Page 25 of Lovesick
And they had.
I wound down the stairs and headed out the back door and into the storage shed, where I searched for the bag of ice salt. After almost ten minutes, I located the bag, plus a trowel and shovel, and headed carefully to the front with Leslie’s words ringing in my mind. In the breeze, snow had drifted back onto the porch and stairs in front of the store.
The strange smell came again, like ... burning tires.
“Whatisthat?” I murmured.
A quick glance around Main Street revealed nothing. I set the salt down and reached for the shovel. The snow on the stairs thawed quickly, so I stepped up onto the porch. My eyes caught a flicker inside. When I turned to peer through the window, my heart dropped to my stomach.
Flames consumed the far wall of the shop.
10
JJ
The scent of snow and fresh apples lingered in the air as I wheeled around the grocery store in Pineville, trying tonotthink about Lizbeth. Her quick-to-smile lips. The light that carried her around. She had alabaster skin with freckles I found a step beyond charming.
And distracting.
I stood in the middle of the vegetables and frowned at a rutabaga for who knew how long. A quick glance confirmed no one seemed to have noticed. I shoved it into the cart and moved toward the dairy section. Maybe it was time for Mark to try out a new chocolate mousse recipe. Still, I needed some cheesecloth and cake flour.
Ten minutes later, I wheeled my squeaky cart out of the store, stopped at the Zombie Mobile, and shoved all the groceries inside. Then I spared myself a glance across the street.
Then another one.
Was that smoke billowing out of the back of the Frolicking Moose?
The bright flicker of orange flames was visible through the windows. With a sinking feeling in my chest, I abandoned the Zombie Mobile and dashed through the parking lot and across the slushy road. The smell of burning wood filled the air as I approached, running past an old woman who had stopped on the sidewalk to stare.
“Call 911!” I barked. “Now!”
She fumbled in her pocket, eyes wide. Heat rushed out of the shop as I leapt up the stairs and slipped inside.
“Lizbeth!” I called. “Get out!”
“No!”
She stood behind the counter, a fire extinguisher in her hands. Several white patches already coated the far wall, but the crackling flames had ascended to the ceiling. I grabbed her by the coat and yanked her back. Heat blazed over us.
“It’s too late!”
“It’s not! Grab the hose at the sink. We can still put it out!”
“We can’t. It’s already on the ceiling. It might even be on the next floor.”
She stumbled back with a cry, fighting me at every step. The fire extinguisher still spurted at random as she flailed, attempting to hit any part of the flame.
“It’s not worth your life!”
“Thisismy life, JJ!”
Thankfully, she was small. I hooked an arm around her and carted her outside without an issue. Choking smoke burned my eyes. I coughed. She gasped, dropping to her knees when I released her into the snow a safe distance away. When she looked back at the burning building, her mouth opened wordlessly. Not far away, the old woman spoke frantically into her phone.
“Fire at the coffee shop,” she stammered. “It’s a bad blaze!”
Flames consumed the back roof, vaulting over the top in a terrifying dance. How could it move so quickly? Then again ... in a building so old, with planked wood on the outside and a non-metal roof, how could it not?
Lizbeth let out a cry. “My books!”
