Page 23 of An Ex Affair

Her eyes were wide as she looked from me to the fire. She looked ready to charge in here, so I barked at her. The last thing I needed was her getting in harm’s way.

“Get your mama and both of you get outside ’til the fire department gets here!” My voice came out muffled by the T-shirt.

She stood there, frozen.

“Tully! Now!”

She snapped her head back to me, nodded, and ran out of the kitchen. I put the fire extinguisher on the countertop, away from the fire, and rummaged through Sofia’s pantry, knockingthings off the shelves in my hurry. But then I had it. A five-pound bag of baking soda. Thank God the woman baked like she did and bought everything in bulk. I ripped that sucker open and charged back to the fire, dumping its contents behind the stove. The flames immediately went out, but the smoke detectors in the living room started blaring, letting out a terrible racket just a little too late to be helpful. I grasped the oven and began to pull it toward me and away from the wall. Just like I thought. The electrical cord back there was melted from the heat and probably the source of the fire.

Through the window, I spotted Tully and Sofia standing in the driveway, arms around each other. I lifted my hand to let them know I had it under control. Tully nodded and whispered something to Sofia. Sirens mixed with the smoke detector noise and soon the flashing lights of a truck coming up the driveway had me breathing easy. I’d get absolute shit from the boys for having a call to my own residence, but fuck them. I wasn’t taking any chances when it came to Sofia and Tully.

The crew came in and assessed the situation, all of them agreeing I’d done the right thing and it was under control. One of them handed me my phone back. As the fire marshal came in next to assess the cause of the fire, I stepped outside, took the T-shirt off my face, and headed for my girls. Sofia was shaking as I approached. Tully lifted her face and the concern there nearly brought me to my knees.

“Mama’s not feeling so good.”

Sofia’s face was white as a sheet. The shock of a fire could be overwhelming, in addition to all these people being here. I bent down, scooped her up into my arms, and marched her to the carriage house. She shouldn’t be standing out here any longer. Tully trailed after us, nipping at my heels.

“You’re a good man, Colson Wolfe,” Sofia whispered, holding on to me and laying her head on my bare chest.

“Let’s just get you some rest and a glass of water, huh? That’s enough excitement for one night.” The woman was in her seventies with not exactly the most robust health. Seeing a fire in your house left even the youngest homeowners in shock. I saw it happen all the time.

Tully ran ahead and opened the door to my place. Hayes rushed over with his tail wagging, but sensing the mood, backed off so he didn’t trip me. I swept through with Sofia and immediately laid her down on my bed. Tully hovered, getting her mama comfortable.

“Come here, boy.” I smacked my thigh and my good boy came over, whining slightly. “It’s okay. Sofia just needs some rest. Let’s get you up there.”

I knew from experience that snuggling with Hayes was just about the best therapy known to man. I helped him up the ramp to the bed and he settled his warm body next to Sofia, laying his head down on his paws. She immediately scratched behind his ears and seemed to get some color back in her cheeks. Those two knew each other well, what with Sofia coming by to let him out and feed him when I was working. Tully sat on Sofia’s other side and kept up a steady chatter while I got a glass of water from the tiny kitchen.

“I’m okay. You kids don’t need to fuss,” Sofia said eventually, sipping the water every time Tully nudged her. She frowned. “I swear I didn’t have anything in that oven.”

“Oh, Mama. You gotta be more careful,” Tully admonished softly.

“Actually, it was an electrical fire. Could have happened to anyone at any time,” I clarified.

Tully’s head instantly dropped as she groaned. “I knew we should have gotten you a new stove.”

“I like that old thing,” Sofia countered defiantly, which was a good sign.

I went to the dresser to find a new T-shirt. I was feeling a little awkward with my ex-wife and her mama in my bedroom and me with no shirt on now that the adrenaline was fading.

“Well, you need a new one now. That one is toast.” Sofia pouted, but I went on, figuring she was doing well enough now to hear the full extent of damage. “We’ll need to get someone in here to repair that wall and check the existing electrical for any damage. You can expect to be without your kitchen for a few days to a week. Just depends when we can get someone in here to fix everything.”

Tully stood up. “I’ll call Em. See if she can get Savannah or Pip over here tomorrow to do the job.”

I was surprised to hear Tully knew my sister-in-law, but glad she could take on the responsibility of getting things fixed. “I think you should sleep here this week, Sofia.”

The woman gasped. “I can’t do that to you! Where will you stay?”

“I’ll stay with my mom.” I turned to Tully. “You should probably stay with my mom too. You don’t want to be in the house until the smoke clears and the damaged materials are ripped out.”

Tully’s mouth gaped open. I carried on, too amped up to care about getting in a fight with her over something that just made sense.

“I’ll stay in the house tonight, just to make sure there’s not a leftover ember that reignites. You stay here with Sofia.”

I turned to leave, wanting to talk to the fire marshal before he left and check things out now that I had a clearer head.

“Wait! I’ll go with you,” Tully said from behind me.

“Yes, honey. You should help Colson. I’ll be fine here with Hayes.”

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