Total pages in book: 97
Estimated words: 95008 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 475(@200wpm)___ 380(@250wpm)___ 317(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 95008 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 475(@200wpm)___ 380(@250wpm)___ 317(@300wpm)
“Sweet until it’s time to pay rent,” I replied, making a face.
“We’ll be fine. We always are. They’re saying to stay inside because the air is so bad,” Charlie said, leaning against the doorframe. “Which means you should’ve gotten hazard pay for this morning. You smell like a campfire. Are you gonna go to your parents’ to wait this shit out?”
“Yeah, right,” I replied with a scoff. “I’m not getting stuck there. The boys would probably shave half of my head or something while I slept.”
“You just stayed the night a couple of months ago,” she pointed out dryly.
“That was then, this is now,” I said, dropping onto my bed. “Are you going to stay with your parents?”
“Well, I was going to—that’s why I was trying to find the cheese grater,” she said, crossing her arms over her chest. “But I don’t want to leave you here by yourself. That sucks.”
I laughed. “I can stay at our apartment by myself.”
“Yeah, right,” she replied stubbornly.
“It’s no big deal. I’ll go to my parents’ house if shit gets crazy.”
“As if this isn’t crazy enough?” Charlie grunted in annoyance. “Why don’t you stay at my parents’ house with me? It’ll be like old times.”
A dozen snapshots ran through my mind—memories of the times I’d stayed the night at her house growing up and the person I was then—and I shook my head. I wasn’t feeling like a trip down memory lane.
“I’ll be fine,” I replied, making a shooing motion with my hands. “I’ll keep an eye on the news. It’ll be a nice break. Like a vacation.”
“A vacation where you’re all alone and surrounded by fire,” Charlie said, grimacing. “Sounds super fun.”
“Would you get out of here already?” I said, tossing a throw pillow at her. “I’m serious. I’ll be fine. If I’m not, I’ll drive over to my parents’ house. No big deal.”
“If you’re sure,” she hedged.
“I know I haven’t been clear,” I replied sarcastically, “but you can really go.”
“Fine,” she said, standing up straight. “But if you change your mind, I’m sure the old man would come get you.”
“I know,” I said with a smile. “I’m your dad’s favorite.”
“That’s because he thought you kept me out of trouble,” Charlie said with a snicker as she walked away.
As soon as she was out of sight, my smile dropped. God, I couldn’t believe what was happening. We’d never dealt with wild fires like the ones currently raging through the state. Sure, we’d had fires—we had them every year—but never so close to home. Thankfully, our apartment was pretty close to town and I was sure that whoever was in charge would move heaven and earth to try and keep the damage in town to a minimum.
My parents’ house was also inside the city limits and probably safe, but a lot of people we knew weren’t so lucky. Charlie’s sisters and parents all had places on the outskirts. So did most of the people in our circle. Hell, even the Aces’ clubhouse and garage where I’d spent half of my childhood were out in the woods.
Even though the whole situation sucked, I was still going to try and take advantage of the time away from work. Look on the bright side of things, right? I planned to sit my ass on the couch and spend my time reading or sleeping when I wasn’t watching the news.
Of course, there was always the chance that the fire crews would get the wildfires in our area under control and then I’d be working like usual. I wrinkled my nose. That was really the best-case scenario, but I didn’t see it happening. We’d never dealt with fires like these before. They were fast spreading and scary as hell.
Climbing off the bed, I moved around the room plugging in my phone, laptop and e-reader. I told myself it was because I was going to take full advantage of the quiet apartment while Charlie was gone and not because I was worried that my electronics would go dead and I’d have no contact with the outside world.
“Kara!” Charlie yelled gleefully from down the hall.
“Charles!” I yelled back as I headed toward her room.
“Dude,” she said, tossing me a face mask as soon as I’d stepped inside the doorway.
I didn’t catch it in time and it landed on the floor.
“I warned you,” Charlie said in exasperation.
“You said, dude,” I argued, leaning down to pick it up. “That’s not a warning.”
“I will never understand how horrendous your reflexes are.”
“I’ll never understand how you could catch a marble someone threw you from thirty feet away. It’s not normal.”
“I’m exceptional,” she replied matter-of-factly. “But look—” she nodded at the mask in my hand. “Mark sent those home with me like a year ago. Wear it if you go outside.”
I stared at her uncomprehendingly.
“My brother-in-law is practically a doomsday prepper. He’s prepared for everything,” she said slowly. “That’ll help keep the junk out of your lungs.”