Swamp Team 3 (3 page)

“I’m fine,” Ally assured her. “Just a little raspy from the smoke.”

Gertie frowned, clearly not believing her assessment, and yelled again. “Where’s the damn chair?”

A cute young fireman walked up with a plastic lawn chair and placed it next to Ally, casting nervous glances at Gertie as he moved away.
 

Six foot two, muscular, midtwenties. No perceivable flaws. Threat level medium if unarmed.

He headed back toward a group of firemen standing near the front of the house, so I turned my attention back to Ally.

Ally took Gertie’s hands in hers and looked her straight in the eyes. “I swear to you, I’m fine.”

Ida Belle flopped into the chair. “Then you won’t mind if I sit down. All this drama looks like it might take a while, and my bunions are killing me.”

Gertie frowned down at her. “You should have those removed.”

“Tell you what,” Ida Belle said. “I’ll have them removed when you get new glasses.”

 
“Anyway,” I interrupted, not about to listen to that age-old argument again. “So what do you think happened?”

Ally shook her head. “I have no idea. I shut everything down in the kitchen before I went to shower. Mrs. Parker, the lady I was talking to when you drove up, was walking her dog and saw smoke coming out of the window. She called the fire department right before the smoke detectors went off.”

“You don’t have a smoke detector in the kitchen?” Gertie asked.

Ally gave her a sheepish look. “I disabled it. I set it off so many times trying new recipes that I was afraid my neighbors would have me arrested for disturbing the peace.”

“So it probably started in the kitchen,” I said.

“I guess.” Ally frowned. “But I don’t see how. I
know
I turned everything off before I went upstairs. I’ve been paranoid about that sort of thing ever since my dad caught our pergola on fire while barbecuing when I was a kid.”

“I remember that,” Ida Belle said. “Flames shot up a good twenty feet in the air.”

Ally nodded. “That’s because dad’s first mistake was painting it with lacquer instead of varnish. I’m pretty sure Momma was still complaining about it at his funeral.”

“Having known your mother her entire life,” Ida Belle said, “I’m sure you’re right.”

“But if you turned everything off,” I asked, “then how could it have started?”

“Gas leak?” Gertie asked.

“Something still has to ignite the gas,” I said.

Ally shook her head. “I would have noticed the smell of gas.”

I looked over at the house and saw Carter standing on the front porch, talking to the fireman who’d brought over the lawn chair. He shook the man’s hand, then came down the sidewalk toward us. He nodded at Gertie and Ida Belle, then focused on Ally.

“The firemen have assured me that the house looks worse than it really is, but it’s not safe for you to stay there. It will take hours for the smoke to die down completely and there’s no way to secure the house well enough for you to live in until things cool down. Even then, I wouldn’t recommend it until the worst of the ash and soot has been cleaned.”

Ally’s eyes widened. “Oh, wow. How long will that take?”

“I’m not sure,” Carter said. “A lot depends on how quickly your insurance company moves and whether a cleaning crew is available. There are specialized crews for this sort of work.”

Ally stared at the house and bit her lip. “What about everything inside? I mean, if you can’t secure it…”

“Once it cools down, David Leger, the fireman I was just talking to, offered to cover the damage to the exterior walls with plywood. That should help you avoid any potential tragedies from the nosy among us.”

Ida Belle looked over at David and narrowed her eyes. “Is that Edith Leger’s grandson?”

Carter nodded. “He just moved here from Lake Charles last week when the job opened up.”

“Doesn’t look at all like his grandfather,” Ida Belle said. “Gilbert was a total toad.”

Gertie shook her head in dismay. “Well, really.”

Ida Belle waved a hand at her. “Don’t go acting all pious. You faked mono for an entire six weeks to get out of being partnered with him for square dancing in gym class.”

“That was because I don’t like to dance,” Gertie argued.

“You have an entire shelf of DVDs on break dancing,” Ida Belle said. “I have no idea why, since the only thing you’re likely to break is a hip.”

“Ladies,” Carter interrupted. “All discussions of toads and break dancing aside, our biggest concern at the moment is that Ally stay somewhere safe.”

Ally nodded, still looking a bit dazed by everything. It would probably take some time before the full weight of what had happened hit her. “Can I go in to get my purse and some clothes?” she asked.

Carter nodded. “The stairwell is stable, but I’d still prefer one of the firemen go with you.” He whistled and motioned to David. “Can you please escort Ally upstairs so that she can pack some clothes?”

“Of course,” David said.

Ally gave him a huge smile, and I saw a blush creep up his neck as they headed toward the house. Carter stared after them and frowned.

“You gonna tell us what’s eating at you?” Ida Belle asked. “Or are you just going to stand there staring?”

Carter turned back to face us, a worried look on his face. “Telling the three of you this goes against all my better judgment, but I need your help.”

A feeling of dread came over me as Ida Belle jumped up from the chair to stand beside me. “What’s wrong?” I asked.

Carter took a step closer to us and leaned in. “The chief said it looked like the fire was deliberate.”

“What?”
 

“No way!”

“That’s impossible!”

Carter glanced around and motioned for us to quiet down. “They’re going to send an arson investigator to be certain. But until I can sort all this out, I need to know that Ally is somewhere safe and not back in that house.”

I felt the blood rush from my face. “You think someone tried to kill her?”

“Lord help,” Gertie mumbled and dropped into the lawn chair, her face as pale as the white lace on her collar.

“I don’t know what to think yet,” Carter said. “But I can do my job better if I don’t have to worry about Ally.”

“She can stay with me,” I said.

“Are you sure?” Ida Belle said. “Gertie and I are better prepared to handle guests.”

I knew exactly what Ida Belle was implying. Because Ally didn’t know anything about the real me, her living with me opened up opportunities for discovery. But it was a risk I was willing to take. While I didn’t doubt for a moment that Ida Belle and Gertie would defend Ally to the death, neither was as qualified or as paranoid as I was. If Carter wanted her safe, then the best place for her to be was with me.

“I’m sure,” I said. “It will be like a long girls’ weekend.” I’d heard that phrase on one of the sitcoms I’d watched the night before. I still had no idea what a “girls’ weekend” entailed, but the women on the show had acted all excited about it.

“You just want her for her baked goods,” Ida Belle said and gave me a barely imperceptible nod.

“Naturally,” I said.
 

Carter smiled. “I’ll probably have to drop by often and check on her.”

I looked over at the house as Ally stepped outside and smiled at David before hurrying toward us.
 

“Here she comes,” I said. “I don’t think we should say anything about this to her until we know something for sure.”

“I agree,” Carter said.

Ida Belle and Gertie both nodded and everyone tried to force a normal expression as Ally walked up.
 

“I’m sure I’ve forgotten something,” Ally said, clearly flustered. “I can’t even think straight.”

“Anything important,” Carter said, “let me know and I’ll get you an escort back inside.”

“And anything else,” Ida Belle chimed in, “you can get at the General Store.”

“You’re right,” Ally said. “I’ve got work clothes for a couple of days and anything else can wait.” She reached into her purse and pulled out her cell phone. “I didn’t even think to check this thing and make sure the smoke didn’t damage it. I need to call Aunt Celia and let her know I’ll be staying with her for a bit.”

“No,” I said and put my hand on her arm. “You can stay with me.”

Ally’s expression softened. “Oh, Fortune, that’s so nice of you, but I don’t want to put you out. Aunt Celia’s family. Putting family out is totally acceptable.”

“You wouldn’t be putting me out,” I said. “And besides, staying with Celia is more likely to put you out than her.”

“True that,” Gertie said.

Ally bit her lower lip and looked back and forth from Gertie to me. “Okay, if you insist.”

“I insist.”

Ally smiled. “I really appreciate this.”

I felt a blush creep up my neck. “You could probably repay me with some blueberry muffins.”

She laughed. “I’ll have to check your kitchen for equipment first. I think Marge liked cooking as much as you.”

“I’ll put together some supplies from my house,” Ida Belle said.

I stared at her.

She put her hands on her hips. “What? I like blueberry muffins, too. And mine never turn out as good as Ally’s.”

I was momentarily confused by Ida Belle’s comment, because her blueberry muffins were every bit as good as Ally’s, but then I saw Ally’s expression and realized Ida Belle’s compliment was meant to shift her thinking away from her house and make her feel better.

Ally laughed. “You guys are going to make me blush.”

“You’re going to make me hungry,” Carter said.

“Oh no!” Ally said. “You had to cancel your date.”

“Dinner,” I corrected. “We were having dinner. Not dating.”

Carter gave me an amused look. “No worries,” he said to Ally. “We’ll reschedule our
dinner
. And I have leftover chicken potpie at home.”

“You cook?” I asked.

He raised one eyebrow. “Would you be interested in dating if I did?”

“I’d have to try your food first.”

He shook his head. “Ladies,” he said to Ida Belle and Gertie, “would you please give these two a ride home while I get back to work?”

“Of course,” Gertie said.
 

“I’ll talk to you later about rescheduling our
dinner
,” Carter said to me, then gave me a sexy smile and a wink before sauntering off toward the firemen.

Gertie whistled. “If I were twenty years younger, I’d eat anything he put on the table.”

Ida Belle snorted. “If you were twenty years younger, you’d still be old enough to be his mother.”

Gertie stuck out her lip. “Would not.”

“Are you sure?” Ida Belle asked.

Gertie frowned for a moment. “Whatever.”

Ally grinned. “I’m going to have to agree with Gertie on this one. Even if he serves up a grilled cheese sandwich, you should go for it.”

I sighed. “I suppose most of the single women in Sinful would launch on him over frozen pizza.”

Ida Belle shook her head. “Most of the single women in Sinful would cook a twelve-course meal if they thought it would get them in his front door. But he hasn’t seemed interested in any of them.”

“Until you,” Gertie said.

They all nodded.

“No pressure there, right?” I said. “Let’s get going. I’ve been in girlie clothes and makeup way too long and as it turns out, for no good reason. I hear yoga pants and bare feet calling me. Not to mention the leftover pot roast from the stash Gertie brought me yesterday.”

They all looked at one another, exchanging this know-it-all smile that made me want to scream, then Gertie pulled out her keys and they started walking toward her car. I shot one final look back at Carter. He stood next to the front porch, talking to David, but as I looked over, he turned his head to look at me and smiled.
 

It made my whole body tingle.
 

Damn it.

Chapter Three

It took a couple of hours for things to get settled at my house. Despite the fact that the broken windowpane hadn’t been fixed yet, Ally chose the bedroom across from mine, claiming she liked to awaken to the morning sun shining on her face. That sounded like torture to me, but then I hadn’t exactly been able to sleep in since I’d arrived in Sinful, so I supposed in the big scheme of things it didn’t matter.

We had the leftover pot roast while Ida Belle and Gertie rounded up some additional kitchen supplies, then we all had pound cake and coffee. It was close to 11:00 p.m. before I locked the front door, and Ally and I collapsed in the living room, each with a glass of wine.

“Are you sure this isn’t going to be an imposition?” Ally said.

“I’m sure. Stop worrying about it.”

“It’s hard to. I’ve spent too much of my life trying to please other people—coworkers, my mom, Aunt Celia.”