Page 15 of Hot Zone

Steven:True. Tell him I’ll be there at 10:30.

Me:Will do.

“Steven says ten-thirty,” I said as Samuel placed a plate of eggs and bacon in front of me, along with a hot cup of coffee, cream, and a jar of honey. I looked up at him and grinned.

“I’m going to leave this bed-and-breakfast an excellentYelpreview… five stars.”

He gave a mock bow and grinned at me. “So glad my humble establishment was able to meet your expectations.”

I added the cream and honey to the coffee, took a sip, and let out a sigh. This was just what I needed this morning.

“While you eat your breakfast, I have an errand to run, but I won’t be gone long. I’ll make it back before ten-thirty easy. You just make yourself at home.”

He left, and I devoured the food he’d prepared for me. Then I went about my normal morning routine. I fed Kismet, did some yin yoga, and then found a nice spot out in the backyard to do my morning meditation.

That was where Samuel found me when he got back. “What are you doing out here?” he asked.

I opened my eyes, tilted my head to one side, and looked at him. “Meditating. Haven’t you ever meditated?”

“Not really. We did have someone come to the station one time to talk to the crews about stress and relaxation techniques, and she talked about meditation. But it didn’t really appeal to me.”

“Well, she was right. Meditation is a very grounding practice and helps a lot with stress.”

“Okay, then, I’ll leave you to it.” He turned to go back inside, and I pulled my legs up under me and hopped up.

“No, I’m done. I wanted to make a list of things I want to look for at the house. I know a lot of it will be gone, but I figured a list would be a good place to start.”

“That’s a good idea. Let me get you a pad and a pen, and you can get started.”

Samuel dug around in his desk and came back with a spiral-bound notepad and a pencil. I took them from him and sat down at the kitchen table to get to work. By the time Steven got there, I was pretty much done with my list.

“Now.” I held up the notepad in the air. “This is just everything I can think of that I’d like to find, but from what the fire investigator told me, I’m not really expecting to find most of it.”

“Well, we won’t know until we look. Let’s go see what we can find.”

Ten minutes later, we pulled up in front of my house. The funny thing was, from the outside, you could barely even tell there had been a fire. I said as much, and Samuel nodded his head.

“Yeah, that’s the way it is with brick houses. Unlike a wood house, the bricks don’t burn, so the outside structure stays intact. But I want you to be prepared for what you’re going to find inside. It’s going to be much worse.”

I nodded and let out a sigh. “Yeah, that’s about what I expected.”

We got out of the truck, and Samuel walked around to the back, pulling out a stack of laundry baskets. He handed one to Steven and one to me, keeping the rest for himself. I looked down at the basket, then back up at him.

“What are these for?”

“Well, you need something to put items you’re able to salvage in, and plastic laundry baskets work perfectly. They have handles, they’re easy to carry, and they’re cheap enough that we can either throw them away when we’re done or clean them up, and you can keep them.”

“This was your errand this morning, wasn’t it?”

“Among other things.”

“What other things?” I asked.

“Just some cleaning supplies that we can use for anything you’re able to keep.”

This man. I could only dream that someday I’d find a man of my own like him.

“That’s my dad,” Steven teased. “Always prepared.”

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