Page 115 of If We Never Met

"Keira?"

She heard his voice through the crack of the fire.Was she imagining it?"Dante?" she said, her voice thick with smoke and far too low. She yelled more loudly. "Dante. I'm here."

He came into sight, his features illuminated by the growing fire. "Are you all right?" he yelled.

"I'm trapped. I can't move. Something fell on me."

"Half the ceiling, it looks like." He started grabbing pieces of wood and plaster and tossing them to the side. But there was a portion of a large beam pinning her legs down. "Dammit," he swore, as he tried to budge the beam.

"You have to get out of here," she said. "The fire is too hot. Call 911."

"I already did, and I'm not leaving you." He grabbed the wood with both hands and pulled as hard as he could, screaming in frustration, or maybe it was pain.

"Your arm," she cried. "You'll hurt your arm."

"I don't care about my arm. I care about you."

As another small explosion rocked the house, he used his arms, his body, his power for leverage and, somehow, he was able to move the heavy beam enough for her to scramble out from under it.

"I'm free." She tried to stand up, but pain shot through her foot.

"I've got you." He swept her up in his arms, moving swiftly through the smoke and debris, until blessed fresh air hit her face.

The loud booms and flashing lights confused her until she realized the fireworks were going up over the lake. It felt surreal: the fire behind her, the explosions overhead. In the midst of it all, the fire engines arrived, and two paramedics raced over to meet them. After assuring the firefighters that no one else was in the house, they were taken to the back of the ambulance, where they were given oxygen and checked for injuries.

Her left foot was swollen, and it looked like she would need an x-ray to see if anything was broken, but that was the least of her concerns. Watching the firefighters attack the blazing fire made her suddenly aware that she and her mom were going to lose their home. Everything they owned would be gone. So many years of memories were going up in flames. But they were alive. That was all that mattered.

When the paramedic suggested that they take her to the hospital, she refused. "I don't want to leave yet," she said.

"I can take her to the ER when she's ready," Dante told the medic, as he handed back the oxygen mask.

"All right," the EMT said. "Definitely get that foot checked."

"I will," she promised. She slid off the back of the ambulance onto one foot. Dante put his arm around her and helped her hobble over to the short brick wall that ran around the edge of the property. As they sat down, he put his arm around her, squeezing her close to his body. She looked into his face, which was streaked black from the smoke. There were white specks of plaster in his brown hair, and his face was sweaty, his clothes also covered in ashes and dust. But he'd never looked better to her. "You saved my life," she said. "How did you know?"

"I didn't know, but I had a bad feeling after I ran into Mark and your mother at the beach."

"What do you mean?"

"Mark got a text from Mandy telling him he was going to feel her pain. He sent her some money after reading the text to try to calm her down until the police could find her. But as I was driving home, I thought about what she'd said, and I remembered that she'd been here at the house. I called you, but you didn't pick up."

"I had my phone on silent."

His lips tightened. "Because you were avoiding me."

"Yes, I was avoiding you and everyone else. I didn't want to go to the beach, and my friends kept calling, so I stopped answering."

"You should have gone to the beach. You should have been with your friends. They all missed you."

"You saw them?"

"Yes. I was hoping to run into you." His lips tightened. "What happened here? Did you see Mandy?"

"Yes. I thought I heard someone downstairs, and it seemed odd that my mom would come home before the fireworks show. I went into the kitchen and caught Mandy pouring gasoline on the floor. She dropped the can when she saw me. She said she didn't think anyone was in the house. But then she added that Mark was in love with my mom. If my mom lost her daughter, then she'd be in pain, and he'd feel her pain. Plus, my mom would blame him for what happened. I tried to reason with her, but she wasn't listening. When she headed toward the back door, I ran in the other direction, but I wasn't fast enough. Everything blew up around me. I guess the ceiling came down."

"You were so lucky, Keira." He leaned over and gave her a kiss.

She savored the heat of his lips, a different kind of fire than the one taking down her house. This heat was solid, comforting, and a reminder that she was alive. "You're the reason I was lucky. I don't think anyone is around. The houses nearby are all dark. The neighbors must be down at the beach. If you hadn't come by—"

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