Focus, Anna. I could beat this.
As I watched the orange tendrils lick at the sides of the wood and grow higher and higher, I became mesmerized by the dancing flames, and the urge to get a closer look came over me. Slowly, I placed one foot in front of the other until I was standing directly in front of the terrifying demon I’d feared so long.
I wanted to see inside the flames. Needed to understand how it worked in order to rid myself of my fear once and for all. But the heat from the fire was too hot to get any closer. Then the wind suddenly shifted and smoke surrounded me. My eyes watered and I choked on the toxic fumes. I barely registered the sound of my name as Cowboy appeared through the haze of black smoke.
“What the hell are you doing?” he shouted, scowling at me. “Move!”
But I couldn’t. My sweat-dampened palms reached for him, but my feet weren’t cooperating. He grabbed my arms as I clutched at his shirt, trying to hold myself up and keep from passing out from the amount of smoke I’d inhaled. “I…c-can’t,” I coughed out, feeling weaker by the second.
His firefighter training must’ve kicked in, because his face changed from a perplexed, what-the-hell expression to a look of sheer determination and confidence.
Without hesitation, he snaked his arm around my back and lifted my wobbly legs out from under me, drawing me tight against his hard chest. My face buried into his warm neck, and my fingers dug into his broad shoulders as he carried me out of the smoke.
I gasped in a breath of clean air, and coughed it right back out. My throat burned a little from the effort. Cowboy kept moving with me in his arms until he had toted me twenty yards away, where some of the carnival workers had gathered and a fire truck had just pulled in. I remembered seeing it parked near the firemen’s chili booth, and figured someone had probably notified them of the fire around the same time I’d stumbled upon it.
In full bunker gear, Mandy stepped out of the passenger seat. Her eyes widened, as if she hadn’t expected to see me standing there. “Something wrong with her feet, Captain, or did you just feel like playing hero?”
“I don’t know what happened,” he said, concern lacing his deep tone, along with a smidgen of petulance at Mandy’s remark. He looked at me, as if waiting for me to answer for myself, but I still couldn’t speak. He nodded his understanding and told Mandy, “She just sort of…froze.”
“Oh. I’m sorry, Anna,” Mandy said, her tone registering her sincerity. “You seemed fine after the booth fire. I didn’t realize—”
“What booth fire?” Cowboy asked.
“When Anna and Bobbie Jo stopped by our booth earlier, some napkins caught fire on the table behind Anna. We had to use a fire extinguisher to put it out.”
Cowboy’s suspicious eyes met mine once again and his jaw tightened. “Go see if Reynolds needs any help, Mandy.”
She bit her lip. “Are you sure? I can help you with—”
“It’s okay. Just go.” His low, gruff voice wavered between confusion and anger.
Obviously, he suspected me of starting that booth fire. But I hadn’t. Not really. Or rather, not intentionally. It was an accident, one that could have easily happened to any of us. Though I doubted he would see it that way.
I managed to loll my head back enough to see the orange glow once more and a tremor ran through me. Cowboy’s arms tightened around me, drawing my attention back to him. Our eyes met briefly, then I began to hum. It was so low, I hoped he couldn’t hear it over the noise of the loud music and the shouts of the carnival goers, but knew he probably felt the vibrations against his ribs.