Page 82 of The Aster Valley Collection, Vol. 1

TRUMAN

I was numb. And for the first time in a very long time, I also felt completely hopeless. I’d tried so hard to keep my head down and stay out of trouble, not bother anyone or make waves in town. Now here I was with a ruined business and a heap of trouble on my doorstep.

I hated feeling like a burden or a child, so when Barney clucked and fussed over me, it grated on me. I tried to politely rebuff his attempts to have me stay at his house, but when he finally insisted, I lost my patience.

“I want to go home,” I cried, sounding exactly like the baby I hadn’t wanted to be perceived as. “Please just take me home.”

Sam had wandered off to ask a nearby sheriff’s deputy and firefighter a few questions, and seeing him with his muscular arms crossed over his chest watching the waning fire and talking to two of the officials was calming.

He would be clearheaded enough to ask the right questions, something I sure as heck wasn’t.

“Sir,” another first responder said, approaching me from one of the nearby emergency vehicles. I recognized him as the deputy who’d taken my witness statement about the bike crash.

“Deputy Stone, right?” I asked.

“Yes, that’s right. How are you, Mr. Sweet? Are you holding up alright?” His face held kind concern.

“Not really,” I said with an attempt at a smile. “Is there any speculation about what caused the fire?”

“Not yet. We were notified through your alarm monitoring service to respond, but there was also a 9-1-1 call. Hopefully the rapid response will at least result in retaining the structural integrity of the building itself, but I would assume most of the contents are lost. I’m very sorry.”

I nodded and swallowed thickly. “At least it was just inventory and not people.”

Deputy Stone pulled out a little notebook and pencil. “How did you hear about the blaze?”

The question shouldn’t have surprised me, but it did. “Barney came and got me. I was asleep at home when the gate alert woke me up.”

Barney stepped closer and put his arm around my shoulders. “It was the least I could do. I didn’t want him driving himself in such a state.”

Deputy Stone glanced over at Barney. “And you are…?”

“Barney Balderson, director of the Aster Valley Library. I live here in town.” He reached out a hand to shake, and Deputy Stone had to shift his notebook and pencil to one hand.

“And how did you hear about the fire, Mr. Balderson?”

Barney seemed taken aback by the question. He gestured to the fire trucks and other emergency vehicles whose lights were illuminating the entire downtown area. “It’s fairly hard to miss, Deputy.”

My attention drifted back over to Sam. It seemed like he’d asked the men beside him a million questions.

“When will you know if it was arson?” I asked Deputy Stone, not realizing I’d interrupted another one of his questions to Barney.

The deputy’s brows lowered. “You suspect it was arson?”

I nodded and steeled myself. “Yes. In fact, I think it was retaliation for filing that report with you the other day.”

Barney turned to me. “What report?”

Deputy Stone tilted his head. “You think someone would burn down your entire business because of a property damage report? You’re talking about felony arson in response to criminal mischief.”

He was right. I was being ridiculous. “Never mind,” I said. “I think maybe I’m just upset. It’s hard to wrap my head around the fact I could have lost my business because of some electrical fluke.”

Barney nodded. “Quite right. You’re responding with your emotions instead of your brain. Let’s get you home and into bed. I’m sure the deputy can ask his questions tomorrow once you’re feeling more yourself.”

I wanted to tell Sam I was leaving, but I didn’t have the energy to approach the cluster of people he was talking to.

The group was now composed of several hulking firefighters, a deputy, and someone who looked an awful lot like a local reporter.

I didn’t want to go anywhere near such an intimidating group.

I gave Barney a weak smile. “Thank you.”

He drove me home through the pitch-black night. A low hum of jazz music was the only sound filling his car as we made our way to the farm.

“Thank you for coming to get me,” I told him. “I really appreciate it.”

“Of course. I care about you, Truman, and I didn’t want you to be alone when you found out about it.”

He was right. It would have been awful to show up there alone and watch the place burn without anyone there to support me. It was thoughtful of him, even if he wasn’t really the one I wanted comforting me.

I wondered if Sam had meant what he’d said about coming to sleep on my sofa. I didn’t want him on my sofa. I wanted him in my bed, wrapped around me like kudzu.

But I was an adult. And if I wanted to be treated as such, I needed to act like one. That included fending off Barney’s continued insistence that he stay over in case I needed him during the night.

“Obviously, Sam didn’t mean it when he offered,” Barney pointed out, somehow recognizing my own insecurities.

“I don’t see him here. It just goes to show, you can’t trust someone like that.

As if you needed an itinerant worker lurking about the place.

What do you even know about him? It’s better to circle the wagons and stick with people you know and trust.”

I wanted to laugh at him calling Sam an itinerant worker. From everything Mikey had told me, he was a general contractor who owned his own business and ran large jobs. He was hardly a seasonal apple picker.

But I was too tired to argue. “Okay. Thanks again for taking me and bringing me home. I’ll call you in the morning.” I tried closing the front door, but he reached out a hand to hold it open.

“Sweet pea, I’m worried about you,” Barney said. “You need someone to look after you, especially if this was deliberate.”

“I’m fine. The gate is fixed, and I have the bolt on the door.” I didn’t dare mention the bolt hadn’t kept my note-writer away earlier in the week. But maybe I’d been lax and forgotten to turn it. Stranger things had happened.

“I don’t just mean looking after your physical safety. This has to be upsetting you. I’d really like it if you let me come in and hold you tonight.”

The image of that almost caused me to shudder. “I think what I really need is sleep,” I said as gently as I could. “I’m going to get in bed and stay there as long as possible to avoid thinking about this right now.”

He met my eyes and studied me for a moment before reluctantly nodding. “Lock the doors behind me. Don’t open the gate for anyone but me. Call me the minute you wake up.”

I gritted my teeth to keep from snapping at him to mind his own business. “Will do,” I said instead.

Once he was gone, I let out a breath and locked up. I made my way back to my bedroom and changed into a T-shirt and a pair of threadbare pajama pants. I really was going to fall into bed and hope for hours of oblivion.

But then my phone buzzed.

Sam

I’m at the gate.

I felt the tears come as I pressed the remote to let him in. He was riding a motorcycle I didn’t recognize. When he got to the front door, I flung it open and planted my feet to the floor to keep from also flinging myself right at his solar plexus.

“Hi,” I said instead, quickly brushing the tears away.

Sam’s eyes roamed all over me as if searching for something. “What can I do to ease your pain?”

I stepped forward and climbed his body until my arms were wrapped around his neck and my legs were wrapped around his waist. “Take me to bed and hold me all night.”

So that’s what he did.

He reached back and locked the door again before carrying me down the hall and laying me on the bed. He stripped down to his boxer briefs and slipped into bed next to me, pulling me close again. I let out a shaky breath and let myself fall asleep to the strong feeling of kudzu wrapped around me.

When I awoke, Sam was gone, but the spot beside me was still warm from his body. I went to the bathroom before making my way out to the kitchen where I found him drinking a cup of coffee and scrolling through his phone.

“Hi,” I said nervously.

Sam turned to me with a soft smile. “Good morning. Sleep okay?”

I reached for a mug and poured myself a cup from the pot he’d made. “I slept like a brick. You?”

“Best sleep I’ve had in a while. Gotta say, I don’t mind holding you all night.

I think maybe I need to do it more often.

” He winked at me and went back to his phone.

“They’re going to investigate the fire to confirm its cause.

I pulled up some information on insurance claims in the case of fire, and I’m happy to help make some of those calls for you today.

It might be a good idea to try and get on a contractor’s schedule for the repairs.

Even if you’re not sure about what you want to do, you can ask them for options and estimates.

I can sit in on the interviews and help show you what questions to ask.

If we call around today, we can get several of the interviews done before I leave. ”

Thinking about him leaving was definitely not good for my mental health today, so I dropped it from my mind like a hot potato.

Sam looked back up at me. “But that doesn’t mean you’re obligated. It’s your business, your call.”

I blinked at him for a minute in confusion before he laughed.

“Never mind. You’re pre-coffee. It was stupid of me to bring it up yet. Sit and I’ll fix you something to eat.”

After taking another sip of coffee, I let out a breath. “The insurance company will want to know what caused the fire. Do you know who I’m supposed to contact at the fire department?” I asked as Sam nudged me out of the way with his hip to get the eggs from the fridge.

“Yes, I have the investigator’s info, but I wouldn’t think they’d have an update for you until at least after lunch. They have to make sure it’s cool and safe enough to enter before they can start the investigation.”