Angry clouds of smoke hovered over the pristine white houses, mature trees and manicured lawns. The glistening lake in the foreground reflected the dirty brown masses as interlopers in the neighborhood. Streaks of flaming orange punctuated the smoky air, chilling Mike to the bone and gripping his throat in a chokehold.
Hurry.
They had to hurry.
Chloe helped him toss personal items into their car as fast as their shaky legs would go.
It was a race to see who would win: the ravaging wildfire kicked into high gear by the prevailing Santa Ana winds or…Mike’s foot when he pressed it down on the car’s accelerator testing the limits of just how fast a Nissan Murano really was.
The sinking pit in his stomach told him the fast-moving fire would probably beat them to the finish line.
“Chloe! That’s it! Get in. We’ve got to go!”
His wife clutched their cocker spaniel puppy and ran to the car throwing in a few last desperate items. Slipping into the passenger seat, neither Mike nor Chloe bothered with their seatbelts as Mike floored the accelerator and the car rocketed forward. He wiped beads of sweat off his forehead and swerved to miss a car.
“Let me know where the fire is, honey. I’ve got to watch for traffic and people.” He shook his head. “Everyone’s out in the streets and no one is being very careful.”
Chloe looked back over her shoulder. The puppy whimpered in her arms.
“Oh, no!”
“What?”
“Up on the hill? Smith Townshend’s place?”
“Yeah?”
“The roof is on fire!”
Mike rounded the next corner like a racecar driver in the race of his life.
Chloe’s face paled. “Mike!” She grabbed his shoulder.
“What is it?”
She sat up straighter clutching the puppy tighter. “The fire jumped across the lake! It’s heading down our street!”
Mike wasted no time replying. With the fire on two sides, his car sped along the busy street filled with other fleeing vehicles. The city of Calabasas issued no warnings when the wildfire was clocked with eighty mile an hour winds. Nothing seemed able to stop it as the fire consumed everything in its path licking fiery lips for more. Mike didn’t waste a minute thinking about the new home he and his wife had just purchased. Hell, they had only been married a month, so there hadn’t been enough time to build memories in a house that probably wouldn’t last the night.
Glancing in his rearview mirror, he saw flames shoot out of a neighbor’s house. His foot pressed harder on the accelerator as his heart pounded madly in response. Rolling up his window against the putrid stench of burning debris did little to clear the air in the car. And since the air conditioner hadn’t been working well lately, he and Chloe would be more than toasty.
No matter. Their lives were at stake.
Trees by the side of the crowded road burst into flames as Mike and Chloe drove by astounded.
“Find something to cover our mouths.”
Chloe ripped thin strips off the bottom of her summer skirt and leaned over to tie a strip around her husband’s mouth. After tying one around her mouth, she tried to attach a small one to the puppy who was having none of it.
“He won’t let me put it on him, Mike. What can I do?”
A shaky hand raked his dark hair. “Nothing. He’ll have to take his chances with the air like we are.”
“Okay.”
Visibility narrowed as the smoky clouds blocked the sun. The wipers moved falling ash and debris from one side of the windshield to another. Screams and sounds of angry winds violated their ears, raising already fast pulses, teary eyes and the sinking realization that their world was ending.
Somehow, the turnoff for the open freeway loomed large. Mike turned the car too abruptly and it spun out of control, narrowly avoiding the car just ahead. His sweaty limbs fought to right the car’s direction; no one breathed until they were on the freeway heading away from the fire.
CHAPTER 2
Fear
That was two months ago. From the comfort of his in-laws’ cozy home in Oxnard, some forty miles to the east of Calabasas and away from the wildfires that had destroyed some of the most expensive real estate in California, Mike breathed somewhat easier. It had been a narrow escape. Their frantic drive to safety had been punctuated with searing eyes, dripping noses and throats raw from breathing in smoke. Heated tires had left bits of tread like Hansel and Gretel dropping breadcrumbs through the forest. Now Mike and Chloe felt no desire to return.
Their house had burned to the ground. All the wedding gifts, new china, recently purchased furniture and other household items were ashes. They had been assured by firemen that there would be little left for them to find.
And their marriage had only begun.
If picking up the pieces of their life together hadn’t been tough enough for the newly married couple, his family in Nevada was insisting that they come to Carson City for Thanksgiving.
Thanksgiving.
He snorted watching Chloe drive up with her mother. They’d gone shopping for dishes and bed sheets. Usually energetic and unafraid, now Mike balked at making any new decisions. It was a major expense having to buy everything they needed to set up house again, but the biggest problem was where to live. Even with a few months behind them, they couldn’t decide on the city or even the state. Mike refused to go back to Calabasas. Though once a beautiful town, he didn’t think he would ever clear his mind of the heart-stopping escape he and Chloe had endured. And they had lost their puppy as well. The poor little thing had succumbed to smoke inhalation and didn’t last a month after they had fled to her parents’ home.
It was all too much. No home, few belongings left and now no puppy. Mike shook his head turning away from the window. The insurance checks had come in so they could do whatever they wanted, but something always stopped him cold when his thoughts turned to rebuilding. In Calabasas. Or buying a home in Oxnard around her family. He wasn’t even sure he wanted to stay in California. The fires had unsettled him something fierce.
It should have been an easy decision to return home to Nevada, but somehow it wasn’t. He’d grown up a Nevadan, having been born in Carson City, and went on to the university in Reno for a business degree. But wanderlust had struck and Mike headed out for California to make his fortune. With family contacts in the Los Angeles area, Mike bought a used truck to start a small food business. Putting his business degree to good use and utilizing his canny ability to make great tacos and enchiladas, Mike found a niche by a movie studio and set up his business. Soon he was hiring an employee and staying open longer hours. It was at the food truck one day that he’d met beautiful Chloe playing tourist with one of her brothers. They’d struck up a conversation and he had asked her out to dinner that night. The rest was a whirlwind of activities and after a few months, he stood at a wedding altar in Oxnard with their families in rapt attendance.
It all happened quickly.
Confusion clouded his mind when his father called asking them to come for Thanksgiving and he’d given in to the family pressure without even consulting his wife.
Nevada. It had been home once. Could it be again?
Only one way to answer that question. The front door opened and two women with big smiles and many shopping bags swept into the room.
“Hi, honey! Mom and I bought the bedding today. Want to take a look?” Chloe’s eyes, pretty as bluebells, lit with excitement. Who gets excited over bedding? Her perky nature and sweet disposition made him smile.
“Hi, Mike,” said her petite mother. Lori Davis had once been a ballet dancer. She was still as light on her feet as ever.
“Lori. Pete’s out in the garage.”
“Oh, my. I better see what he’s up to.” She must have seen the look on his face because she hurried out like she’d won the lottery.
“My dad called today.”
Chloe set down her packages. “Really? How nice. What did he want?” Mike waited until she removed her jacket before taking her hands in his.
“What is it?” Worried now, her brows furrowed with concern. “Is everyone there all right?”
“Yes, I believe so. Chloe…”
“Yes?”
“He’s asked that we join the family for Thanksgiving.”
Her eyes dipped as she bit her lip. “Oh. I see. I thought we were having it here with my family. Tom and his wife are coming up for it and so is Scott and his family. You know, Scott’s new book is coming out next month and it’s this fabulous mystery that…”
“I know your brothers are coming, sweetie, but we haven’t seen my family since the wedding and he sounded anxious that we come.”
She was quiet for a moment and he could almost hear what she was thinking.
“Listen.” He led her to the sofa gazing into eyes filled with concern. “I realize you didn’t see my family at their best at the wedding. My Aunt Myra drank too much and fell on the dance floor.”
“While your cousins didn’t look exactly pleased to be there.”
“Well, I told you Levi is practically a recluse and Owen hates everyone.”
“You did,” she agreed, “but your father’s toast to us went on for ten minutes and your mother complained there were too many caloric foods in the buffet.”
“She’s a big workout nut…”
Chloe’s eyes widened. “Mike, please. Can’t we spend Thanksgiving here with people who seem to like us? It was obvious that neither of your parents liked you marrying a ‘California girl’.” Her fingers dipped to make her words into an air quote.
“Chloe, I…”
“And if it hadn’t been for your cousin Ace, I don’t think your family would have come at all.”
He stared at her. “Why do you say that?”
She placed her warm hands on his cheeks. “Because Ace made everyone sit down and behave. If it hadn’t been for him, the reception would have been a shambles.”
“He is a good guy,” Mike agreed. “For some unknown reason, he’s been the glue holding our family together since he was a little kid. We’re the same age but he has the corner on tension-relieving and has always used it wisely.”
Chloe smiled. “Do you think his acting career will pan out? He’s awfully handsome and with your grandfather’s former career, Ace could do very well for himself in Hollywood.”
“Dad said he was getting some good parts and the whole family was pleased for him.”
“Will Ace be home for Thanksgiving?”
“I believe so. Seth…you remember his best friend?” When she nodded, he continued. “He told Dad that he and Ace were going on a cattle drive south of Carson City to help out a friend.”
“Good.” Chloe shrugged. “If Ace is going to be there, maybe the holiday will be all right.” She stood, pointed a finger at him. “But you’re going to have to do some fast-talking with Mom and Dad.”
Mike rose, took his wife in his arms. “I can do that. I spoke extremely fast so you’d say yes to marrying me.”
Pressing her lips to his, she murmured, “You’re a sweet talker, not sure how fast you are. Generally you take it nice and slow.”
“What are we talking about now?” he whispered.
She slipped her hand in his to lead him to the kitchen. “Come on. You’ve worn me out with talking and I spent the morning on my feet shopping. Let’s get something to drink.”
“Chloe, ah…”
“And then you can break the news to my mother.”
He turned instead to look out the living room window. She came up close behind him.
“What is it?”
“Nothing.”
“Oh, it’s definitely something. Tell me.”
Beads of sweat lined his forehead. Sauntering to the window, Mike leaned a shoulder against the frame with hands shoved deep in his pockets as he watched cars drive up and down the street. His labored breathing brought Chloe to his side, her own breath in short spurts.
“Honey? You haven’t been yourself for the last two months.” When he didn’t look at her, she stroked his arm. “That fire really unsettled you, didn’t it?” He remained silent watching the street with unblinking eyes. “Mike? Are you listening to me?”
Turning his head toward her, he spoke softly. “I am struggling, Chloe.”
Anxious now, she gently took both his hands, chilly to the touch. “How can I help?”
“I…I’m having…trouble…” He turned away from her, looked out the window again.
“Having trouble with what? Tell me.” Distressed, Chloe put her arms around his waist, rested her chin on his shoulder.
“I’m ashamed to even be feeling this way, much less having to admit it to you.”
“Admit what?”
“…The reason we can’t seem to make up our minds about where to rebuild is because all I see is a fire coming over the hill ready to consume our new house.” His words came out in short puffs. “If we don’t have a house, the fire can’t get us.”
“Oh, Mike…”
He shook his head, patted her face peeking over his shoulder. “I know that sounds totally irrational. Maybe I should see a shrink.”
She turned him around. “What you need is to get away for a while.”
A small smile crept onto his sullen face. “So you’re all right with us going?”
“Yes.” She nodded once. “Let’s go to Nevada for Thanksgiving. It may just give us both the pick-me-up we need.” She kissed his cheek. “What do you think?”
Mike laughed. “Crummy reason to get out of town, but you may be right.”
Chloe’s quick grin spread across her face. “That happens now and then.” She took his hand. “Let’s go tell Mom and Dad.”
“But honey…”
Leading him towards the garage, she tugged on his hand. “No excuses.” Glancing back, she added, “Our future may possibly depend on it.”
“Think so?”
“Maybe and I hope it’s a terrific time for us. We can certainly use one.” But even as she said it, Chloe’s heart was in her mouth. Too many variables, too many unknowns lay ahead. Squeezing his hand, she offered a short prayer to the gods that all would be fine. It was a fine prayer but it wouldn’t be enough.
