Page 88 of Let It Breathe
“No one knows yet. Looks like it’s close to where the de-stemmer was, so maybe some wiring?”
She frowned. “There’s no reason it would even be hooked up this time of year, is there?”
“Probably not. Maybe something overheated?”
Swallowing hard, she pulled in a ragged breath. “I’m going down there to talk to the crew. Where’s Mom?”
“She went back down to the house to get me some replacement pants and make sure Axl was okay.”
“Where are your pants?”
“Mom got carried away and tossed them in Leon’s trough.”
Larissa would pull them out. Reese sighed and headed across the lawn to where the lights from the fire trucks pulsed. Off to one side, several people from the neighboring cattle ranch stood gawking at the scene. Beside the winery barn, the crews were coiling up their hoses and speaking in jovial tones. Reese said a quiet prayer of thanks, realizing the damage didn’t look too bad.
“Excuse me,” she said as she caught the arm of a passing fireman. “I’m Reese Clark—this is my family’s vineyard. Any idea what happened?”
The man nodded and touched the edge of his helmet. “Can’t really say. Looks like the fire started over there, but we won’t know anything for sure ’til the fire marshal gets out here.”
“Can I go look?”
He shook his head. “Not yet. It wasn’t a bad fire, but we can’t say for sure how stable things are.”
“How bad is the damage?”
The guy shrugged. “I don’t really know how much that stuff costs, but I’d say you got lucky. The fire was pretty contained. Most of the big equipment didn’t get hit. You’ll probably have a few bucks tied up in building repairs, but it’s mostly just smoke. You owe a lot to that dude down there in the ambulance.”
Reese bit her lip. “Is he okay?”
“Yeah, sure. A little shook up, maybe. Go see him if you want.”
“Thanks.”
Reese trudged off toward the ambulance, which wasn’t screaming off into the night with sirens blaring. That seemed like a good sign.
“Clay?” she called as she approached.
A medic looked up at her. “Give him a sec, honey. We’ve got him on oxygen right now.”
“Oxygen?” Her pulse ticked up.
“Just a precaution. He’s fine.”
Reese reached the side of the ambulance with her heart in her throat. Clay was sitting up, but a mask covered his nose and mouth. He had some sort of monitor hooked to one finger, and there was a bandage on his right forearm. Other than missing his shirt, he looked normal.
Well, aside from the clearly defined fingernail marks on his right shoulder. She flushed, remembering how they got there.
He looked up at her. She couldn’t see his mouth, but she could see his eyes and they lit with a smile at the sight of her.
“Hey,” she said. “I heard what happened. Thank you. Can you nod if you’re okay?”
Clay nodded, then glanced at the medic.
“Go ahead and take it off,” the guy said. “Just put it back on if you feel dizzy.”
Clay drew the mask back and gave her a small smile.
“Hey.”
