I had thought I loved her before, but this moment—this one moment that changed everything between us—hit me hard. I realized I never wanted to be without her, never wanted to leave her side again.
But I was heading back to Nashville.
“I’m sorry you have to leave today,” she whispered, as if reading my thoughts as she ran her hands across my stomach.
There was no way I could walk away this time, not after this moment—not even if she still wanted me to go. But what could I do about the label? Could I really let Ryan down like that?
I released a resigned groan. “I’ll call the tour director in the morning and see if we can cut the tour in half. It won’t be long. But what about the wedding?”?
She sat up on her elbows, staring at the ceiling. “Well, I don’t think…”?
Her phone buzzed on the nightstand, breaking the peaceful moment. We looked at each other solemnly; our little slice of paradise abruptly shattered.
Her eyes lit up with surprise, then fear, as she realized who was calling her in the middle of the night. “Charlie? What’s wrong? It’s four in the morning.”?
Maggie chewed on her bottom lip, her face dropping in shock as she listened to Charlie’s erratic, incoherent screams from the other end of the line. “No, I’m not there!” she shrieked, hurtling off the bed and yanking her dress back on as fast as she could. I jumped up, too, but she was already out the door and down the hallway before I even had a chance to put on my shoes.
Chapter thirty-nine
MAGNOLIA
Ihung up on Charlie and sprinted through the empty streets of pre-dawn Savannah, my heart pounding with every step. As I neared McDonough Street, I saw the black smoke rising and heard the wail of sirens in the distance. Lee was hot on my heels, shouting my name and trying to close the gap between us.
But it didn’t matter now. Nothing did.?
I rounded the corner and rushed at the police tape, desperately trying to push past it. I screamed and flailed, hitting at the officers who were trying to hold me back.
My life, my family’s legacy, the last bit of history I had to tie me to my mother, to Uncle Cole, was on fire.?
O’Malley’s was going up in flames, burning fast and furious, down to the ground.
“What happened?” Lee shouted, finally catching up to me. His feet were a mess, bloodied and smeared with black grime from running after me in just a pair of jeans.
“We don’t know yet,” the officer holding me back said.
I ran my hands through my hair as I howled, watching the fire destroy everything I loved, every memory I had.
“Your brother’s over there,” he said to me, pointing in the direction of an ambulance housing my brother. He was wrapped in what looked like tin-foil, and his dark, soot-covered face was streaked with tears.?
“Charlie,” I cried, rushing toward him. “Charlie, please tell me what happened!”?
He shook his head wearily and stood up, letting the shock-prevention wrap fall to the ground. Pickle, wide-eyed and terrified, spotted Lee. She leapeddown, scrambled up Lee’s leg, and settled into his arms.
“Magnolia, I’m so sorry,” he said, wrapping me in his arms. I could feel him batting down sobs and trying to steady himself. He pulled back, studying my face, almost as if he was trying to figure out if I was real or a ghost that had materialized out of the flames. “Dane called me and said the bar was on fire, so I came as fast as I could. I called the fire department, but I got here before they did. I ran upstairs to see if you were there. I was calling out for you, but—God, Magnolia, I thought you were dead!”
“Where’s my brother?” Lee spat angrily, handing Pickle over to me as he paced through the crowd.?
“I don’t know, Lee. I tried looking downstairs, but the smoke was too thick,” Charlie said, tears pooling in his eyes as he pulled me into him again. “I found the cat in the staircase between the apartment and the bar. I thought you were dead, Magnolia. I thought I was alone. I thought you left me.”?
My brother started bawling and shaking, and Pickle purred wildly between us, trying to get us to calm down. We sat on the tailgate of the ambulance and quietly watched everything our family had worked so hard for turn to ashes in the night.?
As the sky began to lighten, the fire department almost had the blaze somewhat under control but not quite. Eunice and Vance had shown up, but no one had seen or heard from Dane.
Eunice pulled me into her arms, kissed my tear-soaked face, and cried over and over again about how happy she was that I was alive.?
But we were all on edge. No one could get into the building to make sure it was truly all clear, and no one could tell us yet how the fire had started. And more importantly, no one had seen Dane since I left him in my office.?
And in my heart, I knew.?
