Page 87 of Let It Breathe
“Can you see what it is?”
“I’m trying.”
Reese yanked open her bedroom door and hustled into the living room. Larissa stood in the semi-dark wearing in a pair of Reese’s old gym shorts and a T-shirt that once belonged to Eric.
“Do you smell smoke?” Larissa called over her shoulder as she peered out the front window.
Reese sniffed the air, panic hitting her like a punch in the gut as she threw open the front door. The smoke smell expanded outside. “Shit.”
She could see the flames from her front porch, licking at the side of the winery barn as smoke slithered up into the night sky. The pulse of lights from the fire engines cast an eerie glow on the nearby grapevines, making them look like twisted old men.
“’Riss—go put Leon in his pen and stay with him,” she yelled. “Check on all the other animals and make sure they’re safe. Take your phone and call Mom and Dad.”
“Be careful!”
Reese took off running. Her feet slipped on the damp grass as the smoke stung her nostrils, but she recovered her balance and kept running.
“Honey! Stay back!”
“Dad?” Reese squinted between the darkened rows of grapevines, trying to see him. “What’s going on?”
“The fire department has it, hon,” he called. “They said it looks worse than it probably is. Stay put for now, let them do their jobs.”
“Where are you?”
“Hold on just a sec. Don’t move, I’ll come to you.”
Reese turned back toward the fire, watching through ashy darkness as her eyes adjusted to the haze. Burning orange streaks slashed the sky, but she could see streams of water gushing from the end of the hose as fire crews attacked the flames. She watched, horrified, from the safety of her front lawn.
The winery barn still stood, and now that she could see more clearly, she realized the fire was contained to the east end of the building. Not where the wine was stored, not where the expensive equipment was kept.
She felt her father’s hand on her shoulder and turned.
“What happened?” she asked.
“I don’t know.”
She glanced down, then wished she hadn’t. “Why are you in your underwear?”
“Your mom and I were making love in the moonlight when?—”
“Never mind,” Reese said, yanking off her fleece and handing it to him. Once it was safely tied around his waist, she continued the conversation. “So you saw the fire and called 911?”
“Not me, Clay.”
“Clay?”
“Your mom texted me a second ago with the details. Guess he was dropping off Larissa at your place when he saw the flames. He tried to get it put out with the hose on the side of the building but called the fire department to be safe.”
Reese bit her lip as she watched the crews hose down the end of the building. “Is he okay?”
“I think he got a little burn on his arm, nothing too bad.”
She sucked in a breath. “Where is he?”
“Down there with the ambulance crew getting checked out.”
Heart pounding, she struggled to know what to do. Rush down there or play it cool? “How did the fire start?”
