Page 42 of Finding Basil
After grabbing his pants, he got them back on fast before running down the stairs, covering his mouth with the crook of his arm, his eyes burning as he ran to the kitchen to throw open the door.
The smoke was billowing from the oven, and the wall behind the stove was in flames as well. He ran to the laundry room to grab the fire extinguisher, only to find it not there. He was sure it was there earlier that day, as he’d bumped into it with his shoulder as he stood from taking out a load from the dryer.
He got under the sink to find the large box of baking soda he used to clean and started throwing it over the back wall and topof the stove. The smoke kept coming and he was coughing hard, dizziness beginning to overwhelm him.
Basil was suddenly there, arm around his waist. “We have to get out of here! The volunteer fire department is on the way!”
He would not argue, and Basil took him out the back door and away from the house to sit on the grass near the greenhouse. Within fifteen minutes, which seemed like hours, the fire department came and put out the fire.
It broke him, seeing his home that way, the home he’d already struggled with and tried to fit in despite the problems.
But what was worse was that it interrupted their lovemaking. The first time was important, even Basil had said that, and it ended in a fire that could have killed them. “Baby, I’m so sorry.”
“Why are you sorry? You didn’t do anything.”
“This night was supposed to be so special.”
Basil turned his face. Looking into Basil’s gleaming eyes, Herb felt overwhelmed with love. “It was. It was honey. I’ve never felt like that.”
“Still…”
He wanted to say so much, but he couldn’t muster the courage. Basil, however, had no such qualms. “As far as I’m concerned, it was the first in a long line of nights that will be more beautiful than the last.”
“A long line?”
“Yeah. A very long line.”
Herb grabbed his face and kissed him hard, bruisingly hard. “You’re fucking perfect, you know that?”
“I don’t mind hearing it at all.”
When the fire chief came to speak to him, Basil held his hand tightly. “Well, the oven was left on, causing the contents to catch fire, and it didn’t help that the stovetop and the backsplash were coated in oil.”
Herb was speechless, but Basil certainly wasn’t. “That’s not right, Kent. At all. He turned off the oven before…I mean, it was off. I saw him turn it off, and he made a meal that wasn’t greasy at all. The kitchen was spotless.”
With disbelief all over his face, the fire chief reasoned, “Now, sometimes, you think you turned it off, and really, you set it to broil, and that’s where it was when we came into the kitchen. And the grease, well, it's hard to see. Today’s meal wasn’t greasy, but the last one?”
Herb finally found his words. “I’m sorry, but I cleaned all day for the date we had tonight. There was no grease on the stove or the backsplash. I generally don’t eat greasy food, anyway. And I would have had to push a button for broil, not overshoot a knob turn. My stove isn’t like that.”
“Well, then, what do you think happened? Someone broke in to rob you and turned the stove back on? That sound reasonable to you?”
“Actually, yes, with the issues I’ve had since moving in. It seems very reasonable.”
“Do you have police reports to confirm these…strange occurrences, or did you hire a ghost hunter?” he said snarkily.
“Kent, stop. He’s not making it up. Not long ago, the house flooded because someone broke a pipe. He’s had a lot of issues, and sure, some were there already, but not all, like this one.”
Herb told Basil, “Never mind. No one’s going to believe this wasn’t some mistake I made. It’s fine.”
“I’ll mark it down as accidental for your insurance, but the house is heavy with smoke, and you won’t have a kitchen to use until it gets fixed. You might want to find a place to stay for a few nights.”
“My sister has an extra room. They haven’t worked on the nursery yet. I’d invite you to stay with me, but my parents…”
Herb nodded and said, “That’s…fine.”
The next morning, however, as they were cleaning out some of the mess in the kitchen, Lila stopped over and insisted he stay with her. “I got plenty of room, and you need to be close to the greenhouse.”
Herb was grateful. “Thank you, Lila. I’ll take you up on it.”
