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“Atyour house,Tina.” The tone in her voice was rising in pitch.
James took the phone from me, his touch gentle.
I stared at him, dumbfounded.
He put it on speaker, then set it on the counter before wrapping a supporting arm around me. “Dina, it’s James. What’s going on?”
There were no snide comments or insults. That was strange. But I couldn’t tell if it was weird or not. I was having a hard time processing, though. The entire world felt disconnected.
“Tina’s house is on fire. It’s on the news,” she said. Her voice broke. “It looks like everything will be lost. The firefighters are trying, but…”
Her voice hitched, then broke. “I’ve been trying to call you for almost a half-hour, Tina. I was so scared.”
“I’m fine,” I said, still feeling set apart from everything. Maybe I was in shock. “I’m fine. I’m with James. I’m fine.”
He gave me a worried look.
“Tina…” Dina’s voice came to me over the line.
I stared at my phone on the counter, not sure what to do. An idea finally occurred, and I nodded. “I think I should drive over there. The firefighters might think I’m in the house, so I should let them know I’m not there, right?”
Dina didn’t answer.
And when I looked at James, he only cupped my cheek and watched me, the concern in his eyes deepening.
“I’ll leave now,” I said into the growing silence.
“Tina,” Dina said.
“I’ll drive her, Dina,” James said, not looking away from me. “I’ll stay with her and make sure she’s okay.”
That was probably a good idea. I wasn’t sure if I was okay or not.
I probably wasn’t.
Shit. My house was on fire, for Pete’s sake.
I wasn’t supposed to be okay, right?
“Tina?” Dina’s voice was soft.
“Yes?”
“I love you.”
Frowning at the phone, I said, “Of course you do.”
Then I tapped the icon to disconnect the call. We didn’t have time to talk about any of that, did we?
My house was on fire.
“Tina.”
James took my chin in his hand and made me look at him.
“Take a breath,” he ordered.
“I am breathing.”