Page 26 of Lovesick
With a quick hand, I grabbed her shoulder before she could move again. There was no real fight in her. She collapsed back to the ground with an unintelligible whisper.
A few things lay in the snow, and I realized she’d had the presence of mind to gather the money out of the register and a few binders. Probably pitched them outside before attacking with the extinguisher.
For several shocked moments, I waited to hear sirens. Pineville was too small for a full-time fire department. The 911 dispatch would have to page volunteers, who would have to leave their lives, get to the station, and then come here.
It could be too late by then.
It almost was.
The three of us stood there in a silence interrupted only by the crackle of flames and the hum of cars creeping by. All of Pineville’s Main Street seemed to spill outside to watch. A warm body appeared at my side. Mark.
“What happened?” he asked, breathless. “I saw the flames and ran over from the bank.”
I shrugged helplessly. “Don’t know.”
Mark glanced at my hold on Lizbeth, then back to the coffee shop.
“Everyone out?” he asked.
“Yeah.”
What felt like an eternity later, sirens broke the weird quiet. The fire truck approached, lights blazing. I pulled Lizbeth off the ground and kept her propped up by an arm around her shoulders. A hose appeared. Then came the sound of gushing water and organized shouts. Smoke lay acrid in the air.
“Call Maverick,” I said to Mark as I handed him my phone. “His number is in my texts from when Lizbeth messaged him. He needs to be here. If Bethany answers, don’t say anything to her.”
Mark nodded. “Of course.”
He stepped away as I grabbed Lizbeth’s arms and forced her to look at me. Her gaze was surprisingly clear. Emotion-free. She stared at me with wide eyes glazed by shock.
“Everything is going to be all right, Lizbeth. You’re alive. That’s all that matters.”
“Everything is gone,” she whimpered.
“But you aren’t.”
She crashed into me with a little sob.
11
Lizbeth
How did fire move so fast?
This was my fault.
No, they said it was likely old wiring.
What if I’d been asleep?
Hours later, my thoughts whirled in a frenzy. A warm blanket wrapped around my shoulders and jerked me out of the spiral. Ellie stood behind me. Her dog, a gentle but massive Rhodesian Ridgeback named Thor, trailed on her heels.
Ellie sank down on the nearest chair, studying me with a concerned look while Thor settled at her feet. Nursing pads and a breast pump littered the table. I scooted them aside, propped my elbows on the flat surface, and leaned my face into my palms.
“Are you sure you’re okay?” she asked.
“Fine. I promise.”
“Can you stop almost dying, please?”
