Page 35 of Bear Haven
Chapter Nine
Bex rested her arms on her raised knees. She sat at the edge of the yard, staring up at what was left of her house, which admittedly wasn’t much.
Parts of the roof looked okay, but the fire fighters hadn’t appeared optimistic.
They’d all spent the night outside. She hadn’t slept and she didn’t think anyone else had either. Gus had simply held her and she’d been and would be forever grateful for the support.
He was the rock she hadn’t counted on.
The back yard was in decent shape, if no one counted the piles of debris scattered throughout. One of the local motels had offered them all rooms free of charge, but Bex wouldn’t leave the house, the others didn’t either. She tried to feel bad about that, knowing everyone was uncomfortable, but there wasn’t much else she could bring herself to feel bad about, not when she felt like shit about everything.
On the other side of the fence, Beck’s Cadillac, her little truck, and several of the motorcycles were a total loss. Extreme heat melted plastic, pressure broke windows, and even crumpled and warped thin bits of metal.
So much damage and all to hurt her for a crime she had no fault in.
To hurt all of them because they were different, misunderstood.
The mountain air and the breeze coming off the lake, had helped cool the parts of the house and a small team of investigators carefully combed through the first floor. They were looking for concrete evidence of what the fire chief had already deemed was the cause of the fire.
Arson.
The fire was believed to have been started in the back rooms: the kitchen for obvious reasons, and a room they’d used for the storage of renovation supplies. Chemicals in paint stripping materials, cans of paint, varnish, and wood stain. All of it highly flammable. All of it combining to make one hell of a fire.
Gas lines from the kitchen took out one whole side of the house.
The flames licked at and ate at the structure, but spared different parts in strange ways. She’d never been through a fire. She’d never watched one consume and destroy. She’d never imagined it could happen to her. Everything she owned, except the clothes on her back and the small bag she’d carried with her yesterday for her day out with Gus were all she had left of her material life.
There wasn’t much that had been in the house that she couldn’t live without. The furnishings were second hand and purchased for the sole purpose of having places to sit while the renovations were going on.
Most of the work was being done by the wolves and bears, so she’d saved a ton of money in labor and was looking forward to buying new, more comfortable pieces.
She —
“Ma’am?”
Bex glanced toward the deep male voice. She stood when she recognized him as being one of the local investigators. The fire department had brought in two others from Knoxville. One from her insurance company would be arriving later in the day.
“Are you finished?” she asked.
“For the most part. At least, I am.” He held a sheet of paper out to her. “This is the preliminary report. You can give a copy of it to the person from your insurance company when they get here. We’ve taken some photos and I notice your husband has been walking around outside doing the same.”
Bex wanted to smile at the reference of Gus as her husband. She didn’t think to correct the man standing in front of her, either. Instead, she simply said, “Thank you.”
“I’m terribly sorry this happened to you. We haven’t had an incident of arson in this area in quite some time. At least not while I’ve been with the fire department.”
“I appreciate that.”
“I heard you bought the place and were going to turn it into an inn of some sort?”
“I was, yes. My mom ran a bed and breakfast when I was growing up and it’s all I’ve known.”
“I get that. Are you going to stay in town? The community is great and I’m sure you’ll be able to find some help for you and your friends.”
“I don’t know what I’m going to do, yet. I’ll have to wait and see what the insurance adjustor says and go from there. I really love the town. And you’re right, the people are great.” Save for some of her neighbors. The jury was still out on their greatness. “I had looked forward to making Dandridge my home.”
“Well, I hope you’ll consider staying,” he said, offering her his hand. She took it and exchanged a few parting pleasantries with him before he walked away.
Looking over the house again, Bex didn’t see how she and Gus and any of the shifters could stay. They were vulnerable, even more so now.
