“No ifs, brother. Hang up the phone and focus on getting there in one piece, okay?”
“Okay.”
Samson prayed like he hadn’t prayed in years. He repented of everything he could think of and had moved on to bargaining with God by the time he reached the Divine city limits. The sight of the black smoke still billowing into the sky sent an icy chill down his spine. He prayed harder.
“God, if you’ll let her live, I’ll never push her to do anything kinky ever again. I’ll put down the whip and cane forever. I’ll move back to Divine and devote the rest of my days to making her happy. Heck, I’ll even make pastry and serve coffee with her, if only you’ll please let them be okay. Please God, I love her so much. I need her.”
He realized the truck he was gaining on was Ivan’s, and he about had a heart attack as they had to slow down for traffic through Divine to the shopping center where Cassie’s freestanding building was located next to the bank.
It was near dusk by the time he slammed the gearshift into park and jumped out, leaving the keys in the ignition behind the area the police and fire department had cordoned off. Ivan jumped out of his vehicle, also in mid-prayer as they ran toward the first engine. Acrid smoke hung in the air, invading his sinuses and making his eyes water.
He couldn’t bear to look at the flames licking at the crumbling structure. He spotted Jared and Kendry McCulloch, sitting on the bumper of an ambulance, both of their faces covered in black soot and wearing oxygen masks. The scene was controlled chaos as the rest of the firefighters did their best to keep the blaze from spreading to the bank and the other nearby structures.
A police officer halted them. “You need to get back behind the line, sir. It’s not safe.”
Vincent Elder walked over and nodded to his coworker. “They’re family, it’s okay. I’ll talk to them.” He turned to Samson and Ivan, and said, “Kendry and Jared recognized her car in the parking lot and went in for her. Cassie and Joseph were unconscious. Smoke inhalation. But they got them out.” Samson’s knees turned to jelly, and he and his brother held each other up as Vincent continued. “They were transported to the emergency room right after. I need to get back to work, but we’ll catch up with you guys at the hospital.”
Ivan thanked Vincent and grabbed Samson’s arm. “Come on.”
In the emergency room parking lot, he spotted Eli Wolf, who they’d gotten to know through Cassie’s friends.
Ivan patted Samson’s shoulder and said, “You go check in, and I’ll see if I can get Eli to find out how they’re doing for us.”
Samson nodded, feeling as though he wasn’t quite tracking. Normally he was the one who took charge, especially in emergency situations. He gave the receptionist their names and Cassie’s, and took a seat.
Ivan came in and sat down next to him. “Eli is back there right now.” After a few minutes of silence as they both tried to process what had happened, Ivan said, “I think I lost my job when I walked out of the restaurant.”
“Huh?”
“I told Hermione that Cassie’s shop was on fire as I ran out. She stopped me—literally jumped into my path—and said if I left her to not come back. I imagine she’s burning the stuff in my locker in the back parking lot right now.”
“An ultimatum was a bad gamble on her part. She accused you of leaving her, even though she knew there was a fire?”
“Yes.”
“What about breaching your contract?”
“I didn’t quit. I told her I had a dire emergency, which is allowable, and I can back it up with evidence, so technically she’s the one in breach if she fires me without proper notice or cause. I’ll tell you one thing, though. If I’d been in doubt about renewing my contract before, which I wasn’t, I certainly wouldn’t renew it now. She knew there was a fire and two people I love were in peril, and she acted as if the most important thing was that I not leave right before the Sunday evening dinner crowd began arriving, which my assistant and the staff were perfectly capable of handling.”
“And what did you say when she ordered you to stay?” Samson asked.
“I told her she had a few screws loose and headed for the truck. I guess that hastens my time line for moving back to Divine. That’s not the main priority right now, though.”
With elbows on his knees, Samson took the first full, deep breath since getting the news about the fire and let his head hang down between his shoulders as he stared at the floor tiles. “This could’ve turned out so much worse.” The tension unwound as gratitude filled all the places inside him that had gone ice-cold earlier.