Chapter 11 Axel #2
“I…I know. But I needed to see how bad it was.” Her voice quivered as she tried to be strong.
We were only able to take two steps in, since that was all the firefighter next to us would allow.
Scanning the room, I saw that there was glass everywhere from the window.
Anything made of wood, including her chairs and cabinets, was badly damaged, both from the fire and water.
A lot of her appliances looked in decent shape, as did her large stainless steel prep table, but we would let the fire damage technicians take a closer look.
“I don’t understand. Why would anyone do this? Why would they want to destroy it?” Her voice hitched at the end, and I could see her eyes welling up.
I pulled at her waist and turned her back to the door. “That’s enough for now. We can come back tomorrow.”
I guided her the few feet back outside, where she promptly curled into me. I hugged her and stroked her hair as I felt her body shudder while she silently cried into me.
“We’ll get this fixed, Stella,” I told her, reaching my hand into my back pocket to pull out my phone. I texted Archer back, requesting his help to board up the window since I planned to take her back to my place so she could catch her breath and stop having to hold it all together for once.
I walked us over to where Trenton and Crafter were standing to let them know we were leaving and that two of my associates would be by to board up the window and secure anything else that needed to be taken care of.
Through that whole conversation, as well as the walk to my car, Stella was like a robot—void of emotion, essentially on autopilot.
I knew she needed some basic toiletry items, but what I didn’t have extras of already, I could have those delivered to my place later.
I helped her get into my car and wasn’t sure if I should try to get her to talk and take her mind off what had happened or keep quiet and let her have her thoughts.
I didn’t have to wonder about it for too long, though, because she chose to break the silence.
“Do you know what time the fire damage assessment people will be there tomorrow?” Her voice was a bit stronger now but still detached and emotionless.
“I can text Wade when we get to my place, but he was going to call and see if they could come out first thing tomorrow. Is that okay?”
“Yes. I’d still like to go to my parents’ house for dinner, if it’s possible, but my bakery is the priority at the moment.”
I had forgotten she was supposed to have dinner with them tomorrow. While I didn’t want her to miss out on whatever fun evening they had planned, I also didn’t want her going there alone, now that Doucet had evidently moved to a more dangerous way of sending Stella a message.
“Where do your parents live?” I asked, hoping it was close.
“They live in Peachtown, which is about an hour away from my place.”
“I don’t mean to be rude, but do you mind if I drive you? Given what happened tonight, I’m worried about you going anywhere alone. I don’t have any evidence to show Doucet would do anything to you or your parents, but…”
“But you want to be cautious,” she said, finishing my sentence for me. “I get it. That’s fine with me. Thank you.”
Seeing the defeated and dejected look on her face, I tried to find a way to change the subject to something better.
“I know it’s often hard to see positives in something like this, but you are lucky it happened on a Saturday night.
Your bakery isn’t open on Sundays or Mondays.
That gives you two full days to have everything checked over and hopefully open back up quickly without having to scramble to figure out what to do the very next day. ”
“You’re right,” she agreed, her voice sounding a bit more confident.
“Scandinavian Sweets also wasn’t open when the fire happened, so no employees or customers were hurt,” I told her just as we pulled into the parking garage for my building.
“Yes, that’s true, too.”
I gave her a basic rundown of my place as we walked inside, mostly as a distraction since she would see everything for herself in a matter of minutes.
“Axel,” she said softly.
“Yes,” I replied, but she didn’t say anything.
She sighed and tipped her head down, tucking her chin to her chest.
“What is it, Stella?”
“I’m scared,” she said, her voice barely above a whisper. “I hate to admit it, but I am.”
“Stella, it’s okay to admit that.” I put my finger under her chin, tilting her head back up to look at me.
“I know, but…” She paused as she made eye contact with me.
Without letting her finish, I put my hands on either side of her head and kept her eyes on mine. “Here’s what I want you to do. Call the insurance company right now and get that process started. While you do that, I’m going to make a hot bath for you.”
She blinked a few times. “You have a bathtub?”
“Yes. A large one,” I replied, smirking. “We Swedes like our saunas and hot tubs. It was the thing that sold me on this place before I moved in—a giant bathtub…with jets. It’s no hot tub, but I fit in it—barely.”
She cracked the smallest of smiles—the first I’d seen on her face since she got Luna’s call—and my chest tightened in response.
“Also, since we couldn’t go upstairs to get you anything from your place, I will pull up my delivery app and order you some things. I have a spare toothbrush, but we can get you some clothes to sleep in and anything else you might need until we return to your place tomorrow.”
“You can order pajamas to be delivered?” There was doubt written all over her face as she asked.
My thumb stroked her right cheek as I grinned at her. “This is America, Stella. I have learned that you can have anything you want delivered to your front door for the right price.”
She snorted, and then her small smile grew a little bigger, and I vowed to put that smile on her face as much as possible over the next few days to cheer her up.