20. Pulse
CHAPTER TWENTY
PULSE
Payne
Afirefighter emerges from the back of Alice’s house ... holding a body.
It feels like the world stops spinning on a dime. Ruby feels it too. She tenses in my arms as her sobs rack against my chest. I hold her tight. If this is the worst-case scenario, there’s no way I’ll allow her to see it.
And here I thought my life was hell. Watching the scene unfold before us gives that place a whole new definition.
The crew member yells something and waves, but it’s muffled through his helmet and mask.
Two men rush a stretcher and meet them at the side of the yard. He lays Alice down like a limp ragdoll. My hold on Ruby tightens.
Alice’s face is gray, covered in soot, and her hair is singed.
She looks so small, so fragile. Nothing like the woman who gave me piano lessons and definitely not the woman who gave me shit last week when I told her not to eat too much sugar.
That woman was a force and chastised me when she knew I didn’t practice.
I think, even back then, she knew I was only there to be close to Ruby.
Ruby’s body trembles against mine. “Is she...”
I don’t answer and don’t take my eyes off the men working on her. They have an oxygen mask on her face and are checking her over from head to toe. Blake runs to her and falls to his knees at the end of the stretcher.
He repeats what his sister just asked, but he finishes the ominous statement. “Is she dead?”’
“I’ve got a pulse.” My fellow volunteers move into action, even though I haven’t seen Alice lift a finger. “Let’s move. We need to transport her.”
I finally let go of Ruby enough to claim her face. I bend to look into her stormy blue eyes. “She’s alive, baby. They’re taking her to the hospital. I’ll take you and Blake.”
She nods without letting go of her grip on my jacket. “She can’t die, Payne. She can’t.”
“No, she can’t.”
Brand turns to me. “I’ll stay here. Not that you can’t get an update from your people, but I want to know how this happened.”
I lift my chin and tuck Ruby to my side. Blake is on his way to us. “Let’s go. I’ll take you both to the hospital.”
No one argues.
By the time we rush through the emergency room doors, everyone in Winslet knows who’s here and what the stakes are.
Alice Sinclair is that much of an icon.
With Ruby’s hand tight in mine and Blake on the other side of her, we don’t even make it to the desk when the receptionist rushes to us. “They took your grandma back already. They’re working on her. The doc called in a pulmonologist from the big city.”
Ruby clings to me as she demands. “Was she conscious? Can we see her?”
The receptionist hesitates before shaking her head. “No, honey. She wasn’t. And you can’t go back. Not yet. I’ll keep checking for you. Can I get you anything? Coffee? Water?”
I answer for everyone. “Water. They need water. And we’ll wait. Thank you.”
Blake drags his hands through his hair and starts to pace. “If we were home, we could’ve gotten her out sooner. I don’t understand how the smoke detectors didn’t wake her. She’s not that heavy of a sleeper. And I just changed the batteries last month. I do it twice a year.”
“It’s not your fault.” Ruby pulls away from me. I allow it only because it’s her brother. She wraps her arms around his middle and holds on tight. “You were at work because of me.”
Blake returns her embrace before pushing her away and holds her at arm’s length. “I didn’t mean that. Did you forget I worked at the manor every weekend before you came home? This isn’t anyone’s fault. I just don’t understand how it went up so fast that she couldn’t get out. She’s not that frail.”
Ruby swipes more tears from her face. “No, she’s not. I don’t understand either. I don’t understand any of it.”
The receptionist comes back with three bottles of water. “Let me know what else I can get you. I’ll check on her again. I’ll be right back.”
My cell vibrates in my pocket.
Shit. It’s Brand. I answer on the second ring. “What’s up?”
He has to speak over the chaos. “The fire is pretty much under control, but I’m looking at where it started. There are random burn marks where there shouldn’t be farther out from the house. I’ve got a bad feeling.”
I frown and try to be vague. “You’re sure?”
“I was a firefighter and EMT. I wasn’t an official fire investigator, but I watched them work on countless cases. This fire was no accident—I’m almost sure of it. I’m looking at burn marks in the yard. They have nothing to do with the house fire. It looks like a chemical was spilled.”
“Fuck.”
Brand agrees with my sentiment. “Exactly. I doubt you have a fire investigator in your department, but you should be able to call in reinforcements. This is textbook—the fire started in the front of the house. The entire place is destroyed at this point, but it’s plain to see where it started.
I heard some rumblings from a couple of the men.
I told them I’m your friend and used to be on the department in Seattle.
They agreed and called in a fire investigator and an arson K-9. If a dog hits it, you’ll know.”
I pull in a deep breath. None of this is good. My gaze shifts between Ruby and Blake. “Just when I didn’t think this could get worse.”
Brand goes on. “This in addition to Ansel Reid being in town? Yeah, this is on the far side of bad.”
Ruby and Blake are so on edge, they might rip the phone from my face to figure out what’s going on.
Ruby steps forward and does something she hasn’t done for years. She presses herself against me and looks up. She doesn’t need to utter a word. She wants something from me. And when she looks at me like that, I’ll give it to her every time.
I slide my hand up Ruby’s spine before I dip my hand into her hair but keep talking to Brand. “This changes everything.”
“I have no idea what you were dealing with before this, but yeah, I suspect this changes some shit,” Brand deadpans. “I’ll call you with any other revelations.”
“I appreciate it. Let’s hope that doesn’t happen. Either way, we’ll talk soon.” I disconnect the call and prepare to tell Ruby and Blake someone set Alice’s house on fire with her inside.
But as soon as I do, the receptionist interrupts. “Ruby, Blake ... I have good news. Your grandma is awake! The doctors are calling it nothing short of miraculous as low as her oxygen was when they brought her in.”
Saved by a miracle.
Ruby has a light in her eyes I haven’t seen in ages. “Can we see her?”
The receptionist smiles. “Normally, no. But she’s awake enough that she’s demanding to see you two. The doctors think she’ll calm down if they give her what she wants.”
I’d laugh if the situation weren’t so grave, because little do they know, she won’t calm down after she sees her grandkids. Hell, she might be twice as fired up if she had the energy.
“Thank you,” Blake says with a relieved smile. He follows the receptionist who leads the way.
But Ruby doesn’t follow. She turns to me and points a finger in my chest. “Don’t think you’re off the hook for telling me about that phone call. I’m holding you to that, Payne.”
I want to grab her face and kiss her.
Alice is awake.
Ruby isn’t crying any longer.
And she’s not pulling away from me at every turn.
“I’ll tell you. As soon as you talk to Alice and let her boss you around for the next decade.”
She exhales a relieved breath. “I’m counting on it.”
Ruby
“Iwas disoriented. I couldn’t find the door.” I’m not sure I’ve ever seen our grandmother this mad, and she doesn’t hide her feelings about anything. “And it’s not because I’m weak or old. I know my house. The smoke was too thick.”
Blake is being Blake, which means he’s the best thing that’s hit God’s earth since he was born. “It’s okay, Grandma. It doesn’t matter. All we care about is that you’re okay. You’re here and will make a full recovery.”
I reach out and take her hand. “He’s right. At least you found a window and broke it open with a meat tenderizer. You’re a badass.”
“But I couldn’t get out of the window. It was too high.” It’s like she’s mad she was only able to half save herself.
“The smoke was too thick, and the window was over the kitchen sink. The firefighters found you because they saw the broken window. Stop beating yourself up,” Blake says.
I force a smile on my face and focus on being grateful that she’s okay. “You got to be carried out by the burly firefighter. What’s not to love about that?”
Grandma rolls her eyes. “I was barely conscious for the event.”
“You’re a legend. If you ask nicely, I bet he’ll reenact it for you,” I say.
“I’m not sure how that will happen since we don’t have a house anymore.
” For the first time, Grandma doesn’t sound mad.
Fear and uncertainty bleed through her tone.
“I don’t know where we’re gonna go. Francis from Bible study has that big, old house, but she’s a nag.
I think I’d rather live in the back of Blake’s truck than have to listen to her hem and haw about putting things back in the right spot.
I guess there’s the room in the basement of the library, but there’s barely enough space for a mouse, let alone the three of us. ”
Blake throws me a worried glance, and I can tell we’re all thinking the same thing.
Where will we live?
I pull in a deep breath. “Blake and I will figure that out. There are places to rent. We just need to figure out what’s available.”
There’s a knock at the threshold of the open doorway announcing his arrival, and he enters uninvited. “You don’t have to worry about a place to live. I’ve taken care of that.”
I whip my head around at the sound of Payne’s voice that’s become a constant in my life again. If I’m being honest with myself—which I rarely am since I live in a constant state of semi-denial about my reality—I’m obsessed with his presence.