I saw the devastation on Adrian’s face as he came running up the street to where Poppy and I were sitting in the back of the ambulance, soon after we got out of the building. And the three of us are now trying to piece things together as to what the hell happened. All of us are in shock, and it’s not until the police begin to ask questions that a few things start falling into place.
As soon as Poppy tells them about the fire-covered object that was thrown through the front door, the questions start coming thick and fast. But the main ones are, do we have any enemies or know anyone who might be holding a grudge against us? Have there been any notable incidents that happened at the bar?
At the mention ofenemies, I’m sure I know who it is. I tell them about Dean and what happened with Poppy the day before the fire, and that he was apparently still in Boston, though I didn’t know his whereabouts. But when Poppy sheepishly says she knows where he’s staying, I feel anger rise a little inside me that she didn’t tell me that part yesterday. But to be honest, I don’t have the energy to really care that much anymore.
And it’s only when a policeman asks us about our security system and where our cameras are located do any of us think clearly enough to check the footage. Using his phone, Adrian logs into the backup system which is held on an external server, and I do the same.
I’m about to check the inside cameras while Adrian searches the footage of the outside cameras, starting with the back door and parking lot, that I suddenly remember I stopped the feed inside the bar to give Poppy and me some privacy. And a feeling of panic rises in me that I may have just taken away part of the puzzle to help us solve this.
While Adrian is scanning through the footage around the time of the fire, I’m sitting here just waiting for him to say the words,“There he is, is this that Dean guy?”and to show his phone to Poppy and me to confirm in front of the police that it was Dean who started the fire.
Except that doesn’t happen, and the look that appears on Adrian’s face as he spots the arsonist is one of complete shock and distress. His face goes pale, and he stares at the phone in disbelief.
“Show me,” I growl at him, but he just shakes his head.
“You don’t want to see this,” Adrian replies, trying to back away.
“Now!” I bark at him, and I’m in no mood for anyone to mess with me, pushing up from the back of the ambulance. Adrian shoves the phone at me, knowing he has no choice.
I didn’t think it was possible for my heart to sink any lower than it already has, but it just did. The moment I see a woman on her own at the back door of the bar, carrying a gas can and pouring it over the door and walls, my body starts to shiver with panic. Watching her look around one last time before she lights the match and flicks it into the gasoline, I feel like I want to vomit. As she turns and the camera catches her face, there’s no denying who it is.
Tessa’s the arsonist who just torched my bar and left my dreams in ashes.
I hear Poppy’s gasp from beside me, and the pain that leaves her body as she screams out, “Nooooo!”
I grab her before she hits the ground, sobbing uncontrollably in my arms.
I can’t talk, and it’s like I’m in this clear bubble, watching and hearing everything happening around me, but I can’t seem to function. The EMTs pull Poppy from my arms and sit her back on the gurney, trying to calm her breathing down. The crew from Station 27 have already called Sully, and I see him arrive, stepping up to me and guiding me back to the ambulance with Poppy, making sure we both get the help we need to handle the shock that has hit us. I can see the police talking to Adrian and hear them ask him to send them the security footage for their investigation.
I’m now sitting with my arms wrapped around Poppy in the back of Sully’s car on the way to the police station to give our statements. I know Poppy is struggling just as much as I am. She keeps looking at me with tears in her eyes and telling me how sorry she is.
“You didn’t do this, baby,” I mumble back.
“But I brought the wolf to the door.” She sniffles back a few tears, trying to be strong for me.
“Yeah, and she was in sheep’s clothing, pulling the wool over all our eyes. That’s not on you. This is all Tessa, and I’ll never forgive her for what’s she done to you and to me.” I kiss the top of Poppy’s head and turn to look out the window at the night sky. I try to find some reason for this that makes more sense than a few hundred dollars and the worry that I was going to tell Poppy. But the reality is, we’ll probably never get an answer why Tessa resorted to such extreme measures, and we’ll just have to move on regardless.
By the time we finally leave the police station at five am, the police are about to head back out to find Tessa and bring her in for questioning. And Poppy has told them that she wants a restraining order put on Tessa to stop her from contacting any of us. The police couldn’t tell us too much about Tessa just yet, except that she’s known to police.
Both Poppy and I were emotionally exhausted by the time the police were finished with us. Sully dropped Adrian off at home and then drove Poppy and me back to my car, that was thankfully parked far enough away from the building to leave it undamaged. Sully was worried about how tired I was and wanted to drive us home, but I convinced him we would be okay.
Driving home as the sun starts to rise on a Sunday morning just doesn’t feel right. I’ve usually been in bed for at least four hours by now, sleeping solidly before the day breaks.
I just feel so numb. It’s been roughly four hours since the fire started in the bar, but within moments of Poppy screaming the word fire at me, I knew in my heart I was going to lose it all.
I didn’t know how to help Poppy handle her huge feelings at first after we discovered it was Tessa who torched the bar. Because as much as I hate Tessa with a passion right now, she’s still Poppy’s biological mother. That part is never going away, and Poppy will have to navigate that for the rest of her life. Butas per usual, my girl is stronger than I gave her credit for. It was Poppy who guided me.
As far as Poppy is concerned, Tessa came into her life to give her some closure on where she came from, which is something Poppy had always struggled with. But having the answers now doesn’t change who Poppy is as a person or where she fits in this life.
We finally pull into the garage at home, and I’m so thankful the boys are having a special sleepover at Granny B’s tonight, so we don’t have to cope with Nash and Kade waking up just as we’re finally getting to sleep. Sully is going to call Mrs. B at a reasonable hour to let her know what’s happened. We didn’t call her during the night because we didn’t want to upset her and wake the boys up, causing them to be worried about us. Sully will tell her that we’ll be over to see her and the boys once we’ve had some sleep. Not that either of us will manage to get any quality rest, but all we can do is try.
I just want to be alone with Poppy. We don’t need to talk, just be together, our souls mourning tonight’s tragedies.
In our zombie-like state, Poppy and I walk into the house, straight into the en-suite, strip off all our clothes, and step into the shower.
The hot water streams over the two of us, wrapped in each other’s arms, silently processing everything that has happened.
Poppy moves to the side, reaching for the bottle of shampoo. Pouring some into her hand, she looks up into my eyes. “Let me wash your hair with my shampoo. Take it from me, you’ll need the strong cherry-blossom scent to take away the smell of smoke.” Dipping my head for her, slowly she massages my scalp, and the tender circles feel like heaven, until all I can smell is Poppy’s familiar scent that I love so much. I rinse off my hair and then reach out to pour some of it into my hand.
