23. Rex
TWENTY-THREE
REX
I met Donny and the other guys near Abigail’s back gate, where we’d enter the ceremony space. Peeking over the fence, I noticed the guests had been seated, acoustic love songs played in the background, and an extensive film crew was set up to stream the entire thing. Just an intimate wedding of 2.4 million. I spotted Abigail seated on the groom’s side, and her skin glowed in the midday sunlight.
The only blight on the day was the smell of the compost bin beside the back gate. I noticed the lid was slightly open, so I walked over and tried to stuff it down. A few paper coffee cups from the Magnolia Café fell out and rolled onto the freshly shorn grass. Over the fence, I met Abigail’s eyes as she cringed and mouthed, Sorry!
Huffing a laugh, I shoved the coffee cups back in and did my best to get the lid down. The heat coming off the bin was intense, but I was in a tux, and minutes before my brother’s wedding was not the time to start turning compost .
Being with Abigail would require picking up her slack—and I welcomed the challenge. I could turn her compost and cut her grass. I could build her a new fire pit and unclog her sinks. I couldn’t cook much besides an omelet and toast, so we’d have to have a hefty takeout budget. But those were small prices to pay to get to sleep next to her every night.
Once the lid was secured, I found my brother and clamped my hand on his shoulder. “Are you sure you’re good?”
He nodded. “As good as I’ll ever be.”
The music changed, and soon the wedding coordinator was instructing us to begin the groomsman procession. One by one, we walked down the linen-covered aisle that Abigail and I had nailed down the day before. The sheer fabric along the arbor swayed with the warm autumn breeze. The last few days had felt more like summer than fall, and today was no exception. Their wedding would be beautiful; I was sure Blair’s followers were already flooding her live stream with love. When I’d taken my place behind Donny, I looked out to the guests again, finding Abigail in the crowd. I smiled at her and she blew me a surreptitious kiss.
I couldn’t wait to speak to Gabe. I didn’t want anything between me and Abigail to be secret anymore. I wanted her by my side where she belonged.
I hardly noticed when the bridesmaids walked toward the arbor. And while everyone stood and watched Blair in her wedding gown saunter down the aisle to take her groom, I kept my eyes on Abigail.
As the guests took their seats again, Blair’s gaze lingered on me for a moment. She should have been looking at Donny. Something about all of this wasn’t sitting well with me. Was Blair just as apprehensive about marrying Donny as he’d been that morning? I felt that twinge of protective older brother surface, and I wanted to get Donny out.
But it wasn’t my place. He was a grown man. I had to stop looking out for him all the time, just like Gabe needed to back off of Abigail. That’s when I looked at her again—and all I could see was the strong, independent woman who could do anything.
She inspired me. I’d spent the majority of my life, from the time I was a young teen until now, feeling like I needed to bend over backward for other people in order to deserve their love and respect. I needed to go out of my way to clean up after my brother’s mistakes. I needed to put on a brave face when he started dating my ex-girlfriend. I needed to house him, and coach him through his vows, and be there whenever he needed.
For what?
When had Donny reciprocated? When had anyone reciprocated?
The only person who had stood up for me was Abigail, and she’d done it by pushing me to look after myself. She made me feel loved, and she never asked more of me than what I wanted to give.
It made me want to give her everything.
A wedding. A life in a beautiful home. All the takeout her impulsive heart desired. Popcorn in every cabinet. Hell, I’d live with a dozen Winstons if that’s what she wanted.
She was the spark to my flame. The fire that burned within me. The…
Was that smoke I smelled?
Murmurs danced through the audience, and I scanned the area, looking for the source of the smell. There hadn’t been a controlled burn planned for this weekend; I would’ve known, and the skies were clear.
Was it a campfire? No, a campfire wouldn’t smell so strong.
Then one of the bridesmaids screamed. “Fire!”
Familiar adrenaline began to pump. I followed the bridesmaid’s pointed finger toward Abigail’s back fence, where a column of smoke began its flight toward the heavens. Flames licked the top of the fence just beside the gate…at the exact position where Abigail’s overfull, unturned compost bin sat, full to the brim of too much green matter and not enough brown. Too many food scraps, not enough dried leaves and cardboard. My one mowing job wouldn’t have helped; grass clippings would have only added to what Abigail had been chucking in there for months.
I should’ve dealt with that when I had the chance, tux or no tux.
With a low whoosh , a tree overhanging Abigail’s yard went up in flames. A foot to the left of it, the arbor at the entrance to the wedding aisle fluttered in the breeze, all those bunches of gauzy fabric and dried flowers waiting to be consumed.
Time turned sluggish. My heart rate seemed to slow, but I knew that was just the adrenaline. Distantly, I heard screams. The ear-piercing shriek of Blair’s panic. The low hubbub of the crowd. The clatter of folding chairs falling to the ground.
This was bad. We had minutes to get clear.
As if some malignant force wanted to laugh at my misfortune, a strong gust of wind blasted against my face. All it would’ve taken was a spark, but the universe gave us dozens. Little red embers flew through the air and landed on that beautiful, artful, combustible arbor.
It took seconds that seemed to last an eternity, and then all that careful arranging and pinning and prepping Abigail and the ladies had done yesterday was consumed with dancing flames.
Then the linen aisle runner caught. Time snapped back to normal speed.
Holy shit. Donny’s wedding was on fire.
“Fire!” I screamed and charged toward it. “Everyone back away!” I looked at the woman I loved. “Abigail! Get clear!”
The ground was dry, and if I didn’t do something soon, this could get really bad. I grabbed my phone and called it in, rattling off Abigail’s address and the location, making sure to let the boys on duty know where the nearest fire hydrant was in proximity to the house. It wasn’t far. But conditions were dry and windy, and I wasn’t sure we had the time. Abigail’s old, beat-up garden hose would have to do until reinforcements arrived.
As I ran for the fence, I caught a glimpse of Abigail running past me. She sped up when she approached the fence, grabbing onto the top of it and vaulting into her backyard.
“Abigail, get out of there!”
“We need to put out the fire!” she screamed back as I pulled myself over the fence.
I landed on soft feet and followed her toward the house. Abigail disappeared inside. Considering it was her fence that was up in flames, that was not what I meant by somewhere safe.
“Abigail!” I called, then gave up and raced for the spigot. I turned it up as high as possible, grabbed the end of the hose, and ran toward the fence with the sprayer. Water spewed out of it only to stop after a second, then dribbled in a pathetic stream.
What the hell?
I looked back. The hose was all kinked up. Shit. We didn’t have time for this.
“It’s okay! I got it!” Donny yelled, heading for the spigot before diving for the hose.
I stared at my brother in shock. The old him would’ve run the other way at the sight of danger. He would’ve been more worried about himself and the impact on his football career. But Donny’s face was set in determined lines. He picked up the mess of green hosing and got to work.
I couldn’t help the rush of pride that washed over me. Donny looked up when he unkinked the last knot, then turned the spigot back up to full blast. I nodded at him. He nodded at me. Then I pulled the trigger on the sprayer.
Abigail emerged from her back door, running as fast as she could and holding up the tiny extinguisher I brought over this week. “I got the fire extinguisher!”
Her heart was in the right place, but that thing was designed for a small kitchen fire. Not this .
“Abigail, careful!” I yelled, now spraying the back fence beyond the burning flames to try to slow the spread. Donny grabbed a shovel and started tossing dirt on the compost. Hell yeah. “Good thinking, Donny!”
We got as far as the gate, saving most of Abigail’s fence and getting the entryway arbor under control.
Then I looked up ahead, and the entire runner had gone up in flames. Flames ate at the main arbor. The guests had spread about the grounds, some of them horrified, some of them watching in awe, and a good portion of them just pointing their phones at the chaos and filming. Then there was an even louder scream.
“Ahh! My dress!” Blair shrieked. I glanced down at her feet, and her train was flickering with flames.
“Donny! Blair’s dress!” I yelled, pointing the nozzle in her direction. Donny looked at his bride, then took off at a dead sprint. I followed with the hose. Without him shoveling dirt on the bigger flames, my piddly little spray of water wasn’t cutting it.
I looked up in time to see Donny reach Blair. Panic-stricken, he gasped, then grabbed Blair by the shoulders and pushed her down to the ground.
“What are you doing?” she yelled.
“Stop, drop, and roll, Blair. Stop, drop, and roll!” he screamed back at her.
She wailed and did her best to roll around the grass. Then, like the goddamn Terminator, Abigail marched up to the bride, pulled the pin on the extinguisher, and sprayed Blair down until the fire was out.
That was my girl!
Sirens rang in the distance. Moments later, my other brothers, the firefighter crew, crossed in with the attack hose. It was going to be okay. Once the gang had things in hand, I knew I had to step back. I wasn’t wearing any protective gear, and I’d only get in their way. I ran over to Abigail and took her in my arms.
“Are you all right?” I asked, my heart pounding like crazy.
She looked up from admiring the fire extinguisher’s thick white powder, and she smiled at me. “I’m great. Are you?”
I wrapped an arm around her waist. “Next time you see an out-of-control fire, I want you to run away from it. Not toward. Got it?”
She licked her thumb and wiped my cheekbone. “Ash,” she explained, then said, “I’ll consider the running away thing, but I have to tell you, that’s not my style.”
I growled at her, which made her smile widen.
“Can I tell you something?” she asked.
“What?”
“What you did just now? The whole take-charge, running at danger, barking commands thing?”
“Uh-huh.”
“ Very sexy.”
Despite myself, I huffed a laugh. “Fine. Now repeat after me: When I see fire, I run away from it.”
Abigail just grinned at me and swept her arm toward the remains of the fire extinguisher. “You have to admit, Rexy, sometimes my impulsive nature saves lives.” She laughed at the flat expression on my face and pressed her lips to mine.
Then I pulled away and said, “I’m proud of you, Abigail.”
“Really?”
“You had no fear. And although I’d rather you had run in the other direction, you acted quickly and saved Blair from a bad situation. I couldn’t have done it better myself.”
Her eyes went wide and misty. She swallowed a couple of times, then stroked my cheek. “Thank you,” she whispered, her voice sounding like she was having trouble getting the words out. “That’s nice of you to say.”
I squeezed her closer. “I mean it. ”
We both looked over when a wail pierced the smoke-scented air.
Donny panted, trying his best to calm Blair, whose face was red and fuming behind the dry chemical powder that covered her. Blair stomped toward us. “I want to know who set my wedding on fire!”