“What happened?” she asked the first man she came to.
He was kind of grizzled looking, with a stubble of beard, thin hair up top and watery blue eyes. He scratched his chin. “Fire,” he said.
“Obviously! Was anyone hurt?”
“Nah, she’s been sitting empty since after Fourth of July. Heard someone’s gonna be renting it. But I guess that deal’s off...”
“Me,” she said. “I’m renting it. Holy God, what in the world caused it to burn up! I mean, if no one was in it...”
“I guess those Cal Fire guys will help figure that out. Wasn’t no lightning; we got clear skies. We’re just lucky the postman saw smoke and the whole damn hill didn’t take light!”
“Dear God...”
“We coulda been out here for days,” he said, giving his brow a wipe.
“The Templetons,” she said. “Has anyone called the owners?”
“The fire department will call once they get the number. You got the number? You can call ’em. It ain’t no secret. It’s just gonna be a while before anyone figures out what set it off and how bad the damage is.” He turned and looked over his shoulder at the charred mess. He shook his head. “I hope you have somewhere else to stay.”
“That’s going to be a problem,” she said. “I guess I could drive back over to the coast and look for a hotel or something. Unless there’s one around here?”
He was shaking his head. “I can give you a spot on the couch if you’re hard up,” he said.
A man in yellow turnouts walked over to where she stood. He was holding a shovel. “Did I hear you say you know the owners?”
“Yes, I’ve known them almost my whole life. I was renting the house from them and I just arrived to...to...this.”
“It’s pretty ugly in there,” he said. “It can be fixed, but it can’t be fixed fast. No way anyone’s staying there tonight. Or this month for that matter.”
“Do you have any idea what caused it?” she asked.
“I’m not an investigator, mind you. Just an old fireman. I suspect an electric blanket. It looks to me like the fire started in the bedroom. On the bed.”
“They left an electric blanket on?” she asked. “And that could start a fire?”
“It didn’t even have to be turned on,” he said. “It’s best to wait on the investigator to make a judgment, but I’ve seen it happen. I don’t think that house is for rent anymore.”
“What am I going to tell Mr. Templeton?” she thought aloud.
“You can start off by telling him there was a fire in his house, a pretty bad one, and the place isn’t a total loss but it’s uninhabitable. We’ll call someone to come out and make sure it’s locked and the windows are boarded up. Wouldn’t want anyone to go in there and get hurt. Wouldn’t want what survived to be damaged or stolen. We don’t have a lot of that sort of thing around here but...” He shrugged. “The damage is considerable.”
“I’ll say,” she replied.
“So much for your vacation,” the first man offered.
“I wasn’t here for a vacation,” Kaylee said. “I was here to work. I rented it for six months of quiet so I could finish a project. Hey, can I look around in there? So I can tell Gerald what it looks like?”
“You can’t go in there. It’s hot, steaming, could be unstable,” the firefighter said. “I’ll take you around back and shine a light in the window. You might be able to get a glimpse. The kitchen is smoke damaged but most of the fire got the upstairs. There’s no way you’re going to see that until much later.”
“Okay, let’s have a look,” she said. Then she shuddered. This was a tragedy; the Templetons treasured their mountain house. When their sons were young, they’d spent a lot of time here. Sometimes Bonnie and the boys came for nearly the whole summer with Gerald flying up from LA as often as he could get away. And now, they loved to visit with their grandchildren.
It was such a charming stone house with wide porches on the front and back. The inside was beautiful in an unfussy way, plastered walls and wood accents. The kitchen was large with a long breakfast bar, the fireplace in the living room made things so cozy and there was an open staircase to the second floor. There was also a cellar, partially finished, that Bonnie had talked about turning into a wine room, but as far as Kaylee knew, it still just served as storage.
She followed the fireman up onto the back porch; part of the roof hung down as if damaged, but the man just moved around it and she followed. He pointed the light into the kitchen window and Kaylee peered in. She gasped. Everything was black.
“Smoke and water damage,” he said. “It wasn’t burned.”
After a moment he moved over to the dining room window and pressed his flashlight up against the glass. It looked just fine. Not even the furniture was damaged. “I guess the fire didn’t even reach the first floor. But the ceiling is damaged and probably dangerously weak,” he said. “The roof is ruined by fire and the places where we opened it up to vent it. It’ll need a whole new roof, I’m pretty sure.”
“And a lot of other stuff, too,” she said, surprised by the lump in her throat. She began to have visions of kids sitting around the coffee table playing Monopoly or Scrabble. She envisioned their makeshift tents constructed out of old blankets and quilts and sleeping bags on the floor of the back porch. Toby, the youngest of them all, never made it through the night.
She suddenly recalled when she was here once with her mom who was depressed, doing a lot of crying, and she tried to remember, was that about the divorce? And then there was a time she and her mom came alone and her mom had been so happy and carefree. That had a lot to do with her mom’s new friend, Art. Art was around for at least a couple of years and he had lightened Meredith’s mood. She didn’t remember her mother being brokenhearted over him when their relationship ended. She had asked her mom what had happened and the answer had been so unsatisfying. It was something like, I guess it had just run its course, but of course we’re still friends.
“As a renter, I don’t think you’re obligated to call the owners and explain all this,” the fireman said, disrupting her memories.
She wiped away a tear before it could fall. “They’re very close friends. The owners. Of course I’ll call them.” She pulled her phone out of her pocket and began to snap a few pictures. She took a shot of the damaged overhang above the porch from several angles. She asked the fireman to shine the light inside again and she tried to get shots of the kitchen and dining room, though they were dark and murky, taken through a window as they were. “This is going to break their hearts. They love this house.”
“The fire department will be in touch with them anyway, but you call if you want. Be sure to tell them they’ll be hearing from the chief. And also, tell them there’s not much they can do right now. No need to rush here to see. They should contact the insurance company, though.”
“I’ll call right away,” she said. “Listen, I’ve been driving for several hours and I need to figure out where I’m going to stay tonight. Is there a restaurant or something nearby?”
“Jack’s Bar and Grill in town,” he said. “Or you can go back down 36 to Fortuna where you have a bunch of spots to eat and several motels. Jack’s is about ten minutes; Fortuna about forty minutes. You by yourself?”
The lump in her throat returned. “By myself,” she said and felt that familiar deep and painful longing for her mother. Her best friend. Her soul mate.
* * *
There seemed to be a lot of noise involved in the packing up and retreat of two fire trucks. Kaylee was almost grateful that she couldn’t really call Bonnie and Gerald until things quieted down. She found a thick log from an old tree on the ground across the street from her parked car. It was nearly four o’clock and she was fighting tears, not so much over the charred house but more from the memories it brought. The plan had been to separate herself from all the sweet memories of her mother but in coming here she had only unearthed more.
By the time she clicked on the phone number, she was completely alone. And it was quiet as a church, sitting as she was beneath the huge pines.
“Hello, Gerald? It’s Kaylee. I’ve arrived in Virgin River and I have terrible news.”
“I already know, Kaylee. The Cal Fire chief called me just a half hour ago. He said you were there and had seen the house. Honey, I’m so sorry. I can’t imagine what happened!”
“They said they suspected an electric blanket,” she informed him.
“He told me, but I find that unlikely. We never left the house to come back home without unplugging everything except the refrigerator.”
“Then I guess we’ll have to wait for their investigation to find out the cause. It’s a mess, Gerald. Not completely destroyed, but a mess. What the fire didn’t damage the water and equipment did. The fireman I talked to said someone would come back to board up the windows and make sure it was secure. I can text you a few pictures, but I wanted to talk to you first.”
“Please, Kaylee. Fire them at me. Oh, poor choice of words.”
“I’ll send them as we talk, so you can ask me any questions.” She put the phone on speaker and texted off a group of pictures from her phone.
“Good God,” he finally said in a hoarse whisper.
“The fireman said you should phone your insurance company but there’s no reason for you to rush up here.”
“Aw, honey,” he said. “Just when you think you’re moving forward, something like this—”
“Your poor house,” she said. “I know how much you love this house.”
“We loved the idea of you living in it,” he said. “Thank God it was empty when the fire started! It’ll take some time to find out the cause and cost of repairs, but I’ll be sure to let you know when I do find out. Will you just head back home now?”