Wedding Bell Blues (8 page)

Still, there'd been something in his voice that warned me not
to
ignore him. Maybe he had information about what happened at Manny's.
Hoping that was all it was, I reminded myself not to risk another
speeding ticket - I couldn't afford a jump in insurance premiums - and
headed home.

Then I remembered my parents. Without taking my eyes off of
traffic, I reached for the cell phone where I'd dropped it on the
passenger seat and programmed in their phone number by feel. Might as
well let them know what had happened and that I wouldn't be returning
right away. Hopefully, Mom wouldn't mind me keeping her car a bit
longer.

I frowned when the phone continued to ring and ring on the
other
end. Well, maybe they'd taken Maryanne back to Brett's and were making
sure both of them were all right. That would make sense, and it would
be just like my parents.

Still, it worried me that they hadn't
let me know they were going anywhere. If I weren't so close to home by
then, I'd have called Dad's cell phone. But, slowing as I entered my
neighborhood, I decided the call could wait the few minutes it would
take me to get home. Besides, it wouldn't hurt to try to put my anger
with Janie aside so it didn't bleed over onto Colton. I was screwed up
enough emotionally where he was concerned without anything adding to it.

As I neared the street I'd lived on for the last eleven
years, the
sounds of sirens, faint at first and gradually growing louder, reached
me. Without thinking, I rolled down my window, listening closely in an
attempt to figure out where they were coming from. My stomach did a
slow roll and my mouth went dry as I did. The closer to home I got, the
louder the sirens became.

Heart thudding, my breath coming more rapidly, I pressed the
accelerator down, no longer caring how fast I was going. A curse was
torn from my lips as I skidded around the corner, the rear of Mom's
Cadillac fishtailing in the process. My hands tightened on the steering
wheel, and I fought to control the skid. Then, as the car straightened,
I once more sped forward, fear almost choking me.

"No!"

Fire trucks and police cars clogged the road in front of my
house.
Neighbors and passersby stood around, drawn by the flashing lights, the
sirens and - Dear God, no - the flames leaping through the roof of the
house I'd scrimped and saved just to put together the down payment on
and that I'd made into a home.

I slammed on the brakes and was out of the car almost before
it
came to a complete halt. I think I ran forward. I don't really
remember. One moment I was beside the car, the next I was racing across
my neighbor's front yard, determined to get to my house, to find out
what had happened.

"Jessica!" Colton's voice called as if from a great distance.
I
barely heard him over the roaring in my ears, the fear and anger all
but choking me. "Jessie!"

He grabbed me, pulling me to a stop. Where had he come from?
Why
wouldn't he let me go? I had to see my house. I had to get inside, save
as much as I could.

"Let me go!" I struggled against him but he held me firm.
"Damn it, Colton, let me go!"

"Jessie, there's nothing you can do." He gave me a little
shake and
I looked at him through streaming eyes. Then, much to my surprise, he
pulled me close, holding me tightly, as if he were afraid to let me go.
"Thank God you weren't inside."

"I don't understand. What happened? Colton, what happened?"

"I think someone set fire to your place, Jessie."

It couldn't be. This just couldn't be happening. Somehow, the
world
had turned upside down, and I'd been propelled into an alternate
universe where the sole goal was to see how many sucker punches I could
take before breaking. There was no other explanation for the last
twenty four hours - God, had it only been twenty four hours?

I closed my eyes and could still see the flames dancing in
the
upstairs window and leaping from the roof of my house. My house. I'd
worked so hard to afford it and then to make it into a home I loved.
Now it was gone. But how?

A sob clawed its way up my throat, and I swallowed hard
against it.
I wouldn't cry. Not now. Not with everyone watching. Not with Colton
standing next to me.

Colton. What was he doing here? Is this why he'd called me?

I drew a deep, quivering breath and opened my eyes, praying
even as
I did that I'd been wrong, that it hadn't been my home on fire. It's
awful, I know, but I wanted it to be someone else's house. Better yet,
that it be a dream and I'd finally wake up safe in my own bed, and none
of the last twenty four hours had taken place.

Unfortunately, I didn't wake in my own bed. Instead, I stood
in my
front yard, watching firefighters working frantically to keep the fire
from spreading to other nearby homes. Water poured down onto the roof
of my house from a hose held by several firefighters atop the ladder
truck. Smoke billowed high into the afternoon sky, signaling one and
all that fate had just kicked me in the teeth - again. Still, the
firefighters did what they could to save my place. But it was a losing
battle, and there was nothing I could do about it.

Damn it all to Hell and back again.

"Jessica, here." Mrs. Forrester, the woman who'd lived in the
house
two down from mine since the neighborhood was first built more than
thirty years ago, pressed a cold bottle of water into my hands. Her
green eyes mirrored her concern. Then, as if not knowing what else to
say, she simply patted my arm and stepped back, blending into the crowd
of onlookers, watching as the firefighters continued to work to contain
the blaze.

Other neighbors came and went. The Perez family, all five of
them,
gathered round me, offering me a place to sleep, food, anything they
had was mine. All I had to do was ask. And they meant it. Maria Perez
was the neighborhood's unofficial welcome wagon and had been one of the
first people I'd met when I moved in eleven years ago.

I thanked them. At least, I think I did, but I'm not sure.
Nothing
really registered except the sight of the house turning into a pile of
rubble. Everything I owned, gone. So many memories, so many things I'd
cared about, gone.

Strangely enough, the one thing I really
worried about as I stood there, watching the flames do their work, was
that stack of papers I'd brought home to grade over the weekend. Oh how
my students had groaned and complained over that assignment. Should I
give them a pass on it now? I certainly wouldn't be able to grade the
papers. They'd be nothing but a pile of ash now, along with everything
else in my study.

But was it fair to make them do the assignment over? No. I
couldn't
punish them because of something they had no control over. Hell, over
something I couldn't control. I'd just have to make sure the next test
covered the material as well.

I don't know how long I stood there, my mind numb and doing
its
best to deny what my eyes saw. The last day had been nothing short of a
nightmare, the sort of thing that always seems to happen to "someone
else." The sort of thing you read about in the paper and shake your
head, glad you aren't that poor SOB with the lousy luck.

Somehow I'd become that "poor SOB," and I didn't know how or
why.

Suddenly, my parents were there, one on either side of me.
When had
they arrived? I wasn't sure. One moment Colton was standing next to me,
his arm protectively around my shoulders and, for once, I didn't have
some smart-ass comment to sling at him. Then Mama and Daddy were there,
Mama holding me close, as if afraid something else would happen if she
let me go.

"Colton called us," she said softly. I heard the hint of
censure in
her voice and realized I should have called. But what could they have
done?

"Your sister and Brett wanted to come, but we thought it best
they stay at Brett's," Daddy added.

"Yeah." My voice sounded rough, which wasn't surprising
considering
the smoke filling the air. "I should have called. I'm sorry. I can't
seem to focus on anything."

"It's okay. Colton let us know." Mama gave me another hug and
I
looked down at her in surprise. She's not usually as demonstrative as
she'd been today. Maybe she'd been as shaken by the last twenty four
hours as had I. "There's nothing you can do here, Jessie. Come home
with us."

"I can't." Tears burned in my eyes and I blinked hard. Smoke
hung
thick in the air, aggravating the asthma that hadn't bothered me in so
long. But it was the ache in my heart, the guilt at knowing I'd even
thought that I'd rather this be happening to one of my neighbors
instead of to me that bothered me the most.

I cleared my throat, hoping I didn't sound as shaken as I
felt.
"Mama, I have to stay, at least until I find out what happened."

"But -"

"She's right, Faith. We'd want to do the same," Daddy said
simply
and, reluctantly to be sure, Mama nodded in understanding. "We'll stay
with you, if you don't mind, Jessie."

Mind? How could I mind? I needed them just now, needed them
like I
hadn't in a very long time. So, not trusting myself to speak, I simply
nodded and turned to bury my face against Dad's chest. His arms went
about me, holding me gently even as Mama moved closer, her arms trying
to go around both of us.

I'm not sure how long we stood there, unable to tear our eyes
from
the fire. Flames continued to dance in the windows and licked through
holes burned in the roof. Sparks flew, carried by the wind to other
nearby homes. Homeowners and firefighters alike fought to wet down
roofs to keep the fire from spreading. Small explosions of sound came
from inside the house as first what I assumed was the gas can for my
lawnmower exploded and then something else, I'm not sure what.
Occasional shouted orders from firefighters carried over the sound of
the crowd, penetrating the fog that held me.

Finally, after what seemed an eternity, the last of the
flames
died, put out by the water cascading down from several fire hoses.
Smoke still rose high into the sky over the house, but the flames were
gone. Still, I knew from reading about other fires that the possibility
of the flames starting back up existed and wondered if a crew of
firefighters would remain, at least for a little while. As if reading
my mind, the fire captain began issuing orders for which units were to
return to their station and which was to remain behind. Then he turned,
his eyes scanning the crowd before looking closer, looking at my
parents and me - and Colton who quickly peeled off and moved in the
captain's direction.

"It's over now, Jessie. Let's go home," Daddy said, trying to
lead me away even as he spoke.

"No." It wasn't much of a protest. I was too numb to work up
much
of a response. But I wasn't going to leave. Not until I'd spoken with
the firemen and found out what happened.

"Jessie, your father's right. We need to get out of the
firefighters' way so they can begin their investigation." Mom moved so
she stood before me, her expression worried as she looked up at me. "I
can hear you wheezing. Your asthma's acting up, and I bet you don't
have an inhaler with you."

I shook my head. No, I didn't have an inhaler with me. I
couldn't
remember the last time I'd carried one, for the simple reason that my
asthma had been all but non-existent for years. Oh, I kept one at the
house and one in my desk at school, but not on me. Foolish, I know,
especially now.

But that's not why I shook my head. Or at least not the only
reason. She and Dad needed to understand that I wasn't going to leave.
I couldn't leave. Not yet.

"You two go on. I'll be there shortly." Mom wanted to object.
I
could see it in her eyes, in the way her body stiffened even as Dad
reached over to lay a settling hand on her shoulder. He didn't like it
any more than she did, but he seemed to understand. At least I hoped so.

"Dr. Jones, much as I hate to say it, Jessie needs to hang
around a
little longer," Colton said as he rejoined us. "The investigator has a
few questions for her. It shouldn't take long. Why don't you two go on
home? I'll bring her when we're done here."

I fully expected them to argue. Then, seeing the look on my
mother's face, I almost groaned in response. She was looking from
Colton to me and back again, speculation running rampant in that
fevered brain of hers as she remembered him answering the phone when
she called this morning, and now seeing him acting as if he actually
cared about what happened to me. Crap. No good would come of this. No
good at all because it meant she'd be hearing wedding bells - mine.

Where are those gypsies who were supposed to kidnap me years
ago?

"But -"

"Mama, please." I waited until she nodded once, a choppy
movement
of her head that said more than anything she could have verbalized. She
didn't want to leave and would only because she could see I was nearing
the end of my rope. Man, she must really be worried. Usually it took an
act of Congress to get her to do anything she didn't want to do.

"Colton, you take good care of her." She pinned him with such
a
firm look he actually squirmed where he stood. Not that I could blame
him. The nuns at St. Mary's had nothing on my mother when she was in
this mood.

"Yes, ma'am."

What else could he say and not risk his head, and other parts
of
his anatomy? After all, not only did my mother have a temper that made
mine look mild, but she also possessed the knowledge to amputate
anything she wanted to and there was little he could do about it.

"Jessie, you keep us informed."

With that, she turned and started across the lawn toward
Daddy's
car. For a moment, the three of us watched her. Then Daddy bent and
lightly kissed my uninjured cheek.