“That’s wonderful, Hannah. Really. I’m so happy for you. Proud of you.”
“But?”
“We’re friends, aren’t we? In addition to being patient, doctor?”
“Of course.”
“Okay. I’m speaking as a friend here, since you never had a mother to tell you these things. Not that I’m the only person you could talk to, but…I just want to say…it’s a big step, and it’s all moved pretty fast. I’m not saying there’s anything wrong with that, but this is your first relationship.”
First man she’d kissed. First man to see her scars. First man she’d slept with. Lots of firsts. And onlys. “And girls tend to fall in love with their first. I know.” It was hard to tell if this new pain in her chest was love or her fear that Stephen might not love her back.
“I’m not saying any of it’s wrong. I just don’t want to see you get hurt.”
Neither did she. She’d seen Mia and Stephen talking yesterday, hadn’t thought anything of it. Now she did. “Do you think I will? Did Stephen say something to you?”
“Nothing, honey. Just…be careful.”
Hannah checked out the window again and an odd light flickered through the trees. She felt a surge of relief at seeing Stephen’s headlights and stepped outside, thinking to end the call. The light danced. “What the— Oh my, God. The barn. It’s on fire.”
Chapter 39
Hannah cut off Mia’s warnings, telling her to call 911, then barely got her car in park before jumping out and sprinting toward the barn. One thing on her mind. Get the horses. The front was an impassable wall of flames. She changed course to check the back.
Smoke poured through every crack and seam as she rounded the corner, but it wasn’t as bad here. She undid the latch, slid back the wide door, and was hit with a staggering blast of heat. The blaze crackled, the horses screamed and battered against the stalls holding them prisoner.
“How many?”
It was Lexie, shouting right beside her, barely audible over the roaring of burning wood.
How many in the barn? She didn’t know, couldn’t think. Nothing to do but go stall to stall. “I’ll do this side,” she shouted, and stepped into hell.
Hannah opened the first door she came to on her left, freeing Big Ben, who instinctively ran from the danger.
She moved to the next one, squinting toward the front of the barn. Oh, God. It was a wall of flames moving toward her. They licked up the walls around the office, to the ceiling and across the beams. A destructive force, pushing choking smoke and searing heat ahead of it.
The hungry flames were devouring everything in their path. The feed room across from the office was already engulfed. Once it got past there, it would reach the horses in the first stalls.
Her heart beat out of control but her thoughts were clear. Start at the front. Work your way back. High-pitched whinnies pierced her ears as she ran past the animals.
I’m coming back.
It had only been a few seconds, and already smoke-induced tears poured from her eyes. The sounds of panicked horses tore at her heart. She opened the door of the first stall past the tack room, swatted Sugar’s rear, and the black mare took off in the direction of safety.
Sixteen stalls, and not all held horses, but as hard as she tried, she couldn’t be sure which stalls were empty. Couldn’t accept the consequences if she skipped one and was wrong. She’d have to go side to side and try to beat the flames.
Bits of fiery hay sprinkled the air until the entire building looked like the inside of a fire pit someone had just kicked. The stacked bales of hay had created a roaring inferno, and Hazel was right next door. Using the end of her shirt like a potholder, she flipped the hot metal latch and slid it back to free the frantic gray. That was two. No, three. The smoke had thickened to black and she worked only by feel, arms outstretched. She assumed Lexie was doing the same at the other end.
She’d never been so hot, so suffocated. It was like someone had turned off the lights and turned up the heat. Her chest burned from trying not to breathe. Her hands moved, the rough wood scraping her palms, until they felt metal and another horse ran out, desperate to be free from a sudden threat he couldn’t comprehend.
She hunched low instinctively, searching for a clear bit of air. Or maybe, remembering her brother Zach’s instructions. Stay low and get out. No matter what.
I can’t. I won’t leave them.
A beam crashed to her left in a stream of orange light. She wasn’t going to make it. Wasn’t going to get them all out. She flipped the latch on the nearest door, slid it back, and freed Lady, a boarding mare. And just in time. The fire in the neighboring stall caught the hay bedding in Lady’s and erupted, sending more burning bits into the air. She swiped at her arms and face and kept moving.
With a quick glance back through teary eyes, she saw Lexie fighting the door to Roma’s stall. The stallion reared and battered against the door, unknowingly making it more difficult for the woman trying to save him. Hannah felt a second of relief when she stepped back and Roma emerged. Then she watched in slow motion as Lexie tried to get to the frantic horse turned in the right direction. Saw him rear, saw the woman go down.
“Lexie!” Her scream went nowhere, only opened herself to hot smoke that seemed to charge straight down her throat.
Hannah dropped to her knees and crawled to the other side, one pointless hand over her mouth, the other making wide sweeps along the ground searching for a body. Yelling for her was useless. She couldn’t drag in enough air and there was no way Lexie would hear her. Her hands met wood, telling her she’d made it to the other side. She turned right and crawled toward the back.