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“Mom?” He answered in a sleepy tone, having just woken up. “Do you smell smoke? I thought I was dreaming about Dad.”
“It's not a dream, Josh.” Her heart squeezed for her son, who obviously missed his father. Sam had died six months ago, and so much had happened since then, not least of all the recent move to this house. She could understand why he'd make the connection. When her firefighter husband had been alive, he'd often come home reeking of smoke. The kind that came from fighting fires, not from smoking cigarettes or cigars.
It was the same cent filling the air now. “Come here.” She gathered him in a one armed hug. “Let's see what's going on.”
In the living room, red and blue lights flashed brightly through the front window. Screaming fire trucks pulled up, blocking the end of their driveway. Pressing her nose against the glass, she peered out and saw firefighters and police gathering around the house next door. It was the Tolliver’s place. They're hadn't been time to get to know her neighbors, but she had briefly met single mom Anna Tolliver and her two girls, who were both a few years younger than Josh.
“Wow,” Josh whispered beside her. Now that he realized their house wasn't the one on fire, he relaxed a little. “I've never seen a fire this close.”
“Me neither,” she admitted. As a nurse working in the emergency department of a small Community Hospital, she'd been exposed to the occasional burn patient, but nothing very serious. The really bad burn cases were airlifted to Los Angeles.
She shivered, despite the warmth of the balmy California spring night.
A firefighter dressed in full gear jogged across her front lawn, straight toward her front door. She pulled back in surprise, and then went over to open the door before he had a chance to knock.
“Lindsey?” Her husband's best friend and fellow firefighter and paramedic, Austin Monroe gaped at her in shock. “What on earth are you doing here?”
Great. Just what she needed. Not. She stifled a sigh and angled her chin, fervently wishing that out of all the firefighters in Sun Valley, Austin Monroe hadn't been on duty tonight. “We live here.”
“What? Since when? “Then he gave an impatient shake of his head. “Never mind. Come on, we need you and Josh to evacuate the premises. The fire next door is too close and too far out of control to ensure your safety.
“Is there time for us to change our clothes?” She rubbed one bare foot over the other.
He frowned, glancing down at her bare toes, and then at her sons equally bare feet. “Two minutes. If you're not ready by then, I'm coming in after you.”
No need for threats—she believed him. Turning away from the door, she gave Josh a slight push. “Get dressed. Hurry.” As he disappeared down the hall, she grabbed the closest pair of jeans, sweater, socks and comfortable running shoes she could find before ducking into the bathroom to change.
In less than two minutes she met Josh and headed outside, resisting the urge to gather her meager yet precious belongings. Through the mass of people milling about she saw Anna Tolliver and her girls standing off to the side, surrounded by police. Thank heavens they were safe.
Austin nodded with approval when they stepped out onto the front porch. He directed them to a spot safely beyond the perimeter of the fire. “I need both of you to stand back here, out of the way.”
Again, she wasn't going to argue. Austin had been her husband's smoke jumping partner and he knew his way around fires, whether they were domestic like at the Tolliver 's house or a thick, raging wildfire. Smoke jumpers were men who fought wildfires by jumping from planes into smoke filled skies to help prevent the fire from spreading. Her husband and Austin had both trained as smoke jumpers. She hadn't understood the attraction, something she and Sam had fought about.
Now she was grateful for Austin's experience in fighting fires.
From their safety zone Lindsey could see orange flames dancing through the kitchen window of the Tolliver’s house. She swallowed hard when she realized how close the threat was to her home. Flames reached up, like gnarled fingers trying to grasp the edge of her roof. The postage-stamp sized lots on which their small bungalow homes were built only gave a couple of feet of clearance between them.
“Lindsey?” Austin lightly grasped her arm.
She tore her gaze from the horrifying image of the flames leaping toward her home. “What?”
“Don't leave without me, okay?” His intense gaze searched hers. “I'll take care of you and Josh. Just wait for me.”
Her throat was clogged with fear so she simply nodded. No matter how annoyed she had been with him earlier, it was nice to know she wasn't totally alone in the world. Austin may be a bit of an interfering control freak, but he was definitely a man of his word. Her gaze followed him as he turned and jogged back, taking his role in fighting the fire. She intended to watch him work, but quickly lost him amidst the sea of firefighters, unable to distinguish him from the others beneath their heavy gear.
“Mom?” Josh asked in a tiny, scared voice. “Is our house going to burn, too?”
She clutched him close, wishing she could sound positive when she had a sinking feeling their situation was about to go from bad to worse. After Sam had died, she'd discovered a mountain of debt. Likely the reason he’d taken the smoke jumping jobs. Not that it had changed the inevitable outcome. She'd been forced to sell the house, grasping the first meager offer that had come in, and had moved here into this tiny one bedroom home in a not so nice part of town.
This probably wasn't the time to admit she had absolutely no insurance. They'd only moved in two months ago, and her loan had been low enough that the bank hadn't forced the issue. It had been difficult enough to make sure there had been money for food and gas, much less for homeowners’ insurance.
Now she realized how foolish she'd been. “I hope not, Josh.” She watched the flames of her neighbor's house dance closer. The firefighters aimed a wide, forceful stream of water directly toward the source of the fire, completely drenching her house in the process.
She should be glad that no one was hurt, but what would happen if their house did catch fire? Where would they go? Where would they live?
She blinked away tears of useless self-pity. “I really hope not,” she whispered.
Reeling from the shock of finding Lindsey and Josh in the tiny, cramped house on Puckett Street, Austin concentrated on fighting the fire. Thankfully the occupants of the home had gotten out safely, but the fire, having somehow started in the electrical system inside the walls, had traveled along the electrical wires, engulfing the entire place before anyone had understood what had happened.
