“And no one’s been hurt?”
“No. It wasn’t as bad as it might have looked from up here.”
So it wasn’t going to harm Lisa or her family or anyone else. Except Maddie. And Rafe. And possibly her father, whose memories of the place must run more deeply than hers.
“Will it be . . .” She knew the right words but didn’t want to ask them. “Will it be a total loss?”
“I honestly don’t know. But I’m no expert. Just a volunteer.”
“Did you come all the way up-island for this?”
He shook his head. “Nope. Not that I wouldn’t have. I was at my cabin. I don’t rent it anymore, but Francine and Jonas like to use it for a few days in the spring and fall. So I wanted to spruce it up before summer’s over. Anyway, my phone alerts me when there’s an emergency anywhere on the island. If I can get there, I go.”
She studied him a moment, unsure if he was being truthful or trying to impress her. She couldn’t tell.
“Is everything inside ruined?” she asked. The smoke had, indeed, begun to dissipate, the flames now sparked only in spotty places. The roof over the kitchen, however, appeared to be heavily damaged.
“It’s too soon to know that, too. Sorry.”
She nodded, then felt a tear, maybe two, leak out again.
“Until it’s livable again, you’re welcome to use my place.”
She blinked. “What?”
He turned and pointed toward the harbor. “My cabin’s not far from the other side of the water. I could drive your car over there for you, and you can easily take the bike ferry back and forth whenever you want to check up on what’s happening here . . . or maybe just stay over there while you’re figuring out what to do next.” He spoke in a take-charge tone layered with empathy. “This time of year, you’ll be hard-pressed to get even a single room anywhere else. My place isn’t big, but it’s big enough. If you plan to stay.”
It was a generous offer. She might have been able to stay at Evelyn’s, but somehow Rex’s cabin sounded closer, maybe cozier. Besides, she’d have nowhere else to go except back to Green Hills. And she wasn’t up for the ferry trip followed by a four-hour drive.
“That’s so kind of you, Rex. Not to mention that right now I’m exhausted. And in pain. And there are groceries in the car, some of which need refrigeration.” The shelf life of groceries, refrigerated or not, hardly seemed problematic compared with the fire, but at least it was something she could fix.
“How about if I run both you and the food over to the cabin now? It’s not the Ritz, but it has a bathroom and two bedrooms and a kitchen with fairly new appliances. There should be room in the refrigerator. And you can lie down and rest.” It didn’t sound as if he wanted her to leave the island.
“Thanks, Rex. My car is up the hill . . . well, you know where it is. Will you tell Rafe where I’ll be?”
“Absolutely. I have to make a quick call, but I’ll be right back.” With that, he trotted back down the hill.
Maddie took a long look at the cottage and what might have been her future. Then she said goodbye to her mother. All over again.
* * *
“I’m glad my father wasn’t here to see the cottage burn,” she said on the ride to the cabin. “It would have been hard on him. He never got over losing my mom. Not that he ever talked about it.”
“Some guys aren’t great at showing that last part. Or, actually, at showing any of those things.”
“Some women aren’t great at it, either.”
“Present company included?”
She shrugged. “Probably. Though I think—I hope—I’ve been a better mother than I was a wife.”
“That might have had to do with the husband you had.”
She laughed again. “And to think you’re not a rocket scientist, too.”
Rex grinned. “I take it that the ex has left the island?”
“He has.” She could have said more, but didn’t want to waste her time or breath talking about Owen. Then she said, “I can’t believe this has happened. My grandmother’s . . . my mother’s home . . .”
