THEO
“I’ll see you at the wedding tomorrow, right?” Evan asked as he handed me my receipt after I paid my tab at The Garden on Friday night.
“Yep,” I said, sliding my card back into my wallet. The house had been too quiet without Charlotte tonight, so after puttering around for a couple of hours, I’d decided to take in a few drinks and hopefully chat with a friend or two.
I’d half expected to find Lucy’s boyfriend Owen behind the bar since he’d helped manage the upscale club the past few years. But I’d forgotten that he’d quit his weekend gig a while back since that time was now spent with my sister.
But even if I hadn’t found Owen’s familiar face, I’d gotten lucky and caught my fellow book club buddy, Evan, filling in while they were understaffed.
“Are you bringing a date?” Evan asked, grabbing a rag to wipe down the bar. “Maybe that woman Romeo and Lia were setting you up with?”
He’d been at the party at Romeo and Lia’s house and knew about the double-date setup.
“It’ll just be me this time,” I replied, not entirely sure how I felt about showing up alone.
I could possibly still invite Amanda, and we would most likely have a nice time. She was easy to talk to.
But since I wasn’t sure how interested I was in anything beyond friendship at this point, I didn’t want to blur that line.
Not with the hot air balloon ride still on the calendar next week.
Hopefully, my friends wouldn’t mind hanging out with a lone single guy at a wedding built for couples.
I pulled out my phone to check the car service. One minute away.
“Looks like my ride’s almost here,” I said, holding up my phone for Evan to see. “I’ll see you tomorrow.”
He nodded. “Have a good night.”
I walked through the club, taking in the low lighting and the botanical walls that had given the place its name. The Garden always felt alive. Warm. Intentional.
The summer evening air was still humid and warm when I stepped onto the sidewalk and waited for a blue Toyota to pull up.
When it did, I checked the license plate before opening the door. Probably unnecessary. As a six-foot man, it wasn’t like I was at high risk for being human trafficked.
Still, it was always better to be safe than sorry.
“Heading to Briarwood Lane?” the driver asked when I climbed into the backseat, glancing at me in the rearview mirror.
I hesitated.
I didn’t really want to go home yet. Procrastinating sleep had become something of a habit the past two years.
“Actually,” I said, “would you mind stopping at Charlie’s first?”
Had I just spent the last two hours drinking scotch and eating chips and salsa? Yes.
Did that stop me from wanting a burger and a chocolate shake? No.
The driver adjusted the navigation, and we pulled away from the curb.
A few blocks later, we were in the drive-thru. I ordered without much thought and settled back in my seat as we headed toward my side of town.
We passed through the older neighborhoods of Eden Falls first. Tree-lined streets. Houses with character. Porches that looked like they’d seen a hundred summers.
Lucy lived out this way now. The place she and Nora had moved into a month ago was somewhere a few streets over.
Was Lucy home now? Or was she still at Ian and Maddie’s rehearsal dinner?
Owen was Ian’s best man.
But it was almost eleven. Surely it would be over by now, right?
It had been a while since we’d had a proper brother-sister chat.
And I could use someone to talk to tonight.
Should I call her first, though? Give her a heads-up so I don’t scare her with a knock on the front door this late.
I pulled my phone out of my pocket, thumb hovering over Lucy’s name.
Then I paused.
She had a boyfriend now. It was entirely possible Owen was over at her place.
Or she was at his.
The last thing I needed was to interrupt something.
I quickly opened my friend finder app and waited for the map to load.
Come on.
After a second, her location popped up.
But instead of being close by, it showed her at a place much closer to the college campus.
Most likely at Owen’s apartment.
Of course.
Probably having a sleepover.
I stared at the little dot with her face for a second longer than necessary, then locked my phone.
Yeah, I didn’t really want to think about what they might be doing together at this time of night.
That was weird.
I leaned back against the seat.
Okay. So, not Lucy.
Which left… what?
I stared out the window as we rolled through another light.
Was Nora home?
Or had she gone out with friends? Had any of her other gymnastics teammates stayed in town over the summer? I’d never really asked.
She never seemed to be in a rush to leave after work.
That didn’t mean anything.
Still.
On a whim, I opened our text thread.
Whatcha doin?
I stared at the words for a full two seconds. Then deleted them.
Absolutely not. That was about as bad as “You up?”
Texting my daughter’s nanny at eleven o’clock on a Friday night because I was lonely and a little drunk was not a good look.
I set my phone down.
But I was still curious…
And, before I could overthink it, I leaned forward.
“Hey,” I said to my driver, “would you mind making one more stop? 44 Ashford Street.”
The driver glanced at me in the rearview mirror, probably wondering if I was about to ask him to drive me to random stops all night.
“I just want to see if my sister’s car is out front,” I added quickly. “I’m thinking of stopping by her place instead of heading home.”
That didn’t sound creepy.
Right?
Was I being creepy?
Ugh, I probably was. I was asking a stranger to take me past my nanny’s house because I felt lonely and wondered if she was, too.
The driver adjusted the route again without comment. He’d already switched navigation twice tonight. At this point, I couldn’t exactly say never mind without looking unhinged.
We turned onto Ashford Street.
My pulse ticked up slightly as we rolled past the first few houses.
From a distance, I thought I spotted Nora’s black Jeep parked along the curb.
I leaned forward a little, squinting through the windshield.
Yeah. That looked like it.
Then my gaze lifted.
And that was when I saw it.
Smoke.
Thick, dark smoke curling up from the far side of the house.
For half a second, my brain refused to process it.
Then my stomach dropped.
“Stop,” I said sharply. “Pull over.”
Because their house was on fire.