Love To The Rescue (21 page)

Sarah placed the costume on a kitchen chair and hugged first Mrs. Harris and then Amy. “Thank you so much. I can’t wait to show Daddy,” she gushed, beaming.

“Your daddy is working the night shift, so we showed it to him this afternoon,” said Amy. “He can’t wait to see you in it tomorrow night. He’s not working, and he’s going to take you trick or treating.”

“Yay!” shouted Sarah, hopping from one foot to the other.

Amy blinked back tears of happiness. Life just didn’t get any better than this. And she wondered if the ‘marriage proposal’ gods would be whispering a suggestion into Kevin’s ear in the near future.

Chapter 16

Amy MacArthur worked hard all year every year—writing several books, promotion, marketing, networking at conferences—but she always set aside the entire month of December for herself.

On the morning of December first, she’d completed her final promotion and marketing obligations for her latest romance novel which had been released just in time for the holiday shoppers looking for the ideal gift for a mother, sister, or girlfriend. With no further appointments or deadlines to monopolize her time until after the New Year, she could concentrate on her Christmas preparations.

Without a doubt, Amy loved the Christmas season, even all the planning involved. She spent the next twenty days shopping, wrapping gifts, sending cards and emails to friends, and cleaning her house from top to bottom. She’d spent this afternoon at Kevin’s house, helping Mrs. Harris wrap Christmas presents while Sarah attended school. Tonight, she finished the Christmas baking. Her freezer was filled with cookies, cakes, and casserole dishes for quick preparation during the holidays when her aunt and uncle returned and friends dropped by.

With only five days until Santa’s arrival, Amy was ready. But that too-exhausted-to-sleep kind of tired overtook her a few minutes ago when she stuck a huge container of shortbread into her freezer.

“That’s it. I’m done!” she announced to Rover who accompanied her upstairs to her bedroom. She bent down and ruffled his ears. “Now, we just have to wait and see what Santa brings you, big guy.”

Amy stripped off her flour-smudged clothing. For a second, she considered crawling into the hot tub that beckoned her from the inner room of the ensuite. But fearful of dozing off and drowning, she languished under the hot, pounding stream of water in her large glass-walled shower instead. Feeling revived, she toweled off, lathered herself in lilac-scented lotion, and donned pink with a white snowflake pattern flannel pajamas. Before she headed downstairs, she buried her feet in a pair of fluffy pink slippers and shrugged into a short white quilted robe.

After pouring herself a glass of chardonnay, she crawled onto the sofa nearest the television set, tucked her feet under her, and grabbed the remote intending to watch the eleven o’clock news until she became drowsy enough to sleep. Rover clambered onto the sofa, settled down beside her, and rested his head on her thigh. Two big brown eyes peeked up at her.

“Hi, there. Have I been so busy today that I’ve ignored you?” She leaned down, kissed the top of his head, and ruffled his ears. “I’m finished all the preparations. Nothing to do now until Auntie and Uncle arrive.”

Amy glanced over at the decorated seven foot evergreen that stood in the corner. A dozen gaily-wrapped presents were tucked beneath. Light from over three hundred white mini-lights reflected off the teal and silver glass ornaments that hung from every branch. “Our tree is absolutely gorgeous, Rover, if I do say so myself,” she spoke aloud.

Rover woofed.

“So, you agree, big guy.” Amy laughed.

Three decorative stockings hung across the front of her gas fireplace, and for a moment she pretended they were for her children. Someday, she thought, smiling to herself. She sipped the wine and glanced toward the side table where the digital clock displayed eleven o’clock. Just in time to catch the late news, she pushed the power button on the remote and clicked to her favorite local channel.

“Our lead story tonight involves an out-of-control fire in the southwest at a large townhouse complex. Fire officials on scene speculated that an electrical short in Christmas lighting might be responsible for the blaze. We’ve just received word of an explosion, but the fire department hasn’t confirmed...”

The second the film footage flashed across her television’s screen, she immediately recognized the location, more specifically the number on the front door of the burning end unit.

“Oh my God,” she screamed.

Wine splattered onto Amy’s robe as she leapt to her feet and set the glass down. In her haste, her wineglass tipped over on the coffee table sending the contents across the tabletop before the glass rolled off and landed on the carpet. Without pausing, she raced to the front entryway and donned her long winter coat. She reached for the gray toque she wore when shoveling snow and pulled it over her still damp hair from the shower.

Suddenly, Amy remembered Rover was loose in the house. She hurried the dog to the kitchen and locked him in his crate.

Finally, she grabbed her car keys off the hallway table and raced out the door.

Amy was three blocks from her destination before she realized she was still wearing her fuzzy slippers. It didn’t matter. Getting to Kevin and Sarah was her priority. She had to know if they were okay.

A block away from Kevin’s house, a City of Calgary patrol car stood crossways in the street, preventing curious onlookers from getting any closer. Amy pulled her Lexus over to the curb, climbed out, pocketed the keys, and ran down the sidewalk.

She chanted under her breath, “Please be okay, please be okay, please be okay.”

Half a block away she noticed thick black smoke billowing out of several windows on the ground and second floors of Kevin’s home. She hurried onward and almost fell a couple of times while running in fuzzy slippers on a snowy sidewalk. Arriving at the end of the row of townhouses, she noticed a gaping hole in the corner of the roof where flames shot toward the starless night sky. Firemen stood atop a ladder extended high over the roof. In an attempt to douse the blaze, water spewed from several hoses aimed at the flames intent on destroying the building. A delicate mist hung in the frigid night air, and Amy coughed from the smoke that permeated her lungs with each breath.

“You have to stay back. It’s not safe here. Please, move across the street,” instructed a police officer.

“No, I need to talk to someone. Did everybody escape from the house? Are they safe? Can you...”

“I can’t give you any information. Please step back with the others.” He gently guided her back behind the temporary barricade. “You two guys, please move back also.” He motioned toward two teenagers standing gaping at the fire.

“Man, look at those flames,” observed one of the boys.

For a brief moment, Sarah considered the possibility the fire was arson. And these two teens had started it. Anger raced through her and she wanted to pummel them with her fists. If they risked the lives of the people she loved, destroyed their home days before Christmas, she’d stop at nothing to ensure they were punished.

“Officer...” she began, and then she tuned into what the second boy was saying.

“That really sucks,” muttered the other kid, as they headed down the street. “This close to Christmas. Sure feel sorry for whoever lived there. Hope nobody got hurt.”

“Yeah, maybe they’ll set up a fund for donations or something. We could contribute some money or something,” added the first youth.

“What is it?” asked the police officer.

Amy waved off his question and returned to her place behind the barrier. She was rapidly losing feeling in both feet from the cold permeating her slippers. She stomped her feet in frustration, but it was totally ineffective at warming them.

Two engine trucks, a rescue truck, a ladder tuck, and what seemed like dozens of firemen fought the blaze, but she couldn’t see where they were making much headway. An ambulance stood by, but it didn’t appear anyone was being attended to. At least, that was a good indication no one was hurt. But where were Kevin and Sarah?

Amy spotted a fireman standing back from the others. Praying he was a district chief, she snuck back across the street in hopes of getting some answers from him. No such luck. And here she was back in line again with the other onlookers. She still hadn’t found someone who would divulge information or answer her questions. Did the police and firemen just consider her the crazy lady standing in the snow in the fuzzy pink slippers? Again, she silently chastised herself for forgetting to don winter boots on her way out the door.

Suddenly, she spotted Sally Wilson, standing beside a police car, talking on a cell phone. Sally was in uniform and must be on duty, Amy reasoned, and she made a beeline for her friend. Just as Sally stuffed her phone back into her pocket, she spotted Amy racing toward her.

“What are you doing here? You’re going to catch pneumonia dressed like that.” Sally reached for Amy’s arm. “Here, wait in my patrol car.”

“No, Sally. You’ve got to help me! No one will tell me anything.”

“I was one of the first units on the scene. Apparently, there’s no one in the townhouse according to Kevin’s neighbor...”

“According to the damn neighbor!” shouted Amy. “Didn’t the firemen go inside and check? Are they just taking some guy’s word for it?”

“The firemen might have checked inside. I don’t know for certain though. I was busy assisting with crowd control. Perhaps the fire is burning too hot and even the firemen aren’t allowed to enter Kevin’s place. Might be concerned another explosion could occur,” explained Sally.

Amy was slowly dying inside.

“No, no, no. This can’t be happening,” she muttered to herself.

Immediately, Amy was transported back in time, to the night she learned Allan had been killed. She saw the police cars parked by the curb outside her home, remembered the flashing lights eerily illuminating the darkened neighborhood street. From where she sat on the sofa across from the living room window, she heard several reporters shouting from the sidewalk, begging for a statement and footage for the late news. Someone had called her family doctor to come over, and she recalled talking to him, insisting she didn’t require a sleeping pill or sedative or whatever he’d been hawking at the time. She recalled the female officer relating the details of the accident, asking her questions—so many questions—about Allan. She’d blurted, what the hell did it matter, he was gone. Allan was dead. Nothing had mattered, for weeks.

Was Fate so cruel that Amy would once again lose a man she loved dearly? Could Kevin be in there? And Sarah? And Mrs. Harris? If they’d escaped the burning townhouse when the fire first broke out, where were they? They should be standing right here, beside her, safe and sound. Amy loved them all dearly.

She glanced at her watch, read the dials by the patrol car’s headlights. Almost midnight. Why wouldn’t anyone be home? If Kevin was on duty, someone would have informed him that 9-1-1 had dispatched the fire trucks to his home address. Wouldn’t they? Kevin should have arrived by now. And if Mrs. Harris and Sarah were home alone... Amy felt sick to her stomach just contemplating the possibility.

Amy met Sally’s eyes, while she fought the wave of panic threatening to engulf her. “I’ll never survive it. I cannot lose someone I love again. Not the man I love, or the child I love. I just can’t do it.” Amy burst into tears. Her knees buckled and she collapsed in a heap on the snowy boulevard.

“Amy, get up! You’re going to freeze to death lying in the snow.” Sally grabbed Amy under her arms and hoisted her to her feet. “Get in the patrol car. Now,” she ordered.

“Amy!”

She recognized Kevin’s voice and almost gave herself whiplash looking for him. And then she spotted him on the snow-covered sidewalk across the street, running toward her.

“Kevin!” She screamed and struggled out of Sally’s grasp.

They raced to meet each other, Amy coughing from the extra exertion on her smoke-irritated lungs. It seemed to take forever, like film stars of olden days running toward each other in slow motion. They met in the middle of the street. Kevin scooped her up in his arms and kissed her with no concern for who might be watching.

Finally, Kevin pulled back and his eyes roamed her body from head to toe. “What are you doing out here dressed like that? Your feet must be freezing. What were you thinking?”

“I thought you were dead!” She swatted his arm and coughed again. “I was so frightened. I thought I’d lost you, like I lost Allan. Where were you?”

Kevin wrapped his arms around her. “I was playing a friendly game of poker up the street at a buddy’s house. We saw the emergency vehicles’ lights and came to investigate. And then I realized my place was on fire. But there’s no one home. Sarah is sleeping over at Bonnie’s house, and with both of us away Mrs. Harris decided to stay at her sister’s house overnight. There is no one you care about in that house.”

“I thought my heart would stop when I saw the film coverage on TV. I rushed over here and no one would tell me anything until I spotted Sally.” Amy swiveled around searching for the police officer.

“Hi, Kevin.” Sally approached them.

“I just got here a few minutes ago, Sally. What the hell happened?”

“The fire did a number on your place, Kevin. Your end unit sustained most of the damage. At first, they thought Christmas tree lights, but now...”

“Oh my God!” Amy felt light-headed and grabbed Kevin’s arm for support. “I was burning candles in the living room this afternoon while I wrapped Christmas presents with Mrs. Harris. Could I have forgotten and left one of them burning? Could the fire be my fault?”

She met Kevin’s eyes while her own eyes filled with tears. Had her carelessness been responsible for destroying his daughter’s home and ruining her Christmas? Would Kevin ever forgive her?

“No, Amy, nothing like that.” Sally Wilson touched Amy’s arm. “One fireman told me the blaze definitely started in the kitchen. These places are pretty old. Probably faulty wiring. The fire burned through the wall and ignited the propane tank on the barbecue on the deck causing the explosion. They said it sounded like a war zone when that darn propane tank blew up. Made a heck of a noise.”