Chapter Six
What started out as moving a few pieces out of the way swiftly became a redesign session. Together, they started removing the extra knick-knacks and soon wound up rearranging furniture and placing the pieces she thought were superfluous into the garage. “You should be able to call the staging company and have them pick up the unwanted items from the garage. No point in paying for what you don’t need.”
“It’s funny how moving the chairs away from the fireplace make this room so much more inviting.”
It delighted her to no end that he appreciated what she’d done. “So glad you like the changes.”
“Very much.” He nodded. “You should open a staging business. Houston is woefully behind other cities with staging options.”
“That’s actually why I’m here.”
He cocked his head to one side. “To start a new business?”
“No.” She chuckled softly. “I have a client who decided to venture out into flipping houses in Houston. Until he decides if he’s going to do more houses here or not, he’s bringing his team in. In only a few days, I’ve managed to figure out it’s not going to be as easy as I like. We may wind up just buying the pieces I want and offering them for sale later.”
“That might have been cheaper than what I’m paying for this house.”
“Back home, we have top-notch choices in quality furniture and accessories. Here, I’m not finding the type of pieces I need to showcase without overwhelming.”
“I can see it’s not as easy as it looks.”
At the exact moment she shook her head, her stomach rumbled.
Devlin glanced at his wrist. “Wow. I didn’t realize how long we’d been putzing around. We’d better get moving.”
Slinging her purse over her shoulder, she followed him to the front door. “Are we too late for our reservation?”
“Reservations are only a formality. Even if we’re a little late, Stuart will find us a table.”
“Is he a friend of yours?” She passed him, stepping out onto the porch.
“I’ve known him since college.” Devlin turned to lock the door and place the keys in the realtor box. “He owns one of the best steak houses in Houston. Some of my best business deals were negotiated over a rib eye and burned corn.”
“I’m sorry. Burned corn? Can’t be that good of a restaurant.”
A soft chuckle filled the air. “Don’t let the name fool you. It’s absolutely delicious. The whole family agrees, they’ve been dining there for years so Stuart is pretty much a friend of every member of the family.”
“Oh, good. I’ve worked up a bit of an appetite.” A bit might have been somewhat of an understatement. Right about now, she was hungry enough to eat a side of beef all by herself.
Settled into the car, Devlin latched his seat belt and pushed the ignition button. “We’ll be there in about fifteen minutes.”
“Oh?” She secured her own seat belt. “It’s close.”
A grin spread across Devlin’s face as a twinkle shone in his eyes. “Let’s say I know a few shortcuts.”
What the man probably knew was how to win the Indy 500. She didn’t notice how fast he was driving until he took the last corner on two wheels. Or at least what felt like two wheels. She should have realized any man who picks a woman up in a low to the ground sports car was going to push the engine to the limits. Though it was kind of sweet that he was in a hurry because she was hungry.
“We’re almost there.” Devlin eased the car to a stop at a traffic light. The whirl of a siren sounded and he glanced into the rear-view mirror. Colored lights reflected off the dashboard and Dev inched the car closer to the curb.
For a split second she wondered if he had been driving even faster than she’d thought, but she quickly realized the source of the siren had nothing to do with Devlin’s driving and everything to do with the fire department. Despite the power that she was sure came with the Baron name, it was kind of nice to see that he was not only respectful of the law, but at least to some extent, a rule follower.
One fire engine flew past them and then another smaller truck followed by a police car. “That can’t be good for someone.”
Devlin shook his head. For a second he closed his eyes and she realized he was saying a silent prayer. Why she wouldn’t have expected that from such a prominent wealthy man, she didn’t know, but closing her own eyes and thanking God for protecting whoever was in trouble, she took another second to thank him for letting her meet Devlin Baron. She had a feeling getting to know this most eligible bachelor was going to be enlightening.
The light flashed to green and Devlin stepped on the gas pedal a little less forcefully than before. The problem as she saw it though, was that the closer they got to their destination, the more emergency vehicles flew by, slowing their progress. Another few blocks and the problem became very clear. Black smoke filled the night air. “Someone’s not having a good night.”
Dev shook his head. “That’s a lot of smoke and a lot of fire trucks. Whatever it is, it’s big.”
She couldn’t argue with that. The burning stench filled the car.
Another couple of blocks and the muscles along Devlin’s jawline began to twitch. “Damn it.”
“What’s wrong?” Her gaze scanned the horizon, more specifically, the cluster of emergency vehicles stopped ahead.
“The Steer’s Den is on fire.”
“Steer’s Den?” she muttered softly, but she was pretty sure she already knew what that meant.
“Stuart’s restaurant is the Steer’s Den.”
Flames shot up into the air higher than Liz had ever seen. Black smoke filled the night air. With more and more emergency vehicles arriving, Devlin couldn’t bring his car anywhere near as close to the restaurant.
“Now what?” Liz gawked at the flames dancing along the rooftops up the street. “It seems to be spreading.”
“I need to make sure everyone is all right.” Glancing over his shoulder, he looked left then right and pulled the car over to the curb.
The concern in his eyes would have been obvious to any idiot. Though she had no idea what he could do that the firemen and EMTs weren’t already doing, she nodded and unfastened her seat belt.
“No. You stay here.”
“If there’s anything I can do, I want to do it.”
Already standing outside the car, he tapped the roof and nodded. “Thanks. I’ll be back in a minute.”
From where she stood, she saw him cross the barricade the emergency vehicles had set up, and a fireman with a walkie-talkie at his mouth stop him. There seemed to be some vehement words as arms moved and pointed and chins jutted forward. Reaching into his breast pocket, Devlin waved his wallet in the man’s face. Suddenly, the wide ranged arm motions stopped and the fireman turned his back to Devlin, pointing in a different direction.
Apparently, there were more perks to being a Baron than she’d figured on. What else was there about the Barons, especially Devlin Baron, that she didn’t know about?
Not that he could replace the firemen or the EMTs, but Devlin was a Baron, and sometimes, that made things happen faster or more effectively than they might under ordinary circumstances. Promising the captain he would stay out of the way, the man finally gave in and told Devlin that everyone had been evacuated safely, and pointed to where they were being triaged on the other side of the fire trucks.
Looking back to where he’d left the car, he could see Liz on her feet, straining to see what was going on. Bless her, she’d stayed back as he’d asked her to, but he couldn’t leave her there and check on what he wanted to. Trotting back to the car, he grabbed for her hand. “Come on. It looks like everyone’s out, but I still want to see for myself they’re all right.”
Slamming the door behind her, she hurried after him, matching her gait to his longer one. Deep down he knew he should slow down, but he needed to make sure Stuart and all his staff were safe and had all they needed.
Hurrying around the cluster of firetrucks, he ducked behind the first EMT truck. A woman sat on a stretcher, inhaling oxygen, with one EMT monitoring her while his partner checked another woman sitting on the floor. The lady on the floor seemed to be in better shape than the woman with the oxygen mask. “Have you seen Stuart?”
“He was the last one out.” The girl, probably in her early twenties and a newer server since Dev didn’t recognize her, pointed over her shoulder. “He’s being difficult.”
That’s just one of the things Devlin was afraid of. Forcing himself to walk at a reasonable pace, he didn’t let go of Liz’s hand. He had no idea if she cared or not, but right now he had a singular focus and didn’t want to add worrying about Liz to the list.
“Is that him?” Liz waved her free arm near another EMT truck.
Lifting his gaze in the same direction Liz pointed, he spotted a tall male figure shouting and waving his arms, clearly giving the EMT a hard time. “Yep. That’s Stuart.”
He’d taken one step, maybe two, when he heard shouting and spotted the firemen hurrying away from the building as a loud crunching sound echoed around them. Looking up at the old restaurant, the flames shot up higher than he’d ever seen. A boom followed the crunch and bursting flames, and in the blink of an eye the roof collapsed.
There was no mistaking the echoing sound of a male voice, probably the captain, shouting for his men to report in. One by one he heard the muffled voices of men identifying themselves. Another moment and there was more frantic yelling, a hose shifting to pour water at a different spot, and another few breathless moments and two firemen came out the doorway under a rush of water, one leaning heavily on the other.
Dev could almost feel the sigh of relief embrace him as more firemen ran and the one man, pulling away from his partner, limped over to the waiting EMT.
“Oh, thank god.” Shaking her head, Liz pressed her lips tightly together before facing him again. “It’s a miracle no one got hurt.”
“I was just thinking the same thing.”
“I’m fine, damn it.” Stuart’s voice climbing over the hum of noise around them snapped Devlin’s thoughts away from the building collapse and back to the scramble of restaurant staff.
“Stuart,” Devlin called out as he and Liz trotted over to him. “What do you think you’re doing?”
“I need to get to the hospital.”
“That’s what we’ve been telling him,” the EMT fighting with him shouted over the noise around them.
“Not me.” Stuart practically growled at the man. “They’ve taken half my people to the hospital.”
“Just as a precaution. There are no serious injuries, except for your arm. Now will you please let me take a look?” The EMT reached for Stuart’s right arm.
The fabric was torn and it was clear his arm was badly burned. That had Dev’s gaze drifting to Stuart’s other arm. The shirt also torn, his hand had less severe burns. “What the heck happened?”
“I had to get everyone out. Sarah was petrified. Literally. She stared at the flames in the storage room and wouldn’t move. I had to douse us in water and practically carry her out.”
“And then he ran back in to make sure no one was left behind.” One of the regular waiters that Dev recognized came to stand beside them.
“How ya feeling, Tom?” Concerned with his employee, Stuart forgot about the EMT and let the guy check his arm and his vitals.
“I’m fine. Not a scratch on me. I did a head count,” Tom said. “Everyone is accounted for and you’re the only one injured.”
“What about Mary? She’s on oxygen.” Stuart’s gaze skipped to the other EMT vehicle where they’d seen the woman on a stretcher on oxygen.
“Just a precaution,” the EMT responded, wrapping a blood pressure cuff on Stuart’s arm.
“She has asthma.” Stuart closed his eyes.
“We know. Like I said, a precaution.”
With that, the doors closed on the vehicle holding Mary and pulled away.
“What can I do?” Dev asked.
Stuart shook his head. “I have no idea right now.”
“Are you insured?”
This time his friend nodded. “It happened so fast. It was insane. The smoke was so thick.”
“I know.” Dev patted the man’s good shoulder.
“Your BP is through the roof.” The EMT folded up the blood pressure cuff.
“No, surprise there.” Stuart rolled his eyes.
“We need to get you to the hospital, treat that arm, monitor your BP, and…” the EMT raised his hand before Stuart could protest, “this way you can check on your people yourself.”
Stuart nodded. “Okay. Good idea.”
“I’ll call you in the morning. See how you’re doing,” Devlin said.
“Thanks.” Stuart tried to smile but only one corner of his mouth barely moved. “Sorry about your reservation.”
Dev couldn’t help but chuckle, and thankfully, that pulled a slight smile from Stuart. “It’ll be all right.”
Stuart sighed. “Let’s hope the insurance company agrees.”
“We’ll talk in the morning.” Dev took a step back. “Go take care of yourself.” He stood still until the vehicle pulled away with Stuart inside. Spinning around, he realized he was still holding Liz’s hand. What a way to start an evening out. He was going to have to make this up to her. “Hungry?”