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"Ah. Rescued by the handsome but slightly damaged prince who needs a beautiful woman to remind him that his injuries don’t matter." Deb clasped her hands under her chin and blinked her eyes like an old-fashioned cartoon princess.
Erin snorted. "If we were in the movies, sure. He's eight years younger than I am and my employee. Making a move would be sexual harassment, and I'm not going there."
Deb snorted back at her. "You're beautiful, inside and out, Erin. I'm sure he'd be happy to be harassed. Most of the men in this town would be."
"Thanks, I think, but Ryan thinks of me as another mom." She shrugged off Deb's words. "Anyway, I called Sam, and she said to call the sheriff, so I made a formal complaint. I noticed bruises today, so I've got to go over and see if anyone's around the office who can take pictures, in case Chaz tries to file charges against Ryan."
"Chaz isn't that stupid, Erin." She shook her head and sighed. "He'll sue."
"He can try." She smiled smugly. "I had Sam draw up my contracts before I ever opened my doors to prevent stuff like that."
"Good for you. Smart." Deb nodded, lips pursed. "Better to spend the money up front and avoid the legal issues on the backside."
"Yeah." Erin grimaced. "Michael and I learned that one when we were still in Alaska. A handshake doesn't mean a thing in court."
"Too true. The problem is, the Custs have lots and lots of money. And you've got the Adams’ on your case too."
"I know. If these both go badly, I might have to declare bankruptcy, but then I'd get a judge from outside the local area, maybe one who isn't drinking buddies with Chaz or friends with the old lady." Erin looked at the mass of people in front of the booth. "You've got customers stacking up. I'll drop by your shop this week or call you. Oh, and here." She put money in Deb's box. "I'm going to grab a baguette."
"Great. Here, try these." Deb shoved a small white box in her hand. "Have fun today."
"Thanks. I'll do my best."
Erin called the sheriff's non-emergency number while she packed her veggies in the cooler in Smoky's trunk. The dispatcher told her a female deputy was on duty today, but she was on the far end of the county; she'd call and drop by Erin's house when she could. Erin hopped in Smoky to head home.
Erin was waiting for the light at the end of town, Smoky rumbling underneath her, when her phone rang. Glancing down, she saw the call was from her security company. That couldn't be good. She answered, pulling off into a parking lot.
"Mrs. Moore, we have an unauthorized entry and a smoke alarm at your business. We've notified 911—the fire department is on the way."
Erin's heart dropped to the floorboards.
Chapter 12
Smoke and Fire
"Where's the fire alarm coming from?" Erin propped the phone between her head and shoulder and put Smoky in gear. Normally, she didn't drive and use her cell, but she had to get there—fast. And the engine was too loud to use the phone’s speaker.
"It's from the coffee shop. Only one smoke detector has gone off, and nothing has triggered the heat sensors yet."
Thank heavens—the sprinklers hadn't started. Maybe they could get the fire under control before her shop flooded. A sheriff's vehicle screamed by, lights flashing. Erin stepped on the gas, Smoky roaring through the gears.
"I'm on my way. There's a sheriff right in front of me. Can you turn off the security alarms, please?" She let the officer pull away—no sense in getting a speeding ticket, even if she could easily pass him.
"I've turned off the security alarms, but the fire alarm has to be reset at the box, ma'am."
"Okay, thanks, I've got it." She hung up, pulled into her driveway, and parked away from the building so the fire trucks, sirens wailing, had a place to park. The deputy sheriff was peering in her front window and pulling a baton off his belt, probably to break a window and open the door.
"I've got the keys! Hold on!" Erin sprinted to the door and unlocked it. The fire alarm blared, but no flames flickered. A haze of smoke hovered near the ceiling, and a pile of dishcloths on her counter smoldered, the smoke plume widening. She was halfway down the room when the cloths burst into flames. The deputy stopped short, but Erin ran behind the counter and grabbed the bleach water bucket, dumping it on the cloths. They sizzled, a blast of nasty-smelling steam rising from the charred mess. Erin swept the rags off the counter into a dish tub, dumped them into the sink, and turned on the cold water. Another hiss, mostly lost in the whoosh of water, and the fire was completely out. Her counter hadn’t even scorched.
Erin leaned on the sink, recovering her breath as the sink filled. She turned the water off and jogged back down the dining room to turn the alarm off. The room filled with firefighters, big hoses in hand, the flashing of red, white, and blue lights almost blinding her. She finally entered the right code.
"Fire's out!" the deputy bellowed over the sound of fire truck sirens. The firefighters turned around and trooped back out but not before knocking over a bunch of tables and chairs with the bulky hoses. Erin leaned against the back wall, trying to drop her heart rate.
The deputy returned, grim-faced, with a man whose helmet proclaimed him the fire chief. "Mrs. Moore, this is Chief Victor. Chief, Mrs. Erin Moore; she owns the place and put out the fire all by herself." Erin finally realized it was the same deputy who came out yesterday after the Cust incident.
"Nice to meet you, Mrs. Moore. I wish it was under better circumstances." The chief was a little shorter than she was, and much slimmer, but clearly tough, with a big handlebar mustache. Probably one of the many rawhide cowboys on the volunteer fire department; she was thankful for all of them. "Before we talk about this, I'd like to have my people scan your building with an infrared sensor and make sure we don't have any other incipient ignitions. If this was arson, there might be additional attempts." The Montana drawl clashed a little with the formality of the words. He might be a cowboy, but he did something else too. Probably another small business owner; lots of those around these parts. Or he could be a CEO.
"Rats, I hadn't even thought about that. Sure, great idea." Erin shook her head in disbelief. "I can open the garage doors from the outside or from right here." She pointed to the side.
