Page 135 of Red Mountain Burning
Carly wiped her eyes. “All right.”
Margot ran into her room to throw some clothes on and then, like the captain of her ship, she raced to Épiphanie to ensure the safety of her guests.
* * *
Brooks rode hardthrough the darkness, trusting his instincts as he bounced over the gravel, winding his way through the vineyard blocks. He slid to a stop outside of the Foresters’ house. He saw lights on upstairs. Finding their gate closed, he pressed on the bell.
Their Weimaraners started barking somewhere inside.
“C’mon, c’mon,” he said, desperate to continue on.
When Jake’s voice crackled through the speaker, Brooks said, “It’s Brooks. Château Smooth is on fire.”
“Yeah, I talked to Adriana.”
Jake sounded cool and collected. “I’ll turn on the irrigation and start waking neighbors.”
“And then get your family out of here,” Brooks said. “This could get bad.”
He spun out of their driveway heading east. When he reached Sunset Road, he swung a hard right, nearly scraping his knee onto the pavement. Working his way up to fifth gear, he pushed his Scrambler to the limits. Coming up a hill, he saw a long line of flashing lights along Sunset Road. Looking right, he felt sick as he saw the big ball of fire that was Château Smooth burning to the ground.
He ran the bike wide open and only slowed once he could feel the radiant heat of the fire. Smoke hit his lungs as he surveyed the landscape. The wall Otis had built looked like it had kept the fire from spreading in that direction. Brooks was relieved to see fire trucks surrounding Château Smooth, and it looked like the firefighters had somehow taken the upper hand. Two trucks were drafting water from an irrigation pond and shooting giant streams into the flames. Other fire trucks were focusing their efforts on the ground around the winery, most likely dousing it with water and fire retardant.
“I think they have her contained,” he heard a voice say. Turning, Brooks saw Otis coming up from the direction of his property.
Brooks turned off his bike. “Jesus, man. I’ve never seen anything like this.”
“I’m just grateful it wasn’t worse. This could have devastated us.”
“Any idea how it started?” Brooks asked, swinging a leg off the bike.
They both watched the building burn as Otis said, “No idea.”
Brooks looked at the crowd of people watching safely from the other side of Sunset Road. “Was anyone hurt?”
“They just wheeled Bellflour out on a stretcher. Looked like he had some pretty bad burns, but he was alive. I don’t think anyone else was hurt.”
“How about your vines?” Brooks asked. “Looks like the wall was worth all the pain after all.”
Otis adjusted his cap. “That wall is the reason I’ll have fruit left to harvest. Might taste a little smoky, but what do you do? At least the vines are alive.”
“About that,” Brooks said. “It probably isn’t the best time to bring this up, but would you still be interested in selling your place to me? Adriana and I just had a serious heart-to-heart.”
“You’re not going to Florida?”
Brooks shook his head. “It doesn’t seem so.”
“You’re damned right I’m interested,” Otis said. “The place is yours for whatever you can pay me.”
They stopped talking for a moment as the right side of Château Smooth collapsed, sending a shuttering roar and another blast of hot air toward them.
“I’ll pay you what it’s worth,” Brooks said. “As long as you’ll give me some time.”
“You carry on what Rebecca and I planted up here, and you can have all the time you need.”
Brooks offered his hand. “I’ll make you proud, Otis. I promise.”
Otis pulled Brooks into a hug and kissed his neck. “You already make me proud, son. No matter what you do and where you go.”
