Unforgettable (33 page)

Aware that one wrong word could cause her to crumble, no one else dared speak. They’d known it was bad, of course, but assumed there’d be more of her belongings left to salvage. This was not at all what they expected to find.

From the looks of things, Patrick guessed the weight of the water used to put out the fire, coupled with the recent strong winds, had caused some additional damage since they’d been gone. Breezy had intentionally avoided the burned out house until now…never driving past it and never going further up the street than Susan’s house. It did seem much worse in the light of day than it had that night. He couldn’t even imagine what was going through Breezy’s mind right now. At this point, the best way to truly help her was to get her out of this mess as quickly as possible. The less time she spent looking at the ashen ruins, the better.

He grabbed a small box and a stack of newspapers from the back of Paul’s truck and took Breezy gently by the hand. She looked up at him with the eyes of a small child seeing something they didn’t understand as he guided her cautiously over to the curio cabinet and opened the doors. Not that he needed to open them since all the glass was broken out. Reaching into the top shelf, Patrick picked up one of her unbroken angels and began wrapping it carefully in newspaper.

“Are you okay? Do you want to leave? Breezy?” he asked gently.

Neither moving nor making a sound, she nodded her head “yes,” but to which question, he wasn’t sure.

Uncertain what to do, Tom, Susan, Paul and Carl remained standing a few feet away. Tom couldn’t bring himself to look at Breezy, Susan leaned against Tom’s shoulder crying quietly, Paul held Susan’s hand trying hard to be strong, and Carl just stared at what had once been Breezy’s floor.

“Guys, I’m gonna stay in case Patrick and Breezy need anything, okay? Tom, you should take Susan back home…this stress can’t be good for those babies,” Paul told them quietly.

Tom clapped him on the shoulder a couple of times before leading Susan back to their car.

“You really need to stay, Carl?” Paul asked.

“Yeah, I do, actually. Never know what might turn up and we need all the evidence we can get to put that bastard away. But, for now, I’ll just go wait in my car,” he told him.

“Thanks, man,” he said as Carl walked away.

Paul took a seat on the tailgate of his truck, observing Patrick and Breezy closely for signs of any difficulty that might require his assistance.

Patrick was patiently waiting for Breezy to make a move, when she finally bent down, picked up an angel and began wrapping it. She seemed to be moving in slow motion, as though under water. Other than that, she appeared fine…well, outwardly…for the moment.

Working quietly side by side, they emptied the first shelf. When they started on the second shelf, Breezy finally spoke. She lifted a water globe off the shelf…the one Patrick had sent her, turned it over very gently, wound the music box and turned on the light. Wiping a clump of wet ash off the glass face, she stared at it lovingly as the glitter snow swirled. The tinkling notes of “Earth Angel” cut eerily through the silent afternoon.

“I had a whole room of angels and water globes upstairs,” she crooned eerily.

The bewildered little girl tone in her voice froze him in his tracks. “I know, sweetheart,” he whispered, afraid to speak too loudly, or even touch her.

“It’s gone now,” she continued in the same haunting, childlike whisper.

His arms ached with the need to hold her as she slowly sank to her knees, but he didn’t dare touch her. He watched in silence, his heart breaking to see her like this. Images of his Breezy laughing, singing, dancing, and loving filled his mind and he wondered if he’d lost that version of her forever.

A red mist filled his vision at the very real possibility and his teeth clinched tightly in his jaw. His nostrils flared as he tried to steady his breathing…his body trembled with rage. God, how he wanted to
destroy
Frank for this!

“You…you never got to see them,” she said, her voice breaking off into a sob. She clutched the water globe to her chest and bent over it weeping.

Dropping instantly to his knees onto the thick layer of freezing wet ash, Patrick pulled her carefully into his lap and wrapped his arms around her as tightly as he could. He rocked her back and forth as gut wrenching sobs shook her small body.

Leaning his face against the top of her head, he murmured soft shushing sounds in her ear. He wanted to tell her not to worry…that everything would be all right, but he couldn’t. Every time she took a deep shaky breath, only to let it out in a wailing sob, it tore him apart until his own tears rolled down his face onto her hair.

Even when she finally stopped crying, she remained curled up in his lap, wrapped in his embrace. Patrick continued to hold her and rock her until he realized she’d fallen asleep from sheer physical and mental exhaustion.

He looked over his shoulder and saw Paul standing nearby. It was obvious the big guy had been crying, too. He cared a great deal for her and Patrick knew they were close.

“Would you take her back to my apartment and stay with her?” he whispered.

Paul nodded, scrubbed his damp face with both hands, and stepped up beside them.

Still holding Breezy in his arms, Patrick slowly and carefully got to his feet. Paul tried to take the water globe away from her in case she accidentally dropped and broke it but, even in her sleep, she had a death grip on it so he let her keep it.

When they reached his truck, Paul opened the passenger door for him, then went around and climbed into the driver’s seat. He slid Breezy onto the front seat with her head resting on Paul’s thigh.

“You really love her, don’t you?” Paul asked.

Patrick looked away and nodded, his tears threatening to spill over again.

“With all my heart,” he whispered.

“She’s like my kid sister, ya know? I can’t believe someone would want to hurt her this way,” Paul said, brushing her bangs away from her eyes.

“I know,” he replied.

Their eyes locked and held as they each accepted the other’s part in her life. Without words, a pact was forged between them to protect her always with everything they had. The two men shook hands and Patrick closed the passenger door.

As Paul drove away with the love of his life, he knew Breezy would be safe. He also knew he’d made a new friend to add to his quickly growing list.

Taking out his phone, he called Tom to ask if he’d come back down to the house to help him with the salvage operation.

A door slammed in the background before he finished speaking and, moments later, Tom’s car pulled up onto the driveway.

***

Salvaging what they could from Breezy’s home had taken Patrick and Tom less than two hours. Most of that time had been spent trying to get safely up to her room. Basically, all that remained of it was her closet. The basement had been half full of water, so wading through all the debris to remove her safe took up the rest of the two hours. Thank God it had been water- and fireproof. At least now she could claim everything on her insurance.

Some of her clothes had been spared from the fire, along with most of her Christmas gifts. Luckily, she’d put them into plastic bags after wrapping them or things could have been much worse. Even though the gifts were damp and covered with soot, all but a few were salvageable.

Carl had found nothing of interest at the site and left as soon as they finished. Once Patrick and Tom had gathered their meager bounty, they took everything over to Susan and Tom’s house, rewrapped her gifts and placed them under Susan’s tree. She washed and dried all the clothes they’d been able to save, folding them neatly for Patrick to take back to her. It wasn’t much, but it was something.

She tried to assure him that Breezy would bounce back stronger than ever from her breakdown today but Patrick couldn’t see it happening. Hell, he wouldn’t blame her if she stayed depressed for months. While he waited for Breezy’s clothes to dry, he went into Tom’s office and made several strategic phone calls. Across the room, Tom fielded calls from all the volunteers and directed them in how they could help.

***

It was early evening before Patrick finally made it back to his apartment. He wished he could have brought Heidi back with him from Susan’s but his apartment building had a strictly no pets policy. It’d been a stroke of fortune that Susan agreed to “baby sit” Heidi on their date night…the night of the fire.

Wrestling his way through the front door with one large laundry basket full of Breezy’s clothing, he found Paul in the kitchen.

“
Is she awake yet
?” Patrick whispered, carefully closing the door behind him.

“Awake and feisty as ever
AND
not listening to me…as usual,
“
Paul snorted.

“You’re joking, right?” he gasped.

Was the big man aggravated or just teasing? He followed Paul’s gaze as he looked down at what Patrick assumed was the floor.

“Hi, Patrick!”

He heard Breezy’s voice and looked all around the room and behind him but couldn’t find her.

“Breezy?”

“Don’t you have any baking dishes in this place?” she asked from somewhere in the kitchen.

Paul rolled his eyes to the heavens and shook his head in exasperation. Patrick looked at the countertop where Paul had been staring and jerked back in surprise. The only parts of her he could see were her fingertips, twinkling eyes and forehead as she peeked up over the counter.

“What do you need with a baking dish?” he asked, confused and somewhat worried that she might actually have slipped over the edge of sanity. He set the laundry basket down and cautiously approached the counter.

“To bake my traditional casserole for dinner tomorrow, silly!” she laughed.

“Don’t even try to talk any sense into her, Patrick. She’s lost it…completely lost it! She’s been like this ever since she woke up and talked to Susan. I tried to make her go back to bed, or at least take it easy, but would she listen? No!” Paul fumed, leaning against the sink with his muscular arms crossed over his broad chest, a dishtowel dangling from one hand.

“Hush!” Breezy giggled, slapping his leg.

She stood up and leaned across the counter to give Patrick a quick kiss, then smiled sweetly at him and asked, “Patrick, where is your baking dish?”

“Did I miss something, or what?” he asked, torn between confusion and laughter, worry and relief.

“Oh, just Breezy forcing me to take her grocery shopping, insisting on cooking, and forcing me to help her,” Paul grouched, snapping her on the butt with the dish towel.

“Ouch! Forcing you, my foot!” she snorted, rubbing her backside with one hand.

“She did! She twisted my arm behind my back. You shoulda seen it…she was vicious!” Paul teased.

“Liar!” Breezy screeched, attempting to slap him again, but he was too quick and jumped out of reach.

“Honestly, Patrick,” she said, turning her attention away from Paul, “I woke up feeling much better after a good cry and a little sleep. I talked to Paul for a while and that helped, too. Then I called Susan to see what was going on and she told me what all you and Tom had managed to save. Lord, I’m surprised I have anything at all and I’m so sorry I fell apart on you like that. It’s just…somehow, I wasn’t expecting so much damage, ya know?”

“No need to apologize, angel,” Patrick said, pulling her into his arms and resting his cheek against her hair. “We’re all more than happy to do whatever we can to help, you know that!”

“Yeah, but I’m still sorry for being such a burden,” she said, wrapping her arms around his waist and snuggling against his shoulder.

Feeling his head lift from her hair, Breezy looked up at him and smiled, quickly pressing her right index finger against his pouty lips before he could open them to argue the point.

“Anyway, after wallowing in self-pity for a while, I finally realized no amount of tears or depression in the world could bring back my home or restore my possessions. I lost a lot in that fire, but it could have been so much worse. Patrick, I could have lost you and that would truly have been unbearable. I’m so relieved to have you here in front of me right now, alive and unharmed…”

He realized then what Susan had meant. Breezy had come back with her head held high, a smile on her face, and courage and determination in her heart like nothing he had ever seen. At first, he’d been worried that this was all an act, but it wasn’t. It was…well, it was just Breezy.

Patrick smiled and pulled her back against his chest, encouraging her to continue. He looked over her head at Paul who just shrugged and smirked at him.

“Don’t worry Patrick, I really am fine. I grew up in that house, so I can’t help feeling sad now that it’s gone. But I have wonderful memories no one take away… not ever. The only material things I truly cannot replace are my angel and water globe collections. They were gifts from my parents and I’m sure that, at some point, I’ll look for one of them and realize it was lost in the fire. I’ll probably cry my heart out over it but I still have some left and I’ll always remember the ones I lost.

Most important of all, I have you and all my wonderful friends…thank God! Everything else, including my family photos, was stored in the safe. I’m insured to the max and, if I have anything to say about it, Frank will rot in jail…not only for what he’s done to me, but for everything else he’s done.

All in all, despite the loss, it’s going to be a great Christmas,” she declared.

“You have got to be the most remarkable woman I’ve ever known,” Patrick said, pulling her right arm from around his waist and kissing the back of her hand.

“If I am, it’s because I have the greatest friends in the world to keep me that way,” she said, squeezing his hand and pulling Paul close enough to put her left arm around his waist.

“Nothing ever gets her down for long, Patrick. She’s the Pollyanna of the new millennium,” Paul grinned.

“I am
not
a Pollyanna! You, however, are Dennis the Menace incarnate! Now, get back to work, brat,” Breezy snickered.