Page 146 of On The Rocks

“Where the hell are the firetrucks?”

“Coming from Crescent Cove. Our town is too small for anything other than a small volunteer unit.” Justin said around bouts of coughing.

Fire was dangerous for an orchard at the best of times.

This needed to be contained. Justin ran up the stairs to the kitchen. He stopped for a quick second to tap the handle of the doorknob then shouldered his way through the door.

The smoke was thick and acrid as it rolled over us. I crouched low as I followed him in. Flames curled up from the grill and licked up the walls.

“Over here!” Justin yelled.

I spotted a hand in the dim kitchen. The lights were already out since the kitchen crew had been gone well before midnight and the smoke was overwhelming.

Justin struggled to his feet, a woman in his arms. As I got closer, I noticed Ronnie’s dark hair covering her face as she lay limply in his arms.

The dark hair so much like Lennon’s stalled whatever breath was left in my chest. Then I noticed her full crimson lips and I almost lost it. Too much like her.

The fire along the grill top was spreading and danced its way across the duct work. Suddenly sparks fanned out from the wires above the door.

“Shit.” I pushed Justin toward the other exit leading into the taproom, my vision darkening at the edges.

I shoved the prep table away, the metal already hot to the touch. Justin kicked the door open and we both rushed through the dining room.

The big doors being open cleared my lungs a little as I coughed out the smoke.

“Back here!” Lennon raced along the path between Ronan’s workroom and the taproom to the front. My eyes locked on her as she disappeared from view.

My ears felt stopped up, but I was pretty sure I finally heard real sirens over the awful fire alarm.“Thank God.”

Justin’s knees buckled near the stairs and he sagged against the railing. I hauled ass over to him and between the both of us we got her down to the patio.

Annette rushed over to us as we rolled her onto her back.

Justin put his ear to her chest. “Fuck, fuck.” He positioned her head and started compressions. “She’s not breathing.” Then he started humming something.

Was that the Bee Gee’s?

But he was doing the chest compressions as he sang, then paused and pinched her nose to breathe into her lungs twice then resumed the compressions. “C’mon Ronnie. Come on.” He started humming “Stayin’ Alive” again for the beat.

Annette was right next to Justin, sobbing. “No, no.” She swiped her face with the back of her hand leaving a streak of soot.

“Move out of the way!” Came a voice from behind us. Paramedics hustled through along with cops and firefighters.

I pointed to the side of the building. “Kitchen,” I managed to say around my closed throat and the firefighters took off.

Suddenly Ronnie heaved out a wracking cough and the paramedic pulled Annette out of the way.

“We have it from here, sir.” The paramedic gently eased Justin out of the way.

Justin fell back onto his butt, his face streaked, his baseball hat still on backwards. “Is she okay?”

“She’s going to be.” The bald man placed an oxygen mask over Ronnie’s face.

Her summer blue eyes were blurry and her lashes thick. She reached out a hand to Justin. She mumbled something, but the paramedics were loading her onto a stretcher board.

One of the other paramedics asked, “Is anyone else hurt?”

I looked up and the whole crew was shaking their heads. CJ and Brandi were huddled together with Elmer between them.

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