41. Jude
Jude
Colt: Just spoke to Harlow and she’s fine. Stop freaking out man. She’s heading over to Kasey’s
Colt: Why is Wells calling me about you losing your shit at Trevor in the cafe?
Colt: Do I need to come to town?
I jumped in the car as soon as I saw him mention Harlow’s name, and quickly shot off a text before I started driving.
Me: It wasn’t in Sweater Weather. It was outside.
I kept my eyes trained on the road as my surroundings turned from red brick to orange leaves, and I crossed over the covered bridge.
Still, my thoughts were stuck on Harlow.
I hadn’t seen her since she’d left the meeting yesterday almost in tears.
When I went to find her afterward I found her desk empty.
Nora had raised her brows at me and said, “She looked pretty mad through the window.”
“What window?”
“The glass part of the door, Jude. She stopped and listened to the beginning of your speech.”
Shit.
I wasn’t sure what she had heard, but I was sure she was avoiding me now. I just needed to talk to her and tell her what had happened in the meeting after she’d left, because clearly I’d given her the wrong impression. Again.
As soon as she found out I’d been the one to take the posts down, I knew my mistakes.
The cold betrayal across her face had been like a slap across mine—one that I very much deserved.
I’d already returned everything to the way it was.
And I’d meant for that confrontation in the meeting room to be a fix, not another fuck-up.
My phone rang from the centre console and Colt’s name flashed onto the screen, pulling me from my spiral.
“What is it? I’m on my way home.”
His words were blunt and out of breath.
“There’s a fire. The old barn. I was on the phone with Wells when I saw it, he’s on his way. Called the fire department too. I think you should—”
My body felt like stone. I must have dropped the phone at some point, too.
If I did, I don’t entirely remember. But suddenly there wasn’t any more talking, just a ringing in my ears as I pressed down on the gas pedal.
This road was too long; I was silently begging for the Bramley Farm sign to be just around the corner. I needed to be there.
Finally, the turn came into view and I spun onto the dirt road. A plume of black smoke reared up in front of me. And that smell. Old burning dust and wood. It was putrid.
I tore out of the truck, leaving the door open behind me as I ran toward the barn.
Then there were hands on my shoulders, holding me back.
Colt. Standing there panting with grease smeared across his face.
I didn’t need to ask if he’d tried turning off the generator, he would have dealt with that already.
Still, the fire kept burning.
“You saw Harlow? Is she all right?”
“She said she was going to Kasey’s. I think it’s just the barn.” He took another look at my surely wild eyes and added. “I’ll text Kase now.”
Nothing could calm me as I stared into the roaring blaze. Luckily, Colt placed a fire extinguisher in my hand to give me something to do. I put the tool to use, spraying the base of any flames I could find. But with every flame I put out, another beam was engulfed.
I rounded the building, feeling helpless at the plumes of smoke leaving the barn door, just as my extinguisher began to run out of foam. Colt was dampening the flames with a hose at the other end of the barn, but it didn’t seem to be helping either.
Then, out of the corner of my eye, I caught sight of a tote bag almost hidden by the barn door. There was a book spilling out of it and some pens. It’s hers.
No.
No.
No.
Is she in the barn?
I dropped everything in my hands as I raced toward the entrance. The roar of the flames was too loud to hear a thing inside. I screamed, “Harlow!” The word burned through my throat as Colt rushed over to me.
No.
“She’s in the barn,” I yelled. “I have to go in.”
My hands itched to claw at the wood and tear it from its place just to get to her. My thoughts were wild just as a car pulled up behind us. Wells was here. His firefighter jacket a blur in my peripheral vision.
“Harlow’s in there.” My voice was ragged.
In danger.
Trapped.
He ran past me toward the door. “I’ll get her.” With that, he disappeared into the smoke and flames. I almost tried to follow him.
“Don’t.” Colt’s stern voice sounded as he grabbed the hose and wiped soot stained sweat from his face. “Don’t give him more to worry about. He knows what he’s doing.”
He was probably right and more mentally sound than I was right now. I trusted them both. But Colt had worried lines etched into his face and fear in his eyes. And I couldn’t hold myself back any longer.
A loud crack sounded from inside and sparks flew into the air.
Wells should be out of there by now.
I rushed back to the side of the barn where the wooden walls were covered in soot. Then without a second thought, I kicked the wall.
For Harlow.
It began to give way as I threw my weight into the wood again.
For Wells.
There were sirens in the distance but I was here now and I had to do something.
I have to get in there.
I kicked and shoved. The wood cracked and the wall opened up, leaving thick smoke in my path. But in some miracle, there were no large flames in front of me. Those seemed to be burning closer to the door.
I have to go.
I pushed at the wood again to widen the hole and stepped in, raising the flannel fabric of my shirt over my mouth as I did. Through my makeshift mask, I shouted her name. I tried to stay low to avoid the smoke but it was almost impossible to see.
Every inch was covered in smoggy air and sparks of fearsome glowing light. I couldn’t see any people, alive or dead.
Until… “Jude!”
I heard her somewhere deep in the building and my heart clenched.
My name. Her voice.
She was still alive.
The shout was muffled, but it came from somewhere in the back corner. Despite my distorted vision, I followed the sound of it like a magnet.
Heat built as I moved through the barn. The air was heavy with smoke. I thought I knew every piece of our property like the back of my hand, but the fire had turned this place into a maze. Every step I took was slowed with debris.
Until my hands found the cool panel of the bathroom door.
“Harlow?” My voice sounded wrecked.
“Jude!” she screamed my name and a sob followed.
I almost ripped the door off the hinges.
I threw myself into the self-contained room, slamming the door shut.
It was the only protection between us and the raging fire on the other side, as I wrapped my arms around her.
She was shaking, and my breath was ragged.
But I held her as tightly as I possibly could.
She’s alive. Really here. In my arms.
I might have never gotten the chance to hold her like this again.
She repeated my name over and over as if it was the only thing she could think of, between sobs that racked through her body.
I felt the same. She took up every inch of my brain, now and always.
“We need to go.” I untangled myself from her and offered out my hand. “Hold on.”
Her eyes were reddened and wide. But she nodded, trusting me, even as I pulled us from the bathroom and back into the black smoke.
That small room had managed to hold off more of the wreckage than the main part of the barn. But now we were out in the open. I tried to follow the same path I’d taken into the building, but I could barely see my hand in front of me.
There was shouting coming from the outside. Even some voices that sounded like they’d spilled into the barn. Still, the cracking wood and flames distorted them.
And where the fuck was Wells? I should have found him with Harlow. But for now, I had her with me so I needed to push forward.
A glimmer of daylight appeared ahead of us.
It was the hole in the wall I’d made. I gripped Harlow’s hand tighter, nudging her before me through the opening.
She stumbled out, coughing as she collapsed on the ground.
But she was outside. I clambered over the broken wood and fell to the ground beside her.
Suddenly, we were surrounded but I stayed focused on my girl. I held her in my arms, rubbing her back and running my hands over her to check for any injuries.
Then I looked up to a firefighter, who was wrapping a metallic sheet around us both, and asked, “Wells?”
Her face looked solemn. “We haven’t found him yet.”
My heart stuttered, it was only just beating normally again now that Harlow was safe. But my best friend hadn’t come out. I couldn’t stay.
“Have you got her?”
The blonde firefighter nodded, and with that confirmation I ran to the barn door once again. A crowd of brown and reflective green uniforms were working there. Before I could run into the fiery barn, the group stilled.
Something—besides the obvious—was wrong.
Two firefighters, fully suited, broke through the smoke, dragging a person from the burning building. Not just any person.
Wells.
His clothes were burned. There was blood all up his side.
Worst of all, he was still.