Page 66 of Ryder’s Storm

Careful not to break anything, Scarlet lifted the dirty dishes out of the sink, then looked for dishwashing liquid and a sponge. She found both underneath the sink, and began washing the utensils, bowls, and cutting boards she’d used earlier.

She was only halfway through washing the dishes, when something behind her hissed. She pivoted and realized that the pasta pot was boiling over and extinguishing the gas flame beneath it. She looked for a potholder, but couldn’t find any. Smelling the gas escaping from the burner beneath the pot, Scarlet turned the dial to the off position.

“Fuck!” Maybe cooking hadn’t been such a great idea after all.

She tried to calm herself, and opened the drawers next to the stove, and finally found a potholder. She moved the pot with the boiling pasta to a different burner, and was about to switch it on, when smoke rose to her nose. Her gaze drifted lower.

“Oh shit!”

Thick smoke was coming out of the oven. She turned the broiler off as quickly as she could, and opened the oven door. The smoke coming from the charred garlic bread knocked her backward, and she realized immediately that opening the oven door had been a mistake. The exhaust over the stove was already on its highest setting, and did nothing to clear the smoke from the kitchen.

The fire alarm suddenly went off, its high-pitched beeping sound nearly piercing her eardrums and sending her into a panic.

Scarlet charged to the kitchen window and opened it as wide as she could. She ran to the other side of the island into the living area, and opened the large window there too, hoping to get some cross-breeze going.

The sound of several pairs of feet running down the wooden staircase suddenly drifted to Scarlet’s ears. Oh no! She’d woken the entire house! What a disaster! Ryder’s parents would be so mad once they saw the mess she’d made of their beautiful kitchen. She wanted to sink into a hole in the ground to hide, but there was no escaping this. She was responsible for this.

“What’s going on?” Vanessa called out from somewhere upstairs.

“Fire alarm. Wake your brothers!” Maya yelled from much closer.

“I’m sorry!” Scarlet cried out, just as Maya came running around the corner, dressed in nothing but a short red negligee.

“There’s no fire. It’s the oven,” Scarlet said quickly, tears welling up in her eyes. “I burned the bread.”

Maya was already in the middle of the kitchen and could see the mess for herself. Her lips parted to say something, when she suddenly yelled out in pain and shrank back. Scarlet’s gaze shot to her. Had she touched the hot stove or bumped against the open oven door?

Scarlet caught a glimpse of steam or white smoke rising from Maya’s forearm, before she turned her back to Scarlet as if to hide her arm from her. The smell of burned flesh filled her nostrils. From the hallway, Gabriel appeared, his long hair and entire body dripping wet. He was holding a towel around his lower half to cover his naked body.

“Gabriel, the window!” Maya yelled and ran toward him.

He froze right there, and stared at Maya. They looked at each other, but neither said anything else.

“I’m so sorry,” Scarlet said, tears now streaming down her cheeks. “You’re hurt because of me. Please let me—”

Gabriel lifted one hand to stop her. “It’s all right, Scarlet.”

“I don’t know what happened,” Scarlet said apologetically. “Mrs. Giles, I’m so sorry.”

Maya looked over her shoulder, and to Scarlet’s surprise Maya cast her a kind smile. “Please, it’s Maya, and it’s nothing. It’ll heal in no time.”

Ethan and Vanessa suddenly appeared behind their parents. Gabriel nodded toward Ethan, who walked into the kitchen and headed for the window.

“I think it’s aired out enough now,” he said, and closed it, while Vanessa was doing the same in the living room.

Finally, the fire alarm stopped beeping.

“Hmm, Bolognese sauce,” Ethan said looking at the stove. “Yum! Though the pasta looks a little undercooked, and whatever this was”—he pointed to the remains of the garlic bread—“…is a little… well, fancy restaurants would call it charred, wouldn’t they?”

“Don’t make fun of her, Ethan,” Vanessa scolded her brother. “You know yourself that the oven is temperamental at best. You’ve burned plenty of pizzas in there.”

“How about you guys help Scarlet clean up here while we get ready for work?” Gabriel suggested, addressing his children.

As Maya and Gabriel turned to leave the kitchen, Scarlet looked back at the mess, and recalled the moment Maya had yelled out in pain. She hadn’t been anywhere close to the stove or the open oven. So how had she burned her arm?

“What happened here?”

Scarlet spun around and saw Ryder walk past his parents and enter the kitchen.