Fragile Hearts (Poplar Falls #4) - Amber Kelly Page 0,66

six o’clock. In my pajamas, I get up and make my way to the couch with a fuzzy blanket.

Momma and Pop rode over to Myer’s to see Faith, and the house is too quiet. I click on the television and surf until I find the ID channel. My roomie and I got addicted to true-crime stories when I was in Chicago. I find something comforting about watching murder. Nope, doesn’t make any sense, but it’s true.

I snuggle in and get lost in a show about a football player who killed his best friend for vague reasons.

The phone rings, and I answer.

“Hey, Bellamy. I just wanted to call and check on you. Your mom said you were sick,” Dallas says.

I can hear Pop talking gibberish to Faith in the background.

“I’m a little better. Just taking it easy.”

“I have some leftover chicken potpie from dinner, if you want me to wrap it up for you.”

Dallas and her mom make the best chicken potpie in the world. She knows it’s my favorite.

“Yes, please,” I answer when thunder rolls outside. “Dang it. It’s thundering here,” I say.

“This weather has been nuts. The storms cause Cowboy to have a panic attack. Good thing Brandt is here to see it this time.”

“Brandt is there?”

“Yeah, apparently, he didn’t make it to Cowboy’s appointment on Monday, so he offered to come and give him his shots today,” she explains.

“Right. That’s thoughtful.”

Thunder rumbles again, and the sky lights up outside.

“So, I’ll throw in some muffins too, and …” Dallas keeps talking, but I don’t hear anything else.

There is a strange glow in the front yard, so I walk to the door with the phone still to my ear.

The barn. The barn is on fire. No.

“The barn. Shit, Dallas, the horses,” I cry over her.

“What?”

“The barn is on fire. I have to go.” The last thing I hear is Dallas screaming for Myer. I drop the phone and take off running toward the barn.

The fire is spreading rapidly, and I can hear the fearful cries of the horses as I approach. Pop and Foster stalled them because the storms were coming.

I get to the door, and it’s warm to the touch. I wrap my hand in my pajama top and reach for the handle. I can feel the metal burning my hand through the fabric.

I race into the engulfed barn without thought. I grab a saddle blanket from a hook near the door and wrap it around me as I run to the stalls. I can hear the horses’ panicked whinnies, and I make my way to the last door and fling it open first. The mare bucks up on her hind legs in fear, and I grab her rein and tug. She finally comes out of the stall. I slap her rear, and she bolts for the door. I go to the next door, fling it open, and repeat. And then the next.

The flames are dancing higher, and wood is falling from the roof. I try to hold my breath as long as I can, but my body involuntarily inhales on one of my cries, and my lungs fill with smoke. I make it to the final door as Pop, Myer, Truett, and Brandt come skidding into the blazing building, screaming my name. Pop spots me and comes running.

“Ali!” I yell.

“We’ll get him,” he promises as he wraps his arm around my shoulders and leads me out into the fresh air. The boys search the barn and free the last of the horses safely from their stall. I thankfully see the colt stagger out ahead of his mother.

Once we clear the threshold, I stumble and fall to my backside in the gravel, sputtering and coughing. Relieved to know Ali made it out.

Momma comes running to my side.

“Oh, Bellamy, are you okay, sweetheart?” she asks, panicked.

I just nod as tears flood my vision to soothe my stinging eyes.

Sirens fill the air around us as two fire trucks come barreling through the gate.

“Oh, thank goodness,” Momma mutters.

“You got her?” Pop asks, and she nods to him.

He takes off jogging to meet the firemen.

Myer, Brandt, and Truett emerge from the back of the barn, and Brandt heads straight for me. I sit up and take the water bottle Momma offers.

His wild eyes comb the length of me from head to toe.

Then, he begins to pace. Running his hands through his hair over and over.

“Brandt,” I call to him, my voice hoarse.

He stops and looks at me. “You ran into a burning building,”