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“If you hadn’t gone back to get Sammy, you probably wouldn’t have gotten burned.” He gazed at her intently. When she had come through that fire, carrying not only his son, but also the dog who Sammy loved so much, he’d wanted to fall to his knees in gratefulness.

“There was no way I was going to leave Sammy behind,” she replied, her eyes shimmering with a wealth of emotion. She held his gaze for a long moment and then looked down the hallway. “And now all I want is a shower and my bed. You should find everything you need in the bathroom closet.”

“Then I’ll just see you whenever we wake up later in the morning,” he replied.

“Okay.”

He watched her as she walked to the bedroom at the end of the hallway. The brief discussion about Sammy had welled up a plethora of emotions inside him. In fact, there were so many emotions bubbling around in his brain it was hard to pick out just one.

He was overwhelmed, and he didn’t want to feel anymore. He just wanted a shower and some deep sleep that would make it impossible for him to think anymore tonight.

Minutes later he stood beneath a strong stream of warm water. There was a minty-scented soap in the dish and a bottle of strawberry-scented shampoo on the side of the tub.

He used the soap and shampoo liberally, wondering if he would ever get the scent of smoke out of his nose. He finally finished up, dried off and then pulled on black boxers that he’d brought with him.

He left his smoke-smelling dirty clothes on the floor, grabbed his gun and left the bathroom. As he walked down the hallway to the bedroom where his son slept, he heard the sound of running water indicating that Suzanna was taking a shower.

Normally the mental vision of her naked beneath a spray of water would have stirred him, but tonight he only wanted the escape of sleep. He had one more thing he needed to do and then he could crawl into bed next to his son.

He went into the bedroom where Sammy slept and picked up Lady. He carried the pooch into the living room, where the duffel bag he’d brought from home was still on the sofa. He pulled on a pair of jeans and a shirt, not bothering with a coat despite the chill of the new day.

Thank God he had remembered to bring Lady’s leash. She still had accidents in the house, but as long as he and Sammy stayed on top of taking her outside, hopefully there wouldn’t be any accidents in Suzanna’s house.

Outside dawn had awakened with beautiful fiery red and orange colors stretching across the eastern skies. Thankfully Lady did her business quickly, and then he took her inside and back into the bedroom.

Lady snuggled up next to Sammy, and Seth stripped back down to his boxers. He opened the top drawer of the dresser and was pleased that it was empty. He placed his gun inside and then eased into the bed. He stared up at the ceiling as the events of the night replayed in his head.

When he’d awakened to the scent of smoke, his heart had nearly beat out of his chest. It had brought back all the horrific memories of the tragic night his parents had died. He’d been twelve years old at the time that faulty wiring had caused the house to go up in flames.

The fire was already burning hot when he’d slid out of bed. It had been impossible for him to leave his room by the doorway because of the flames there. Instead, he had crawled out his window and then had run around to the front of the burning structure, shouting for his parents.

When the fire trucks arrived, he still hadn’t found his parents outside. In horror he realized they were still in the house with flames now shooting out of the roof. A fireman had held him back as he’d screamed and sobbed and wanted to run into the burning house to get his mom and dad.

It was only later that he’d learned they had both died of smoke inhalation. Since that time, fire had always terrified him. He didn’t mind having an occasional fire in his fireplace for Sammy, but that was all he wanted to do with fire.

When he’d stood in the hallway with Sammy and Susanna trapped on the other side of the fire line, he was ashamed to admit to himself that he had frozen.

He’d been unable to fight the terror in order to save the two people he loved most. If not for Suzanna, he didn’t know what might have happened. He didn’t even want to think about it.

This night had been something out of his very worst nightmares. And the fact that the fire marshal had told him it had been intentionally set absolutely enraged him.

He listened to Sammy’s soft, rhythmic breathing. His son smelled like smoke, but Seth had to fight his need to reach out and draw the boy close. He wanted to hug Sammy to his heart. However, the last thing he wanted to do was awaken him.

With a deep sigh, he relaxed into the bed. The last vision he had in his head before falling asleep was that of Suzanna coming through the flames with his son and Lady in her arms.

“Daddy… Daddy.” The voice broke through Seth’s sleep. He opened his eyes to see Sammy leaning over him. “Daddy, where are we?”

“We’re at Mrs. Michael’s house,” Seth replied. Bright sunshine flowed through the window, and Seth felt remarkably refreshed despite the short night of sleep.

“Did we marry her?” Sammy asked.

It always amazed him how his son’s mind worked. “No, son, we didn’t marry her. There was a fire at our house.”

“Oh yeah, now I remember.” Sammy hugged Lady close to his chest. “Is all my stuff burned up?”

“I don’t know, Sammy. We’ll find out later today. The first thing you need to do is go take a bath. You’re stinky from the smoke.”

“I am?” Sammy raised an arm and sniffed at himself. “I don’t smell me.”