Page 117 of If We Never Met

"Well, she won't get away with this. I'll make sure of that."

"I know you will." As Adam walked away, she turned to Dante. "I need to call my mom. I don't have my phone."

He took his phone out of his pocket, then said, "But you don't need to call her; she's here."

Her mother came running across the grass, followed by Mark. There was terror in her eyes. "Are you all right, Keira? Adam said you were in the house when it caught fire."

"I'm okay," she said quickly.

Her mother gathered her into a tight hug. "I was so worried. When I heard my house was on fire, I couldn't believe it. What happened?"

"It was Mandy." Her gaze moved from her mother to Mark. "She poured gasoline in the kitchen and then set it on fire. I confronted her, but she got away."

Mark drew in a shaky breath. "I'm so sorry, Keira. I thought she left town. I should have realized she would go after Ruth, after this house. How can I ever…" Words failed him as he gasped for breath.

"It's not your fault," she told him, seeing the pain in his face. "You didn't know. This is on Mandy, no one else."

"But you've lost your home." He gave a hopeless, helpless shake of his head as he turned toward her mother. "I never should have looked you up, Ruth. I put you and Keira in danger, and now you've lost everything."

"Not everything," her mother said, putting her hands on his arms. "Keira's alive, and so are we. I learned a long time ago that life and health is all that matters."

"You're being too generous, Ruth."

Her mom was being generous, and the reality of what they'd lost would probably hurt—a lot. But as Mark and her mother hugged each other, she could see the love between them. It felt strange, because it had been her mom and her for so long, but it also felt good. Her mom was back to normal, or at least close to normal. She could make her own decisions. She could take care of herself. Maybe it was time she recognized that.

As she looked around the area, she could see a crowd gathering behind two police cars. Her friends were among that crowd: Lizzie, Chelsea Hannah, and Jake were there along with Gianna and Zach, as well as the neighbors. She gave them a wave and a thumbs-up. They waved back with relieved but concerned smiles.

As she shivered once more, Dante put his arm back around her. "Why don't I take you to the hospital?"

At his words, her mom broke away from Mark, worry filling her gaze. "Did you just say hospital? Keira, you said you were all right."

"I think I sprained my ankle or something," she said vaguely, as the pain from that injury began to take hold in a sharper, more penetrating way. She'd been numb from shock, but no longer. "I need an x-ray."

"I'm going to take her to the hospital," Dante said. "Where do you think you two will spend the rest of the night?"

"I can go next door," her mom said. "Erin and her husband can put me and Mark up. I saw them on my way in. They said it was no problem."

"No," Mark said, with a definitive shake of his head. "I can't make anyone else a target."

"I think we should stay together," Ruth argued.

As her mom and Mark continued their conversation, Dante looked back at her. "You could stay with me at the inn. To sleep, nothing else. If that doesn't work, I'll go wherever you want to go, but I'm not letting you out of my sight."

She gave him a tired smile. "That sounds nice. Mom," she added, interrupting her mom's conversation with Mark, "Dante will take me to the hospital, and then I'll stay with him at the inn."

"All right. I guess Mark will go back to the lodge, and I'll stay with Erin," she said with an unhappy sigh.

Keira couldn't share her unhappiness. She would feel better knowing her mom was with the neighbors and not with Mark. Until Mandy was in custody, Mark was still a target, along with anyone who was with him. "We'll meet back here in the morning," she said. "I'm sure we won't be able to get in before then, if we can get in at all. Maybe there will be something left to salvage upstairs or in the garage."

"We'll figure it out." Her mother sounded stronger than she had in years. "Dante, you take care of my girl."

"I will," he promised. "You can count on that."

Dante helped her off the short wall and they made their way toward his car, which was parked across the street. She stopped to exchange hugs with all of her friends. Thankfully, they already seemed to know the story, so she didn't have to retell it. As she got into Dante's car, she took one last look at her house. The fire was just about out, but there was still a ton of smoke in the air.

"Are you okay?" Dante asked, giving her a concerned look.

"I'm angry and sad, but I'm also grateful that I'm alive. When we get to the hospital, I want you to get your arm checked out, too."

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