Page 50 of Hiss and Make Up
“Text me when you lock yourself inside,” he said. “I’ll check in with you tomorrow.”
She slid her palm down his arm and squeezed his hand before walking away. It was strangely intimate, given the position they’d been in an hour ago. She wanted to kiss him before leaving, but that didn’t feel right either.
After one last look at the fire and what remained of Denise’s house, Sierra walked back toward Marc’s house and her car.
A yappy bark in the distance reminded her that she would have to figure out what to do with that dog. She couldn’t keep it at their house with no fence and a bunch of cats inside, but she didn’t have time to butter up Marc into keeping him for a few days while she searched for a rescue group. She was pretty certain Marc wouldn’t be very pleased to find out she’d left the dog behind.
Although, maybe the little guy could be her eyes and ears. If she couldn’t keep an eye out for Marc tonight, at least the dog could.
“Oh, and Sierra,” Marc called out.
“Yeah?” she shouted back, bracing herself for him to tell her to take the dog with her. That would put her in a tough spot. She would have to choose between arguing with him and outright defying him. Again.
“Don’t look into this anymore. Please.”
She gave a wave over her shoulder as Denise parked a large van along the side of the road.
Sierra walked to her car comforted by the fact that Marc was used to the women in his life not following his orders.
12
Marc waited in the yard, his sneakers absorbing the morning dew, while Denise spoke to the insurance adjuster. Ever since the firemen dragged him out of the house, he’d had nothing to do but stand around with his hands in his pockets and hug Denise. When she’d let him. The only difference now was instead of watching firemen, he was watching Denise make a claim.
Denise wore the same clothes she’d worn to Art Walk the night before—linen pants and a loose, wide-necked striped shirt. Her hair was pulled back in a smooth ponytail, and her expression was stoic. This was how Denise faced every obstacle: head-on with efficiency.
Only this wasn’t a normal obstacle. It wasn’t like one of the kids had dropped the toothpaste tube down the toilet or her husband had called to say he’d be gone for six weeks instead of four. This was a huge, devastating, life-altering obstacle. Yet there she was, pulled-together in action-mode.
She was handling it a hell of a lot better than Marc had been handling it. After he sent Sierra home and the firemen declared it safe to enter, Marc sat on the floor of the living room and stared down the hall through sunrise.
Denise had wandered through the wreckage until Marc had finally convinced her to rest at his house. Or cry. Or to be alone. Whatever she needed.
“I just can’t believe it.” Denise met Marc in the grass and shook her head while the insurance guy went to his truck to run numbers and file his report.
“I know.”
“How could this happen?”
Marc wasn’t ready to share his suspicions with her. Not yet. And he sure as hell wasn’t ready to share the conversation he’d had with the fire chief.
The chief would be calling in an investigator to determine the materials used to start the fire. It had ignited in the playroom, right beneath a smoke detector. There was no reason for anything to spontaneously catch on fire in that spot.
“What am I going to tell the kids? Oh my God. I haven’t even called Josh yet. What am I going to do?”
And that was it. As the insurance adjuster drove off down the long, gravel driveway, Denise was free to crumble in her front yard.
Marc held her while she cried. He swore to himself he would find the person responsible for this. For all of it. And he’d make them pay.
“Do you want me to come with you when you tell the kids?”
She wiped at her face, and he wished he had more to offer her than his soot-covered shirt.
“I’m going to wait. We’ll go somewhere. I’ll tell them we’re taking a surprise vacation. When Josh gets back, we can tell them together. Maybe by then, we’ll have some answers. We can figure out a plan before we tell them. I need to at least tell them where we’ll live while we repair the house.”
“You know exactly where you’ll stay.”
“Thanks, but it’s your—”
“No, it’s your house as much as mine. And you need it. Those kids need it. It’s right next to your property, so you’ll be able to oversee all of the construction.”
