Destined for Della by Aspen Drake

Author:Aspen Drake [Drake, Aspen]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2019-09-12T05:00:00+00:00

11

Della

My house is gone.

Ryder and I just stare at the charred building as the firefighters put out the last of the burning embers. I can barely think, much less figure out what to do for tonight.

Where do we go from here?

“Hey, it’ll be alright.” Jason places a hand on my shoulder then slowly rubs down my back, providing more comfort than he realizes.

“I don’t have my purse. My keys.” I shake my head and hold back more tears. “Where are we going to sleep tonight?”

“Do you have any friends you can stay with?”

“None I can call right now.” I bark out a laugh at the absurdity of my situation. “Without a phone, I can’t call anyone. I don’t have any phone numbers memorized.”

Jason nods and gives me a sad smile. “How about I take you and Ryder to a hotel tonight? We’ll get you settled in for the night, and in the morning, we can go shopping for some clothes and basic things you’ll need until you can get back into the house.”

“Yeah, okay.” I don’t have much choice. The house doesn’t look like a total loss, but there is no way I’ll be back in there in the next twenty-four hours. The fire seems to have started on the kitchen side, which makes me wonder if maybe I left the stove on when I went to sleep. But that doesn’t seem likely. I’ve never done that before, and we had spaghetti tonight. If I had the flame going with an empty pot on it, I would’ve known pretty quickly.

I’m just staring straight ahead when Jason wraps his arm around my waist and gently lifts me up. “The EMTs said you can leave when you’re ready.”

Neither Ryder nor I are showing any signs of labored breathing, so I nod.

Numbly, I let him lead us to his car and get Ryder settled into the backseat. Although he was dozing off against me just a minute ago, he’s wide awake now that he’s inside the back of a real police car.

I turn to Jason. “Where can I go without an ID or credit card?”

“Don’t worry about that. I’ll get you checked in, and we’ll worry about everything else tomorrow.”

I’ve never been a particularly passive person, but in this case, I can’t really function. It’s a huge relief to have Jason to take the reins, driving us to a nearby Holiday Inn and following quietly as he pays for a room then leads us up the elevator.”

When we walk into a suite, I turn to Jason, waking up from my daze. “Is this all they had? We don’t need anything fancy.”

“It’s not fancy.” Jason holds Ryder’s hand and walks with him to the bedroom with two queen-sized beds. He pulls back one comforter and pats the bed. “In you go.”

Ryder is asleep on his feet and quickly climbs into the bed with his penguin in hand. Before he closes his eyes, he looks up at me. “You’re sleeping in here too?”

I nod and walk over to his side.

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