Unexpected Entanglement (Echo #3)

41. Chapter 41

forty-one

Chris woke with a start to the blaring of an alarm. He jumped off the bed as Rowan jerked to a sitting position.

“That’s the fire alarm,” she said in terror.

“Get dressed!” Chris was already pulling on a pair of sweatpants and a T-shirt.

Rowan’s phone was blowing up on the nightstand. She threw it to Chris to pick up as she hurriedly dressed. Chris answered.

“The gray barn is on fire!” Kieran yelled through the speakerphone. “I’ve called 911. I’m on my way.”

“Shit!” Chris cursed as he tossed her phone back. “I’ll go out and meet Kieran there.”

“I’ll get the guests out to the designated safe zone,” Rowan said.

Rowan’s expression mirrored the fear on his face, but he needed to set it aside for now. He pulled his sneakers on. But before he ran out the door, he cupped Rowan’s face in his hand.

“It’s gonna be okay,” he said.

Rowan gave a determined nod without a word and followed him out. He went left toward the back of the house, while she went right to the guests’ wing.

After grabbing the two fire extinguishers from the kitchen, he rushed through the basement and out the back door. As soon as he stepped out, he smelled the smoke and saw the sky lit up unnaturally on the other side of the barn. He dashed to the left side and stopped as the heat hit him. The fire was ablaze in front of him .

“Chris, this way!” Kieran yelled from the direction of the fire as he shot a fire extinguisher against the barn wall as close as possible.

Chris sprinted toward Kieran to see how far the fire had gone. It had swallowed the narrow side of the barn and snaked its way around the long sides. Three of Kieran's people used their own extinguishers to keep the fire from going further.

Aiming the nozzle of one of his own tanks, Chris followed suit. “Fuck! How did this happen? There’s nothing on this side that could cause a fire.”

Kieran’s face was hard as stone as he concentrated on putting out the fire, but it was too wild. A golf cart came speeding in. Alex and Oliver jumped out with extinguishers from their house and, without a word, jumped into action.

The faint sound of the fire truck’s sirens competed with the roar of the fire. Chris prayed they'd get here soon to save the barn. The extinguishers weren't doing the trick. There was too much kindling in the surrounding wildflower garden and the wood planks.

What a fucking nightmare!

Rowan shouted instructions to the guests from the main house to stay on the lawn away from the barn. She glanced back at the fiery image against the pitch darkness of the night. She saw a few people coming on foot from the cottages.

Damn it!

“Don’t be alarmed!” Rowan shouted so everyone could hear her. “You are safe, and the inn is safe. We’re out here as a precautionary measure. The fire department is on its way. Please stay right where you are while we control the fire.”

There were a few yelps and gasps as a loud crack shot through the air. They could see dark smoke above the red fire. Rowan saw her hard work going down in flames. And her heart broke.

An arm wrapped around her shoulders. Rowan swiveled her head toward Rae, and her sister's eyes were also glistening with tears. She clutched Rae’s hand, and they watched as two fire trucks pulled up and the firefighters sprang into action .

“They’ll put it out,” Rae said with more conviction than Rowan had.

The blaze had engulfed almost half of the barn.

“They’ll put it out!” Rae repeated as she squeezed Rowan’s shoulders. “We will rebuild it even better. We will.”

Rowan was too stunned to respond, watching the firefighters’ efforts to control the menacingly fierce fire. Her brain spun, trying to think what could’ve started the fire. She and Chris checked the gas levers and kitchen heating appliances. Had they unknowingly dislodged any of those in the heat of their lovemaking? Or had they missed a candle?

Plausible scenarios ran through her brain as she prayed to whoever would listen that no one got hurt and they could stop the fire from spreading further.