by JoAnna Grace
Nan, also unable to work in the rain, had fixed him a nice breakfast and coffee. “Mornin’, sugar. Guess we’re both S.O.L today, huh?”
“Yes, ma’am. Tina sent me a text to let me know she was going up to see Holly, so I think I’m going to run over to Dalton and see if I can find the chisel I need.”
“If you’ll gather up your sheets, I’ll—”
Tap. Tap. Tap.
Nan and Bo froze when they saw the silhouette in the frosted glass of the front door. The black headed woman puffed on a cigarette and leaned over to one of the windows.
Bo’s heart sped up until he was panting. He met Nan’s eyes. “Nan, would you like me to get the door.”
“I’ve got it.” She walked over to the door and opened it wide. “Give me one good reason I shouldn’t slap your face and slam this door, Belinda May?”
“Mama, please don’t.” Her voice cracked.
“Put out that damn cigarette.” Nan’s voice was sharp and hard, a blade that sliced right through anyone in her path.
“Yes, ma’am.” Belinda stepped off the porch and rolled the tip in a puddle on the ground, then came back to the door. Nan didn’t let her pass.
Bo stood behind Nan and met the hazel eyes of his mother. She was different than the last time he’d seen her. Her face was fuller, healthier. There were no bags under her eyes and her cheeks weren’t hollowed out. She’d gained weight. Her hair was long and shiny, even under the dim lights. Her clothes were clean, almost new looking. Her eyes were clear, not hazy and bloodshot. But when she met his stare, they filled with moisture. She whispered his name and cupped her mouth.
Bo didn’t move. He barely breathed. Two pieces of his warred inside his mind. Part of him wanted to physically hurt her, give her every ass-whipping he’d received in prison, let her see what that place did to him. Part of him wanted to slam the door and pretend like she didn’t exist. This wasn’t the woman he loved. This wasn’t the woman who raised him. This was the woman who had betrayed him in the worst possible way. He didn’t care about her emotional reactions.
“Say what you have to say,” Nan said, leaning against the door.
“Can I come in?” Belinda gave Nancy big puppy dog eyes, but they had no effect on this crowd.
“No.”
Belinda took a deep breath and lowered her head. “I’m sorry. I know you have no reason to believe me. I’ve done nothing but hurt you. I’ve been clean for a year and I’m really trying this time.”
Bo rolled his eyes. “I’ve heard this story before, then the dean of my college called me in because you were stealing money. I don’t need to read this one again.”
“Bo, please,” she pleaded. Belinda’s bottom lip trembled and she stretched out a trembling hand. “Please. I’m sorry. I know I ruined your life, I hurt you and I hurt Mama. But I’ve cleaned up, there’s no drugs, no alcohol, no men. I’ve held down a job, I’ve paid off the college, I’ve even rented my own place in Dalton for the last few months. I left all of it behind for you.”
Bo turned his head away, he couldn’t believe her. He didn’t want to. Why should he take stock of anything that came out of her lying mouth? He’d heard it all before…right before she had him arrested.
“That’s great, Belinda,” Nan said, her voice flat and lacking her usual warmth. “You’re finally acting like an adult. It only took your son rotting away in a jail cell to wake you up. Unfortunately, I’m not willing to risk another four years of his life on your word alone. If you’ve cleaned up, time will tell.”
She held out her hands. “I’ll prove it. I will. I’ll take a drug test, my boss can tell you, my landlord, whatever you want. I swear it on a stack of Bibles.”
“Child, if you’re gonna put your hands on the holy book, I suggest you read it before you swear on it.”
“Yes, ma’am.” Her wide hazel eyes begged them to buy into her words and if Bo had to base his decision on her appearance and sincerity alone, he would almost be tempted to think she was telling the truth.
However, the memory of her clinging to his stepfather’s arm, her face covered in an inch of makeup to hide the bruises, shaking her head in disgust as the bailiff escorted him from the courtroom and to jail quickly evaporated any belief in her words.
“I don’t care to hear any more,” he told Nan and turned away. Belinda repulsed him, there was no way he was going to forget and forgive all her sins.
“Bo! Please, son. I’m your mother. Doesn’t that mean anything?”
He slowly pivoted and tilted his head, narrowing his eyes. “No. And you know who taught me that lesson?” He lifted his finger and pointed. “You.” He shifted his hand to point to Nan. “That’s my mother, right there. That’s the woman who stood up for me, who fought for me, who sent me cards on my birthday, who called me three times a week, and visited when she could afford it. That’s the woman who welcomed me home and loved me when I thought I was unlovable. She prayed for me when I didn’t think there was a God to listen. She never gave up on me. Because that’s what a mother does. You think DNA gives you the right to that title? No. Sorry. I forgive you, Belinda. I do. We’ve both made mistakes. But being called mother is a privilege and you threw it away a long time ago.”
“You’re right. You’re absolutely right.” She cried in earnest now, causing tremors in her shoulders. “I’ll never deserve your forgiveness. I can only make it up to you, somehow, some way. I’ll earn your love back.”
“I wish I could believe that. But I’m not big on pipe dreams.” Bo shook his head and took a deep breath. He’d heard enough. Life was finally looking good and he wasn’t about to let his mother back in to sabotage it for a fourth or fifth time—he’d lost count. Now he had Nan and Tina to protect.
“It’s okay,” Belinda said, gathering herself and wiping at her eyes. She even tried to smile. “You don’t have to believe me, not today. I’ll be around and, in time, you’ll see. I’ll make it up to you…both of you.” She nodded her head and backed away, heading out into the rain.
Nan and Bo stood in silence as Belinda drove away.
Nan let out a heavy, uneven breath. “I’d give my left arm for all that to be true.”
“It’d be hard to kick butt like you do with only one arm.” Bo grinned, hoping to lighten the heavy weight that had settled like the thick, wet air outside.
“I never said I’d give ’er my good arm.” Nan winked at him and went back to the kitchen. “Be smart and let the parole officer know she came by and nothing happened. Then go on about your day, Bo. We have to keep moving forward.”
“Yes, ma’am.”
As much as he tried, Bo couldn’t keep his mind off of his mother. He drove to Dalton, found his tools, went by Andrew Buchanan’s house to check on his dad, stopped by Charlie Ray’s automotive shop to ask Justin for some advice on his truck, and ended up making some business phone calls for Duane, who’d taken the day to go fishing downriver. Bo was determined to keep his mind off of Belinda, but the more he tried to distract himself, the more he thought about that morning.
Belinda looked healthy. She spoke with a clarity she hadn’t had in his entire life. But his mother was a con artist, pure and simple. How many times had he bought into her lies and forgiven her only to be hurt again? This time, he knew better.
In the very recesses of his heart, he wished he could forget all the horrible things she’d done, all those days he’d spent in jail because of her lies. Maybe he was a sucker? Maybe every son desired his mother’s affections until the very end? Who knew?
“If it makes you feel better,” Tina said as they cuddled up in her bed together that night, with Dixie at their feet, “I’m incredibly proud of you, Bo. You amaze me all the time.”
He kissed the top of her head and inhaled a deep pull of her scent. This was his own personal miracle, right here. This was a woman who loved him without strings attached. For all the shit that had gone wrong in his life, Tina was like repayment from the universe.
“That’s what matters to me.” He kissed her head again. “What’s up with Holly? Justin asked me about her when I went to the shop today.”
“Holly is…holding on to things she needs to let go of and not grabbing hold of what she needs. Or who.”
“Justin?”
“Yep.”
“Not everyone bounces back like you, T.”
Dixie’s head popped up and a crashing sound came from downstairs.
“What was tha—” Bo’s words were cut off by a glass breaking in the living room. Dixie bolted out of the bedroom and they scrambled to see what was going on. Bo slipped on his jeans and Tina threw on a robe.
As they stepped out of the bedroom a flaming coke bottle hit the floor in front of them and shattered. He dove to shield Tina. The accelerant spilled out onto the floor, igniting with a whooshing hiss and blasting hot glass all over the room. Bo bellowed as it hit his back. He and Tina fell back into the bedroom as gasoline spread over the hardwood of her kitchen area, igniting as it reached outward.
“Extinguisher!” Tina yelled and pointed to the fire extinguisher above her fridge.
Bo surveyed the way the liquid fire moved towards the couch and towards the wall of the bedroom. “Get out of here. Once the fire hits your liquor cabinet, we’re screwed.”
Tina shook her head and he could see the rebellion in her eyes. She opened her mouth to argue and he pulled her off the bed. “I said go, woman!” He practically pushed her to the stairwell and ran for the extinguisher.
The fire ate up everything it touched. The couch was gone and the curtains were flaming, the rug sped up the crawl of destruction. This was too much for a simple fire extinguisher. The blaze moved too fast. He made a split-second decision to just get the hell out, especially since the entire second story was filling with smoke. Crouching beneath the haze, he made it over to the stairwell.
When he opened the door, smoke from the first story came up. He closed the door, knowing the oxygen from below would only give further life to the flames above.
The sirens of the fire trucks blared outside. They would handle it from here.
Now he just had to get out.
The back door was completely blocked by fire. The stairwell was out. What was he going to do?
The balcony.
He belly-crawled over to the bedroom and his heart sank when he found Dixie huddled in the corner and whining. Shit.
“Come,” he screamed at her. Dixie didn’t move.
Each inhale burned his lungs and his vision blurred. By the time he reached the dog, he could hardly see her. His eyes stung and his head swirled. It would be easy to close his eyes and make the world stop turning. But if he could reach the balcony, maybe he could at least breathe.
“Bo…Bo…” From a long distance, he heard her calling. His angel. His life. He had to…
“BO!” TINA SCREAMED HIS name at the top of her lungs, kicking and yelping as Bear and her father held her back.
“Tina, stop it, you can’t go in there!” Bear held on to her shoulders.
Tina thrashed in his grip, reaching for the house. Tears streamed down her face. “Let me go! He’s still in there, damn it. Let me go, you bastard!”
“You’re not going to die trying to go get him.” Daddy held an arm across her chest. “Let the professionals do their job.”
They stood in the parking lot of the cannery with the fireman scrambling about, pumping water into the windows of both stories. Black smoke billowed out of the open areas and a team of men were suited up to go in, knowing there were victims inside.
Tina watched in horror as the flames lit up the night sky and ate her home. Bo! Oh God.
Please don’t let him die, she prayed. Please come out. He couldn’t die. Not like this. Bo had survived over four years in jail, he had survived an abusive step-father and a horrible mother only to come out stronger on the other side. If all that hadn’t killed him, he had to survive this.
Tina crumpled to the ground, the gravel of the lot jabbed into her knees but it didn’t matter. Bo!
What if she lost him? What if he was already dead? Oh God!
Tina sobbed and Bear held her close. He had seen the fire from across the river and literally ran over the bridge to help while his staff called for help. “They’ll find him, Tina. Don’t worry.”
“I can’t lose him, Bear. I can’t.”
“It’s okay. It’s okay.” Bear’s voice sounded far off, like he was in another room.
All Tina could think about was Bo. It didn’t matter that her home was damaged. She needed Bo.
“Holy shit.” Bear stood up and brought her with him.
Tina followed his gaze to the balcony of her room. “Bo!”
He stumbled out of the French doors, smoke billowing out behind him. His head hung to his chest and in his arms…was Dixie. Tina cried out as they tumbled over the iron railing and fell into the waters of the Sanguine.
“No!” Tina took off running, uncaring of the gravel of the lot sliced into her bare feet. Bear and two firemen ran in front of her as they rounded the building and disappeared into the woods that backed the river. Tina jumped over fallen trees and waded into the water, searching for any sign of Bo or Dixie. She screamed his name at the top of her lungs. She coughed, not realizing until that moment she might have some smoke damage herself. She’d helped her father out of the bottom story of the warehouse. There was a bottle bomb thrown in his apartment, too.
“There!” Bear trudged through the shallow waters by the bank then swam out to where Bo floated.
“I’ve got the dog,” shouted a fireman, lifting Dixie from the water. They carried her off and Tina knew her dog would be in good hands. Dixie hadn’t floated far and surprisingly she was conscious.
Bo, however, was not.
Bear hauled him up to the shore and the first responders started CPR. Bear scooped up Tina. “Your feet are bleeding.”
“Put me down, no, stop it. I need to be with him.” She was strong, but not nearly strong enough to battle Bear Harris.
“Let the EMTs handle this, Tina. You’re coughing your head off.”
His words didn’t mean anything to her. They didn’t register as logical thinking in her mind. All she could comprehend was being with Bo. Men rushed passed her with a stretcher and oxygen tanks. Daddy was talking to police officers and the fire marshal. Most of the flames seemed to be gone and the tone of the entire scene had calmed somewhat. Neighbors and onlookers crowded the street.
Bear sat Tina on a gurney, pulled out his phone, and stepped away.
Tina didn’t pay any attention to the woman attending to her feet and slapping a mask on her. She just stared at her home and inhaled the oxygen. It was like watching a car wreck, except this disaster didn’t end with one big bang. This nightmare kept going, and there was nothing she could do about it. The warehouse had stood the test of time and hopefully it would survive this, too. How much of the fire had reached their offices? What pictures were left? Where were they going to stay while they rebuilt?
Nan. Crap!
“Bear, you have to call Nancy.” Tina coughed and sputtered.
“I’m on the phone with her, she’s on her way. I also texted Jayden to bring you clothes.” He finished his conversation with Nancy and hung up.
The fireman and EMTs came out of the woods carrying Bo. He was strapped on the stretcher with a brace around his neck and a huge oxygen mask over his face. Oh God.
Everything in her world slowed down. She couldn’t move as the men carried Bo across the Foster Construction parking lot. Their heavy steps kicked up the gravel. Those men didn’t realize they carried her heart on that stretcher. Her pulse beat in her ears in time with their footfalls. Her life was in their hands and they didn’t even know it.
Now that she’d found him, Tina didn’t want to live without Bo. He’d brought light and laughter, joy and passion to her life. The idea of living without that seemed impossible.
She rose and tried to get to hi
m. “Bo,” she screamed through her oxygen mask.
“Miss Foster, please.” The woman restrained her and gave her a kind smile. “They’ve got him. He has to be taken to the burn center, Miss Foster. If you’ll allow me to check you over, you can go with him.”
“I have to be with him. He can’t be alone.” Tina pushed the woman off and reached for her mask to remove it. “Why isn’t he moving?”
The nurse wrestled with Tina and won, pushing her back down and securing her mask.
“Miss Foster, he’s been sedated for the intubation, he’s going to be fine—”
“So am I, damn it. Let me up!”
Daddy stepped up and grabbed her arm, like he used to when she was in trouble. “Tina, behave and let this woman look at you or I’ll make them sedate you, too.” He used that stern tone of voice that instantly turned her into a child again. “I mean it.”
“Yes, sir.” Tina’s mind went numb. She allowed the medic to bandage up her feet, slip on some socks. Usually Tina was the one taking charge, she was the one giving orders and fixing everything.
Bo.
Nothing else registered. Not the tote bag Jayden shoved into her hands or the sentimental words Tina forgot as soon as they hit her ears. Even Nan was out of it and holding onto Tina’s hand like a life raft. Thank God her father and Bear took control.
I need Bo.
Daddy stayed back to deal with the mess and make sure Dixie made it to the emergency vet. Terry and his wife came over to help, so Tina didn’t feel bad running out on her father.
Riverview passed by the window as Bear drove her truck behind the ambulance. The flashing lights only added to her disorientation. She should be in the ambulance with Bo, holding his hand, not following along.
It was even worse that the ambulance wasn’t taking him to the local county hospital, but to rendezvous with a helicopter that would take him to a burn care center three hours away. They met up at the local emergency clinic helipad to transfer him into the helicopter. Since Nancy was his next of kin and knew all his important information, she was the one they hurried into the chopper with him.