Page 29

T he shrill ring of Lynda’s phone jolted her out of a deep sleep. She fumbled for it on the nightstand, squinting at the display. It was half past one in the morning. Carol’s name glowed on the screen, and Lynda’s heart immediately began racing. Emergency calls at this hour never brought good news.

“Carol?” Lynda’s voice was thick with sleep and growing dread.

“Lynda, thank goodness you answered. There’s been a fire at the shelter.” Carol’s voice was strained, barely controlled. “Matt’s at the hospital in Kalispell. He got all the animals out, but he’s hurt. You need to come.”

The words hit Lynda like a physical blow. She sat up abruptly, her mind struggling to process what she was hearing. “How badly hurt?”

“He has some burns, but the doctors are more worried about his lungs. His daughter’s on her way here, but she’s still at least half an hour away. The animals are all safe. Every single one. But the building...” Carol’s voice cracked. “It’s gone, Lynda. Everything’s gone.”

Lynda was already out of bed, reaching for clothes with shaking hands. “Which hospital was Matt taken to?”

“Logan Health Medical Center. I called Sarah, and she’s looking after the animals with the other volunteers. Matt got them out of the shelter, but she’ll check them for smoke inhalation.”

Lynda was grateful for Sarah’s help. “Thanks for calling. Are you okay?”

“I’m just shocked,” Carol told her. “The police couldn’t contact Stephanie, so they called me. I followed the ambulance to Kalispell in my truck to make sure Matt had someone with him. It’s been a stressful night.”

Lynda grabbed a jacket and her car keys. “Matt will appreciate you being there. I’ll drive to the hospital and meet you there.”

“Be careful on the road,” Carol warned. “Matt’s being looked after.”

“I will,” Lynda promised. She ended the call and stood frozen in her darkened bedroom, working through what Carol had told her. Matt was injured, the shelter was destroyed, and the wolfdog puppies and the other animals they were looking after were traumatized and homeless.

A soft knock at her door interrupted her paralysis. Kathleen and Amy were standing in the hallway.

“Mom?” Amy’s voice was concerned. “We heard the phone. Is everything okay?”

“No,” Lynda said, her voice barely above a whisper. “Nothing’s okay.”

Kathleen came into the room and hugged her. “Tell us what you need.”

While Amy got ready to take Lynda to Kalispell, Kathleen made her a cup of coffee and offered her some words of wisdom. Before Lynda knew it, she was sitting in the passenger seat of her car, heading toward the hospital.

The drive to Kalispell passed in a blur of headlights and worried conversation. Amy gripped the steering wheel with white knuckles, periodically glancing at Lynda with concern.

Lynda stared through the passenger window at the dark landscape rushing past, her mind cycling through worst-case scenarios.

How badly was Matt hurt? Were the animals really all safe, or was Carol trying to spare her? And the shelter—years of community effort, thousands of dollars in donations and improvements, and all the plans for the wildlife rehabilitation center were gone.

When they arrived at the emergency department, it was busy despite the early hour. Lynda rushed to the reception desk, her heart pounding.

“I’m looking for Matt Reynolds,” she said breathlessly. “He was brought in from a fire?—”

“Are you family?” the receptionist asked.

Lynda hesitated for a fraction of a second. “I’m Dr. Lynda Morth. I work with him at the veterinary clinic.”

“Room 7. He’s stable, but they’re still evaluating him for smoke inhalation.”

Lynda hurried down the corridor with Amy close behind her. Through the partly open door of Room 7, she could see Matt propped up in bed with an oxygen mask covering his nose and mouth. His face was streaked with soot, his hair singed, and angry red burns covered his forearms.

But his eyes were alert, and when he saw her, relief flooded his features.

“You shouldn’t have come,” he said, his voice hoarse and muffled by the mask as a nurse checked his vitals. “It’s the middle of the night.”

“Don’t be ridiculous,” Lynda said, moving to his bedside. She wanted to touch him, to reassure herself that he was okay, but his hands were wrapped in gauze. “How are you feeling?”

“Like I’ve been breathing campfire smoke for hours,” Matt admitted. “But I’m fine. More importantly, all the animals got out. Even Whiskers—you remember Mrs. Chen’s cat? She was hiding under Carol’s desk, but I found her.”

Even injured and exhausted, his first concern was for the animals he’d saved. Lynda felt tears prick her eyes. “Matt, you could have died in there.”

“But I didn’t,” he said. “And neither did they. That’s what matters.”

A doctor entered the room with a clipboard in her hand. “Hi, Mr. Reynolds. I’m Ceire O’Leary, a consultant with the hospital. How are you feeling?”

Matt moved the oxygen mask away from his mouth. “A little sore.”

“We can give you something for that,” the doctor said as she made some notes on his chart.

When she was finished, she looked at Matt.

“We’d like to keep you here for a few days.

Your oxygen levels are improving, but we want to monitor you for signs of delayed respiratory distress.

The burns on your arms are second-degree but should heal well with the proper care. ”

Lynda moved closer to Matt’s bed. “Does he need to go to a burn center?”

Ceire shook her head. “His burns aren’t life-threatening.

As long as Matt’s lungs respond to the treatment we’re giving him, he’ll be okay here.

The outpatient clinic in Sapphire Bay will provide any follow-up care after Matt’s discharged.

” She smiled at Matt. “We’ll find you a bed on a ward soon. It’ll be a little quieter than here.”

After the doctor left, Matt pulled off his oxygen mask despite the nurse’s protest. “Lynda, you need to know that the puppies are traumatized. Star especially. She wouldn’t leave her kennel when the fire started.

I had to carry her out. They’re going to need specialized care, somewhere quiet and secure. ”

“We’ll figure it out,” Lynda said, though privately she wondered how they would. “Right now, you need to focus on getting better.”

“The building?” Matt asked quietly.

Lynda couldn’t bring herself to answer, but her expression told him everything he needed to know.

Half an hour later, while Stephanie sat with her dad in his room, Lynda was in a family room with Carol. Amy had gone to get coffee, leaving the two women alone to discuss the fire.

“I’ve been the shelter manager for eight years,” Carol said, staring at her hands.

“I’ve seen floods, power outages, and budget crises.

But this...” She shook her head. “The inspector will be there later today, but the fire chief thinks the fire started in the electrical wiring by the back kennels. It was original to the building and probably sixty years old.”

“Was anything able to be saved?” Lynda asked, though she dreaded the answer.

“It was a total loss. The roof collapsed about ten minutes after the fire department arrived. If Matt hadn’t gotten there when he did.

..” Carol’s voice trailed off. “By the time I got the call from the police, it was already too late to save the building. But somehow, Matt managed to get every single animal out. Seventeen lives were saved because he couldn’t sleep and decided to check on the puppies. ”

Lynda closed her eyes, overwhelmed by the magnitude of what could have been lost. “Where are the animals now?”

“Scattered across town. Some are at Matt’s clinic, and some are at the emergency vet in Polson.

A few of the healthier ones are with foster families who answered the emergency calls.

But Lynda...” Carol leaned forward, her expression grave.

“The wolfdog puppies can’t be housed with regular domestic animals.

They need specialized facilities, and trained handlers.

And with Matt injured and the shelter gone, I don’t know how we’re going to manage their care. ”

The reality of their situation began to sink in.

The insurance money might cover rebuilding the shelter, but that would take months, maybe years.

The wildlife rehabilitation center they’d dreamed of creating seemed like an impossible fantasy now.

And the wolfdog puppies, the animals that had brought her and Matt together, were traumatized.

“What about the grants we applied for?” Lynda asked weakly. “Do you think the funders will allow us to access that money?”

Carol’s expression answered before she spoke.

“The Wildcare Foundation isn’t going to fund a rehabilitation center that doesn’t exist. And even if we could rebuild the shelter, it would take a long time.

By then, the puppies will be adults, and the community support might have moved on to other causes. ”

Lynda felt the weight of defeat settling on her shoulders.

Everything they’d worked for, everything they’d dreamed of building together, had gone up in smoke.

The partnership with the shelter had given her a new purpose in life.

She’d dreamed of a better future, but it all seemed impossibly fragile now.

Amy returned with three takeout cups of coffee. Taking one look at her mom’s face, she sat down without speaking. Placing a gentle hand on Lynda’s shoulder, she offered her silent support in the face of what felt like insurmountable obstacles.

In the distance, Lynda heard the faint sounds of people talking and machines humming. Someone yelled, and the drum of pounding feet echoed along a corridor. It was a reminder of how close they’d come to losing everything, including the man who meant the world to her.