
“Better,” I said softly and ignored the ache in my lungs.
“I agree.”
We stayed like that for a long moment, enough that my eyes started to droop again. The clock on the wall said it was the middle of the night.
“I was there,” Ben said quietly, looking up at me. “I swear I was there at the theater. I had to grab a cab and I was a few minutes late because—shit. Dammit.”
“What?”
“Papers,” he said with a grimace. “I brought papers but I must have left them in the cab. But I was there—”
“I know. I know you were.”
He swallowed and shifted to prop himself up on his elbow, a look of anguish on his face. “But if I’d just gotten there earlier—”
“Don’t. Ben, please,” I whispered, running my fingers on his cheek. “It’s okay.”
“You were in the building—in the fire—” he said, voice breaking.
“Ben, please…” I soothed. I touched his cheek and he closed his eyes, leaning into my palm. “Everything turned out okay. It’s fine.”
He met my eyes.
“Right?” I asked. “We’re just fine.”
“Are we?”
“We are,” I said with a gentle smile. “Because you’re here now, and I love you.”
His lips parted, then his gaze went to the IV again. “Libby…”
I laughed, and then coughed softly. “It’s not the drugs. I promise. I wanted to tell you before when I saw you, at the theater. Or sometime tonight. Is it still tonight?” I shook my head. “Anyway, I wanted to tell you and I’ll tell you again later if you don’t believe me now. I love you, Ben.”
