42. Chapter 42
forty-two
The morning had come and gone by the time Rowan walked through the rubble of the gray barn. Half of her gorgeous barn was now reduced to a pile of smoldering wet wood.
The firefighters had snuffed out the fire quickly and contained it from spreading to other nearby structures. The long tables and chairs inside were definitely ruined. She couldn’t enter the barn to assess damage in the catering kitchen just yet, but she hoped it was salvageable.
Rowan and Rae had ushered the guests into the dining room when the fire had been doused. They’d offered hot drinks and snacks to calm everyone’s nerves. Naturally, people had been distraught but grateful that the fire hadn’t affected the main house.
Rowan had then persuaded them to return to their rooms to rest. The brunch had been ready at the scheduled time, thanks to the marvel of her friends, who had pushed through even after being jolted awake at four in the morning. And the guests had departed at the scheduled time without issues.
Meredith had cried for Rowan, but Rowan was just glad this disaster had happened after the wedding. She hoped it wouldn’t mar Meredith’s memory of the weekend. Her cousin had assured her it was an unforgettable wedding.
Yeah, unforgettable, all right. Rowan just hoped it was unforgettable for the right reason.
“We can be grateful it’s the barn and not the house,” Kieran said, standing beside her.
“That’s true,” Rae agreed from Rowan’s other side .
“Who the fuck would do this?” The seething rage in Chris’ voice rang clear.
They had called the police to report it under the recommendation of the fire chief, who believed it might be arson. He couldn’t confirm until the rubble cooled down, but he thought he could smell a trace of gasoline.
Rowan had no clue who could have done this.
“I swear to God if Gibbes is behind this—” Chris started to say.
“I don’t think it’s Gibbes. He’s a respected member of the community. Why would he do this?” Rowan reasoned, though she wasn’t sure she believed her own argument.
“Who else has been against you all this time?” Chris questioned, his face tight as he glanced between Rowan and Kieran.
“I don’t know,” Kieran answered. “We’ll let the fire investigator and police figure it out. We have more important things to do than speculate about who the culprit is.”
“I assume Bright Head has insurance?” Rae asked.
“Yeah. I’ll make the call,” Rowan said glumly.
“I can help if you need more money for the repairs,” Rae offered.
Rowan patted Rae’s arm. “Dad set up funds for Bright Head. Now that we’re all together, we’ll have access to it. And with the insurance money, we’ll have more than enough to fix this.”
“What’s the point of fixing things if someone keeps breaking them?” Chris questioned. “We need to catch the person behind all of this!”
Rowan turned to Chris. “Kieran is right. Let the police handle it. You were the one who encouraged us to go to the police after the stairs incident.”
“And what have they done so far? How do we know Gibbes doesn’t have them in his pockets?” Chris demanded.
Frowning at him, Kieran said, “This isn’t New York, Chris. We have honest people working and serving this island.”
Chris scoffed. “You guys are so naive.”
“Chris,” Rae warned, surprised by Chris’ remark.
“I’m with Chris on this one,” Alex, who had been quiet, chimed in. “This is serious, guys.”
“Since I got here, there have been broken pipes, broken steps—both have injured you, Rowan. Then there was the breaking and entering, the inspector’s surprise visit, and now fire. Whoever is doing this, he’s escalating. You are damn lucky no one got hurt. But who knows what could happen next?” Chris pointed out.
“What else can we do besides let the police investigate?” Rowan challenged.
“I don’t know. Something!” Chris threw his arms up in frustration. “We can’t just stand here and say, ‘Oh, well. This sucks.’ We have to do something.”
“We are doing something,” Kieran said, putting his hand on Chris’ shoulder to calm him. “We'll rebuild. They won’t scare us off.”
“Fuck!” Chris cursed under his breath as he pulled away from Kieran.
Chris’ level of anger confused Rowan. She was furious about what happened, but did Chris expect them to play detectives?
“What if someone gets hurt the next time this person strikes?” Chris hurled the question to Rowan, staring straight at her. “Really hurt? Like you did, but worse. First, a cut, then a sprained ankle. What if the bastard had torched the house instead? While you were sleeping?”
Everyone went still.
“I don’t think this is about the fire anymore,” Rae told the rest of the group. “Why don’t we leave the two of them alone?”
Chris didn’t take his eyes off Rowan. He didn’t even register when Rae, Kieran, and Alex left. Scenarios where things went terribly wrong had played in his mind during the fire. He’d seen Rowan trapped in the burning barn. He'd never felt that kind of fear before, the fear that something bad could happen to her and he wasn't there.
“I told you I can’t think of what-ifs,” Rowan said. “I can only deal with what’s happening in front of me. And right now, I’ll deal with this by cleaning this mess up and fixing it with what we have. If I focus on what horrible things might happen, I’ll never do anything, Chris. Of all people, I thought you’d understand that.”
Chris did. He was a big believer in taking chances, but not when someone dear to him might be on the line .
“I do, Rowan. I just want us to take every precaution to prevent something like this from happening again,” Chris said.
“And I will. Kieran, Rae, and I will discuss it,” Rowan said.
Chris blinked at her answer. Something didn’t sound right to him.
“You don’t have to worry about it. It’s not your problem,” she continued.
“What are you talking about? Of course, it’s my problem.”
“No, Chris,” Rowan insisted. “It’s my problem. You’ve done enough. You can go home now. I can take care of this mess. I’m sure Kieran and Rae will help, but I’ll handle it.”
“Rowan, if you think I can leave while you’re dealing with this, you’re out of your mind,” Chris said, flabbergasted.
Rowan sighed. “Let’s not make this harder than it already is. I’ve kept you long enough from your other commitment. Your dad is waiting for you.”
“My dad can wait,” Chris argued.
“For how long?” Rowan gave a short laugh. “Take it from me who just lost her dad unexpectedly. Don’t waste time thinking you have plenty of it, because we don’t know how long we have.”
“Rowan, that’s why I need—”
“Go home, Chris. See what your dad wants,” Rowan interrupted. “You are overdue.”
Chris stared at her, confused. “Are you telling me to leave for my dad, or do you just want me gone?”
Rowan pressed her lips into a straight line and didn’t answer.
“I see,” Chris said bitterly. “You’re done with this temporary arrangement between us.”
Not rising to the bait, she simply said, “We agreed on two weeks. And two weeks are up.”
Chris had never felt his jaw this tight as he tried to swallow Rowan’s dismissal.
“I got used to having you around too much,” Rowan explained. “I hope you understand it’s not because I don’t appreciate what you’ve done or what we had. It’s because the longer you stay, the more dependent I am on you. I need to learn to do this on my own. It’s easier if we rip off the band-aid as fast as possible.”
He’d done the same thing with his dad, where he’d broken off from The Sullens Hotels to go off on his own. Though he didn’t like it, he begrudgingly got where she came from.
“I understand,” he said finally .
Rip off the band-aid, Sullens.
“I can catch the three-fifteen ferry with Walt and Jane,” he added.
A tear rolled off Rowan’s eye as she stepped closer to him. “I’m sorry, Chris.”
“You and I are not done,” Chris said, unable to help himself. “You may need time, but…”
Rowan gave him a bemused smile, as if he was out of touch with reality. She cupped his face in her hands. “You gave me two weeks I’ll never forget. Let’s leave it at that. Our worlds are too far apart. The entire world is your playground. While this place is my life.”
“Rowan…” Chris shook his head, not wanting to accept her reasoning.
She put a finger on his lips, and with her eyes pleading, she asked, “Just kiss me one last time.”