Once we’re there, I look back out over the valley, watching the smoke as it advances toward the ridge. Once it gets there, it’ll be so easy for it to jump down to us. With the dry conditions and the crazy wind, we’re sitting ducks.
But I can’t help but think about the two pieces of my heart up there in the smoke.
* * *
We’ve beenin City Hall for over three hours. All of us watching as the smoke gets closer and closer. Tension is high and tempers are sharp.
“How long do we need to sit here?” The man I recognize as Mayor Bradford barks. “Hasn’t the fire department figured out what we need to do yet?”
“Sir.” A dark haired woman pushes her glasses further up on her nose. “They said they’d let us know when it’s safe to go back into downtown.”
“It’s been hours, they should’ve gotten it under control.”
There’s only so much of this I can take. “How dare you?” I stand up, speaking quietly but everyone in the room turns to stare at me. “My dad is up there. The only living parent I have left is risking his life for you. Not that it matters because this is an inconvenience to your day.”
“Who do you think you are?” He volleys the words back at me.
“The woman who sleeps with your grandson. The one who works at the fire station. The grandson you don’t claim because his dad isn’t a member of the upper crust.”
“You don’t know what you’re talking about,” he accuses.
“I think I know more than you expected me to and I feel so sorry for you. I wish you knew Danny and what kind of a man he is. Although you refuse to claim him, he’s willing to die for the town that carries your name. Doesn’t that mean anything to you? Or are you just that much of a piece of shit? When they save this town, don’t even think about taking credit for it. Those of us here? We’ll know you had absolutely nothing to do with it. You’d rather let us all burn.”
The room is quiet as I finish speaking my piece.
Shaking, I walk into the hallway and head for the nearest window so I can keep watch. Although I can’t see them, I feel closer to the men in my life when I can see the smoke. Even though it’s the very thing that could take them both away from me.