I flew out of bed, grabbing my phone on the way. I ran down the hall and out into the living room. I slipped my feet into muck boots and threw open the front door. Flames greeted me in the distance, fully engulfing the barn.
I dialed nine-one-one in a haze.
“Sheriff’s Department. What’s your emergency?”
My voice cracked as I struggled to get the words out. “My barn is on fire.”
“What’s your address?”
I listed it off as a particularly violent gust of flames surged.
“Are you in a safe place away from the fire?”
I looked at the distance between the barn and the cabin. The flames could easily catch on the trees and then jump to my cabin. “Safe enough. I have to go.” I hung up without another word, running for the hose. The barn was a lost cause, but my cabin wasn’t.
I turned on the water as far as it would go, thankful I’d picked up the hose and spray nozzle at the hardware store. I aimed the stream of water at the cabin’s roof, coating the side closest to the blaze as much as possible. When it was thoroughly doused, I moved around to the front and aimed for the opposite side as I heard sirens in the distance.
I stayed fully focused on my task, glancing at the barn and the surrounding forest every minute or so. My stomach dropped when two nearby trees caught. “Hurry up,” I begged to no one in particular.
Lights poured across the drive as two fire trucks crested the ridge. They paused in front of me, and a window rolled down. A handsome man with dark hair stuck his head out. “Water?”
“There’s a line to the pasture.”
He nodded and motioned for the driver to move forward. When the trucks parked, they moved in what almost looked like a choreographed dance. Everyone knew their places and went to work immediately. One hose hooked on to the property’s waterline, and others came from the trucks themselves.
I kept my pathetic hose pointed at my little cabin. I moved in a slow pattern, doing all I could to prevent the fire from jumping. A series of shouts sounded as a tree fell. My heart stopped as it sent a cascade of embers flying. It would’ve been beautiful had it not been so deadly.
I breathed a sigh of relief when I saw everyone was free of the destruction. More sirens cut through the night as an SUV came to a screeching halt in front of me. Hayes jumped out in jeans and a tee that molded to his chest. “Hi,” I croaked.
“You need to get out of here. That fire could jump at any minute.”
“I need to water down the cabin.” If I lost my place to live, that would be it. I wouldn’t recover from the blow.
Hayes moved towards me, trying to take the hose from my hands. “I’ll do it. Just get out of here.”
I held firm. “I’m not going anywhere.”
He muttered a slew of curses. “Is there another hose?”
“Around the other side.”
Hayes jogged to retrieve the second one. Soon, we were working in tandem as the firefighters battled the other blaze. We didn’t say a word, but after an hour, by some silent agreement, we turned off the water. The fire department was slowly getting the barn fire under control. Hayes and I moved to my steps and sat, watching them slowly cut back the blaze until only embers remained.
The same man who had asked about the water walked towards us. He’d lost his helmet and jacket, now wearing a white tee streaked with dirt. He jerked his chin at Hayes. “They drag you out of bed?”
“Something like this, you know they have to.”
I pushed to my feet. “Thank you so much.”
He nodded, holding out a hand. “Glad we made it in time. I’m Calder, by the way. It’s nice to meet you.”
“Everly.”
His grip and expression were warm. Friendly. But Hayes scowled at the man, only making Calder chuckle. He turned back to me. “It’ll take us a bit to fully suppress the fire.”
“No problem. Do you have any idea what caused it?”
Calder flashed a quick look at Hayes. “Our fire investigator will come out tomorrow and have a look. He’s the one who determines that kind of thing.”
I took a step closer to him, watching every flicker of his expression. “But you have a guess.”
Hayes came to stand next to me. “Just tell us what you know.”
Calder ran a hand over his head. “I smelled gas. You store that out there?”
“No. There was nothing in the barn. Not even old tack.”
A muscle in Hayes’ jaw ticked. “Dad went through it not a week ago. There was no gas inside.”
Calder looked back at his crew, currently stomping out the last dregs of the blaze. “Then I’d guess our investigator will find arson.”
A man on the crew yelled something I couldn’t quite make out, and everyone moved back. The structure let out what almost sounded like a groan. Seconds later, the last of it collapsed to the ground.
Calder winced. “I’m sorry about your barn.”
Tears burned the back of my throat. Not because of the building, but because someone had intentionally done this. Wanted to hurt and destroy. “It needed to be torn down anyway.”
“Not like this, it didn’t,” Hayes growled.
He was right. But I’d learned long ago that life rarely went as planned.
16
Hayes
I couldn’t handle the devastation in Everly’s eyes anymore. The need to give her some sort of comfort clawed at my insides. She looked so damn alone, sitting on those porch steps. She didn’t have anyone. I hadn’t seen a sign of a single soul who was on her team. I couldn’t fathom that. I’d been through hell, but I’d had countless people there to prop me up along the way. Everly had no one.
I sat down next to her and leaned into her a bit, almost bumping her shoulder with mine. She startled as if she’d been in another world. “You don’t have to stay. They’re almost done. I’m fine.”
“What if I want to stay?”
She gave me a look that called bullshit.
I shrugged. “Looks like a good spot to watch the sunrise.” The sun was just peeking out over the horizon, turning the sky a pinkish-purple.
Everly met my gaze dead-on. “What do you want?”
“Wouldn’t mind a cup of coffee. Maybe a donut. I’d like to take a Ferrari for a spin one day. Maybe own a private island in the Caribbean. Have a private jet to take me there.”
There was no flicker of humor on her face. “You know what I mean.”
I leaned back, resting my elbows on the step behind me as I turned back to the sunrise. But I kept sight of Everly in my peripheral vision. “You’re alone. And no one should have to deal with something like this alone.”
She bristled. “I don’t need your pity.”
“It’s not pity. It’s friendship.”
“And that’s what we are? Friends? Even though my father is the one who hurt your family beyond measure, you want to be my friend?”
Each word punched into that reserve of rage that always simmered in the background. But I didn’t let it catch fire. Not this time. “Yes. You aren’t your father.”
“But I remind you of him. What he did. I remind everyone.”