Chapter 8
EIGHT
WELLES
“You know they're going to lose.”
Beau ignores me. I take another drink of beer. “They're down fourteen with six minutes left.”
“Plenty of time,” he says. Forever the optimist.
“They haven't scored since the second quarter.”
“Plenty. Of. Time.”
I shake my head.
We've been watching football together long enough that I know there's no point arguing with him when his team is losing.
Especially when he's drinking my beer while doing it. “You want another?”
He holds up his bottle. I get up from the couch.
My radio goes off before I make it to the kitchen. Habit has me reaching for it before dispatch finishes the first sentence.
Then I hear the address. I stop breathing.
Spellbound.
Possible structure fire.
Smoke visible behind the residence.
“Fuck.” I grab my keys.
Beau is already on his feet. “Spellbound?”
I don't answer. I don't have to. I'm out the door.
I radio dispatch from the truck, calling in the department and requesting all available volunteers.
My hands are steady.
Everything else inside me is chaos.
Possible structure fire.
Smoke visible.
It doesn't mean the house is burning.
It doesn't mean Serena is inside.
It doesn't mean anything until I get there.
I know that.
I've spent years responding to emergency calls. I've driven toward burning buildings while everyone else runs away from them. I've learned how to shut everything else out and focus on the job in front of me.
But none of those buildings had Serena inside.
I call her. It rings.
Once. Twice. Three times.
Answer the phone. Please answer.
It goes to voicemail.
My heart pounds harder. I press the accelerator. The engine is still minutes behind me. Volunteers have to get to the station before they can roll out.
I'm closer. Much closer.
I should be thinking like the chief. Occupancy. Water supply. Exposure. Evacuation.
Instead, all I can think about is a smile that’s brightened my whole damn world.
I should have told her. I've known for days. Maybe longer.
I kept telling myself it was too soon. That we were moving too fast.
That I had time.
Then dispatch said her address, and suddenly all the time I thought I had disappeared.
I turn onto Main Street. There. Smoke. A dark column rising behind the Victorian.
My heart almost stops.
I pull up hard at the curb. The house isn't engulfed. Thank God.
I don't see flames through the windows. No smoke pouring from the roof. But there's definitely smoke behind the building.
A lot of it. I grab the extinguisher from my vehicle and run.
“Serena!”
Nothing.
I hit the front door. Unlocked.
“Serena!”
The downstairs is empty. I move through the shop.
No smoke. No flames. Nothing. The back door is open. I run through it.
And stop.
What. The. Fuck?
There are half a dozen women standing around a fire. A very deliberate fucking fire.
Serena is among them. Safe. Whole. Alive.
Relief hits me so hard my knees almost buckle.
Then training takes over. I see open flame. Dry leaves nearby. A table full of drinks. A contained fire pit.
And before anyone can say a word, I pull the pin.
“Welles?”
I squeeze the handle. The extinguisher roars.
Women scream. Someone jumps backward.
“Hey!”
“What the hell?”
“Welles!”
I keep going until the flames disappear. Completely. Silence. A cloud of white hangs over what remains of the fire.
I lower the extinguisher. Six women stare at me. One looks impressed. Two look horrified. At least three look pissed.
Valerie looks like she might kill me.
“What the fuck?” she demands.
I don't care. Because Serena is standing ten feet away from me. Safe.
“Welles?”
I drop the extinguisher. Three strides and I'm in front of her. My hands go to her shoulders.
“Are you okay?”
She eyes me worriedly. “Yes.”
“Are you hurt?”
Her eyebrows pull together. “No.”
“Did you breathe in smoke?”
“Welles.”
“Are you sure you're okay?”
She catches my face between her hands. “I'm fine.”
I stare at her. I need to see it. Really see it.
No burns. No blood. No fear.
She's fine. Thank God. She’s fine.
Her expression softens. “Welles, we were having a bonfire.”
I look over her shoulder. At the smoking remains of whatever I just extinguished.
Then at the women surrounding it. One of them is still holding a cocktail.
“A bonfire?”
“Hexes for Exes.”
I blink.
“What?”
“It was our girls' night.”
I stare at her.
She gestures toward the dead fire. “We were burning reminders of bad relationships.”
“You were burning trash?”
“Symbolically.”
“In the middle of town?”
“In our backyard.”
“There are dry leaves everywhere.”
“We cleared them.”
I look down. They did.
“And we had water.” She points. There's a bucket several feet away. “And a hose.”
Another point.
“And Valerie called the city about the rules before we did it.”
Of course she did.
“Then why did dispatch report a structure fire?”
“I don't know.”
From behind her, Pam clears her throat. “My neighbor might have called.”
Everyone looks at her. She shrugs. “She's nosy.”
For fuck’s sake.
Serena's mouth twitches.
I can't decide whether I want to kiss her or shake her.
So I kiss her. Hard.
Her startled sound disappears against my mouth. I wrap my arms around her and pull her against me.
I don't give a shit about the audience. I don't give a shit that I'm now on duty.
For several seconds, I don't give a shit about anything except the fact that Serena is warm and alive in my arms. And she’s soothing my soul.
She kisses me back. Then her hands slide over my shoulders.
“Welles,” she whispers when I finally pull away.
“I thought you were in danger.”
Her expression changes.
“I heard the address. They said structure fire. I called you, and you didn't answer.”
“My phone's inside.”
“I saw the smoke.”
“Oh, Welles.” She touches my face.
And I can't hold it in anymore. “I love you. I’m in love with you.”
Her lips part. Maybe this wasn't how I planned to say it.
Actually, I hadn't planned to say it at all. Not yet. But I spent the entire drive here imagining every possible way I could lose her.
I'm not wasting another second pretending I don't know how I feel.
“I know it's fast.”
Her eyes fill. “Welles—”
“I don't need you to say anything.”
“But I was going to.”
“You don't have to.”
“Would you shut up?”
I close my mouth. She smiles.
Then a siren sounds.
Shit.
I turn toward the front of the house. The engine. Right. Every damn volunteer in the department is coming. Because I called them.
I grab my radio. “Chief to responding units. Scene is under control. No structure involvement.”
A pause.
Then one of my volunteers responds. “We're about a block out.”
“Cancel emergency response.”
Serena is trying not to laugh.
I point at her. “Not a word.”
Her smile gets bigger. A minute later, the engine rolls to a stop out front.
I meet the crew as they come around the side of the house. One of the guys looks at the extinguished fire. Then at me. Then at the group of women.
“Chief?”
“False alarm.”
He looks at the extinguisher residue. “Looks like you got it.”
“Go back to the station.”
Nobody moves.
“Now.”
There are smiles. I know I'm never going to hear the end of this.
They finally head back toward the engine.
“Wait.” Serena touches my arm.
I look at her.
“Can we relight it?”
“No.”
Six women groan.
“Welles.”
“No.”
“We checked the rules.”
“I don't care.”
Her eyebrows rise. I hear myself. I drag a hand over my face. Then I look around the yard again.
Metal container. Clear space. Water bucket. Hose for backup. A group of most sober adults.
And me. The fire chief.
I sigh. “You can relight it.”
Cheers erupt.
“But I'm staying.”
More cheers.
Valerie points at me. “You're cleaning the extinguisher shit off everything tomorrow.”
“Fair.”
Someone hands me a beer. I look at it.
Then at Serena. “I'm technically on the clock.”
“We have water.”
A bottle appears. Apparently I've been adopted by the coven.
For the next half hour, I supervise the safest backyard bonfire in the history of mankind.
I check the distance from the house. Twice. Move the hose closer. Tell one of the women not to throw an entire cardboard box into the flames.
And endure an endless stream of commentary about the hot fire chief personally supervising Hexes for Exes.
Eventually, Beau arrives.
I glare at him. “What are you doing here?”
“You left me at your house.”
“Oh.”
“And the game ended.”
“They lost?”
“They lost.”
I nod. “Told you.”
He looks toward the women. His gaze catches on Jessie. Something dark passes over his face.
Then it's gone.
“I'll get a ride home,” I tell him.
“I figured.”
His eyes move to Serena. Then back to me.
He smiles. “Glad everything's okay.”
I know he isn't talking about the fire.
“Yeah.” Me too.
Much later, after everyone has gone and the fire is nothing but wet ash, Serena and I stand alone in the backyard.
My arms are wrapped around her.
Hers circle my waist.
“You scared the shit out of me tonight,” I tell her.
“I was standing around a legal fire with a bucket of water.”
“I know.”
“You blasted our ex-boyfriends with a fire extinguisher.”
“Technically, I blasted the symbolic remnants of your ex-boyfriends.”
She laughs against my chest.
I close my eyes. That sound. I'll never get tired of it.
Her laughter fades. “Welles?”
“Hmm?”
“What you said before.”
I know exactly what she means. I look down at her.
“I meant it.”
Her eyes search mine.
“I love you.” Saying it the second time is easier.
Maybe because I'm not terrified she's burning alive. Serena reaches up and touches my jaw.
“I think I'm falling in love with you, too.”
Something inside me goes completely still.
“You think?”
Her eyes sparkle. “Don't push it.”
I laugh. Then I kiss her.
Slowly this time. Just Serena in my arms.
When I finally pull away, she rests her forehead against mine.
“You know,” she whispers, “for someone who thinks we're too woo-woo, you did just save Hexes for Exes.”
“I destroyed Hexes for Exes.”
“Then permitted its resurrection.”
“Under strict supervision.”
“Sounds magical to me.”
I shake my head. She kisses me again.
And this time, when I hold her closer, I don't think about everything that could go wrong.
I don't think about the fires I couldn't stop. Or the people I couldn't save.
For once, I let myself think about something else. I let myself consider everything that might go right. Starting with this woman who somehow loves me too.
And that’s a hell of a lot of magic.