“I think I would’ve remembered that. I knew he was Jeremy’s best friend growing up, and helped with the cabin.” Sheila didn’t mean to sound so interested. With a flip of her hand she said, “Not important.”
“Oh, it’s very important, and he’s very good at it,” Orene added.
Sheila felt bad for her comment being taken the wrong way.
“Hopefully, this is just an overzealous husband trying out his new Black Friday sale fryer,” Orene said. “I swear we have more incidents because of people trying to fry turkeys. When did that even become a thing?”
“It’s really tasty,” said Sheila. “I have to say I’m a fan.”
“Well, it’s dangerous. I wish they’d put some kind of training or licensing in place for people to cook like that.” Orene pulled her hands to her hips. “Last year, we had a turkey fryer incident that shot that raw bird twenty feet in the air. It landed in a dry tree, and that sparked another fire. It was a mess. Allthat was left was the charred carcass hanging from a branch. Horrible.”
“You have to admit that’s a funny image.” Sheila couldn’t contain the giggles.
“It was,” said Natalie. “You should hear Tucker tell that story. He’s a great storyteller, but fire isn’t funny business.”
Natalie wrapped her arm around Paul. The old man, who had turned out to be Natalie’s late husband’s grandfather, had become real family to Natalie.
It made sense that Natalie would want to stay close to the only family she had, now that Sheila thought about it. Natalie and Paul had formed a special bond, and knowing Jeremy had grown up here had to have been some kind of comfort.
“How about I take you on home, Paul?” Natalie suggested. “Nelle and Jesse are going to stay and box up stuff for the seniors.”
“That would be great. I am a little tired. This is a lot of excitement for an old man.” He turned to Orene. “A wonderful evening, Orene. Thank you for having Jesse trick me into coming.”
“Well, since you turned down Natalie, I had no other choice,” Orene said sharply. “You old bird. You aren’t going to be the recluse on that mountain anymore if I have anything to say about it. Natalie’s like family to me, and that makes you family too.”
“Thank you.” He bowed. “Note taken. Shall we?” He hooked his arm for Natalie.
Sheila watched them leave, then turned to Orene. “Let’s get out of this cold. You’re not even wearing a coat. What are we thinking, standing out in the weather like this?”
“Don’t treat me like an old lady. You know better than that.”
“You’re right. I do. I’m cold.”
“Well, then let’s get you out of the cold,” Orene said. “Wouldn’t hurt for us to say a little prayer for our neighbors.”
It had been a long time since Sheila had turned to prayer automatically. She reached over and squeezed Orene’s hand. “Yes, I’m thankful for this warm and welcoming home.”
She and Orene raced inside, where it was still warm and toasty. Orene pulled up an app on her phone, and a moment later they were listening to the online streaming of the fire on the mountain.
“Is that the fire Tucker’s team is working?” Sheila asked.
“Yes. They got a grant for this last year. It’s very interesting.” She leaned in toward her phone, listening. “It sounds like they’ve accepted the other counties’ help. It must be a big fire.” Orene shook her head. “So close to Christmas,” she said. “How awful.”
They prayed for the fire fighters and the situation at hand. Following the Amen, Orene looked to Sheila. “We’ve got all this food. I’ve got an idea.”
“Uh-oh. You’ve got that look in your eye,” Sheila said to her.
Chapter Eight
Tucker flipped the emergency lights on in his truck as he sped toward the fire. Every minute counted, and any information he could provide ahead of the fire truck arriving could save lives. The smoke was thick on this side of town, making visibility difficult already.
When he turned down Old Mill Road, it got worse.
4450 would be on the north side of the street.
He leaned in, heightened awareness pushing him to go faster. His heart raced as it always did under these circumstances, and at the same time he was praying there’d be no casualties. But lifesaving wasn’t a zero-sum game.
Tucker had a couple of hunting buddies who lived on this side of the mountain, both trained as volunteers. With any luck one of them would be on location when he got there.
