Magnus reached the end of his driveway and stopped for a minute. He pulled the collar of his coat up around his ears to block out the wind. He should’ve grabbed his gloves and hat before he left yesterday.
The smoke smell was thicker here. He looked around, trying to find the plumes drifting up into the sky, but there weren’t any. The ranch down the road probably burned brush last night. They did it all the time, and it stunk up the air for days.
He hopped off his bike and walked it up the driveway. He ran through a dozen conversations he intended to have with his dad about what it meant to be a teenager. They’d told him he could stay at Brian’s. Nobody said nothing about having to come home early. Didn’t he know that defeated the purpose of hanging out?
God, why couldn’t they just accept that he didn’t want to work at the kennels every day? He had better things to do. No, he didn’t mind the work, but only because there was money, but still. He preferred to hang out with his friends on the weekends. He and Brian were gonna go to Chelsea Upling’s house today. Her mom was working, and her dad didn’t live there anymore, so she said they could come over and hang out for a while. Magnus wouldn’t get to make out with her on the couch if he had to stay home and work at the stupid kennels.
He reached the bend in the driveway, the last point before the house would come into view. If he knew his dad, he was waiting on the front porch for him to appear. He always did that. Shouting at him to get a move on and get his butt to the kennels to help out. Magnus stopped walking. What would they do if he didn’t come home right now? It’s not like his mom or dad were gonna go to Brian’s and drag him outta there. He could just go back, pretend Edgar never called. No one would even know.
Magnus sighed. He’d come all this way already, and his hands were so cold they were numb. He might as well face the music, get the chores done, and then he could go back and—
Magnus turned the corner, and his house came into view. He stopped walking, his heart leaping into his throat. Fire trucks and police cars dotted the landscape, blocking the view of the house. He dropped his bike and took off running, choking on the fear and anxiety that flooded his bloodstream.
He reached the house, his vision blurred by tears as the worst-case scenario hit him. They’d lost the house and everything in it. Did his parents even think to grab his model car collection?
“Magnus! Stop!”
He heard Edgar’s voice, but it barely registered as he ran full out toward the house. He was almost there when strong arms banded around him, effectively stopping him by swinging him around.
“I gotta get my cars!” he shouted.
“Magnus. Son! Stop!”
“I’m not your son! Let me go!”
“You can’t go in there. They won’t let you.”
“My dad’ll make them,” he countered hotly, struggling to release his grip.
Magnus stared blankly at the foot of Ava’s bed. That had been the day his entire world had shattered. Edgar hadn’t held him back so he couldn’t get to his stupid cars. He’d held him back so he could break the devastating news that his parents and his sister had died in the fire that destroyed half of their house.
His gaze strayed to Ava, and for a brief moment, he saw the little girl who’d lived next door. The cute little blond girl who was always doing cartwheels in the front yard, a huge smile on her face. The one who had been there for him every day after that for as long as she could. She’d suffered a loss that day, too. Magnus’s sister had been Ava’s best friend. They were thick as thieves, inseparable. Until that one fateful night when the cold temperatures forced his father to break out one of the old space heaters.
He wanted to think that if Ava could make it through that, she could make it through this. Magnus had lost all the family he had that day, so he understood what Ava was going through. Her mother had been her only family, and now she was gone.
Magnus recalled the devastating look on Edgar’s face when the old man had relayed that information. It had nearly broken him because they’d all been like family to Edgar. How in the hell was he going to break the news to Ava that her mother was gone forever?
***
Two weeks later…
“You’re goin’ home today,” Magnus announced when he strolled through the hospital room door.
Ava wasn’t sure why he sounded happy. Didn’t he realize she couldn’t go home?
She glanced over at him, grateful for his presence even if she couldn’t spare a smile. Her mind was muddled. She couldn’t recall much of the conversations that had taken place over the past few weeks. She remembered the police coming to talk to her, but she wasn’t sure what they’d asked, much less what she’d told them. She recalled Magnus mentioning something about her mom when Ava insisted they bring Renee to the hospital. She probably should’ve paid more attention, but the truth was, she’d let the drugs lull her, gave her an excuse not to care about anyone or anything for a little while.
Now she was right back where she started, only with more scars and very little hair. And it was time to go home.
Even the thought caused tears to fill behind her eyes.
Ava did not want to get within a hundred miles of her bastard husband. She knew if she did, she would end up in the same situation. Only next time, he wasn’t going to be so careless. He wouldn’t just leave her for dead; he’d bury her in the ground to ensure she stayed dead.
If only she’d followed her heart all those years ago. Maybe if she had, she’d be married to Magnus, helping him run Camp K-9. They might even have a kid or two by now. But no, she’d gone and done something stupid, desperate for love from anyone who would graciously offer it. Then that bastard had come along and snowed her with his sweet talk and kind smile. A monster in human form, that was what Harrison Rivers was.
“What’s wrong, little one?” Magnus asked, his tone both soothing and teasing.
Magnus had called her that for as long as she could remember. Since they were kids and Ava and Tabby were pelting him with questions about everything. She knew he’d been picking on her at first because that’s what boys did, and since she’d always been the smallest kid around, everyone had picked on her. Despite Magnus’s teasing back then, he’d been the brightest light in Ava’s young heart. She’d been so in love with him that she’d even vowed to one day be Mrs. Magnus Storme.
