Sweet Little Lies

Chapter 42

CHAPTER FORTY-TWO

My entire world is in flames. I desperately paw at the flames licking up my dress, but it’s useless. My eyes tear across the room, searching for help. Suddenly I spot the bright red fire extinguisher mounted on the wall. Searing pain overwhelms me as I desperately stumble toward it, panic rising in my throat.

I’m only a few feet away from the extinguisher, which is near the doorway to the hall, when I feel a tug at my dress. Amanda is behind me, her eyes wild, clawing at the hem of my dress. I reach back and try to swat her away but it’s useless. She’s pulling me back into the flames.

“Reese!”

I hear a voice ring out, so clear I nearly stop in my tracks. My mother is standing at the doorway to the kitchen, wearing a blue dress, her eyes wide. I blink twice to make sure I’m not imagining it.

“Mom, the fire extinguisher!” I scream, pointing toward the wall. Her eyes follow mine and with two quick movements she grabs the extinguisher and pulls it from the wall. She closes the distance between us, aiming directly at my body. She rushes to me, aiming the nozzle and spraying. I manage to squeeze my eyes shut a split second before she douses me. The white foam hisses as it makes contact with the fire.

As Mom fights to put out the flames on my dress, Amanda, still on fire, charges toward her with a primal roar. In one fluid motion, Mom swings the fire extinguisher, connecting solidly with Amanda’s head. The impact reverberates through the chaos, and Amanda crumples to the floor, unconscious. Mom sprays her down as well.

“Mom, how did you?—?”

Before she has a chance to explain, I hear a whooshing sound from the corner of the room. The fire continues to spread, consuming everything in its path. Mom’s face is a mask of determination as she empties the last of the extinguisher’s contents onto me. Through the smoke and pain, I lock eyes with my mother. In that moment, I see a mix of fear, love, and fierce protectiveness. We both know we’re running out of time.

“We need to get out of here, now!” Mom shouts, coughing from the thick smoke. She reaches for me, but I pull back.

“No, there’s another fire extinguisher, in the hallway. If we can get to it?—”

Even now, I can’t imagine losing my shop. It’s everything I have worked for. I can’t?—

“It’s too late for that,” she says, grabbing me by the arm. “We have to go. We have to go now,” she insists.

“No,” I argue, “we have to put this fire out. Come on!” I say, pulling her back into the bakery with me.

“Reese, please, we have to?—”

A deafening crack interrupts her plea. We both look up to see a flaming rafter plummeting toward us. My mother yanks me back just as it crashes to the floor, sending a shower of sparks and embers into the air. The reality of the situation hits me like a physical blow. The heat intensifies, and I can hear the building groaning around us. My heart shatters as I realize the truth.

I have to let it go. I have to say goodbye to my shop. It’s too late.

My eyes float down to the floor where Amanda’s lying unconscious. “Come on,” I say, “we have to get her. We can’t leave her here.”

“Okay,” my mother says. The two of us each grab one of Amanda’s legs and drag her out of the room as it becomes engulfed in flames. The smoke is rolling through the air now, thick and heavy. I can’t stop coughing. Between the smoke and the tears burning my eyes it’s difficult to see.

“This way!” I say to my mother as we drag Amanda down the hallway. The smoke rolls around us, so thick and heavy it’s hard to see. We struggle to drag Amanda’s limp body toward the front of the bakery. Every breath is a battle, the acrid smoke burning my lungs. We’re mere feet from the lobby when a deafening boom shakes the building to its foundation.

The force of the explosion hurls us down the hallway like rag dolls. I crash into the doorway of the lobby and land behind the display counter. My ears ring from the blast as I struggle to orient myself. Mom lets out a pained cry beside me—she’s pushed up against the wall, her face contorted in agony.

“My shoulder,” she gasps through gritted teeth.

I can barely make out Amanda’s body behind us, still in the hallway now filled with billowing black smoke. With strength I didn’t know I had left, I grab Mom under her good arm and haul her toward the door.

Suddenly, a figure appears in the doorway, silhouetted against the smoke. It’s Tucker, still in his wedding tux, his eyes bulging.

“Reese!” he screams, his voice hoarse.

“We can make it,” I croak, my throat raw from the smoke. I point my arm behind us to the hallway, where Amanda’s unconscious body is on the ground. “Get her!”

Without hesitation, Tucker plunges past us into the inferno. Mom and I stumble out, collapsing in a heap on the sidewalk. Agonizing seconds tick by, each moment stretching into eternity as I stare at the blazing doorway, silently willing Tucker to emerge.

Finally, he appears, carrying Amanda’s limp form over his shoulder. Relief floods through me, so intense it’s almost painful. He gently lays her on the ground, then turns to me, his eyes filled with concern.

“Are you okay?” he asks, kneeling beside me. I nod weakly, unable to speak. He pulls me into his arms, and I feel myself start to relax, gulping in the cool, clear air.

As the adrenaline begins to ebb, I become aware of the throbbing pain from burns and bruises. Mom clutches her injured shoulder, her face pale with shock. We lie there on the cold concrete, coughing and trying to catch our breath.

In the distance, I hear the wail of sirens growing louder. Fire trucks screech to a halt in front of the bakery, followed by police cars converging on the scene. As paramedics rush toward us and firefighters charge into the burning bakery, the full weight of what just happened begins to sink in. I turn to face my shop. The entire place is in flames. The heat sears my face as I watch my dreams go up in smoke, the acrid smell of burning filling the air. Tears stream down my face as I realize everything I’ve worked for is gone.