Chapter 19
Theo
The Morgan house looks the same as it always does when we pull up—white siding, blue shutters, Jake’s truck in the driveway.
But everything feels different now.
Three days since the library fire, since I watched smoke pour out of that building, knowing Rachel was inside. Three days since Cole and I fought that fire like our lives depended on it.
Because hers did.
“You good?” Cole asks from the driver’s seat.
“Yeah. Fine.” I unbuckle my seatbelt. “Just checking in on them. Like we always do.”
“Right. Like we always do.” But his tone says he knows exactly what I’m feeling because he’s feeling it too.
Marco’s truck is already here. He probably came straight from work.
We find him in the living room with Jake and Tommy, still in his investigation clothes—dark pants, a polo shirt, and a badge on his belt.
Tommy’s showing Marco his dragon book, explaining in elaborate detail why the red dragon is the best in the entire story.
“And then he breathes fire on the bad guys and saves everyone.” Tommy’s eyes are wide with excitement. “Just like you guys saved us at the library!”
Marco nods seriously. “That’s a very heroic dragon.”
“The best dragon.” Tommy spots me and Cole in the doorway. “Theo! Cole! Want to see my book?”
“We’ve seen it, buddy.” I ruffle his hair as I pass. “But it’s a great book. Top-tier dragon content.”
Jake’s on the couch, looking tired. More tired than usual. The tiredness that comes from worry, not lack of sleep.
“Hey.” He nods at us. “You guys want something to drink?”
“We’re good.” Cole sits in the armchair. “How’s Rachel doing?”
“About as well as you’d expect.” Jake rubs his face. “The internet’s been brutal. People are calling her cursed, saying she’s attention-seeking, and accusing her of setting the fires herself. It’s insane.”
“They are all idiots,” Marco says flatly.
“Yeah, well, those idiots are making my sister’s life hell.” Jake looks at Tommy, who’s gone back to reading his book on the floor. “She made the mistake of opening a social media account to see what people were saying. Now she can’t stop reading the comments.”
“Where is she?” I ask, trying to keep my voice casual.
“Upstairs. Or maybe the back porch. I don’t know. She’s been avoiding everyone since yesterday.” He stands up. “I need to take this work call. Can you guys keep an eye on Tommy for a few minutes?”
“Yeah, of course.”
Jake heads toward his office, phone to his ear.
Tommy’s completely absorbed in his book. Marco and Cole start talking about the investigation, technical stuff about accelerant patterns and burn signatures that I only half listen to.
I stand up. “I’m going to grab some water.”
Neither of them buys it, but neither of them stops me.
I head toward the kitchen, but movement on the back porch catches my eye through the window. Rachel’s out there, sitting on the porch swing with her phone in her hands.
I grab two water bottles from the fridge and head outside.
She doesn’t look up when I open the door. Just keeps staring at her phone screen with this expression that makes my chest tight.
“You know, staring at that thing isn’t going to make the comments any nicer,” I say.
She jumps slightly, then looks up. “Theo. Hi.”
“Hi.” I sit down beside her on the swing and hand her a water bottle. “Jake said you’ve been out here a while.”
“Just needed some air.” She takes the water but doesn’t open it. “And privacy to doomscroll in peace.”
“What are they saying today?”
“The usual. Jinx. Attention seeker. Walking disaster.” She sets her phone down face down on the swing between us. “One person suggested I should be banned from entering buildings for public safety.”
“That’s ridiculous.”
“Is it? Two fires. What are the statistical odds of that?”
“Low. But that doesn’t make you cursed or dangerous. It makes you unlucky.” I take a drink of water. “And for what it’s worth, I think the people calling you names online are cowards who wouldn’t say any of that to your face.”
“Doesn’t make it hurt less.”
“No. I guess it doesn’t.”
We sit in silence for a moment, the swing rocks gently under our combined weight. The afternoon sun filters through the trees, casting shadows across the porch.
“I keep thinking about Dorothy,” Rachel says quietly. “About how she was supposed to be at both fires but wasn’t. And I was there instead.”
“Marco told us about the pattern. That Dorothy left the café right before the fire and called in sick the day of the library fire.”
“It’s not a coincidence. It can’t be.” She picks up her phone again, then sets it back down like she can’t decide what to do with her hands. “Someone’s trying to hurt her, and I keep accidentally getting in the way.”
“Or someone’s trying to hurt you, and Dorothy’s the distraction.”
“That makes even less sense. Who would want to hurt me? I’m nobody. I managed a café that no longer exists. I’m a single mom with no money and an ex who hates me. I’m not important enough to target.”
“You’re important.” The words come out before I can stop them. “You matter, Rachel. To a lot of people.”
She looks at me then. Really looks at me. “Theo—”
“I know this is bad timing. I know you’re dealing with enough without me making it more complicated.
” I set my water bottle down and turn to face her properly.
“But I need you to know that when I saw that library burning, when I knew you were inside, I couldn’t breathe.
Couldn’t think. All I could focus on was getting you and Tommy out. ”
“You were doing your job.”
“It wasn’t about the job. It was about you.
” I reach out and take her hand. “When Cole carried you out of that first fire at the café and I saw you covered in soot and shaking, something broke open in my chest. This feeling I’ve been trying to ignore for weeks because it’s inconvenient and complicated and probably a terrible idea. ”
“What feeling?”
“That I care about you. Deeply. More than I should.” I squeeze her hand gently. “That the thought of anything happening to you makes me want to fight the world to keep you safe.”
Her eyes are shining. Not quite tears, but close. “Theo, we can’t—”
“I know all the reasons we can’t. Jake’s my friend.
You’re dealing with Derek, job hunting, and internet trolls calling you cursed.
You’ve got Tommy to think about. You don’t need some guy showing up and confessing feelings you didn’t ask for.
” I don’t let go of her hand. “But I also know that life’s too short to pretend I don’t feel what I feel. And I feel a lot when it comes to you.”
“I care about you, too.” Her voice is barely above a whisper. “But I don’t know what to do with that. I don’t know how to make this work when everything else in my life is falling apart.”
“You don’t have to figure it out right now.
You don’t have to make any decisions or promises or commitments.
” I bring her hand up and press a kiss to her knuckles.
“I just need you to know that you’re not alone.
That someone cares whether you’re okay. That’s when buildings are burning and internet strangers are being cruel and your ex is threatening custody, you’ve got people in your corner who will fight for you. ”
“This is insane. You know that, right? All of this. The fires, the feelings, the fact that I’m sitting here holding hands with my brother’s best friend while my life implodes around me.”
“Insanity is underrated. Normal’s boring.”
She laughs. Slight sound, but genuine. “You’re ridiculous.”
“That’s what they tell me.” I smile. “But I’m your ridiculous. If you want me.”
“I don’t know what I want. Except maybe for buildings to stop burning down around me.”
“That seems like a reasonable request.”
We sit there on the swing, hands still linked, neither of us moving to go back inside. The afternoon stretches into early evening. Through the window, I can see Marco and Cole still talking in the living room. Tommy’s probably fallen asleep with his dragon book.
Eventually, Rachel’s phone buzzes. She glances at the screen and sighs.
“Derek. Third call today.”
“You don’t have to answer.”
“I know. But if I don’t, he’ll keep calling.” She pulls her hand from mine and stands up. “I should deal with this.”
“You want me to stay? In case he’s being an ass?”
“He’s always being an ass. That’s his default setting.” But she doesn’t tell me to leave. “You can stay if you want.”
She answers the call, and I watch her face shift from tired to guarded in half a second.
“What do you want, Derek?”
I can’t hear his response, but I can see the way her jaw tightens, the way her free hand clenches into a fist.
“I’m not discussing this with you right now.”
More talking on the other end. Rachel’s face goes pale.
“You’re insane. No judge is going to—” She stops. Listens. “That’s a lie, and you know it.”
I stand up, moving closer without thinking. Whatever Derek’s saying, it isn’t good.
“I have to go.” Rachel’s voice is shaking now. “Don’t call me again.”
She hangs up before he can respond and immediately sits back down on the swing like her legs won’t hold her anymore.
“What did he say?” I ask.
“He’s filing for emergency custody. Says I’m putting Tommy in danger by being at two fires. Says I’m unstable and the viral videos prove it.” She presses her hands over her face. “He’s using the internet harassment as evidence that I can’t provide a stable home.”
“That’s garbage.”
“That’s Derek.” She drops her hands. “He’s going to win, Theo. He’s going to take Tommy away because I keep being in the wrong place at the wrong time.”
“No, he’s not.” I sit back down beside her. “We’re not going to let that happen.”
“How are you going to stop a judge from seeing what everyone else sees? That I’m a walking disaster who attracts fires like I’m cursed?”
“Because you’re not cursed. You’re a good mother who got unlucky twice.” I take both her hands this time. “And when this goes to court, we’ll have witnesses. We’ll have testimony from people who know you’re stable and loving and exactly the kind of parent Tommy needs.”
“Like whom? My unemployed self? My brother, who’s about to leave for six months? The internet mob that is calling me a jinx?”
“Like me. Like Cole. Like Marco. Like Dorothy and everyone at the church, Tommy’s teachers, and the entire town that actually knows you instead of just reading about you online.
” I squeeze her hands. “Derek doesn’t get to win because some strangers on the internet decided you’re cursed. That’s not how this works.”
She looks at me with those green eyes full of fear and hope and exhaustion. “You really believe that?”
“I believe in you. That’s all that matters.”
She leans forward and rests her forehead against mine. We stay like that for a long moment—breathing together, holding hands, the world narrowing down to just this porch and this moment.
“Thank you,” she whispers.
“For what?”
“For making me feel less alone. For caring. For being here when you could’ve walked away and made your life a lot simpler.”
“Simple’s overrated.” I pull back just enough to see her face. “Besides, I don’t want simple. I want you. However complicated that gets.”
The back door opens. Jake’s voice carries on. “Rachel? You out here?”
We spring apart like guilty teenagers. Rachel smooths her hair. I pick up my water bottle like that was the only reason I came out here.
“Yeah, I’m here,” Rachel calls back.
Jake appears in the doorway, looking between us with an expression I can’t quite read. “Everything okay?”
“Fine. Just needed some air.” Rachel stands up. “Theo was keeping me company.”
“Right.” Jake’s eyes linger on me for a second too long. “Derek called the house phone. Left a message about filing for emergency custody.”
“I know. He called me too.”
“We need to get you a lawyer. A good one.” Jake looks at me again. “You guys should probably head out. It’s getting late, and we’ve got some family stuff to deal with.”
It’s a dismissal. Polite but firm.
“Yeah, of course.” I stand up. “Rachel, if you need anything—”
“I know where to find you.” She gives me a small smile. “Thanks for the water. And the company.”
I head back inside, where Cole and Marco are already gathering their stuff. Tommy’s asleep on the couch, dragon book still clutched in his hands.
We say our goodbyes and head out to Cole’s truck.
Nobody speaks until we’re halfway down the block.
Then Marco says, “Jake knows.”
“Knows what?” I ask, even though I know exactly what he means.
“That something’s happening between you and Rachel. The way he looked at you on that porch. He’s suspicious.”
“He’s protective,” Cole corrects. “There’s a difference.”
“Not much of one.” Marco looks at me in the rearview mirror. “You need to be careful, Park. If Jake figures out what’s really going on before we’re ready to tell him, this whole thing explodes.”
“I know.”
“Do you? Because from where I’m sitting, you’re not being careful. You’re being obvious.”
“She needed someone. I was there.” I lean my head back against the seat. “I’m not going to apologize for caring about her.”
“Nobody’s asking you to apologize,” Cole says. “Just asking you to be smart about it. For everyone’s sake.”
I close my eyes and think about Rachel on that porch. About the way she looked at me when I told her she wasn’t alone. About the way her hand felt in mine.
Smart would be walking away. Smart would be keeping my distance until this custody battle is over, the fires are put out, and Jake’s safely in Alaska.
But I’ve never been particularly smart when it comes to the things I care about.