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I was out of the car in the next instant, the dread that had been pulling in my gut all day—and the last eleven years—all culminating in this one horrifying moment.
“No,” Liem yelled as he grabbed my arm and yanked me back toward the sidewalk.
I rounded on him. “She might be in there, Liem. I at least have to check.” I glanced at the house again, and the smoke inside seemed thicker, darker than it had moments before. There weren’t any flames visible from here, but I knew that didn’t mean anything. In this climate, house fires could progress to the point of seeing full-on flames in the blink of an eye or over several minutes. “I promise I won’t be stupid. Just call 9-1-1, and I’ll be right back, I promise.” I yanked my arm out of his grip and bolted through the side yard, knowing I’d see best from the sliding glass door in the back.
I wasn’t so out of my mind that I was thinking of charging into a burning house, but I didn’t think I could live with myself if I didn’t check to see if Grandmother was inside. I just needed to collect as much information as possible before the firefighters arrived, which meant making every second count.
I rounded the backyard, willing the sparkly shoes that Grandmother hated so much to carry me to her. I took the steps two at a time to the back deck and immediately recoiled from the heat already blaring from the back of the house. I paused, momentarily entranced as I watched the progression of the first wave of thick, billowy smoke rising toward the sky.
It would probably be as strong of a beacon as the city lighthouse, so even without Liem’s 9-1-1 call, help would be on the way soon.
I edged forward cautiously, trying my best to see through the door to the inside, knowing better than to touch it, my heart falling to my feet when I realized I’d have to turn back. Sweat dripped down my back and neck from the heat, and my eyes watered.
There was nothing I could do. Frustration filled me as I turned around just as Liem rounded the corner, looking wild and panicked as he screamed.
His words were lost as the world exploded, and I was thrown forward and down the steps, the stabbing pain that sliced up my legs and back only registering a moment later as my screams joined Liem’s.
50
VINH
“Idunno, man. I just don’t see it being that serious.”
The debate was going around and around, the same as it always had since I’d been renting the boat. Putting aside my motivations to not spend the next couple of hours moving several watercrafts inland, I was still inclined to agree with the latest argument.
I had more important things waiting—ones with storm-gray eyes, long red hair, and even longer legs. I completely zoned out of the conversation when the cut-off jean shorts Bree was wearing today flashed in my memory.
“Dude, what’s that look on your face?”
“Yeah, is that, like… a smile?”
I blinked back into reality and the four local guys around me, a couple who I’d even almost consider friends at this point, and frowned.
Henry, the one I usually found most reasonable of the group, laughed and clapped me on the back. “There he is!”
I sighed and pulled out my phone, checking the radar for myself. They were mostly right. It seemed like the storm would still land here but was already losing momentum out in the Gulf. “I agree with Henry. Let’s put it to a vote.”
We voted three-to-one against moving the boats with the caveat that we would reaffirm the decision via text in an hour.
Good enough for me.
The sound of sirens was faint in the distance as I got back in my car and pulled out of the marina parking lot, intending to call Bree and then my parents, who were working on a surprise for her, on the way back to the cottage. I was just turning onto the main road when the line of firetrucks and ambulances came into view, and I had to pull onto the shoulder of the road to let them pass. I was taking the opportunity to unlock my phone and check the Bluetooth connection when I saw some missed texts and phone calls from Liem.
Not some, I realized. Dozens. My heart pounded out of my chest and my ears rang as I immediately called him back. I tried several times, the call ringing through all the way to his voicemail before I gave up and called Bree, but those calls went straight to voicemail.
A vehicle drove past so close that my car rattled, snapping me into action, a panic like I’d never known before taking over my body as my gaze absorbed more of my immediate surroundings and followed the route of the emergency vehicles.
I barely checked if it was clear before I merged back onto the road to follow. And even if I hadn’t known the way, the black smoke billowing into the sky would have guided me. The drive to Bree’s grandmother’s house was a full-on out-of-body experience, but somehow, I parked on the side of the road and got out of the car.
What I saw next would stay with me until my last breath.
The first thing I noticed was that the house was almost completely engulfed in flames, the heat and the light of the conflagration seemingly at war with the persistent sunshine of the day as the team of firefighters worked tirelessly to put out the flames.
The second thing was the feeling of knee-buckling relief when the unmistakable view of Liem’s half-shaved head came into view several hundred yards back from the flames where he was standing in front of the open double doors of an ambulance.
And the last was soul-crushing dread when Liem, as if sensing my presence, turned away from the paramedic who was trying to treat him, the smudged soot and sweat on his skin all secondary to the streams of tears running down his cheeks, and met my gaze. No one said a word or tried to stop me as I forced my shaking legs to close the distance between us. We met halfway as Liem threw himself at me, bringing the acrid scent of smoke with him.
“She’s going to be okay,” he rasped.
