Lauren had had the presence of mind to back the car into the street to make room for the fire truck and she stood there now, waiting for Jason to come out. She knew he wouldn’t go near the fire or put himself in direct danger, but her throat was tight until she finally caught a glimpse of him running out, Trouble in his arms.
Grateful and relieved, she bolted across the lawn to meet him, throwing her arms around him. “Thank you!” she said, peppering kisses on his lips and his cheeks.
“You’re welcome. The cat was in the study in the front of the house, looking out the window. Of course it was the last room I checked because it’s the room he rarely goes into.” Jason sounded out of breath but fine.
“You saved my cat!”
Despite the fire, Jason glanced at her and grinned.
“What? What’s so funny?” she asked.
He shook his head. “You said I saved your cat. That’s quite the change of heart from looking for a new owner for him.”
The ungrateful feline obviously didn’t like being squished. He purred loudly in protest and jumped out of Jason’s arms.
Lauren would never be so stupid.
“Excuse me.” A fireman in uniform walked over to them.
“Yes?” Lauren asked.
“Ms. Perkins?”
Lauren nodded.
“Hey, Jason.”
“Frank.” Jason acknowledged the other man with a nod of his head. “What did you find out?”
“The fire started in the electrical box in the mudroom.”
Jason narrowed his gaze.
Lauren knew exactly what he was thinking. “But the electrician signed off on the box. It was one of the few things in the house that wasn’t a problem!”
“Well, someone tinkered with it then,” Frank said.
“Tinkered with it?” she repeated.
“Sabotage?” Jason asked at the same time.
The other man nodded. “Looks that way, but we’ll have a final report in the morning. Another strange thing. Did you know the windows were glued shut? Had to break them to get in. Same with the door, but that’s pretty standard. Sorry.”
Lauren shook her head, holding up one hand as if to block out the words. When it came to dealing with this disaster of a house, Jason knew she was on the verge of tears. He reached for her hand and squeezed it tight, earning him a look of gratitude.
“In the meantime, I can’t let you back into the house until things have cooled off,” Frank said to her. “Do you have any place you can stay tonight?”
“I-”
“She’ll stay with me,” Jason said.
“I’ll stay with him,” she said, gesturing to Jason.
The fireman grinned. “You still got it, Corwin.”
“I need to go into the kitchen so I can leave food and water outside for my cat,” Lauren said to the fireman.
Her devotion to the stray was one of the things Jason found so endearing.