Clicking off my cell, I shoved it into my pocket, pulled on my boots, and struggled to put on a jacket. My heart raced with panic, and as I tried to avoid the third stair down that creaked when you stepped on it.
Maggie was asleep in her room, and I couldn’t just leave her without notice. She had been doing much better over the past few weeks, but we were still worried about her. She had at least another three weeks in her hard cast. I scribbled a quick note on the counter in case she woke up. Then I texted Chloe. I knew my sister had worked all day, but it couldn’t be helped.
Then I was gone, gravel spitting under the truck’s tires as I tore down the dark country road.
The drive into town was a blur. The only thing I saw was Lila’s face, flushed and dazed from her orgasm, the way her eyes sparked with excitement during book club, and the constellation of small freckles that spread in the corner of her right eye. The idea of losing her—after finally letting myself touch her—had my chest clamped so tight it hurt to breathe.
By the time I swung onto her street, red strobes lit the night. Fire trucks lined the curb, their hoses snaking across wet pavement. Smoke rolled low and thick, curling above the roofline of the little blue cottage. My stomach dropped hard. This was bad.
I parked half on the sidewalk and ran, my boots slipping on slick asphalt. “Where is she?” I barked at the first firefighter I saw.
“She’s across the street,” he shouted over the roar of water pounding against flames.
Relief punched through me so fiercely my knees almost buckled. Reversing direction towards Sage’s, I spotted them. Lila was wrapped in a blanket with my sister crouched at her side, hair wild, eyes wide with worry.
“Lila.” Her name ripped out of me.
Her head jerked up. Even in the chaos, her eyes found mine. She looked pale, shaken, streaked with soot, but alive. Thank God.
I didn’t stop until I was in front of her, my hands gripping her shoulders like I could anchor her to the ground. “You hurt?”
She shook her head, her lips trembling. “I … no, the house is on fire.”
My thumb brushed ash from her cheek before I could stop myself. “Yeah, it looks like it is.” I hauled her against me and brushed a kiss against her mouth. Sage’s eyebrows were already near her hairline, but I didn’t care.
“Sage, you okay?” My sister nodded, but I knew she was shaken too. This was a big event in our small town. Then I realized what I’d just thought.Our.Wow, when did I start thinking like that again? “What the hell happened?” My voice sounded rough. I forced myself to focus on what was important. Lila was okay. Everything was going to be fine compared to that.
Her eyes darted to the cottage, where flames licked at the eaves of the back porch. The fire department was pumping a steady stream of water over it and into the mudroom.
“I don’t know. After you left, I went over to Sage’s, and then I decided to stay here.” Those eyes of hers settled back on me mournfully. “Everything was fine when I went to sleep. I’m sure everything was off. Gram was paranoid about that stuff. She would always double-check things like the stove. By the time I realized, the back porch was already completely on fire… it spread so fast.”
I swore under my breath. A hundred things didn’t add up. Houses this old had sketchy wiring, sure, but this… this felt wrong. When I’d come and checked things out a couple of weeks ago, I’d walked through the mudroom and back porch. This little house was old. Decades old, but there hadn’t been anything like old refrigerators or anything out there. Lila had some hooks for coats and some cubbies for shoes in the mudroom, but that was it. It was a small space.
Behind us, Wade jogged over, rain plastering his hair to his forehead. His jaw was set tight. “You’re lucky you woke up when you did.” He cut me a look, heavy with meaning. “Investigators will comb through in the morning. We’ll see what they find. Cole is here already, but he’ll take a look again.”
My fists clenched. “Someone set this.” There was no doubt in my mind that it was intentional.
“Potentially.” Wade’s face was grim as he looked over at Lila and Sage huddled together. “We’re looking at possibilities.”
Lila’s sharp inhale twisted my gut. She pulled the blanket tighter around her, eyes wide. “You think…?”
“What I think is you need to be more careful from here on out,” Wade said quietly. “We’ll conduct our investigation and do everything by the book, but I’m going off our initial suspicions. We’ll know more soon.”
For a long moment, the only sounds were the rush of water and the crack of the back porch as its wood gave way. My gaze stayed fixed on Lila. Her eyes were already glassy. This was the second time she’d had someonecome at her at her house, where she thought she’d be safe.
I crouched lower, forcing her to meet my eyes. “You’re staying with me tonight.”
Her mouth parted, stunned. “What?”
“You heard me.” My tone left no room for argument. I couldn’t stand for her to be anywhere else but somewhere I knew she’d be safe. “The farmhouse is big.”
Sage stood, bristling. “She was going to stay with me.”
“I appreciate that,” I said without looking away from Lila, “but this wasn’t random. If someone wants her gone, we’re not taking any chances. The farmhouse has more of us there. Safer. Besides, if this person has been in the neighborhood, they may have seen Lila at your house.” I gave Sage a pointed look. “As a matter of fact, it’s probably a good idea for you to move back to the farmhouse for a few days or stay at one of the cabins on Kipp’s land.” Sage crossed her arms defiantly. I knew I’d have a fight there.
Lila opened her mouth, maybe to argue, but her voice broke. “I don’t want to put Maggie through that. She’s recovering.”
“Maggie would skin me alive if I let you sleep anywhere else tonight,” I said flatly. “So you’re coming home with me.” Where she belonged.
