Total pages in book: 99
Estimated words: 91434 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 457(@200wpm)___ 366(@250wpm)___ 305(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 91434 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 457(@200wpm)___ 366(@250wpm)___ 305(@300wpm)
“He’s bossy,” I mumble to my mother, who just shakes her head.
I think I only let out a breath when I see the firefighters have stopped using water. I can’t even see the damage from here as the fire marshal comes our way. “Maddie,” he says, nodding at her. I feel Oliver come and stand behind my mother, putting his hands on her shoulders and squeezing them. I slip my hand in hers as we both wait for him to start talking.
“How bad is it?” my mother asks.
“There is good news and then bad news,” he starts and I close my eyes, not sure I want to hear any bad news. I don’t want to hear anything, to be honest. “The good news is we caught it before it burned through the roof and the structure.”
“Is that good news?” I finally ask, moving my head to the side. “All the windows are busted out. Where did it start?”
“Started in the kitchen,” he reports, and I shake my head.
“I double-checked twice before I left.” My heart feels like it’s going to soar out of my chest. “I made sure the appliances were all off, and no one had to bake anything or fry anything after I left.”
“I don’t know how to say this—” He looks down at his feet before looking back up at us. “We think—”
“Don’t say it,” my mother snaps.
“It’s looking like it was arson,” he declares, and the air leaves my body.
“There was forced entry at the back door,” he explains and I stop him right away.
“There were two guys,” I start to say and feel all eyes on me, “there were two guys lurking around. They were acting weird and I didn’t think anything of it.”
“What else can you tell me about them?” he asks me and I try to wrack my brain.
“Medium height I guess, creepy vibes. They had a black car.” I snap my fingers. “Four-door Honda Civic I think.” I close my eyes and try to bring up the memory but it’s just blank. “I don’t know.”
“Well, that makes a little bit more sense,” he says. “We found some gasoline canisters that I’m assuming you didn’t have in your kitchen.”
“What kind of a dumb question is that?” my mother snaps, and Oliver pulls her closer to him and wraps an arm around her waist. “Now what?”
“Now we have to finish the investigation, which will probably be done by tomorrow morning. Then you can get in there and—”
“And what?” my mother barks. “And do what?” He just shrugs.
“I’m sorry. I know how difficult this can be.” I just stare at him. “We are going to have the police come over and ask you a couple questions about the two guys you saw.” I nod at him, feeling like the rug just got ripped out from under me, looking at what used to be, it actually did. “If you have any questions, feel free to call me.”
He walks away and we just stand here staring at him as he makes his way to the bakery.
“Oh my God, this is my fault,” Harmony cries. “It’s probably because of me.”
We all turn to look at her as Brady takes her in his arms, and she cries in his chest. “If you hadn’t helped me, this probably wouldn’t have happened.”
“You don’t know that.” I rub her back. “It could be anything at this point.”
“Well, there is nothing we can do for now,” Oliver notes. “Let’s get you off your feet.” He slips his arm from around her and into her hand, and she doesn’t even fight him.
I take one more look at the building before turning and walking with them. “I’m going to get a ride with them,” I tell Charlie, who just nods at me, “and come and get the car tomorrow, if that is okay.”
“I’ll have it brought to you and leave the keys in the mailbox,” he states, and I laugh, making everyone look at me.
“I’m sorry, but why does it seem normal to just leave keys in a mailbox and not have to worry that my car is going to be stolen?”
Charlie smirks at me. “This ain’t the city, girl.” He takes me in a chokehold like he used to do back in the day, making me laugh even more. “Now, I’m going to get home to Autumn, who has been blowing up my phone. I thought she would show up with Landon.”
“Sorry about that,” I say.
“She’ll probably be at your house tomorrow morning, early.”
“Good. If she didn’t have the whole husband and kid, I would be crashing at her house anyway.”
“You can always do that,” he invites. “Probably be easier for me to calm her down if you are there.”
“I don’t want to leave Mom,” I admit, looking over to see Oliver open her car door for her, “but I’ll call her and make sure she knows I’m okay.”