Wilde Fire (Forever Wilde 3)

“Shit,” Evan said before leaning back and running a hand through his hair. “Do you think it’s true?”

“No. But I’m ethically obligated to tell you about it, and I know it means you’ll have to interview him.”

“I’m sorry, Walker. I really am. This can’t be easy for you.” I could tell he meant it. There was sympathy in his eyes.

“Easier on me than poor Otto. It’s killing him feeling so helpless about everything,” I admitted. “The sooner you get this thing figured out, the better.”

“Then I’ll get on the horn with Teri and see if we can get the ball rolling with Hal.”

“You need John and Beth’s numbers?” I asked.

“Nah. John and I go back. I’ll give him a ring and set it up. Thanks for letting me know. Hopefully nothing comes of it.”

Once I was back at my desk, I couldn’t stop running through possibilities in my head. I remembered Otto implying he had a suspect in mind. Was it something concrete or just supposition? And why wouldn’t he be straight up with me about it?

I left the office early so I could spend some time with Tisha. She was at my brother’s house that afternoon because Beth had taken all the kids to the community swimming pool earlier. When I pulled up at their house, Tisha, Eliza, and Cody were running through a little plastic baby pool in the yard, aiming squirt guns at each other and generally having a great time while Hal sat on the front porch with his nose in his phone. I’d already made myself swear not to ask him about anything having to do with the fire, so I concentrated on collecting Tish.

“Uncle Seth!” Tisha cried when she saw me. She made a beeline for me, and I had only a split second to decide whether or not to allow her soaking wet body to crash into my dry uniform.

What the hell? Who cares?

“Hey Tishie-poo, how was your day? Did you guys bring the water fun home from the swimming pool?” I asked, as I squatted and gave her a full-on hug.

“Uh-huh. And Aunt Beth let us have corn dogs for lunch at the pool too. Can we make corn dogs for dinner? I really liked them.”

I thought about the fish I’d been planning on grilling and the produce I’d bought at the local farmer’s market.

“No way, chickie. Healthy dinner tonight, I’m afraid.” I tried to ignore her falling face, knowing full well she’d forget her disappointment when she had a face full of fresh corn on the cob and strawberries later. “Is Uncle Johnny home yet?”

“Yeah. He’s inside with Aunt Beth,” she said. “Please can I play some more?”

“Five more minutes then I need you to dry off so we can go home, okay?” I said, dropping a kiss on her wet head and letting her go back to the kiddie pool fun.

After making my way into the house, I heard voices coming from the kitchen.

“The Realtor said they might be more open to selling now that the house is gone,” John said. “Fingers crossed.”

“Do you think it’ll be cheaper to build now that the house is gone, or will it cost a bunch to haul away the debris from the fire?” Beth asked. I heard the clanking of dishes as if someone was emptying or loading the dishwasher.

I froze in place as I realized they were talking about Bill and Shelby’s house.

“I’m not sure, but I’m meeting with Danny Steiner tomorrow to ask him a bunch of questions. And I already heard from my dad about Hobie First National helping us with the financing.”

“I’m trying really hard not to get my hopes up, John,” Beth said. I could hear a smile in her voice. “But can you imagine if we’re able to do this? And Cody and Eliza can just walk out the backdoor to play with Tisha any old time? I’m sure Jolie will sleep better at night knowing we’re right there too. And your parents are thrilled to death. I just wish they’d given us the little house from the get-go. Yeah, it would have been small as heck, but we could have added on. But no, they gave it to the one person in this family who’s not even really a Walker. God, what were they thinking?”

“They were thinking Seth was going to live there, Beth. How the hell were any of us to know he was gonna bail like that and let Jolie have the damned house?”

I felt my hands begin to shake as the conversation sank in and I realized they were planning on buying Bill and Shelby’s property and building a house on it. Not only that, they were pissed Jolie and I had gotten the little house on the ranch instead of them. But they would have been sardines in that tiny house with three kids. Surely, they didn’t resent not living in what was basically a guesthouse?