Page 82 of Sugarloaf Ridge Lies

Chapter Twenty-Six

Jerry

After leaving a selectionof my clothes outside the bathroom door, a while later Liv shuffles into the loungeroom in grey sweatpants and a red flannelette shirt that swims on her.

My inner caveman grunts at the vision of Liv in my clothes. In my house.

“Better?” I ask, my throat thick.

She sweeps her hand back through her semi-dried locks. “I guess.” Liv sits on the two-seater couch by the fire and curls her bare feet beneath her.

I lay an old, knitted blanket over her legs and collect the cup of tea I made earlier from the lamp table. “I didn’t know how you take your tea, so I took a stab and put a dash of milk in it.”

She forces a smile. It fades the moment the tea is in her hand. Her bloodshot eyes search my face. “How did you know I needed you?”

She needed me?Her question floors me.I thought she said she was done? It was over? I’m still on her mind?

I open my mouth to speak but words don’t come out. Regardless of the time that’s passed, simply being with her cements my feelings. It’s far from over for me, but now’s not the time to tell her that.

“Where did you come from?”

I sit beside her. “I was atThe Song. As soon as I heard there was a fire in your street, I ran.”

“You ran?” her voice wavers.

“To my car. Faster than you ran to the coffee van that mornin’,” I say to lighten the mood. “So pretty damn fast.”

Her shoulders slump a little, easing some of the tightness in my chest.

She sighs. “One minute I was having a shower, and when I got out there was smoke. The alarm didn’t even go off. Then, before I knew it, fire was rolling around in waves on the ceiling and I was being hauled out of there.”

“Shit.” That must have been terrifying.

“When I was on the street watching it burn, you’re the first person I thought of.” Her voice is small. “I know I shouldn’t feel that way. I needed you, and you were there. You just appeared.”

My heart doubles in size at her admission. I place my hand on her shoulder. “I’ll always be there for you, no matter what.”

Her brows pull tight. “I broke it off with you.”

The reminder stings. “Doesn’t stop me from carin’, Liv. Not one bit.”

She coughs, a rattle in her chest.

“Was the smoke bad?” I ask.

She sips at the tea and coughs again, setting the cup down on the lamp table. “Yeah, but I could still see. I was trying to get my things when someone broke down my door. The landlord is gonna be pissed.”

“Your landlord has a lot more to answer for, I’d say.”

She shrugs. “It’s a bit late to be fixing things now.”

While I’d comforted Liv on the street, the firies said the source of the fire was likely due to an electrical fault. Old building and dodgy wiring are a bad combination.

All the what ifs bombard my brain. What if the firies hadn’t got there in time? What if Liv wasn’t already awake? The smoke alarm didn’t work. She wouldn’t have had a hope.

And then there’s all her belongings. I’m going to have to call Bernie and get her on the case. One thing this town does right is chip in and help when something like this happens. She’ll need more than the clothes Daynah is bringing over. Even if she has contents insurance, that stuff takes time to get sorted. The old lady from her building is likely to be in the same shitty position.

“Have you called your aunt?” I ask.

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