Nerds on Fire

by Grady, D. R.

  Chapter 44

  The next morning brought a sunny, perfect autumn day. She dressed in her freshly laundered clothing and made her way downstairs. Vestiges of last night’s shock hung on. Her father met her in the kitchen with a steaming mug of coffee. He pointed to her phone which he must have remembered to plug in last night.

  “You’ve gotten several calls.”

  Trixi thanked him and accepted the coffee. Sipping the brew, she scrolled through the numbers. Two were from the fire department, one from Katy, one from Mark and one from Gran. All of them needed to be answered.

  She called the fire department first. The man who answered told her that due to the rain cooling the embers, it was safe for them to start the fire investigation. He indicated the sooner they could do so, the more evidence they would find.

  “Please come and go as you need to.”

  Once finished, she called Katy and then Gran. Both simply wanted to know how she was.

  How did they think she was? Her house, at least part of it, had burned down, her boyfriend broke up with her, and she lost a small patient at work, all in the course of one day. All these traumatic events indicated to her that her life couldn’t be much worse at the moment, but maybe she was over-dramatizing things.

  She managed to answer their questions, hopefully satisfactorily and then rang off, her mood bleak. At this point, her stomach was growling from missing supper last evening so she found the sleeve of bagels she brought and sliced one for her and her dad. Then realized she’d have to turn this oven on, since it wasn’t her range, always on. This one required preheating... a new wave of despair threatened to smash her.

  “Use the toaster, love,” her father instructed kindly.

  Trixi sent him a grateful look, aware if an oven could cause this much stress, she might need to take a day or two off to figure out how to live again. When the thought slid through her brain, she picked up her phone to make a call to Louisa. Who as soon as she heard Trixi’s house had caught on fire, was immediately supportive and although it meant more work for her, told her to take as long as she needed.

  “It will be for today and maybe tomorrow,” Trixi said firmly. “Not any longer than two days.” Her spine straightened again, and determination coursed through her. She would get through today, and then return to work. Normal hadn’t been defined for her yet, but this was within her power to figure out.

  No longer was she a kid who needed a parent or family members to make decisions for her. She was perfectly capable of doing so herself. She valued the input of those family members, as many of them offered excellent counsel. But she was a woman in charge of her own destiny now.

  This awful series of events had shown her while she had bent she hadn’t broken. With her new resolve came a stronger one—the realization she would not break. Not today and not tomorrow either. Many people dealt with life’s pitfalls, maybe not all on the same day, but through the course of their lives. They stood up, dusted off the clinging dirt, and carried on.

  Trixi would do no less. She had to sort out her house, and then perhaps she could sort out what happened with Mark. Another thought slipped in, one she examined from all angles. Her relationship wasn’t finished. Deep inside she now resolved they weren’t over. Unless Mark absolutely didn’t want to be with her, she needed to stop being a wimp and show him who she was.

  It was unfortunate that it took an utterly miserable day like yesterday for her to figure out who Trixi Duvall was. If this is what it took though, she would choose the miserable day.

  This new freedom sent euphoria soaring. She turned to smile at her father, a genuine smile.

  “I don’t know what just happened, but I’m glad,” he said softly.

  “I think I just grew up.”

  “You’ve been grown up a long time, Trix.” He tucked a hank of hair behind her ear. “You just never noticed.”

  “Thank you.” At least now it was true.

  The bagels popped so she set them on plates before handing one to her father. He kissed her goodbye a few minutes later, seeming more content to leave her.

  Just as she was figuring out what she needed to do next, her phone rang.

  It was Mark. Whose earlier phone call she hadn’t returned.

  “Hello, Mark.” He couldn’t tell from her voice what her emotional state was, but it didn’t sound upset.

  “Hi. I expect you’ve been on the phone all morning.” He wasn’t certain if his attempt to keep his voice neutral succeeded or not. He didn’t want to further upset her but also wanted so much more for her than he had given.

  Wishing he could take back his unfortunate role in her disastrous day yesterday, he instead had a lot to make up for. Whether she would allow this was still in question.

  “Yes. The fire investigator is coming out soon. He thinks that because of the rain, the ruins,” her voice cracked and subsequently so did his heart, “should be cooled enough for them to conduct their investigation.”

  “Good. I’d like to know who did this.”

  “So would I.” This time there was no doubting the heat in her tone.

  “How long did he think it would take?”

  “He didn’t say.”

  That made sense. “Let me know the minute you hear.”

  “Okay.”

  “Are you okay?”

  After a long pause she said, “Yes, I think I am.”

  She might as well have taken his scalpel and jammed it into his heart.

  The hard knot in his throat prevented speaking, so he was thankful when she continued. “Or at least I will be when this is all settled.” She drew in a shaky breath. “Did you mean for us to break up?”

  “No.” The answer ripped from his soul.

  “I didn’t mean for it to happen either.”

  “What did happen?”

  Another pause before she noisily exhaled. “I think I got scared at how well our relationship was going.”

  Katy had mentioned this but it still puzzled him. “I’m not following.”

  “It was going too well. So we either had to make a deeper commitment or split up.”

  Ah, now this made total sense. “That’s why we split up.” This is what Leo and Katy were trying to tell him yesterday.

  “Yes, I think so. I was running scared. I didn’t know how you were feeling...”

  His stomach twisted. “I was afraid you were planning to leave me.”

  “I can’t imagine why I’d be stupid enough to ever do so.” Her voice veered into exasperated.

  Suddenly the world seemed like a much nicer place. “I’m glad. I can’t imagine not having you in my life and those few hours when we weren’t together aren’t something I ever want to repeat.”

  Before she could comment, he was paged.

  “Are you at work already?” she asked.

  “Yes, I got called in during the night.”

  “Oh. I’m home today, but I’m hoping to be back to work tomorrow.”

  “What about tonight?” He hurried to the scrub room, not wanting to hang up with her until it was absolutely necessary.

  “What about it?”

  “What are you doing tonight?”

  “I don’t know. Why?”

  “Are you free to go on a date with me?”

  “Oh,” she said on a surprised laugh. “Yes, yes I’m free tonight.”

  Relief soared through him. “Good. I’ll be home at the usual time, I hope.” A frantic nurse flagged him down. “I have to go.” Regret threaded his words.

  “Okay, bye.”

  “Bye, honey. I’ll see you tonight.” It took everything in him to end the call, but work wasn’t just beckoning, it was demanding, so he answered.

  Chapter 45

  Trixi pressed the end-call button and gripped her phone tighter for a moment. Rising, she quickly loaded the dishwasher drawer and then turned to see what else needed done. Nothing, but then the fire inspector and his team arrived so she donned her damp, smoke-infused coat and met t
hem at the side of her house that was no more.

  The fire hadn’t consumed the entire guest wing, but the outside bedrooms on both levels were gone. The stairs didn’t look safe and most of the sitting room had been exposed to the elements. Mark’s bedroom wall had a gaping hole in it, but someone had covered the exposed parts with plastic and tarps. Everything looked smoke damaged, but maybe many of the furnishings were salvageable. She hoped so because most were heirlooms from both families.

  Mark’s study hadn’t been affected other than minor smoke damage, because the wind blew the smoke down the hall and into the kitchen. Her kitchen had therefore sustained damage, but his office didn’t. Their fitness room barely smelled.

  She opened every window in the house in the hope of airing the place out.

  After a lengthy inspection of the premises, the inspectors met with her. “The rain washed away a lot, so we’ve got all we can find here.”

  “Does this mean I can move back in?”

  One of the inspectors handed her a card. “I’d call these guys first and have them come and clean up. They’re professionals and will have this place feeling like new.”

  Trixi glanced at the card, and recognized the name on it. They were well known in the area. “I’ll do so, thank you.”

  “You have a place to stay until they finish?”

  “Yes.”

  “Good. We’ll assess the information we have and run some tests, but I’m pretty certain this was caused by what looks like a short in the wiring.”

  Everything in her stopped. “A short? It wasn’t caused by a person?”

  “Doesn’t look like it. First evidence points to some faulty wiring.”

  “The wiring in that part of the house is fairly new.” Trixi’s numbness from last night tried to overtake her again.

  Faulty wiring caused the fire, not someone trying to harass or harm them... At least that was easier to understand.

  She thanked him and his team and watched them drive off before she reentered the house and called the recommended cleanup company. They made an appointment to come out later that morning to assess what needed done and hoped to get started right away on the damage.

  For which she was most grateful.

  Trixi passed the time by leaving Mark a message, packing more food and running her, Gran’s, and Mark’s clothes through the laundry. It took a lot of time to run this much laundry, but at least the three of them would have clean, fresh smelling cloths.

  The cleanup crew arrived and she showed them through the ruined wing and then the parts of the house that smelled the strongest. They performed a thorough assessment and then explained their course of action. To her delight, they started right in after securing her agreement, as another job had fallen through. Literally, as the house collapsed in on itself and fell into the basement.

  Shivering, Trixi sincerely hoped that wasn’t her case. The team leader assured her those instances were rare and bespoke of a structural problem. He didn’t see that issue with her place.

  They set to work so she continued with her own chores. She saw no reason why she couldn’t go into work tomorrow. Other than if the cleanup crew needed another day to finish. She hoped not.

  She called a builder who did repairs on fire-damaged structures, and he came out early that afternoon. Trixi showed him the original plans her father and Reed had used and after he perused the entire wing, offered her a quote. He closed up the gaping holes so the house was once again secure. It would also prevent the elements from wreaking additional damage.

  The next step was to call her insurance company. Except her father had already done so and they confirmed a time for an adjuster to assess the damage. If this all went smoothly, she would be ecstatic. Trixi showed the adjuster around and the woman asked the necessary questions before she left.

  The cleanup crew continued their work and so did she. By early evening, she had aired out the house and the cleanup crew said they needed a half day to finish, so she called Gran to let them in the next morning. Her grandmother came with Miriam to retrieve Gran’s car and they tried to take Trixi home with them.

  Thankful they didn’t know she and Mark had broken up, she simply smiled and told them she had other plans. They agreed a date with Mark was just what she needed. If they only knew...

  After they left, she shut the windows and locked up her house before making her way to the guest cottage. Her father arrived just as she did. She had to stop to tell him all about the day and what was discovered. He wanted to have a look for himself, so he waved her off to get ready for her date with Mark.

  She agreed and then hurried upstairs. When Gran arrived to pick up her car, Trixi handed her a clothes basket full of clean clothes and she intended to do the same for Mark.

  By the time he drove up, she was ready. Opening the door to him, her breath caught in her throat. His eyes were naked again, blazing at her as though his whole life hinged on her. It formed a double helix of heady and scary within her.

  She reached up to cup his cheek, not able to speak through the lump in her throat. He caught her close and leaned down to take her lips in an unrestrained kiss that finished stealing her breath.

  “Never again,” he muttered under his breath.

  She sucked in some much needed air before she could ask. “Never again what?”

  “We’re never breaking up again. That was awful and I’m not going through it again.”

  “Let’s have supper and then we can talk about all this.”

  Instantly his face softened and he caressed a finger over her cheek. He took the time for his usual freckle count. “You’ve had a hard day.”

  “It’s been a hard two days,” she admitted.

  Mark offered his hand, which she took and marveled again at how well their hands fit together. His was so much bigger than hers, yet it was like they were a syringe barrel and the plunger. Two parts that needed the other to function.

  Once he seated her in his car, he climbed in and pointed the vehicle toward town. She gave him more details about the fire and all she had learned today. He listened attentively as he drove to one of her favorite restaurants. The lighting here was subdued, the atmosphere quiet and serene. It was exactly what she needed.

  Finally managing to relax, Trixi enjoyed the meal, and more importantly, her supper companion. Despite everything not being right between them yet.

  They were both feeling the same way though, so in a way, they had settled this already.

  It wasn’t until after they arrived back at the house that Mark tugged her inside the not completely smoke-free house. No one was here, so he led the way into the family room where they seated themselves on the far side of the room, away from the damaged wing.

  She had barely sat before he asked, “Do you want to be with me?”

  Trixi swallowed but then she straightened her spine and stared him in the eyes. “Oh yes.”

  He took her hands in his, his expression intense. “We’re supposed to be together, Trix.”

  “Yes, I feel the same way.”

  “What is scaring you then? You mentioned before you’re running scared? I was too.”

  “I still can’t believe you’re interested in me.” She wet her lips and used her head to indicate the spacious family room. “It’s been suggested your only interest in me is my home.” She grimaced. “Such as it is now.”

  “Do you believe that?” The tension in his voice upped.

  “I’ve thought about it.”

  “And?”

  She looked away from his blue-green eyes. They were drilling holes through her soul.

  This must not have worked for him because he released one of her hands to tip her chin up so their eyes met. “What do you think?”

  “You showed interest in me before you ever saw my house.”

  He nodded, while some of his daunting fierceness dampened. “I can easily buy a house like this if I want it.”

  Surprise flashed through her. “Really?”

&n
bsp; “Yes. I can buy Wintermyer if need be.”

  Her mouth opened, closed and then opened again. “Wintermyer is an expensive estate.”

  “I can afford it.” Mark glanced around her family room. “I prefer this house though, because you live here.”

  “I see,” she said.

  “I don’t think you do.” He leaned forward and kissed her and she so needed it. She tugged her other hand free to loop her arms around him and hold him close. During the course of the kiss he settled her in his lap.

  “I want you and while I like the house you come with, I can buy you any house you want. The important factor here is you. So long as you’re part of the deal, I’m happy.”

  Euphoria and an outpouring of something warm and fuzzy undulated through her at his words. They were sincere, she felt it as surely as if their hearts bumped.

  “No other man has felt right, not like you do.”

  His arms tightened. “No other woman has felt right like you. I wondered if there was something wrong with me and then we met and I understood.”

  Her taut shoulders loosened. “You did?” she fished.

  Mark laughed. “Yes. I was just waiting for the most amazing woman in the world. When I met her, I started closing in, warning off other men so I could have her.”

  “You have not warned other men off.” She scowled at him. “There aren’t other men who are interested.”

  “That’s not in the least bit true.”

  “What?” Startled, she wriggled so she could better see his face.

  “There are plenty of men who are interested, but you don’t send out signals to indicate you’re interested back.”

  She pondered his observation. It resonated with her. “So it was my fault no other men have asked me out?”

  “You’re daunting.”

  When she scoffed, he tipped her chin up again. “In your own way, you are. Because you’re self-sufficient. You can take care of yourself and we men like to feel needed.” He paused. “At least I do.”

  “You are needed,” she whispered, super happy that he was in her life again, she was perched on his lap, and he wanted her there.