Total pages in book: 90
Estimated words: 87179 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 436(@200wpm)___ 349(@250wpm)___ 291(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 87179 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 436(@200wpm)___ 349(@250wpm)___ 291(@300wpm)
“Oh, shit. Oh, Jesus.” I take a deep breath, trying to calm down, but all that does is make me cough as I pull my phone out of my pocket and call 9-1-1.
“9-1-1, what is your emergency?”
“Fire,” I cry out. “My shop is on fire. Paula’s Posey’s.”
“Are you inside, ma’am?”
“Yes.” Panic fills my chest as I watch the flames grow. “Oh, God, it’s spreading.”
“I need you to get out of that building. We have trucks on the way, along with law enforcement, but you have to get out right now. Can you do that?”
“Yes.” I hurry away, back to the front of the shop, but I don’t want to leave. “Isn’t there something I can do? This is my aunt’s legacy. It’s all I have.”
“You can get out of the building, ma’am. Do you hear the trucks?”
I push through the glass door and breathe in the clean air. “Yes, I hear them.”
“They see you,” she says. “Are you okay if I hang up now?”
“Yes, yes, okay.”
I lower the phone and feel almost numb as the firetrucks pull up, along with several police cars. Has anyone called Chase? Will he come?
Shoving my phone into my purse, I turn and gasp. The flames are already in the front of the store, licking against the glass.
“You can’t be here,” someone yells at me, pulling me away, into the middle of the street. “Those windows will explode.”
Sure enough, there’s a loud crash, and glass rains down around us. I cover my face and shriek, and I’m passed to someone else.
“Summer?” I look up into a familiar face. “My God, Summer, are you okay?”
“Evan?” I swallow, and my throat feels hoarse and sore. “Evan, my shop. Your office! Oh God, how did this happen?”
“Hey, come on. Let’s get out of the way.”
He leads me fully across the street and down just a bit so we’re not in anyone’s way, but we can see what’s going on. It’s so loud. I didn’t realize that fire was so loud.
“The flowers are gone,” I murmur softly, thinking of Charlie, and how I won’t have the flowers for her tomorrow. I feel bad. I should have let her take them with her tonight. “It’s all gone. I have to call Aunt Paula.”
“Take a minute,” Evan suggests and wraps his arm around my shoulders. “Just take a minute, Summer. You’re shaking.”
“I am?” I look down at my hands and realize he’s right. And they’re dirty. My teeth are chattering. “I wonder if I’m in shock.”
“You’re okay,” he croons softly. His phone pings with a text, and he checks it, frowns, and then shoves it back into his pocket. “I promise, it’ll be okay. Take a minute and then call Paula.”
“Yeah, okay.” I lean into him and look at my sweet shop, thinking about all the memories I have tucked inside there. Helping Aunt Paula in the summer, coming here when I had nowhere else to go, and finally, buying it for my own. How proud I was on that day. It’s been my safe place for all these years, and now, in a matter of minutes, it’s just…gone.
The men rush about. There are ladders in the air, hoses spewing water. Yelling voices, giving orders. But it’s too late to save it.
“Summer!”
CHAPTER TWENTY
CHASE
“Are you guys good here?” I watch as Ryan helps Jake into bed. We brought Jake home to Ryan’s place just a little while ago after he was discharged from the hospital, and I wanted to stick close by, in case they needed anything.
Not to mention, it’s fucking interesting to watch Ryan’s father instincts kick in with the boy. I honestly had no idea that we’d end up here when I suggested he hire Jake to help him with the horses, but I have to admit, they look natural together.
“I think so,” Ryan says and props his hands on his hips as he gestures for me to leave the room with him. “He’s on some good meds, and he’ll just take it easy for a while.”
We walk down the stairs to the kitchen, where Ryan passes me a bottle of water and takes a beer out of the fridge for himself.
“When are you going to fill the family in on all of this?” I ask him.
“Mom and Dad were out here last weekend. They met Jake and hung out for a while.” He leans his hips against the countertop. “Mom winked at me. It’s like she has a sixth sense for these things.”
“Oh, I get it.” I think back to Rem’s rehearsal dinner and the looks she was shooting me regarding Summer. “Mom knows everything. So, it won’t be a surprise to them, then.”
“I don’t think so. But, like you said earlier, they won’t mind.”
“None of us will mind a bit. It might cramp your bachelor style, having a kid underfoot.”