Page 59 of Sutton and the CEO Forever

Jackson smiled wide, “My mama always said I had a green thumb. Don’t you worry, I will make you proud!”

“You setthe bushes on fire, you fucking idiot!”

Katie stood there in shock as she watched Brian chew out her stalker, only she wasn’t so sure the man was her stalker. For one thing, Brian seemed terribly familiar with him, and for another, the man just sat there smiling as if this were a garden picnic and not a bonfire featuring her shrubs.

“Where did you get the matches? She doesn’t have matches in the garage, Jackson! Fucking hell, it was an easy job!”

It only took three blasts of the fire extinguisher to put the blaze out. That was another thing. Brian had been weird about going to bed. He kept insisting on watching another show and then swore he heard something outside. This had to be the worst set-up on the planet.

Katie went over to her crispy shrubs and saw the way the foam coated the now-charred branches. The humor of the situation began to tickle the back of her throat. She didn’t think that Brian would appreciate it if she burst out laughing. But just as she was pulling it together, she heard sirens in the distance.

There was the sound of a slamming door, and Alice and Reena came out of their home on the other side.

“We smelled smoke!” Alice cried out.

Brian said something that was truly not worth repeating, and Katie burst out laughing. Once she started, she couldn’t stop. The fake burglar joined in, and Alice and Reena starred and the charred bushes.

Once the fire truck pulled up, Katie had tears running down her face.

Brian gathered her in his arms, “Are you okay?”

Katie fought to regain control. “Did you cook all of this up just to avoid telling me the truth?”

His face turned crimson. “I am not a stalker.”

Knox had arrived along with the fire department.

“Obviously, the fire has been contained,” Alice and Reena were doing their best to give Brian and Katie a bit of privacy.

Katie pointed to the man. “Who is that?”

“Jackson, he works for me,” Brian grumbled.

Katie laughed again, “I love you, crazy man.”

Brian cupped her face in his eyes, searching her eyes, “I don’t know why.”

Katie’s eyes sparkled. “But I do.”

“I love you too,” he said gruffly, and then he kissed her in front of Jackson, the neighbors, Knox, and the fire department.

31

Life has a way of coming in ebbs and flows. Just when one thinks that everything is going right, it seems that God or maybe fate sticks a hand in to stir things up a little. What happened the next morning in Otterville Falls did more than shake up their tiny little town.

“Brian, what is it?” Katie asked sleepily as she wiped her eyes and trudged down the hallway from his bedroom. They had been asleep when the sound of sirens had awakened them.

Considering it was only four or five hours from the last time they had woken up with her bushes on fire, they were both a little worse for wear.

“Something is going on next door,” Brian was putting on his shoes as he spoke. “There is an ambulance at Alice and Reena’s.”

Fear struck Katie’s heart. When she was little, an ambulance was at her house, taking her daddy, and he never did come back. Katie scrambled over to where her shoes were and hastily put them on.

Brian could see that she was intent on coming over with him. Without tying the laces, she hopped up and was out the door. Knox had just arrived on the scene, so Katie and Brian veered toward him.

“What happened?” Katie hated how frightened her voice sounded.

Knox’s lips looked pinched, “It’s Reena. Alice said she heard a loud thud, and when she got up to check what it was, she found Reena unconscious in the hallway. They have her stabilized and are getting ready to transport her to the hospital.”

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