Page 5 of From the Flames
HE WOKEalone after a few hours, which was unusual. He usually had a dog curled on the bed with him, but not this morning. Sounds drifted in from elsewhere in the house, something that sounded like singing. He got up and pulled on shorts and a T-shirt before leaving the room. The other bedrooms were empty, so he followed the sound downstairs to where Willy had Grant sitting at the table and April on his lap, the kids eating slices of apple. All three dogs sat nearby, watching in case anything fell to the floor.
“I didn’t mean to wake you,” Willy said. “They were hungry. I hope it’s okay if I gave them some apple.”
“Get whatever you need,” Kevin said. “Is the apple good?” he added to the kids, who both nodded. A piece of April’s dropped on the floor, and Elsa got there first. April giggled and grabbed another piece of apple, looking toward the floor.
“No, little miss. You eat it.” Willy was gentle with her. “Mr. Kevin is going to feed the dogs properly. The apple is for your tummy.”
“I could make some toast and scrambled eggs,” Kevin offered.
“Eggies!” Grant cheered, and Kevin took that as a yes. He got out the pans and whipped up a batch of light and fluffy eggs, then popped some bread in the toaster. Then he found some plates and brought them to the table. Willy helped the kids with their food and ate some of the eggs himself.
“Is it good?” Kevin asked as he sat down with his own breakfast.
“Yummy,” Grant reported as he shoveled in the eggs. Apparently they were a big hit with him. April was more interested in the toast, which was fine considering she kept giving her eggs to the dogs, like it was some kind of game.
“I need to get my car, and we should arrange to get yours as well. The station is only a few blocks away, so I figured I’d walk over to get it. Then we can check on yours, and I’ll take you to the driver’s license center and to get a phone.”
“I’m off today. Do you need to work?” Thank goodness for Sunday.
“No. It’s my day off too.”
“I don’t have anything to prove who I am.”
“We’ll figure it out. They have to have a picture from your old license and should be able to look it up to verify your identity.” God, he hoped that would be good enough. He finishedhis breakfast and helped Grant with his. Once they were all done, Willy took the kids upstairs to clean up while Kevin put the dishes in the dishwasher.
It took fifteen minutes for him to get to the station and get his car. By the time he returned, Willy had the kids dressed and ready to go. “We should get my car first. It has the car seats in it. Then we can do the rest of the running and stuff.”
“Good idea,” Kevin told him, and they rode over to the building in silence, with Willy growing quieter the closer they got. Kevin pulled up to the burned-out shell, and Willy gasped. There really was very little left of the building itself. The decorative gable at the top now curved forward like the curl of a melting candle.
“Oh God,” Willy breathed. “We were inside there.”
“Hey. Everyone got out. A few others were sent to the hospital, but everyone is going to be okay.” Kevin tried to be soothing. “Where is your car parked?” Willy pointed to the Volvo sedan. “And the keys?” he asked. Willy pulled the set out of his pocket. “I grabbed them on my way out. They were in a bowl on the table near the door, and I just grabbed them out of habit, I guess.” He unlocked the doors, and Kevin helped him get the kids transferred over. “Do you want to ride with us?”
“Follow me back to the house, and I’ll leave my car there.” Kevin led the way through town and got in the passenger seat once he’d parked his car. “Maybe I should drive. I’m the one with a license right now.” They switched places, and Kevin took Willy out to the center.
“You need some form of ID,” the woman at the counter told them.
“Ma’am,” Kevin said levelly, “he lost everything in a fire.” He pulled out his phone. “See, this is what’s left. He needs a replacement license. There has to be a way to help him.”
Fortunately, a supervisor overheard them and came over. Willy explained everything again. Then he provided all his information. “If you look it up, you’ll see it’s my picture. I just need a replacement.” He was getting frustrated, but the supervisor seemed to know what to do, and after he’d filled out forms and the supervisor verified his signature and picture, Willy walked out with a new license. At least that was one victory. The next was the phone store, which took less time, and finally Willy was able to contact his insurance company and file a total-loss claim. What a pain in the butt, though the pictures Willy was able to supply seemed to get the point across.
“Daddy, I’m hungry,” Grant said, and Willy took them all to Red Robin for burgers, using his phone to pay the bill, before heading to Target for a set of clothes for each of them.
“I feel like I’m trying to put all the pieces of my life back together and I don’t know what the picture is supposed to look like.”
“It’ll look like whatever you want it to,” Kevin said.
Willy seemed to take it in as he pushed the cart with April in the seat and Grant holding his daddy’s hand. They were an adorable family, something Kevin had always wanted. His ex, Masten, hadn’t wanted children. It had taken Kevin time to realize that he was just too selfish to have anyone take away any sort of attention from him. But Kevin had always wanted a family of his own. He pulled himself out of the daydream and back to reality. This was Willy’s family, and he was just helping them out, nothing more. He needed to remember that they would move into their own place and go on with their lives, just like he would.
Chapter 3
“THIS ISgreat, Ellen,” Willy said as he walked through the empty space. It was the entire first floor and had three bedrooms. There was only one bath, but that was okay. It was bigger than their old place, and the kitchen was larger. The appliances had been updated, so while they weren’t fancy, they were new, and he wasn’t going to be dealing with an oven that had eighty years of crap baked on inside it.
“There’s also a backyard. It isn’t huge, but that comes with this unit as well. You have the only door that gets out to it.”
“Would it be all right if I got a play structure for the kids? It wouldn’t be huge, but….”
Ellen smiled. “Go ahead. You could put it right over there under the shade of the maple if you wanted.”
