would make you do such a stupid thing? I don’t care if you know what you are doing or not, you didn’t have any gear! You could have died!”
“It’s my fault,” Hailey said. “I was back at my old apartment doing some cleaning up and packing, then I got hungry. There was an electrical fire. If Jackson hadn’t come to give me a hand, that whole place would have gone up with everyone in it, including me.”
“Oh, my goodness! Oh, all those poor people!”
“They lost everything,” Hailey sounded devastated. “Everyone got out fine, all because of Jackson here.”
“Well,” my mother beamed, “my son, the hero.”
Behind her, a roar of laughter broke through the room, making all of us jump as I glared at my brother and Natalee. Even Hailey was chuckling. My poor mother looked around for the joke but quickly shot my brother a look that made his laughter die down.
“I don’t see what’s so funny!” She shot Walker a look. “Your brother did a wonderful thing. I know I was a little harsh on him, but heavens, I was just so worried about my little boy.”
“It’s an inside joke, Ma, at my expense, but I don’t mind. I’m just happy that everyone made it out okay. That building was a deathtrap. It went up faster than a cardboard box.”
Hailey shook her head. “All of those people, my neighbors. They lost everything, and they won’t get any kind of compensation for it. Do you know how awful that is? It doesn’t seem right.”
“That’s because it’s not,” I agreed. “That place wasn’t up to code. There is no way everyone would have made it out of there.”
“Always the hero,” Walker chuckled. “I feel like the cameras will be rolling in any second to get a picture of you. Should we tell them which is your good side?”
I rolled my eyes. “First of all, I don’t have a bad side, so whichever they want is fine. Second, I didn’t hear a single smoke detector the whole time I was running around that place. There was no way to know about that fire until you smelled it.”
“And by then,” Walker added. “It can already be too late. If I remember my law correctly, that right there is a crime that the landlord can get pinched for. They might be able to get some compensation from it.”
“The people who live there can’t afford an attorney,” Hailey shot out. “I know that it’s hard to imagine, but sometimes you are forced to pick between having food for the week or having heat. I can’t tell you how many times I had to make that same choice. It sucks. They’ll never be able to recover from this.”
She spoke with such conviction that it moved my heart. I knew that we had to do something. It was the only thing to do. There was no question of whether or not our wealth should go to help those less fortunate, only a question of how. I loved giving to a good cause, and this was one that I could personally understand. Hailey had been stuck in that same situation.
If we hadn’t met, that building could have gone up with her in it and no survivors. My heart lurched at the idea. I was never going to let her out of my sight again.
“We’ll take care of them,” I told her.
All eyes in the room moved to me. “Not just us, but all the Wheelers. We’ll start a fund and make sure that they get good housing built. Not just for them but for others like them.”
“You just gonna throw all your brothers' hats in the ring like that?” my father asked.
My gaze leveled on him. “Someday, one of us is going to have to step into your shoes. I just asked myself what you would do. Would you let those women and children sleep in a shelter? What about the men working eighty hours in a factor and just so his whole world could go up in smoke?”
“Son, I think you are making the right decision. Looks like this little lady right here is finally knocking some maturity into you.”
Hailey blushed red. “I don’t know about all that.”
“We should give these two some time. Your brothers are going to be here soon, and I think Allyson is coming in too. I’ll get everyone settled in at Walker’s place. When they release you, we’ll be ready? Theresa?”
I was surprised by my father’s gesture but appreciated it all the