Wish You Were Here (13 page)

“
Ruby!” he shouted, dragging Piper out to the hallway.

“
Dad, is that Freya’s cabin?” Piper asked, her voice trembling, but he just put her hand in Ruby’s as the older woman came out of her bedroom.

“
What’s going on?” Ruby asked, all business.

“
Number Four’s on fire,” he said. “Call 911, and don’t let Piper out of your sight.”

Ruby nodded.
“Done. Go.”

Nate pushed Nikkie out of his way and flew down the stairs and out of the house, running toward the cabins as fast as he could, whipping down the path through the trees, his lungs screaming for oxygen as he pushed harder, faster. The crackling of the flames got louder as he approached, and he felt the heat from the fire on his face even before he ran up the porch steps.

“Freya!” he yelled. He put his hand on the doorknob and the heat seared his skin, so he stood back and kicked at it, coughing as his already starved lungs took in the acrid smoke pouring out of the cabin. He stepped inside.

“
Freya!”

There was no answer.

***

I
can’t believe this is how I’m gonna die,
Freya thought as she dunked a towel in the bathwater and placed it over her head.

She lay curled on the floor of the cabin
’s bathroom, having already exhausted all the elementary school fire tips she could remember. When she’d first smelled the smoke, she’d thrown her iPod to the floor, jumped out of the tub, and felt the door, which was searing hot. Bad news, that. Then she looked at the bathroom window—high and small, too small for her to get through. Plus, she thought she remembered something about extra oxygen feeding the fire, so she didn’t want to open it unless she was sure she could get out. By the time the bright orange flames had started licking under the door, she had nothing left but to douse the robe in the water, wrap it around herself, wet a towel to put over her head, and hunker down in the corner.

To die a horrible death.

The smoke was coming down to her level as the fire licked up the door, sucking greedily at what oxygen there was in the room, and she pressed her cheek against the floor, trying to breathe as well as she could through the wet towel. Panic shot ice cold through her, and her body began to shake and calm in sputtering waves.

Stupid, stupid,
so
stupid,
she thought, remembering the cigarette she’d tossed aside so casually underneath an old wooden cabin. She’d always expected smoking to kill her, but she thought it would be cancer, or a car accident while she searched for a lighter under the driver’s seat.

That
’s what you get for not having imagination,
she thought, then laughed a panicked laugh and coughed as the smoke seared her lungs.

Ohgodohgodohgod
.
Her body calmed as her breathing became more ragged. She closed her eyes and saw Flynn crying at her funeral and hot tears slid from her eyes.
Jake will take care of her, Jake will take care of her.
Her father’s face flashed through her mind, disappointed at her stupid, stupid end.
I’m sorry, Daddy.
All those years wasted, trying to make him proud of her, and she went and died like this without ever getting over the need for approval from Daddy. She’d always thought she’d have time to work that crap out.

Stupid, stupid.
She should have quit that job years ago and done something that actually mattered, that made her happy. Like Flynn. Of course, then she would have been broke like Flynn, and she didn’t have that kind of strength.

Stupid, stupid.
Her body felt like it was whirling in an ever-faster circle on the floor.

It
’s the lack of oxygen,
she heard her father’s rational voice saying.
Won’t be long now. Just go to sleep, Freya. It’ll be easier.

She felt her body sinking into a comfortable blackness, but then heard Nate
’s voice calling her name, and her heart seized as the realization hit her with a clarity she’d never known before.

He
’s the one.

Her consciousness rose from the black and she tried to laugh but her lungs could only manage to choke and sob. Here, she
’d finally met the man she was sure didn’t exist, and she was gonna die before she could enjoy him.

Stupid, stupid.

There was a crash behind her and her insides screamed even though her lungs couldn’t. It occurred to her that maybe it was the door, maybe she could get out, but her body felt too heavy to move. She tried to raise her head, but then the world seemed to flip under her, and she felt as if she was clinging to the ceiling, and if she tried to move, she’d fall, fall, fall into nothing but fire.

It
’s the lack of oxygen,
her father’s voice said.
Go to sleep, Freya.

And then everything went black.

***

“
Freya!” Nate held her body, wet and heavy in his arms, against his chest as he ran out of the blaze. He coughed and stumbled down onto the ground with her, weakened from his own body’s lack of oxygen. He pulled her into his arms and wiped the hair out of her face. Her skin was hot, but she didn’t seem singed at all. The wet towels had at least saved her from that.

“
Freya.” He leaned his ear against her chest, but couldn’t hear anything over the crackling flame from the cabin.

“
Goddamnit, I can’t hear.” He pulled back and put his fingers by her nose and mouth. He thought he felt some air moving, but whether it was her breath or a breeze, he couldn’t tell.

“
Goddamnit,” he said again, the panic racing through him. Somewhere in the distance, sirens were getting louder, and the ground seemed to tremble under him, but inside the small bubble of his focus, it was just him and Freya. He pressed his face next to hers, put his lips next to her ear, and spoke the one thing he knew to be true.

“
We’re not done,” he said. “There’s more.”

He pulled back and looked at her face, focusing on how beautiful she was, remembering her smile.
We’re not done,
he thought, staring helplessly down at her.

There
’s more.

And then she coughed.

“
Christ,”
he said, pulling her into his arms and rocking her as she sputtered and gasped. Her arms came up suddenly as if to fight him off, but he held her still against him until she calmed.

“
You’re okay,” he said. “I’ve got you. You’re okay.” He pulled back and put one hand on her face, his eyes locking on hers, which were wide and glassy and panicked. “You’re okay.”

She coughed again, spasms wracking her body, and he hoped to God he was right. She was alive, though, and that was what mattered. He pulled her to him and held her as the coughs gave way to sobs and she clutched at him. She started to say something, but was only able to hack and gasp for air.

He smoothed her hair away from her face. “Don’t talk, okay? Just breathe slow and even.”

“
Hey, sir.
Hey!
Is anyone else in there?”

Nate started at the voice, and suddenly the tiny bubble that held only him and Freya burst. Everything got loud—the sirens, the yelling, the vehicles screaming into the campground, and then one of the voices came through.

“Sir!” Nate looked up to see a fireman shouting at him over the din around them. “Is anyone else in the cabin?”

“
No,” Nate tried to shout, but his lungs felt as if they were filled with hot pokers, and he just coughed and shook his head. Someone tried to take Freya from him, but he wouldn’t let her go, and then there were arms under his, pulling him to his feet, but he still held on to her. She was holding on to him, too, her arms working as they clamped strongly around his neck, her lungs breathing even as she coughed and sputtered.

It seemed more like the ambulance just appeared before him than that he
’d walked there, and the world started to spin a bit. The paramedics pulled a gurney out of the ambulance and he set Freya down on it, gripping its side to keep his own balance. Freya’s eyes flickered shut, and what had to be the world’s youngest paramedic slid an oxygen mask over her face.

“
Is she going to be okay?” Nate said as loudly as he could manage, but the kid didn’t seem to hear him. He felt a hand on his shoulder and turned to see a female paramedic at his side. He glanced at the patch on her jacket:
Lucy.

“
Sir, I need to give you oxygen,” Lucy said, putting one of his arms over her shoulder and leading him toward an SUV that read
Kemp County Emergency Services
across the back.

The dizziness ebbed, and he turned
to go back toward the ambulance. “Is she going to be okay?”

Lucy glanced past Nate at
the kid tending to Freya. The kid made some kind of motion with his hand, and Lucy nodded.

“
She needs to go to the emergency room,” she said. “And right now you need oxygen.”

“
I’m fine,” Nate said, coughing. “I need to go with her.”

“
You want to help her?” Lucy said, firmly pulling him toward the SUV. “Stay out of the way.”

Nate swallowed hard as
the kid and another paramedic slid Freya into the ambulance and hopped in after her, shutting the doors efficiently behind them. The lights came on and the ambulance sped out.

They
’d take care of her. She was going to be fine. He closed his eyes and repeated it in his head, trying to believe.
She’ll be fine, she’ll be fine.

Lucy pulled an oxygen tank out from the back of the SUV and slid a plastic mask over his nose and mouth.

“Breathe slowly,” she said. “Breathe as deep as you can.”

Lucy leaned him against the SUV, then ducked in the back of it and pulled out a folding camping chair. He tried to take in a deep breath, and his lungs seized and he doubled over against the SUV, hacking and coughing until black spots clouded his vision.

“All right,” she said when he was able to stand up straight again. “Just sit down here—”

“
Daddy!”

Nate looked up and saw Piper running toward him, Ruby close behind. Piper threw herself into his arms and he held her tight against him.

“Honey, your dad needs to sit down,” Lucy said, then put her hands on Nate’s shoulders and guided him down into the camping chair. She pulled the oxygen mask’s straps until it was snug on his face and said, “Breathe. Slow and deep.”

Piper settled on the ground at his side and rested her head on his knee. He ran his hand over her hair and looked at the smoking cabin. He could still see some orange flames inside, but the firemen were dousing it down, and
now it was mostly just black smoke pouring into the night.

He took a deep breath, and this time his lungs didn
’t protest quite so much. He looked up to see Ruby, a cardigan thrown over her flannel nightgown, watching him from a few feet away, her arms crossed sharply over her midsection. Her face was taut, and he could see the deep concern in her eyes. He held out his hand, and she stepped forward, taking it in both of hers, which were shaking slightly.

“
You all right?” she asked, her voice strong.

He nodded. She patted the back of his hand and tightened her grip on him, nodding toward the cabin.
“And Freya?”

He pulled the mask down with his free hand.
“She’s alive. They took her to the emergency room.”

“
Alive is good,” Ruby said. “She’ll be fine.” She released his hand and stood closer, putting her arm around his shoulder. “She’ll be
fine.
Now put the goddamn mask back on,” she said. “There’s been enough heroics from you for one night.”

Nate put the mask back on, but only had it on for half a second before a thought hit him and he lowered it again. He glanced down at Piper, who was still resting her head on his knee, watching the fire. He turned to Ruby, and their eyes met, and her lips
pursed as she understood his question.

“
Gone,” she said, nodding toward Number Two, where Nikkie’s rental car was suspiciously absent. “Ran out right after you did. Big shock.”

Nate put the mask back on and touched Ruby
’s hand on his shoulder, then moved his hand to rest on the back of Piper’s head. He’d deal with Nikkie later.

Right now, he had more important things to think about.

Eleven

Ow
,
Freya thought. Everything was black, but her head was pounding, and her body felt too heavy to move. She opened her eyes, giving them a moment to adjust to the shadows in the room. The first thing she was able to focus on were the square white ceiling panels over her head. Somewhere behind her, something cast a soft blue glow into the darkness. Cool air shot into her nose through tubes that were strapped over her cheeks.

Oxygen.

Not heaven. Not hell.

Hospital.

She’d take it.

She lay still for a moment. Aside from the pounding in her head, everything seemed okay. She wiggled the toes on her right foot, then her left. No pain. She pulled her right hand into a clumsy fist
; no pain. Then she tried to move her left hand, and something on the back of it pinched. Plus, there seemed to be something warm lying on her fingers.

She looked down. It was another hand.
A strong, warm, slightly charred hand.

She angled her head a bit and saw him. His face had been washed hastily, there were still
blackened smudges near his hair and jaw lines, and his usually blond hair was dark with soot and a bit singed on one side. His chin rested on his chest, which rose and fell slowly with his sleeping breath, and his arm stretched over onto the side of her bed, where his fingers rested on hers.

The glass door to her room slid open and a short, pudgy nurse steppe
d in, navigating deftly around Nate’s sleeping form to check the computer screen over his head. She jotted some numbers down, then walked around to the other side of Freya’s bed, where she pulled an empty bag of clear fluid off the IV hook before noticing that Freya was awake.

“
Hey,” the nurse said softly. “How are you feeling?”

“
Headache,” Freya said. Her throat scratched a bit, but she could talk. That had to be a good sign.

“
I’m not surprised. You were pretty dehydrated.” The nurse gave one of those well-practiced, comforting nurse smiles. “Tell you what. I’ll check with the doctor and see if I can’t get a little something for you.”

“
Thank you,” Freya said. “That’d be great.”

The hand on hers twitched, and when she turned her head, Nate had jerked awake, his eyes focused on the nurse.

“How’s she doing?” he asked, his voice low and raw and scratchy.

The nurse quirked her head toward Freya.
“Ask her yourself.”

Nate blinked a few times then looked at Freya. Their eyes met and a slow smile spread over his face, warming her.

“Hey, there,” he said, his voice soft and yet still strong. It was the kind of voice a girl could lean on. “How are you?”

Freya tried to answer with something light and flip, but she was too tired to block how happy it made her to see him, and ended up only being able to squeak as the stupid tears tracked down her cheeks.

His smile faded. “Oh, hey.” He grabbed a tissue from the box on the tray at the end of the bed and leaned over her, dabbing at her face. “It’s all over. You’re okay. Everything’s fine.”

“
I know,” she said, sniffling. “It’s just that I have this stupid eye condition...”

The
crinkles at the corners of his eyes were enhanced by the soot as his face broke out in a smile. “Right. I forgot.”

The nurse touched Freya lightly on the shoulder.
“I’m going to check on those painkillers.” She leaned over the bed a bit, shot Nate a teasing glance, and then spoke out of the side of her mouth to Freya. “In the meantime, so I don’t get in trouble for letting him violate visiting hours, he’s your husband for as long as you’re in this hospital, okay?”

“
Um. Okay.”

The nurse straightened up.
“Good girl.”

As the nurse padded out, Freya raised an eyebrow at Nate, who shrugged.

“It was her idea.”

“
I
kn
ew you’d try to marry me,” Freya said.

“
Yeah.” He took her hand in his. “Well. Old habits die hard.”

He reached up with his free hand and pushed a lock of hair away from her forehead, and the
comfort she felt in his presence was almost overwhelming. She allowed herself to relax for a moment, but then a rush of panic hit her before she could name it, and she tightened her grip on his hand.

“
What?” he asked, leaning closer. “You okay?”

“
Piper,” she said. “Ruby.”

“
Everyone else is fine.” He ran his hand over her hair, keeping his eyes solidly on hers. “Don’t worry about it.” Freya relaxed a little, but on the edges of her consciousness, something was still troubling her. She flashed on the cigarette she’d tossed away, and it all came rushing back.

“
Oh, my God,” she said. “Nate… your cabin...”

He reached up and moved her hair away from her face.
“Hey. Don’t worry about that.”

“
I wasn’t thinking. I thought I stamped the cigarette out, but I guess I didn’t.” She swallowed, and the tears filled her eyes again. “I’m so sorry.”

He gave her a confused look, and then realization struck.
“You think you started that fire?”

Freya
’s mind went blank looking for other possibilities. “I didn’t?”

Nate shook his head.
“No. They’re still investigating, but it pretty much had to be arson for it to move that fast.” He swallowed, and she could see the tension and anger in his eyes for a second, but only for a second, then his strong, lean-on-me expression returned and he smiled down at her. “You don’t need to worry about that, though.”

“
Right.”
Someone tried to kill me. No need to worry.

“
Freya?”

She angled her head to look at him.

“I haven’t called your family,” he said. “If you give me some names and numbers, I can let them know what happened.”

Freya
’s entire body went tense at the thought. “No.”

Nate paused for a moment.
“But... your sister, your dad…”

“
They don’t need to know,” Freya said. “I’m fine. Why worry them?”

“
Why...?” Nate seemed stunned. “They’re your family, Freya. If something like this happened to Piper—”

“
Piper’s a kid.”

“
That doesn’t matter,” he said. “If she was hurt, I’d want to know.”

“
That’s not how it works with us,” Freya said. “I’m the one who worries. I’m the one who rushes out and fixes things. Flynn’s the one who screws up at work and almost gets killed by crazy people. I’m the one who—”

Doesn
’t need anyone.
She knew it sounded bad, so she stopped. She was too tired to explain why it made perfect sense, so she just closed her eyes and took a deep breath. She felt movement at her side, and Nate’s soft lips pressed against her forehead and she wanted to cry for the sheer relief of having him there. When she looked up, he was smiling down at her.

“
Okay,” he said. “I won’t bring it up again. Just rest and try not to worry about anything, okay?”

“
Sure. Your cabin burned down and someone tried to kill me.” Freya laid her head back on the pillow, the exhaustion catching up with her. “Why would I worry?”

“
Right.” He sat back down in the chair, and she could see how tired he was.

“
You should go home,” she said. “Get some sleep. It’s been a long day.”

She felt his hand on hers, and she turned her head to look at him. He looked beat up, his eyes red and his body blackened by soot, but when he smiled at her, it pushed all the bad stuff away like so many fallen leaves under a strong wind.

“I’m fine right here,” he said.

She closed her eyes, tightening her fingers around his.
“Whatever you say, Cap’n.”

***

Ruby had been dreaming about living in a hotel with forty-four cats when the light knock on her bedroom door woke her up. She pulled her head up from the pillow, instantly awake, and checked on Piper, who was sleeping like a stone next to her, a baby snore emanating from her slightly opened mouth. Kid could sleep through anything; Ruby envied that. She pulled her robe up off the floor and slid it over her shoulders, tying the knot quickly before opening the door to find Nate standing there, looking like he’d literally been to hell and back.

“
You need a shower,” Ruby said.

“
Yeah,” Nate said, his eyes bleary. “Probably do.”

She stood on her toes and tried to assess the damage to his hair.
“And a buzz cut.”

“
Thanks, Ruby,” Nate said.

She settled back on her heels and looked at him.
“How’s Freya?”

“
Good. They let me bring her home. She’s sleeping in my bed.”

Ruby raised an eyebrow, and Nate followed that quickly with,
“I’ll be on the couch.”

“
Right.”

He glanced past Ruby through the crack in her door.
“Piper’s okay?” he asked.

“
She’s fine,” Ruby said. “She was a little scared last night, so she crawled into bed with me. And she brought the fire extinguisher.”

Nate chuckled
. “You’re kidding.”

“
I think it might be her new security blanket. We’ll have to get another one for the kitchen.”

“
I’ll put it on my to-do,” he said.

Ruby glanced behind her. Piper was still sleeping, but just to be safe, she shut the door and lowered her voice.
“What have you heard?”

Nate shook his head.
“Nothing new. They suspect it was gasoline, but we have to wait for the investigators to run some tests and analyze the evidence they got last night.” His face went hard. “I’d just like to know how the fuck she did it.”

Ruby felt cold tendrils squeeze her stomach.
“You think Nikkie did this?”

“
Well... yeah. She pulls me away from Freya right before the fire, then takes off right after? I don’t know why she would do something like that. She was a mess before, but... I don’t know. She must have gotten worse.” He took a deep breath and ran his hand over the top of his head, then looked at Ruby. “Ruby, did Dad have a... this is going to sound crazy. Did he have a special plate or something?”

Ruby kept her poker face on.
“What kind of plate?”

“
I don’t know. When Nikkie pulled me in here, she said that she needed a plate with a purple rim. She said someone was going to hurt Piper.”

Ruby
’s fight-or-flight went straight to fight, and her whole body stiffened. “Who’s gonna hurt Piper?”

“
I don’t know. It doesn’t make any sense. Maybe it was just some kind of decoy to keep me busy while the cabin burned down. I don’t know. It just...” He ran his hands through his hair, visibly exhausted. “You haven’t seen anything like that, have you?”

Ruby put her hand on his arm.
“Take a shower. Get some sleep. We’ll talk about it later.”

He ran his hand over his face.
“Yeah. I don’t think I can sleep, though. I’ll get cleaned up and make breakfast. How do you feel about pancakes?”

Ruby smiled.
“Nothing fancy this time. I come down there and see you lighting bananas on fire, we’re gonna have a talk.”

Nate smiled and nodded.
“Fine. Nothing fancy.”

“
Good boy.” Ruby turned to go back to her room, but stopped and turned when Nate said her name. “Yeah?”

“
Thank you,” he said. His voice was rough, and he looked more tired than she’d ever seen him, but his eyes were bright. “I know I’m not your son and Piper’s not your granddaughter. You don’t have to do what you do for us. But, uh...” He sighed heavily. “I appreciate it.”

Ruby nodded, then blinked hard and cleared her throat.
“Well. You go on and get cleaned up.”

He headed down the hallway into the bathroom. Ruby watched him go,
then quietly opened the door to her room. She stepped inside and closed the door behind her, leaning against it, releasing a breath she felt like she’d been holding for six months.

It was
time to come clean. She loved them too much to hold onto them this way. If that meant it was over, and they would leave, then so be it. She’d rather they were gone and safe than here and in danger.

“
Ruby?”

Ruby smiled and looked at her bed, where Piper sat up and rubbed her eyes.
“What time is it?”