Into the Fire Read online

  “I’ll get a lease, and you can sign it.” Kane retraced his steps to the basement.

  “That’s great. I’d like to move in as soon as possible.” Maggie hurried to keep up with him.

  Unlocking a door across from his workshop, he motioned for her to enter his apartment. When she stepped inside, the comfortable-looking living room with large windows offering a view of the lake surprised her. After only a short time in his presence, she had been sure his place would be dark and stark like the man. But because the apartment building sat on a hill that sloped to the lake, the basement wasn’t totally below ground. The back half was opened to the sprawling yard with oaks, maples and elms dotting its terrain down to the water.

  “Have a seat while I get a lease. I’m sure I have one around here somewhere,” he said and walked toward a hallway.

  Restless, she paced. Maybe I should leave the past alone. Maybe I should go back to St. Louis and forget. Maybe—no, I can’t walk away now. This wouldn’t have been possible without You. I know it in here. She tapped her chest over her heart. Lord, it’s finally happening after all these years. Thank You.

  Every nerve ending alert, Maggie stopped pacing and rotated toward Kane who moved into the room, a paper in his hand. Their gazes locked. Her lungs constricted at the power emanating from him.

  Suddenly, he broke eye contact and crossed the room. “The rent’s due on the first. There’s to be no loud music or noise after ten. Pets are allowed so long as they’re small and not disruptive to the other tenants. Oh, and trash is picked up every Tuesday and Friday.” He laid the lease on the coffee table with the apartment key next to it. “Any questions?”

  “No.” Matching his strictly business demeanor, she sat on the rust-colored couch, noted the amount of the rent, then signed her name on the lease.

  He retrieved the lease. “This is contingent on the fact Dale gives you a glowing recommendation.”

  “He will.”

  “Tomorrow’s okay to move in, but I still have a few things to do to the apartment. That’s one of the reasons I took some vacation time.”

  “Fine. I’ll be working tomorrow morning, so I won’t be here till the afternoon.”

  “I’ll try to be out of the way by two.” He started for his door. “You can give me the rent then, and I’ll give you a copy of the signed lease. I’ll also introduce you to Edwina tomorrow. She’ll handle everything after that.”

  Maggie rifled through her oversize purse and withdrew her checkbook. “Let me pay now. One less thing to handle later.” As she filled out the check, she asked in a casual voice, “Who else besides Edwina Bacon lives here?”

  “On the first floor across from Edwina, there’s the Sellman family with a set of twins. The Penningtons live across from you. You’ve already met Kenny Pennington. Upstairs from you there’s Kyra Williams with her son, Sean, and lastly Edwina’s sister Ann and her husband, Marcus Quinn.” He walked toward the front door and opened it. “If there’s nothing else, I’ll see you tomorrow afternoon.”

  Effectively dismissed, Maggie escaped into the hallway and started for the stairs. What am I doing here? Panic seized her.

  Father, give me the strength to see this through to the end, whatever that may be. Give me the strength to do the right thing when dealing with the woman who gave me up at birth.

  * * *

  The box must weigh a ton! Maggie tried to shift the weight some as she stopped halfway up the stairs to her new apartment, but she lost what grip she had. The box crashed to the step in front of her. The sound of glass breaking echoed through the quiet.

  “Can I help?” Kenny asked as he came up behind her.

  Still unaccustomed to having her half-brother so near, Maggie tensed for a few seconds before forcing herself to relax and smile. “I don’t think anyone can help now. I think Grandma Ridgeway’s glassware is gone.” She plopped down on the step, placing her elbows on her knees and resting her chin in her palms.

  “Maybe it’s not so bad.” The brown-haired boy peered into the container and whistled.

  She slanted a look at him. “That bad?”

  “Yep, ’fraid so.” He sat down next to her. “You’re moving into the apartment across from us. Uncle Kane told me.”

  “I’m glad we’re neighbors.” She had always wanted siblings and now she was sitting not inches from her half-brother. The moment awed her, and yet she wasn’t sure what to do about it. She’d gone twenty-eight years without any experience on how to relate to a younger brother.

  The child’s expression showed concern. “Will your grandma be too upset?”

  “Nope,” she murmured around the lump in her throat. Where do I begin getting to know my brother?

  “I know if I’d done something like that, my grandma woulda been upset big-time. And my mom would be crying by now. Once she broke a dish my grandma gave her, and she cried. Told me family was important to her.”

  His words stole her breath. Her lungs burned as she tried to drag air into them. “Your mother’s right.” And she robbed me of mine. She fought the tears that now gathered in her throat in order to ask, “Would you like to help me finish unloading my car? I’ll pay you.”

  “Sure!” Kenny beamed. “Mom isn’t gonna be home for a while. I could use the money—that’s if you don’t mind Ashley tagging along.”

  “Fine. Is she your sister?” She knew the answer, but it didn’t stop the feeling of too much happening too fast and the need to slow down.

  “My baby sister.” His face screwed up into a frown as though he’d just taken a spoonful of distasteful medicine.

  “Tell you what.” Maggie lifted the box, grimacing when she heard the broken glass clinking. “I’ll take this to my apartment while you get Ashley. Then we’ll head to my car.”

  Hurrying up the stairs, she needed to put some distance between herself and Kenny before she cried in front of him. She’d dreamed of getting to know her family for a long time—ever since she had learned her birth mother had one—but she’d never dreamed of the rush of excitement that she felt, the anxiety that caused a pressure in her chest, the tug of emotions that ripped through her gut. And the overriding thought that she’d missed so many years of this child’s life, as well as Ashley’s.

  At the top of the stairs she paused to catch her breath, to swallow the tears. She looked down at Kenny, who waved and smiled. She returned his grin, resisting the urge to rush down the steps and hug the boy.

  I have to take it slow and easy.

  Outside her apartment door, she slipped the key into the lock. Surprised it was already unlocked, she tensed, her mind flooded with pictures she’d seen on the nightly news when Henry Payne had been found murdered in this very place.

  Cautiously, ready instantly to flee, she eased the door open and peered into the living room. Kane McDowell had said he would be gone by two, and it was well past that time. “Anyone in here?”

  “Just me.” Kane came into the living room from the kitchen.

  Where the murder occurred. She could do this. She hadn’t lived in the town long and certainly didn’t have anyone mad enough at her to kill her.

  “For a second there, I had visions of tossing this box and hightailing it down the stairs. Not an especially dignified start in my new home.” She managed to strike a relaxed pose against the doorjamb.

  The sides of his mouth curled upward. “I have your garbage disposal fixed—I think. If this doesn’t work, I’ll have to replace it.”

  Stepping closer, his scent of pine engulfing her, he took the box from her. Her mouth went dry. Her reaction to Kane was as strong as the day before. After meeting Kenny, she realized she would have little emotional energy left after dealing with the Penningtons to pursue any other kind of relationship.

  “That was beginning to look awfully heavy. Where do you want it?”

  “Probably the trash.” When his forehead creased in question, she continued, “I dropped it on the stairs. That doesn’t sit too well with glass. I gu
ess I’d better check it, though, to see if anything is salvageable.”

  “How much do you have to carry in today?”

  “A carload. I do have several pieces of furniture in storage that I’ll move here later when I’m settled.” Those pieces were the only connection she had to her adoptive father. A rush of sadness washed over her at the thought of never seeing him again. Such a good man.

  Kane glanced at the box. “I can lend you a hand with your unloading.”

  “That’s great.” Although a deep ache had burrowed into her heart, she arranged her features into a smile. “I have one helper, but truthfully I wasn’t sure how I was going to get some of the larger items up those stairs.”

  “Who’s helping you?”

  “Kenny.” Maggie started to ask some questions about him and Ashley when the two children appeared in the doorway. Kenny grinned while Ashley hid behind her big brother, peeping around him with her thumb in her mouth.

  Maggie wanted more than anything to scoop both children up in her arms and hug them tightly. She might never be able to do that; she might always be no more than the lady who lived across the hall. The realization cut deeply.

  “Are you all ready to work?” Maggie asked, putting a firm lid down on her volatile emotions.

  Kenny nodded while Ashley stared at the floor.

  “I’ll pay you, too, Ashley.” Maggie stepped to the side to get a better view of her little sister.

  The child ducked behind Kenny even more, concealing her face from Maggie. A knifelike pain sliced through her heart. Her half-sister wasn’t playing hide-and-seek; she was hiding—from her. Ashley’s actions only reinforced the fact that Maggie was a stranger to her own family.

  “She’s an old scaredy-cat. She’ll probably just watch. That’s all she ever does.” Kenny frowned at his baby sister.

  “That’s okay.” Whirling around, Maggie headed out into the hallway, needing fresh air desperately.

  A bond with Ashley formed in the moment Maggie watched her little sister trudge out of the apartment behind Kenny, her gaze glued to the floor, her thumb in her mouth. She knew the frightened feelings Ashley experienced around new people because she had been there herself until one day she’d decided she couldn’t spend her life locked up inside of herself and did something about it. She’d forced herself out of her shell but only so far. Still craving solitude, she preferred watching people from a distance, but it was suddenly very important to help Ashley. Maggie prayed the child would let her.

  Descending the staircase, Maggie suppressed a flash of anger. All her life she’d wanted a large family, full of brothers and sisters, laughter and love. Now she was faced with two children who regarded her as a stranger and would never know her as their big sister since she had no intention of saying anything about who she was. She only wanted to get to know them from afar, learn about them from her observations. Why give her birth mother a second chance to reject her? She’d had enough of that in her life.

  * * *

  The next afternoon after Edwina Bacon paid her a visit with a welcome gift of banana nut bread, Maggie sat at her kitchen table downing a large glass of iced tea, relishing the cool liquid as she took a break from unpacking. Every muscle in her body ached. She rolled her shoulders, refusing to look at the spot where Henry Payne’s body had been. There wasn’t a trace of blood on the beige tile because it was brand new, shining in the sunlight streaming through the bay window that overlooked the lake and yard.

  Back to work. Finishing her drink, she pushed to her feet and put her glass in the sink. When she started for the living room, a pounding at her front door interrupted her trek to the nearest box. Instead, she answered the urgency in the knock.

  “School’s out already?” Maggie asked as she took in the sight of Kenny. Then she noticed the frantic look in his eyes. “What’s wrong?”

  “Come quick. It’s Ashley. She can’t breathe.”

  In a space of a heartbeat, Maggie reacted to Kenny’s words. She hastened across the hall to the Pennington’s open front door, following the boy into the apartment. Ashley stood near the dining room table, clutching her throat, trying desperately to draw air into her lungs, her eyes wide with fear. The bluish tint to Ashley’s skin alarmed Maggie. She must have something in her throat. For a few seconds, terror held her immobile until her emergency training kicked in.

  Maggie raced to the little girl and encircled her torso. Please, dear God, not Ashley. I can’t lose her now.

  Clasping a fisted hand under the child’s rib cage, Maggie pressed upward in four quick thrusts. Relief trembled through her when she saw a peanut pop out of the girl’s mouth. Ashley coughed, then began to breathe again.

  Maggie gently laid the child on the floor, then hugged Ashley to her. The sound of Maggie’s heart beating roared in her ears as she struggled to control the quaking of her body. She had to remain calm, but for the life of her, she wasn’t sure how she would. She had almost lost her sister, and she had just found her.

  “Are you all right?” Maggie asked when she thought the child’s voice would work.

  Ashley’s shudder rippled along Maggie’s body. The child nodded but kept her arms locked about Maggie while dragging in deep breaths. She stroked the little girl’s long brown hair and thanked the Lord.

  “You’ll be okay now,” Maggie whispered as much to reassure herself as her sister. Never in her life had she felt so scared as she had when she had seen Ashley unable to suck in air.

  The five-year-old sobbed against Maggie’s chest, tremor after tremor passing through her small body into hers. “I—I couldn’t—breathe.”

  “I know, honey.” Her arms around Ashley tightened as though Maggie could absorb the child’s fear and wipe from her mind the past few minutes. What if she hadn’t been here to help? She clung tighter to the child.

  “What happened?” Kane asked from the doorway.

  “Maggie saved Ashley’s life,” Kenny said, his face still registering his own fear and panic. “She was blue!”

  Maggie looked up at Kane, his gaze ensnaring hers. “She’ll be all right now. A peanut went down the wrong way.”

  For a brief moment distress lined his face until Kane visibly took command of his emotions. He glanced from Maggie to Ashley. Crossing the room, he took the child into his arms. The small girl wrapped herself against him as he held her cradled to him, his eyes soft with concern, a smile of reassurance on his face.

  “Uncle Kane, I tried to. Really I tried.” Ashley hiccupped between her words, tears cascading down her cheeks.

  An ashen cast to his skin sharpened the hard planes of his face. “Shh,” Kane whispered while he held Ashley in his arms. “I won’t let anything else happen to you.”

  He walked down the hallway toward the bedrooms and disappeared inside one. Maggie stood. All strength flowed from her legs. She clutched a dining room chair to steady herself, trying to assimilate what had just taken place.

  “Kenny! What’s going on in here?”

  Both Maggie and Kenny turned at the sound of the woman’s voice. Maggie felt paralyzed, staring at the woman who had given birth to her. In that instant when their gazes touched, time came to a standstill for Maggie. She didn’t have to be introduced to Victoria Pennington to know the woman standing inside the doorway was her birth mother. She was a stranger, yet she was familiar at the same time. Maggie experienced the most disconcerting feeling.

  “Who is this woman, Kenny? You know my rule. No one is allowed in this apartment when I’m gone.” Victoria’s gaze swung from Kenny to Maggie. Victoria placed her hands on her son’s shoulders, her stance protective, her expression accusing as she continued to scrutinize Maggie, stranger to stranger.

  Don’t you recognize me? Don’t you know who I am?

  Maggie pushed away from the chair holding her up, a taut band about her chest making each breath difficult. “I’m your new neighbor, Maggie Ridgeway.” The words came out in a whisper, her mouth parched. It took all her strength to
remain standing a few feet from Victoria Pennington and not shout the truth. Maggie wanted to run; she felt as if her carefully thought-out plan was blowing up in her face, leaving fragments behind to slice her composure to shreds.

  “Kenny, that still doesn’t excuse you from breaking an important rule,” the woman said in a softer tone.

  Maggie backed away, beads of sweat coating her brow. She needed to leave before she hyperventilated.

  “She saved Ashley’s life. She wasn’t breathing—”

  “What? Where’s Ashley?”

  “In her room with Uncle Kane,” Kenny answered.

  Victoria rushed down the hall as Kane came out of Ashley’s bedroom. “Vicky, she’s okay. She’s sleeping now.”

  With hands clenched at her sides, fingernails digging into her palms, Maggie took another step toward the door, the air charged with intense emotions that demanded she feel something other than indignation. But at this moment she couldn’t deny the anger deep in her heart.

  While Kane briefly explained what happened, Vicky peered into the room and sighed. “She fell asleep the minute I put her down.”

  “I should have been here. I got held up at the office. The police came again to the campus to question everyone who knew Henry.”

  “Yeah, I know. They talked with me.” Kane shot Kenny a look.

  Vicky closed her daughter’s bedroom door and headed toward the living area with Kane. “I wish I didn’t have to work. Then that wouldn’t have happened.”

  “It could have happened with you sitting right here.”

  “John and I are so lucky to have you here. You’re like a member of the family. I miss not living near mine.”