Lauren made it home past dinnertime despite their early start that morning. Shane was nowhere to be seen, so she grabbed a quick meal on her own and headed off to bed early, completely exhausted from the hectic day.
Before she drifted off to sleep, she debated whether to tell Shane what had happened at the track. If she couldn’t be honest with him, then she couldn’t expect him to ever tell her his hidden truths, either. She would tell him, and if he gave her a hard time, she’d point out that he had once made the same mistakes, too.
Having made up her mind, she was able to enter into a deep, exhausted slumber.
Lauren dreamed of camping that night—of stargazing and swimming, singing songs around the campfire and stuffing her face with gooey s’mores. Shane was there, as was her father. Even Briar Rose had come with them to the campsite and ran excited circles around them, pouncing and leaping at the flames but not getting burned.
They sang Lolly Winston’s latest hit song, and Shane surprised her with his smooth, baritone voice. She’d never heard him sing before, but had no doubt that this was truly his singing voice—and it was beautiful.
He moved closer to her so that their hips were touching. His voice dropped to a whisper as he murmured the lyrics, his face just inches from hers.
Closer, closer.
She could feel the soft syllables caress her cheek. Any minute now he’d kiss her, and the entire world would change for both of them.
He’d be healed. She’d be healed. They’d take their first steps toward happily ever after, together hand in hand.
She leaned forward and closed her eyes, waiting for what came next…
But it was not what she’d expected. Briar Rose shrieked as she burst through the fire and leapt between them. The scene split in half like an old scrap of paper, and Lauren watched helplessly as her father, Shane, and Briar Rose drifted one way and she the other.
The woodsy scents of smoke and earth lingered, filling her nostrils until she felt strained for breath. Briar Rose continued to bark, whine, howl, and screech.
Only it wasn’t just Briar.
All the dogs were there now. And though she could no longer see them in her dream, their whimpering reached a fever pitch, an alarm that woke her from her sleep.
She sat up with a start. Was she dreaming? Or…?
The dogs continued their desperate cries from outside. The air still smelled of smoke, but the campsite was nowhere to be seen. Lauren sat alone in her bedroom, confused and scared.
Then her senses returned, and she finally understood what was happening.
“Fire!” she screamed, tugging on her boots and coats and flying toward the yard. She had to do something. She was the one who could move quickly. She needed to save Shane and the dogs before it was too late.
The dogs strained against their kennels, their eyes fixed on the source of the fire.
The garden shed stood partially ensconced in flames lapping tall and bright against the night sky. And she ran toward it, grabbing a discarded snow hook near the kennels, then returned to the fastest sprint she could manage.
Shane yelled something from behind her, but she didn’t have time to make out the words. All her energy went toward moving her feet ever forward against the cold. Until it wasn’t cold at all, and the heat of the flames brought beads of sweat to her brow.
Crash!
She knocked the heavy metal hook through each of the windows and reached through the broken glass to turn the knob from the inside. Luckily, the lock only kept people out, and she was able to turn it easily from the other side.
Having at last gained entry to the forbidden structure, her eyes darted toward the source of the fire. Curtains that had been singed to bits, pink, floral wallpaper obscured by soot, and plastic storage containers had melted, unable to protect the contents kept within.
What was this place?
No time to figure it out. She needed to extinguish the flames somehow. Would the hose reach all the way over here? Only one way to know for sure.
She was running again, and as she did, she passed Shane limping toward the shack with a fire extinguisher held clumsily in his hands.
They reconnected, she with her fire-fighting method and he with his. Together, they put out the flames and managed to save a small bit of the treasures inside.
Lauren turned toward Shane, not knowing what to say. She’d spied enough of the secret place to finally understand. He’d lost someone important to him, a woman, and this was his shrine to her memory.
No wonder he kept people out. He’d been hurt in the worst possible way, and now the little he had left of this lost love had vanished into the night. She nearly cried on his behalf, but no… He needed her to be strong, a source of comfort in this impossible situation.
For he likely felt as if he’d lost his loved one all over again, and now nothing could ever bring her back.
Lauren reached her arms around Shane, but he didn’t return the hug. His body was rigid. Not even a tremor vibrated through his hands and arms, as it often did when he felt stressed.
Everything around them went still. Even the dogs quieted now.
“What did you do?” he said flatly. “What did you do?” he repeated it again and again, each time eerily devoid of emotion.
He still didn’t trust her.