Page 51 of What About Us

“I’d say you’re a daughter who knows her mother,” he replies simply and reaches over, laces his fingers with mine, and gives my hand a squeeze. “Bridger will have some answers. Maybe it wasn’t her fault. It must have been a bigger fire if the Silver Springs department called in Bitterroot Valley for help.”

“God.” I close my eyes and continue to cling to Xander’s hand. “That building isn’t freestanding. There are other businesses around us. Someone could have been hurt. Someone could have lost their business. Oh my God⁠—”

“Hey, no panicking. Bridger said they have it under control.”

I nod and lick my lips and take another shaky breath, doing my best to keep myself calm, but I have a really bad feeling about all this. To my surprise, Xander lifts my hand to his lips and presses tender kisses to my skin.

And just like that, my heartbeat slows down a little, and Xander keeps my hand in his, resting on his thigh, for the rest of the drive.

Finally, Xander pulls into a parking lot down the block from Lucky’s, where the fire department has the street blocked off, and I push out of the car and hurry around the barricade with Xander right behind me.

The air is heavy with smoke, making my eyes water. The building has scorch marks around the windows, and it makes me want to cry. Not for my mom, but for Chris. For me and all the years I spent in there, working hard.

For the employees who depend on this job.

“Bridger,” Xander calls out and waves, and the tall firefighter, who I’ve never personally met, comes right over to us.

“You must be Ivy,” Bridger says with a nod. “The Silver Springs chief is tied up, so I’m just going to fill you in and ask some questions.”

“Thank you,” I reply because that’s really all I can think to say.

“The upstairs apartment is a loss,” he begins. “The downstairs bar area has extensive smoke damage and part of the ceiling caved in. It’s certainly not safe to go inside, so please don’t do that.”

I nod, and when Xander slips his arm around my shoulders, I unabashedly lean into his strong side.

“We’re pretty sure your mom—Brenda?”

“Yes, Brenda.”

“Fell asleep with a lit cigarette, and that’s how it started. She’s pretty intoxicated. A customer walking by saw the smoke coming out of an open window and called it in. She was still asleep when the first responders went through the door, and they had a hell of a time waking her up.”

“Jesus,” I mutter and rub my hand over my face. She’s lucky she’s alive.

“The surrounding buildings didn’t sustain any damage.”

“Thank fuck.”

“We’ll have a full report for your insurance in the next few days.”

I blink at him. First of all, I just hope and pray that my idiot mother didn’t cancel the insurance on the bar just to try to save some money for her other habits. Second, would an insurance company even entertain a claim like this?

I can’t imagine it. It’s her own goddamn fault.

“And where is she?” I ask Bridger.

“There’s an ambulance right over there. They were listening to her lungs and giving her some oxygen. They also gave her an IV of fluids to try to sober her up.”

I nod and offer him what I think is a smile. It might be a grimace.

“Thank you for your help.”

“You bet.”

I break away from Xander, immediately feeling a chill from where he was pressed against me, and take off for the ambulance. When I walk around to the back, I see my mom, dressed only in a robe that’s gaping open—for fuck’s sake—sitting in the back, holding an oxygen mask to her face, and a medic is taking the IV needle out of her arm.

Her eyes move to me, and her entire face transforms into a glare.

“Only took me almost dying for you to show the fuck up. Where the fuck have you been?”