“I’m so sorry. Do you know what started it?”
She shook her head. “I have no idea. I just came home from work and saw that the house was on fire. I didn’t even go inside. How did you and your team know about it?”
“Oh, I live next door. I actually smelled something burning first, and when I looked out the window, I saw your house. I couldn’t believe it. I called in the team.”
She looked confused. “Wait? You live next door? With Brady?”
“Yes. Well, at least for now. Oh, my apologies. I’m so rude. My name is Grant. I’m Shotgun’s, I mean Brady’s, brother,” I quickly corrected. I was sure that Brady didn’t go by Shotgun to anyone else but the motorcycle club. I was also certain that he didn’t want anyone in this town calling him by that name. He’d always be Shotgun to me, but to everyone in this town, he was Grant the ranch man.
“I’ve seen you. I didn’t know you were his brother. Although, you do look similar.”
“I’ve seen you too. But just briefly.”
“You have? When?”
“Oh, just in passing. We kept missing each other though and I didn’t want to come and knock on your door like a weirdo.” I decided that it wasn’t the best time to tell her that I had seen her crouching behind the car with her bunny slippers.
“I’ve been meaning to come and say hello myself. I was actually going to come tonight. And then this. Are you a fireman?”
“No, I’m just learning the trade. I’ve been helping the team out this past week.”
She smiled sadly and my heart broke into pieces. “Thank you for calling them and for helping out tonight. I still can’t believe this has happened. I’m too scared to even go inside.”
“I’d leave it until the morning if I was you. Now is not the best time to go in there—smoke and all. I’d offer for you to stay with us, but it’s not my house. Let me go and talk to Brady. I’m sure he won’t mind at all.”
She shook her head. “No, no. I’ve already called my friend. She’s coming to get me. I’ll stay with her tonight and figure something out tomorrow. Thank you for offering, though. Oh, there she is now. I better go. It was nice meeting you, Grant.”
“It was nice to meet you too, Emily.”
I stood and watched her leave. I was glad that I had finally gotten the chance to speak to her, although the circumstances could’ve been better. For a while I just watched her house, and wondered if she was going to get any sleep that night. That was her whole life, up in flames.
Chapter Eight
Emily
I woke up the following morning thinking that I had only dreamt that my house had burned down. But then I saw that I wasn’t in my room and I knew that it had all been true. I sat up in Terra’s spare bedroom and looked around. The room was filled with photographs and trinkets that all meant something to Terra. It made me think about my own room, and all the things that I’d collected over the years. All the things that I’d associated as a part of who I was. I’d never pictured myself to be a material person, but there were a lot of things that meant a lot to me. Things from my past. Things that reminded of people, places, and things. I felt a sudden sadness wash over me. The night before I’d been too overwhelmed to really process it all. But now I felt the heaviness of the situation weight down on me, and I couldn’t stop the tears from falling.
There was a small knock on the door, and Terra’s kind face suddenly appeared.
“Ah, my angel, don’t cry,” she said and came to sit with me on the bed. She leaned in to hug me and I cried into her shoulder.
“I’m sorry,” I said when I pulled away. “I woke up thinking it was all just a bad dream. But it’s not, is it?”
She shook her head. “It’s not. And right now I’m just happy that you’re safe and sound. I mean, what if you had been in the house? Sort of makes me think of short life is and how quick things can change. I’m so glad you’re fine.”
“Yeah, that’s true. I didn’t think about that. And I know I should be happy that I’m alive. But I can’t stop thinking about all my things. They’re all gone.”
Terra sighed. “I know. Well, why don’t you go to your house after breakfast and see if there’s anything that you can salvage? You never know; it might not be as bad as you think.”
“That’s a good idea. Wait, what day is it today?”
“It’s Tuesday.”
“Tuesday! I have to go to work.”
“No, I checked your diary. You only had an appointment this morning. But luckily I didn’t have anything, so I’m going to do your work today. You helped me out with that horrible child last week, anyway. So I owe you.”
“Terra, are you sure?”
“Of course I’m sure. You should take all the time you need. And I want you to know that you can stay here for as long as you want. Okay?”
I nodded. It was good to have a friend throughout all of this. “What would I have done if I didn’t have you? I’d have been out on the streets.”
She grinned. “That’s the positive Emily I know. Come on, I made breakfast. I’m going into work a bit late so that we can sit together this morning. You are my first priority. And I made you something delicious. I know how you love your breakfasts. Take a shower and meet me downstairs. I’m almost finished preparing everything.”
I did as I was told and then walked downstairs to discover that Terra had made pancakes and waffles.
“Pancakes and waffles? This is like a dream come true.”
“I wanted you to have something special. But if you’d prefer bacon and eggs I can do that too.”
I looked at Terra and smiled. “This is amazing. I’m more than happy with this. Thank you. You’re going to make a great wife one day.”
“Ha! That’s if anybody wants me to be their wife.”
“Actually, if I don’t meet anyone by the time I’m thirty, I might just marry you.”
She beamed. “That’s a great idea. That gives us about four years to meet the man of our dreams. If not, at least we’ll have each other.”
“You know, only you could make me feel better after losing my house to a fire. You’ve actually made me smile.”
People always said that you learned more about someone when you suffered a tragedy than when you were celebrating something. I was starting to see how true that was.
“I feel awful for you, Em. Also, I happen to know that food is the best way to help you forget about your problems. It’s why the two of us are such good friends.”
“I appreciate this, Terra.”
After eating far too much for breakfast, I made my way to what remained of my house. I thought I’d be okay but the closer I got, the more nervous I found myself getting. I could smell the smoke all the way down the road, and when I got to the house, I gasped. I hadn’t realized how bad it was last night as it had been dark. But now, in the clear light of day, I saw how much was ruined. A small part of me had hoped that the house would be salvageable, but now I could see that there was no way it would ever be like it was before. It was ruined. Completely ruined. I sat in the car for a long time, not daring to go out, and wondering if I would ever discover what had happened. How could a house be standing one minute and then burned to the ground the next? How could this happen to me?
When I eventually got out of the car, my legs were unsteady, and I had to take a few deep breaths before finally allowing myself to go inside. I walked in and put my scarf over my mouth. The smell of smoke was still strong, and it was already burning my lungs. I slowly made my way around the ruins, looking to see if there was anything I could find. In my bedroom, I pulled out a box where I’d stored all my old photos. I said a silent prayer before looking inside and breathed a sigh of relief when I saw that most of the photos were still intact. Somehow the box had gotten wedged under the bed, and under a pile of blankets, and was saved. Those photos now seemed even dearer to me than before. I’d been meaning to get them all scanned and saved onto a computer, but I hadn’t gotten around to it. I
was now determined to get that done as soon as possible. I couldn’t believe how close I had come to losing them all. I sat there for several minutes, just looking through the photos. I held onto the box and made my way through the house, picking up anything that I thought I could save. A few things had somehow made it through the fire, but many things were completely unrecognizable. Things that I’d once thought so important, now no longer existed.
Suddenly I heard footsteps, and I froze in place. Who on earth would be in the house with me? Perhaps looters had come to see what they could take. I could feel my heart racing in my chest. I breathed a sigh of relief when I saw that it was just Grant from next door. And then my heart rate increased again when I realized how nervous he made me feel.
“You scared me. I thought someone was coming to attack me or something.”
“I’m so sorry. I saw your car and figured you were inside. How are you doing today?” he said gently.
For a man that was so big, he sure seemed lovely. His dark green eyes shone with compassion. I had been so overwhelmed the night before that I hadn’t really taken note of how good looking he was. But up close, he was gorgeous.
“I’m okay. I guess. I don’t know. This is all so weird,” I said and looked around. “It’s not like you can ever truly prepare for something like this. It takes you by surprise.”
“I’m sure. I can’t even begin to imagine how this must feel. Did you salvage anything?”
I held up the box. “A box of photos. This means more to me than a lot of things here. I mean, so many of these things are replaceable, or just unnecessary. It’s actually weird looking at everything and thinking about how important they were to me only a day before this. Now they’re just burned away to a crisp, and I don’t care about them. People are strange creatures don’t you think? Sorry, I’m talking nonsense. Ignore me. I’m not myself at the moment.” I couldn’t believe how nervous this man was making me. There was something about the intensity of his eyes that made me battle to breathe.
“Of course you’re not. And don’t apologize. I’m glad you found your photos. You should scan them and get them saved onto a computer somewhere. And back up those files too. Just in case.”
I smiled. Was this man reading my mind? “Yeah, I was just thinking that, actually.”
“So,” he said, looking around. “Is there anything that I can help you with? Are you looking for anything in particular?”
“Oh, no. You really don’t have to worry. I’m just going to take a look around,” I said. It wasn’t true. I had been looking for something in particular, but I felt bad asking him to help me. I barely knew the man.
He shook his head. “No way, I want to help you. Tell me what it is. Honestly, I don’t have anything to do today, and I came in here to help you.”
“Thank you. That’s very nice of you. I’m looking for my gran’s diary. It’s the only thing I have of hers. It’s the most beautiful book you’ll ever see. And not just the book itself, but the things she wrote inside. She could’ve been a writer. But I can’t find it anywhere.”
“What does it look like?”
“It’s leather bound, about the size of a normal diary, but really thick. The pages looked like they were brushed in gold when you closed the book. And on the front the name ‘Emily’ was etched.”
“Emily? She had the same name as you?”
I smiled. “Well, I had the same name as her. Yeah.”
“We’re going to find it,” he said and started searching. Despite being daytime, some parts of the house were dark, and I watched in fascination as he got out his flashlight and looked around. He didn’t even hesitate; he just went right in to help me. I wasn’t used to men like that. It was nice.
We searched for about half an hour, and I was just about to give up when he shouted with excitement. “I found it!”
“What? You did?” I said and ran up to meet him.
He held out the book, which didn’t look damaged at all. In fact, it was one of the only items in the whole place that didn’t seem to be all that affected. “This it?” he asked.
The tears came streaming down my face, and without thinking, I went over and hugged him. His big arms wrapped around me, and I could literally feel his muscles through his shirt. It felt good to have someone so solid to hold onto, and I almost didn’t let go. But, then I realized that I was hugging a man I barely knew, and I quickly pulled away.
“Thank you so much, Grant. I cannot tell you how much this means to me.”
He seemed taken aback by the hug. “Oh, uh . . . it’s a pleasure. Can I help you with anything else?”
I shook my head. “I think I have what I need. The rest is just stuff.”
We walked out of the house, and I put everything that I’d taken into the car. It wasn’t much considering it was once a house filled to the brim with things. But at least I had my photos and my gran’s diary. From that, I was already feeling better about the situation. If those things had gone, I was sure I’d have been a mess.
“You’re a very positive person; you know that?” Grant said to me.
I chuckled. “I’m not really. But my best friend is. It must be rubbing off.”
“No, you are. And you’re taking this so well.”
I laughed. “I haven’t. I’m just not too good at showing my emotions to other people. But thank you for saying that. I think I’m starting to realize more and more what is important in life and what isn’t. It sucks that it took something like this to show me, though.”
He sighed. “Yeah, but don’t let that get you down. We take things for granted because we don’t suffer on a daily basis. We’re lucky that we get the chance to take things for granted. I’m just sorry that you had to go through this. I’m just glad you’re okay at least.”
“Thank you. Me too. So, how are you enjoying small town life? Is it driving you crazy yet?” I only asked because I’d seen a lot of city cats come to this small farming community, and before I could blink, they’d be gone. It was a great life, but it wasn’t for everyone.
He smiled. “Surprisingly, I’m loving it. I honestly didn’t think I’d enjoy it so much. It’s weird to go from city life and working in an office all day to being outdoors all day long. But it’s a good sort of weird, for sure. It’s just the type of break that I needed. But there’s something about this place. It’s doing me a world of good. But, other than working on the farm, I haven’t been out much.”
“Brady is not really one for going out as far as I know,” I said, and Grant laughed.
“Tell me about it. Clearly you guys all know what he’s like. I wish he’d go out more, but I guess you can’t force someone to do something they don’t want to. He’s more of a homebody than I ever remembered him to be. But he seems happy, so I suppose there’s nothing wrong with it. And even though I’m enjoying myself, I wouldn’t mind a night out.”
“Yeah, I know what you mean. I love what I do, but it’s good to disconnect sometimes.”
“On that note,” he said and grinned at me. “Any chance you’re free on Saturday?”
“Oh, I think I’ll be free for a while,” I said and looked at the house.
“Sorry, goodness, I’m such an idiot!”
“No, no! I didn’t mean that. I was just joking. Which I realize now didn’t sound like a joke at all.”
“Then dinner is on me. I’d love to take you out.”
I grinned. “Thank you. I’d invite you over to my house, but . . .”
He laughed. “I can’t believe we’re laughing at that.”
“Hey, if we don’t laugh we’ll cry. Saturday sounds lovely.”
We exchanged a few details, and I made my way back to the car. I was feeling a mixture of emotions, ranging from complete devastation to elation. It was strange. But I was glad that Grant had come to my rescue. When I got back to Terra’s house, I called her to tell her what had happened and she burst out laughing.
“Why are you laughing?” I said.
“
Because it only took your entire house burning down for the two of you to finally start talking to each other.”
Chapter Nine
Grant
“I still can’t believe that Emily’s house burned down. I feel so bad for her,” Brady was saying at breakfast that morning. “That’s just not the sort of thing you ever think is really going to happen to you.”
“Tell me about it,” I said. “Imagine your whole life coming down in flames like that.”
“You must’ve seen a few of those, though.”
“Not so much. In fact, this was my first time helping out the guys. So far they’ve only been showing me the ropes. This was my first mission with them. It was pretty surreal.”
“Weren’t you freaking out?”
“It’s weird. I thought I would be. But when you’re in the middle of the chaos, you sort of just go with the flow. It’s like your mind blanks out the danger, and you just concentrate on getting the job done. It’s only afterward when you realized how close you were to death yourself. It’s really something.”
“I don’t know how you do it.”
“Those guys are amazing, though. I’m surprised they let me help out so quickly. But I’m glad I did.”
“They obviously know they can trust you. And they probably see that you’re good at the job. Some people just have a knack for these things. You know, if it wasn’t for you the fire might have spread to my house. So thanks, man. I was actually thinking of that last night and realized I never thanked you.”
“Ah, it’s not me. I’m sure you would’ve called the fire department yourself if I hadn’t been here. But I’m glad it didn’t spread. Sometimes those things get out of control. That’s probably the worst part of it.”
“Do you think anything in that house is salvageable? It doesn’t look like it from the outside. I took a quick peek in it when I got back, and it looks terrible in there.”
“Yeah, it’s bad in there. Emily thankfully managed to get a few things that she really wanted. She got a box of photos and a diary of her gran’s, and I think she was happier about that than anything else. Like she said, the rest is just stuff. Although, if you ask me, I’m amazed at how calm she was throughout the whole thing. It’s quite impressive. She’s got a very logical side to her that I’m not sure most people would have at a time like that.”
Dirty Stepbrother - A Firefighter Romance (The Maxwell Family) Page 113
