Page 91 of The Complication with the Best Man

“Did all of you get out?” I ask.

“No.” One of the girls shakes her head frantically. “Kelly’s still in there.”

Fuck.

“Where did you last see her?” I ask.

“We were partying on the second level,” one of them says. “We thought she was following us, but when we got out here, she wasn’t with us.”

“All right, you kids go around to the front where the fire trucks are and stay there,” Shane says while I take my radio and report what the kids just told us, letting the captain know that we’re heading in to look for her.

The two of us don our oxygen masks and head inside. The smoke is thick, and smaller flare-up fires are starting on this side of the building. We need to be quick.

“Any idea how to get to the second floor?” I ask Shane, breathing heavily.

“Yeah, I’ve been here for a call before that turned out to be nothing. This way.”

We look around as we make our way through in case Kelly made it down to the first floor and got disoriented or passed out because of the smoke, but we don’t find her. When we reach a pair of rickety, old-looking stairs, I get a tight feeling in my chest. Only one of us can go up at a time. First because of the width of the stairs and then because I’m concerned the weight of both of us and our gear might send it crashing down.

“All right. Let’s do this,” I say.

Shane heads up first, and once he’s at the top, I start up. The entire staircase feels as though it rocks side to side with every step I take. Once we’re both on the second level, we don’t waste any time doing a sweep of the place. The smoke gets thicker, and all I can hear is my heavy breathing.

Finally, I see something. “Shane! Over here.”

I rush over to the patch of white that I see through the smoke. It turns out to be Kelly’s T-shirt. By the looks of it, she tripped on a piece of metal splayed out on the floor and either hit her head and passed out or was overcome by smoke.

I lift her into my arms and straighten up while Shane reports in with the captain to let him know that we found her and to have the paramedics and oxygen waiting.

We find our way back to the staircase. There’s no way I’ll fit carrying her like this, so I slump her over my shoulder and start down the stairs while Shane waits at the top so that both our weight doesn’t have to be supported by the already rickety stairs.

I’m about halfway down when a crack echoes out, the world drops out below my feet, and I’m free falling.

The last thing I think about before it all goes black is Harper and our unborn baby.

forty-four

HARPER

Iarrive at the diner on time and do a quick glance around, but I don’t spot Finn. I tried to make it so that I arrived right on time so that he’d be here before me, but no such luck.

There’s one couple I don’t recognize in the diner, which doesn’t necessarily mean they’re Finn’s parents, but when the man laughs at something the woman says, I know right away that it’s his dad. They look so much alike besides the few decades separating them.

Rather than stand awkwardly, I decide to go over and introduce myself. “Hi, are you Len and Kathy?”

They turn and look at me in unison. The woman’s eyes fall to my stomach and her face lights up in delight.

“Harper?” She slides out of the booth and pulls me into a hug. “Oh, it’s so great to meet you finally. How are you feeling?” She pulls away, but holds onto my shoulders, looking down between us at my swollen stomach. “How is the baby?”

“Give her a chance to answer at least one of your questions before you fire more her way, Kath.” I turn toward the voice and see that Len is now out of his seat too. “It’s great to meet you, Harper.” He holds out his hand, and I shake it.

“Great to meet you as well.” A genuine smile forms on my face. All of my trepidation about today and whether Finn’s parents would like me melts away. Finn is clearly cut from the same cloth as they are, which means they’re going to be warm, welcoming, and wonderful people.

We all sit in the booth, them side by side and me across from them.

“How are you liking Lake Starlight? Did you just get in yesterday?” I ask.

Kathy nods. “We did, so we haven’t had too much time to explore, but it seems like a lovely town. Finn mentioned that you have a lot of family living here.”

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