Burning Down the House (29 page)

“Just trying to clear out some of the stuff we don’t need,” my dad explained. “Finally
got sick of tripping over it. Come over here, I want you to see something.”

Picking my way through the boxes, I joined him to see what he was
referring to. Oh, the humanity - a snapshot of two-year-old me, bare butt naked on a potty chair with an open Elmo book in my lap. Very classy.

“Recognize her?”
he razzed me, while Rob stifled a laugh behind his hand.

Raising one eyebrow, I gave him a
look
. “That’s just wrong.”

“Hey, don’t
blame me. Your mother’s the shutterbug. You can thank her. Oh - Little Bit’s already called twice looking for you. She said it was ‘super important’ that you call her back.”

My curiosity was
instantly piqued. What could be so hella important? “Okay. Lemme go call her back and get something to eat, and I’ll come back out and help you.”

“Wait
.” Rob picked up something small from the metal shelf that held all the power tools and brought it over to me. “Check this out.”

It was a photograph.
I could tell right away that it was taken in the front room of our old house on Somerset Avenue. It appeared to be a Christmas party, judging from the holiday decorations and laughing people holding champagne glasses in the background. I was smiling sweetly for the camera, a bright-eyed girl of about six all decked out in ribbons and curls and a ridiculously frilly red dress. But what captured my full attention was the small dark-haired boy beside me. His hands were twisted awkwardly behind his back and he looked adorably uncomfortable in a miniature suit and tie. There was something strikingly familiar about those features.

“Is that
you?
” I looked up at Rob in surprise. He grinned while retrieving the photo from my hand.

“Yep. That’s me.
”

“Oh my gosh - did you find that out here?”

“I came across it,” my father announced. “Thought he might like to have it. Kind of a prophecy of sorts, don’t you think? Funny though - even back then he didn’t look a
thing
like Riley.”

Taken aback
by his bizarre statement, my eyes darted to Rob and then quickly back. “Wha - um, what?”

Dad
reached for the handlebars of an old mountain bike and rolled it out of the way, shaking his head in mock exasperation. “Now, ladybug. I know you can be absentminded sometimes, but it’s really hard to see how you could get the two of them mixed up.”

I felt my cheeks
heat up as I realized what he was getting at. So. It was all out in the open now, was it? Glancing once again at Rob, I could practically hear what he was thinking.
The jig is up, Saralou.
In a way, it was a relief. No more of this masquerade.

“You know,” I accused softly.

“Rob clued me in this morning. We had a nice little informative talk.” He leaned the bicycle against the one wall that had been decluttered and looked over at me, waiting for the explanation I wasn’t prepared to give. I was a little surprised to hear that Rob had fessed up.

“Are you mad at me?”
He certainly didn’t
seem
upset. With either of us. Go figure.

“I’m not mad at you, no. I am a little disappointed that you
felt the need to lie to me, although I suppose I can understand your logic behind it. Still…I wish you would have just told me the truth. I would have felt a whole lot better about the situation knowing it was someone who actually cares about you versus that other jackass. At least
that
I could understand.”

You could have knocked me over with a feather. Seriously
.

“
Instead of subjecting you to some long lecture that you’ll probably disregard anyway, I’ll keep this brief,” he continued. “I’m going to tell you the same thing I told Rob. I have no problem whatsoever if the two of you want to date or go together or whatever the heck it’s called these days. But you each have your own bedroom. And that’s where I expect you to sleep. In your own bed. Got it?”

Blushing,
I nodded speechlessly. I couldn’t look at Rob because I knew if I did I’d start laughing for sure.

Dad bent over to
hoist a grimy cardboard box from the concrete floor and drop it on top of a plastic storage container. Brushing the dust from his hands, he added, “And since I’m not stupid enough to think that either of you are actually going to
listen
to me, at least do me a favor and for the love of God stay safe. I have no desire to become a grandfather at the age of forty-two.”

I pressed my lips together to keep from smiling, then coughed behind my fist. So this was what we’d been so worried about. Wow. Did I ever feel like an idiot. “Understood.”

“I should get going,” Rob cut in. “Gotta be at work by twelve.”

Dad nodded. “All right.
Thanks for giving me a hand with this.” Returning his attention to me, he concluded with, “And you, young lady - you better go call Dana back before she has an aneurysm. Sounded to me like she was bouncing off the walls.”

“Oh
, yeah…wonder what that’s all about.” I started to follow Rob inside, pausing to call over my shoulder, “I’ll be right back.”

Once inside,
I grabbed Rob’s arm and faced him, wide-eyed. “Oh my God, I can’t believe you
told
him! What made you do that?”

He shrugged with a
placid smile. “I had to set things straight. I don’t like lying. Keeping a secret from him is one thing - straight up deceit is another.”

“
Well, what all did you tell him? What did he say to you?”

“
I just told him you were trying to protect me when you claimed it was Riley. Really, he didn’t seem all that surprised. I think he just wanted to make sure I was treating you respectfully and that we were being careful. I told him you were on the pill.” He tweaked my earlobe playfully. “And that I was hopelessly in love with you.”

My heart skipped a beat, the way it always did when he
brought up the L-word. “Oh yeah? What else did he say?”

His grin widened. “He
said I damn well better not get you pregnant or he’d have my balls hanging from his rearview mirror.”

I
cringed. “Um…there’s a visual I can do without.”

“You
- what about me?” He dropped a quick kiss on my lips. “I have to leave now or I’ll be late for work. At this very moment there are dozens of unsuspecting trees waiting for me to sentence them to life behind tinsel.”

“Joy to the world
!” I laughed.

“See you tonight
, babydoll.” Grabbing his jacket, he whistled as he strolled out the front door and then the house became quiet and still again.

Feeling my stomach
rumble, I postponed the phone call in favor of slapping together a tuna sandwich. I had just finished the last bite and was about to go retrieve my phone when the doorbell rang. Who else but Dana? She didn’t seem too happy with me, standing there tapping her foot with both hands planted on her hips and irritation written all over her face.

Following me into the house, she
immediately started bawling me out. “Where have you
been?
I’ve been trying to get up with you all morning! What’s the hell’s the matter with you? Don’t you answer your phone anymore? I left like four messages! Didn’t you get them?”

Rolling my eyes at her theatrics
, I told her, “I wanted to sleep in so I turned it off. I was gonna call you back - what are you going all stalkerish on me for? Jeez.”

Her eyes widened.
“You don’t know?”

“Know what?”

“About the fire!”

“What fire?”

For once she didn’t waste time mincing words. “There was a fire at Jordan’s house last night!”

I
stared at her in stunned surprise. “
What?
Really?”

“
Yes! It happened around eleven. Or at least, that’s when the fire department got called out. Half the house went up in flames.”

“Oh my
God, that’s awful - was anyone at home?”

“Only
Jordan. Her parents were at some Christmas party. She was there by herself.”

“
Wow…that must have been scary for her.”

“
Well duh, I’m sure it was!”

“Is she okay?
She didn’t get hurt or anything, did she?”

Dana
gave me an incredulous look and suddenly, sickeningly, I felt my skin begin to crawl with a ghastly premonition. Already some sadistic part of me was guessing what she was about to say. And I didn’t want to hear it. I didn’t want to hear it…

“
Is she
okay?
No, she’s not okay! Sara, Jordan’s dead!”

24

She doesn’t exist anymore.

I felt the blood drain from my face as I guiltily recalled my own recent snub. True, the words were never spoken out loud, but did that make them any less prophetic? Maybe she’d never been my favorite person - despite the fact that I never even knew her all that well - but this wasn’t something I would have wished for her or anyone else. I didn’t want to believe it was true. She was so young, not to mention the innocent baby she was carrying. It was unthinkable that both lives had been cruelly and prematurely snuffed. “Are you sure?”

Dana
looked impatient. “Yes, I’m positive! Watch the local news and you’ll see. My dad was out there at dawn this morning. I called you not long after he left, after I found out where he was going. I was only up that early myself because -”

“Your dad?” I interrupted. “What was he doing there?”

“He went out with the fire marshal. But like I was saying -”

“
That’s not standard procedure, is it? What’s the police department got to do with fire investigations?”

“Well, I don’t know all the technicalities, but
if you want my opinion it’s probably because arson was suspected. Don’t quote me on that though. I asked Daddy after he got back a little while ago but he wouldn’t tell me a darn thing.”

Arson.

She was still droning on, but I couldn’t make out anything she was saying through the buzzing in my ears. My skin felt clammy and cold.
Rob.
He came home with the strong smell of smoke all over him. And he had a vendetta against Riley, or at least he thought he did last night. What if…
no.
No, that was ridiculous - why would he go through Jordan if he wanted revenge? Granted, he wasn’t aware that Riley was denying paternity, but it still seemed incredibly farfetched. Besides, he wouldn’t do anything like that. My sweet, sensitive Rob could never hurt anyone. No matter what kind of twisted past he had, he wasn’t capable of something so malicious. He just wasn’t.

Fire is…
it’s therapeutic.

No.
Riley would be a much more likely candidate. After seeing the vicious gleam in his eyes Friday night and hearing the way he trashed Jordan, I wouldn’t put anything past him. He had the motive and obviously he had the temper.

“…if you ask me. I wouldn’t be surprised, would you?”

“Huh?” I blinked and tried to catch up with whatever Dana was saying.

Tilting her head to one side, s
he gave me a funny look. “Are you okay? You look a little green.”

“Yeah, I just…I can’t believe this. It’s insane.”

“I know, right? So what do you think?”

Hesitating, I suggested,
“Maybe it was just an accident. Like faulty Christmas lights or something.”

“That’s not what I was asking you.
Do you think it’s possible that Riley could have had something to do with it?”

Yes, it is entirely possible.
“I don’t know, Dana…I don’t think it’s a good idea to start jumping to conclusions. You don’t know for a fact that fire was set on purpose.”

“Yeah, but you did say he seemed pretty pissed off the other night.”

Oh, crap. At the cast party after the play, I told her everything Riley had said to me. Gah - why did I do that? She might have spilled the beans to her father, and what if he wanted to question me about it? If there really was some criminal investigation going on here, I didn’t want any part of it. “You didn’t say anything to your dad about that, did you?”

“No.
Why, should I not?”

“I’d rather you didn’t. I don’t want to get
dragged into this mess. And for God’s sake don’t tell anyone else either.”

She
cut her eyes at me sheepishly. “I already told Trent.”

“
Dana! I told you that in confidence!”

“I’m sorry
! It’s just, I tell him everything. You know how it is. Don’t worry though, I made him promise not to say a word.”

I flopped down on the couch with a sigh. “
Please
make sure he doesn’t.”

“
This is all so weird, isn’t it? I mean, first she gets pregnant and then this happens. It’s hard to believe it’s a coincidence.” She dropped down beside me. “What if the baby really isn’t - I mean, uh, wasn’t his? Just because no one knew about it doesn’t mean she couldn’t have been boinking someone else. That could be why she dumped him in the first place, you know? Because of the other person.”

“I guess. Maybe.”
From what Jordan had hinted, there could very well be another person involved. How was it that I knew way more about all this than I wanted to? Why did everyone feel the need to confide in me? I had nothing to do with any of it!

“This is some
complicated soap opera drama, isn’t it? Nothing like this ever happens around here. It’s crazy, huh?”

“Well,
all I can say is I sure
hope
it was an accident. I’d hate to think anyone in this town would be psychotic enough to do something so sick.”

“That’s for sure.”
Without looking at me, Dana casually mentioned, “Trent said you texted him looking for Rob last night.”

I felt my t
emper flare at the tactless timing of her statement. “What are you insinuating?” I snapped, a little too defensively. I knew what she was thinking. Hadn’t she been the one to fill me in on the idle rumors circulating about him four months ago? What irked my conscience was the fact that I’d had the same fleeting suspicion, and I was supposed to be the one who knew him better than anybody.

“Nothing! I just wondered if you guys had a fight or something. That’s all.”

“No, we didn’t have a fight. I just wasn’t sure where he was, that’s all.” I left it at that. Let her conclude what she wanted.

Sh
e gave me another funny look, but apparently decided not to push it. “Okay. I didn’t mean anything by it. I was just curious.”

“Everything’s fine with us.”

“All right. Like I said, I didn’t mean anything.” She seemed anxious to change the subject. “I wonder why she couldn’t get out of the house in time.”

“She could have been asleep.” I’d wondered that myself
, actually.

“
Hm. Well, maybe it was just an accident but…okay, hear me out. This theory might sound awful, but…what if she set the fire herself?”

“
Jordan?”

“I know
, I know, it’s a terrible thing to say, but you know how strange she’s been acting the past couple of months. What if she just, like, snapped? Went over the edge?”

A
week ago I would have agreed that it was plausible. But she’d seemed so radiant and happy lately, in spite of Riley’s rejection. She wanted that baby even if he didn’t. It was hard to imagine her committing suicide, and certainly not in such a gruesome way. “I can’t see it. She may have acted a little out there sometimes, but she wasn’t
that
crazy.”

“It was just a thought.”

“Doesn’t do any good to speculate anyway. We weren’t there - we don’t know what happened.”

“True.”
Dana brushed the bangs away from her forehead, but they fell right back into place. “I can’t believe she’s dead. It doesn’t seem real, does it? Hopefully she didn’t suffer too much. I keep trying to tell myself the smoke inhalation probably killed her before the fire got to her. I’m praying that’s how it happened. Burning alive would be a horrible way to die, wouldn’t it?”

That
wasn’t something I wanted to think about. Not now. Not ever.

It was
another half hour before Dana left and I made my way back out to the garage, still somewhat in shock. Dad was faithfully toiling away, and the results showed. The garage already looked a hundred percent better.

“I was
about to decide you’d bailed on me.” He pointed to a storage container that had been set aside. “I think all that’s yours. How about sorting through it and deciding what all you want to keep and what needs to be thrown away.”

Numbly, I
lifted off the plastic lid and stared blankly at the contents inside. It was stuff from my old room that I’d chosen to leave behind when Mom and I moved. Old school papers, spiral notebooks, rolled-up posters, awards - why had he kept this junk? He could have thrown it away when he sold the old house. It occurred to me then how much he must have missed me when I wasn’t around anymore. But at least I still got to visit him occasionally. What were Jordan’s parents going through right now, knowing they would never see their daughter again? Ever?

“Did you know there was a fire last night?” I
blurted.

“Mm…you don’t say. Where at?”

“Across town, I think. I’m not sure what street she lived on. This girl in our senior class was killed.”

That got his attention. His head snapped up
from the box he was sorting through to shoot me a surprised look. “Someone was trapped in the house?”

“She must have been. According to
Chief Landry, she died.”

“So that’s
why Dana was trying to reach you. I’m sorry to hear that, honey. Was she a friend of yours?”

“Not really. You know how I told you about
Riley getting someone pregnant? It was her.”

“The pregnant girl?”

“Uh-huh.”

He let out a lo
ng whistle. “Damn, that’s rough! Was anyone else hurt?”

“No. No one else was home.”

“Jesus. That poor kid...”

I didn’t ask which kid he was referring to.
Jordan, or the unborn one inside her.

We finished up in the garage around four, which gave me time to
get a quick bath and whip up something for dinner before Rob got home. The tree farm closed at five on Sundays, so we would all be able to sit down to a nice meal together. I’d sent him a text earlier to see if he knew yet about Jordan, and his response was a mere two words.
I heard.
All right, so maybe he was busy.

I
had just turned the chicken and rice down to simmer and wandered into the living room when the sight of Jordan’s face on the bottom corner of the television screen stopped me in my tracks. The anchorwoman was rattling off her newscast with all the stilted emotion of a preprogrammed robot.

…
that claimed the life of a local teen. The cause of the fire is still under investigation and has not yet been officially determined, although it has been confirmed that an accelerant was found at the scene and arson is suspected. Fire Investigator Chuck Whitcomb is currently working with the state fire marshal and local police to…

“
Pretty girl,” Dad commented, shifting his eyes from the TV to me. “I remember her from homecoming.”

I nodded
slowly. The picture they were using actually was from homecoming, more than likely the one taken for the yearbook. The glittery crown rested on her auburn head and she was smiling for the camera, but the effort didn’t quite seem to reach her dull green eyes. I wondered if I was the only one who noticed. Or whether it was all in my imagination, simply because I remembered how glum she’d been at the dance that night. Not at all like you’d expect someone who was just crowned homecoming queen to act. Was it because she already knew she was pregnant? Yeah, surely by then she must have known.