Chapter 29 - Rhea
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Rhea
The next day at work, I was finding it hard to focus on my job.
I’d insisted to the guys that I’d be fine at home, since my parents would be coming to town and I wouldn’t be alone.
But that wasn’t as comforting as I would’ve liked it to be.
I felt violated knowing that the arsonist had been in my home.
Were they targeting me for a specific reason? Were they trying to get to the guys, or were they trying to hurt me personally? What was the motive?
It was even worse that I didn’t know who it was, either. It could be anyone walking around in the community, or even someone who was in the mall right at that very moment.
The whole situation was making me incredibly jumpy, and I made several mistakes with the admin that I had to do on the office computer.
For a while, I simply sat and stared at it as if the work would magically do itself.
But for most of the morning, I would get up, pace around, and wonder if the arsonist was going to come back to my house given that there wasn’t any real damage.
“Are you okay?” I looked up and noticed Gale standing in my door. She was clearly concerned about me.
I tried to smile at her. “Yeah, I’m fine. I had a bit of a long night.”
“The fire?” Gale asked, and I nodded. “Don’t you think you should take the rest of the day off? Nobody would blame you. Something like that’s really scary.”
“I’d rather be here,” I answered, though the truth was that I’d have preferred to be in the fire station, where I knew I was completely safe. The previous night, it hadn’t seemed that bad. It was a small fire, and it was put out fast.
But the more I thought about it, the worse it was.
Someone had been in my house without me knowing, and it could’ve been truly bad if I hadn’t noticed the smoke in time.
I could’ve been injured, could’ve lost my house, or even my life; though I believed that the guys would have noticed and intervened long before that happened.
They had been at the station at the time, after all.
Still, the arsonist could come back while they were all on another call, or off-duty and back at their own homes. They could be watching and waiting for me to be alone again.
The thought made me shiver, but I still smiled at Gale. “I promise, I’m alright. I’ll let you know if that changes.”
“Okay, uh, well, someone’s here to see you,” she said, glancing over her shoulder. “I think her name is Jackie? I remember she’s been here before, but I wasn’t sure if you wanted any visitors.”
“No, sure, you can let her in,” I answered, hoping that talking to Jackie would help get the worst of the anxiety off my chest. Maybe she’d have some encouraging advice, or maybe she could distract me from it all.
Either way, it couldn’t hurt to have some company.
It wasn’t like I was getting any work done.
Gale nodded slowly. “Well, let me know if you need anything.”
As she left, Jackie squeezed past her to get inside the office, before coming to sit across from me at the desk. She put one leg over the other and leaned back comfortably, as if we were in my living room rather than at my job. I got up to close the door before taking my own seat again.
“You look like you’ve seen a ghost,” Jackie pointed out, clear concern painted on her face. “Are you alright? Did something happen with the men?”
“No,” I sighed, noticing the sheer tension in my body and the way I was sitting almost uncomfortably upright. “Something happened at my house, actually.”
“Really?” Jackie gasped and leaned forward curiously like she was waiting for me to share some serious tea.
I felt a little uncomfortable with that attitude, but it was something I was used to with Jackie.
She’d always been curious about drama, and she probably didn’t realize the kind of situation I was in now.
“There was a fire,” I said tightly. “In my basement.”
Jackie threw her hand over her mouth dramatically and gasped again, her eyes growing wide as if this was the biggest shock of her life. It seemed like a bit of over the top, even for her. I was taken aback by it, enough that I didn’t elaborate any further.
“Are you kidding?” she finally replied, moving her hand so that it was over heart. “That’s crazy! Was it bad? Did you get hurt? Was there a lot of damage? Oh, how could something like this have possibly happened to you, of all people?”
I stared at her for a moment. It seemed like her shock was somewhat out of hand for the reality of the situation. It was like she was reacting to a terrible murder.
“Uhm, no, I’m fine, the house is fine, it’s just the boiler that needs to be fixed,” I explained slowly, still surprised by the way that she was acting.
Something about it didn’t feel right, even though I couldn’t quite put my finger on it.
I was hesitant to share anything more with her, but she continued talking.
“Oh, god,” she said, letting out a deep breath as if I’d told her it was her house that had been on fire, and that nothing had survived.
“The boiler? That’s so dangerous, oh my god.
Anything could have happened! I can’t believe it.
Who would hate you enough to do that? I mean, wow.
Someone just walked in there and lit a match and you were in the house? Wow, some people. I can’t believe it.”
“It’s fine,” I insisted, despite how shaken I still was. “Nothing really happened, and the guys are on high alert.”
“Still, you must be terrified,” Jackie answered while shaking her head. “Who knows when they might come back?”
I stayed quiet, studying her face and her body language, trying to figure out what it was that was bothering me so much about it. I wasn’t sure, but she seemed suspicious; although why that was was still escaping me.
“I guess,” I finally said, continuing to watch her closely.
Jackie leaned forward over the desk, like she wanted to put her hand on mine, but I pulled back. She seemed to simply shake that off, sitting back again with a smile that only faltered for a second.
“Luckily your parents weren’t there yet, were they?” she asked, crossing her arms. “Aren’t they coming today?”
“They’ll be here later this evening.” I was speaking more carefully now, paying attention to every word. Then I had an idea for a way that I could watch Jackie more closely to try and figure out what was going on. “Actually, I was going to make them a big dinner. Would you like to join us?”
“Of course!” The agreement was surprisingly enthusiastic. “That sounds like a wonderful idea. I would love to meet them, and get out of the house for a bit. My husband has been driving me up the walls. He has a new hobby, you know? Birdwatching. Of all things, can you believe it?”
She was speaking quickly, but I wasn’t sure if it was because she was nervous or if it was just venting. All I knew was that I was uncomfortable with it. Still, I pretended like nothing was wrong, and simply answered politely.
“That’s not very exciting.”
“It’s not,” Jackie agreed as she rolled her eyes. “I’m glad the festival is coming up, too. It’s something to do, isn’t it? We’re still all going together, right? Will your parents come at the same time?”
“I think so,” I answered, though I wasn’t sure about taking her with us at that moment.
“Grand, grand,” Jackie nodded slowly. “Well, I just wanted to check up on you, and if you’re fine, that’s good. I’ll see you tonight, and we’ll have a blast.”
After work, I headed back home, still thinking about that interaction with Jackie.
I’d wondered about what the issue was, and the more I thought about it, the more I wondered if she had something to do with the fires.
She had been at the mall the day the kiosk burned, had driven past the ice cream parlor shortly before that fire, had the apartment building and the house on her route as far as I knew, and had been inside my house before.
It wasn’t a particularly strong connection, but it was something that I wanted to look into; if she had been involved, then she was dangerous, and I didn’t know how far she would take it.
Plus, the fire in my house hadn’t been that bad. If she came over for dinner and realized that she hadn’t done as much damage as she’d wanted to, then I wasn’t safe, and neither were my parents. I just had to keep a very close eye on her, and not let her go anywhere alone.
That was, of course, if she had been involved or responsible for the arson.
I was hoping that my hunch was wrong and that she had been so weird that afternoon for an entirely different reason.
She didn’t look like the kind of person who’d randomly set fires, and I wasn’t sure what her motivation would be if she did, either.
Maybe she wanted revenge on someone, or maybe she was a pyromaniac, or maybe it was something I knew nothing about.
Either way, I was going to spend dinner trying to figure out more.
After getting out of my work clothes and into a flowery dress, I made my way to the kitchen to get started on dinner. It was simple; chicken lasagna, one of my mom’s favorites. Halfway through, the new doorbell the guys had installed rang through the house.
I hurried to the front door and looked through the peephole to see my parents on the porch. They were about half an hour early, as they usually were whenever they went somewhere.
“Hi,” I said brightly as I opened the door, and wrapped each of them in a hug. “How was the drive?”
“Unnecessarily long,” Dad said grumpily. “Traffic out of town was a nightmare.”
“Oh, it’ll be worth it,” Mom smiled as he dragged their suitcases into my house. “And you, dear? How’s the new place?”
I helped them get set up in the guest room and we talked about my new house and life, though I left out the guys in my stories.
At some point, the doorbell rang again, and I let Jackie in and introduced her.
She was in a good mood, but seemed to be looking around my house with more interest than usual.
Then again, that could have been me just imagining things.
Finally, we were all seated in the dining room, and I brought out the lasagna and a bottle of white wine.
“Oh, how lovely,” Jackie said, clapping her hands together. “Your daughter really knows how to host, Eleanor!”
“She learned from the best,” Dad said, and I noticed him squeezing Mom’s knee under the table. “I’m just glad you’re settling in well. Jackie says you’ve made friends with your neighbors.”
I glanced at Jackie, whose smile widened. “Yes, the firefighters. They’re wonderful guys, aren’t they, Rhea?”
I noticed the teasing in her tone, and the conspiratorial look on her face. My jaw tightened slightly, and I hoped that she wouldn’t blab about the details of my relationship with Calder, Ash, and Beck.
“They’ve been helping me around the house,” I explained. “They’re very kind.”
“That’s good,” Mom said with a long nod as I began to dish up for everyone. “Especially with all of the fires that have been happening lately around here. I saw them on the news.”
I watched Jackie’s face, and noticed her eyes light up when Mom mentioned the fires.
“I agree,” Dad said, peering at me with a face full of concern. “We’ve been wondering if you shouldn’t come back home until it all blows over.”
Jackie waved him off. “Oh, don’t be silly, Robert!”
I sat down, and raised an eyebrow at her, but she simply continued. “You have nothing to worry about. I’ve been keeping a very close eye on your daughter.”