chapter eighteen

chase

“The fire chief has an update for us,” I told Meghan, waving for her to follow me over to the firetruck near the school’s entrance. We weren’t the only journalists on the scene anymore. I recognized some reporters from the next town over, and some independent photojournalists were beginning to wander around. Chief Ruger rounded us all up. I was ready with my mic, and Meghan with her phone and notebook.

“To provide an update now that the family has been notified,” the chief began, “I can confirm that there has been one injury here at Grissom Elementary. The school custodian, Russell Stout, sustained critical injuries when a section of the wall collapsed. He has been transported to the hospital, and at this time, that’s all the information we have available.”

With a nod, he started to walk away, but Meghan stepped forward, touching the chief on the arm. “Chief.” He turned back around, his expression stoic. “Will the students be able to return to school in the coming days?”

The man let out a heavy sigh. “Doubtful. The gym has considerable damage, obviously—and on top of that, the rest of the structure will need to be assessed before students can safely return. My guess is the superintendent will be looking at alternative options like e-learning or what-have-you.”

His statement made me thankful there was no such thing as e-learning when a pipe burst in my elementary school back in the day. I got a couple of days off, just me and my Nintendo 64, with all the ramen noodles I could convince my older sister to cook for me. Zoom didn’t exist back then, either.

These poor kids.

“I wonder what else we can find out about Russell’s condition?” I wondered aloud to Meghan, who was still writing down some notes.

“Sarah should be our go-to for that info in the coming days. She’ll know,” she said, tucking her pen in the spiral of her notebook to rub her eyes. I’d never seen her look so tired. At least the negative feedback on her Lenny article was far from her mind at the moment.

After scanning the scene, I couldn’t come up with any reason for us to stay. We had all the information and coverage we needed for our reports, and we’d both interviewed a handful of people. Now that parents were coming through to pick up their kids, we were only getting in the way. “Hey, what do you say we go check on Wanda?”

Meghan looked up at my face, and I tried not to grin at the smeared mascara beneath her right eye. It did absolutely nothing to take away from her beauty. “That sounds like a fabulous idea,” she said, opening her mouth wide to yawn.

Wanda was asleep on Meghan’s bed when we got to her apartment, curled up between a pillow and the headboard. I wasn’t sure if I should follow Meghan all the way into her bedroom, so I lingered at the doorway with my hands in my pockets. “She seems unfazed,” I noted, watching the cat nuzzle against Meghan’s legs at the foot of the bed.

“Can you hear her purring?”

I took two cautious steps forward, listening. “Yeah, I can,” I said, watching Meghan kick off her shoes and lie on her side, scratching Wanda just above her tail. She yawned, rapidly blinking her watery, sleepy eyes. Her messy hair spilled onto the dark, moon-print bedspread, and with one hand tucked beneath her cheek, she looked like she’d probably fall asleep within minutes if I left her alone.

“Hey, why don’t I leave you here for a bit so you can rest?” I quietly suggested, stepping forward to pet Wanda between her ears. “I can come back in a couple—”

“But I need to write.”

“You need to nap.”

To my surprise, she didn’t argue. Instead, she opened her mouth to yawn again, trying to cover it with her hand, like she was embarrassed. “Okay. Just give me twenty minutes.”

I smiled. “Okay,” I said, curling my fingers around the keys in my pocket. I could probably get some work done in the car while she rested.

When I turned to go, Meghan lifted her head and said, “Just stay.”

I looked from her face to the cat to the empty side of her queen-sized bed. “Here?”

“As long as it’s okay with Wanda,” Meghan said, following my gaze to the silver, satin pillow next to her head. It did look soft and inviting, and I couldn’t ignore my own exhaustion much longer.

I moved closer to the bed, my knees pressing against the side of the mattress as I stroked Wanda’s little head. The cat closed her eyes, leaning into my touch, and purred even louder. It appeared I had her permission—and Meghan’s—to lie here. Yet still I hesitated, feeling like there was an invisible line I was about to cross. I envisioned that line down the center of the bed as I knelt on the bedspread, removing my glasses. I set them on her bedside table and lay on my back with my head on my interlocked hands, completely still.

It wasn’t that I worried I’d be tempted to touch her. I wouldn’t make a move, not now—not when she was in such a fatigued state. But this gesture, as innocuous as it was, further confirmed something: She no longer hated me. In fact, I was feeling pretty confident that she might even like me a little.

At the very least, she felt safe with me.

Wanda settled between us, pressing her paws into the bedspread a few times before curling up into a little ball against me—just the way she used to when the three of us shared a bed years ago. I let out a quiet chuckle, turning my head to see Meghan’s reaction. But her eyes were closed, and her breathing had slowed.

I assumed she was asleep until she whispered, “Do you think Lenny’s okay?”

“I think it missed that side of town,” I said, swallowing. She kept her eyes closed, but she nodded. I rolled all the way onto my side, so we were facing each other. “He’s probably already collecting metal debris to take to the scrapyard.”

Meghan smiled, slowly opening her eyes. We stared at each other for a few seconds in the quiet of that dark bedroom, her blinds blocking the afternoon sun. With a soft exhale, she closed her eyes again, relaxing into the pillow. As she shifted her position, her socked foot grazed my leg and settled there, her bent toes pressing against my ankle. I held my breath as I watched her fall asleep, thinking to myself that this wasn’t exactly what I fantasized about when I imagined sleeping with Meghan , but it was actually better.

My God, I love this woman.