Marcy and Beau had come, and they stood on the sidewalk with Spencer, talking to the fire chief. He said that the fire had started in the kitchen, possibly an electrical fire, or someone had left something on when they closed the store for the night, and it had burned slowly for hours and then burst into flames. The firefighters weren’t sure of the cause yet. The store had lost merchandise. The question was how much. It was too soon to know. The three of them, Spencer and Marcy and Beau, huddled together, waiting for news, and wanted to go inside to assess the damage, but the firefighters said it was still too dangerous to go in, and the fire could become more active again. The risk was not entirely over.
The homeless people who clustered around the store at night had been scattered by the police and had taken refuge elsewhere. It was a grim scene as the charred furniture from the restaurant was thrown onto the street, and the firefighters were still inside hosing things down and causing more damage, although for a good cause. They had to be sure the fire was out and wouldn’t reignite. Spencer looked grim as a cab stopped near where they were standing, and a tall man in jeans and a baseball jacket with disheveled black hair got out. Spencer saw immediately that it was Mike Weston. He headed toward her with a serious expression. The other two didn’t know who he was, but he was a striking-looking man, and it was obvious that Spencer knew him. Beau raised an eyebrow questioningly at Marcy, and she gave a small shrug. She didn’t recognize him either.
“How’s it going?” the man asked Spencer in a warm tone of concern, as though he knew her well. He felt as though he did now, and this was an intensely personal moment of fear and worry for her.
“The fire is almost out. We’re waiting to assess the damage, but they won’t let us go in yet. It started in the kitchen of the restaurant. It was burning for hours before it burst through the roof. Thank God it did, instead of going down to the lower floors. But the smoke and water damage may be bad. We don’t know yet. And what are you doing here, by the way?” She smiled gratefully at him.
“I wanted to be sure you were okay, and I don’t have your number.”
“Thank you,” she said softly, and introduced him to her associates, who looked shocked once they knew who he was. They would have questioned her about it, but they couldn’t with him standing there. “Mike invited me to the Met party tonight. I didn’t know before I got there,” she explained to them.
“Or she wouldn’t have come,” he added, and Beau and Marcy laughed, since they knew the situation and that Spencer had been refusing to meet him. “Hopefully, the damage won’t be too bad,” he said, and they all nodded. It was two in the morning by then, and he stayed with them until three, when they finally left. They couldn’t go in until morning. It was still too hot and dangerous. Mike had stayed with them, and took Spencer home in a cab.
“Do you want to come in for a cup of coffee?” she asked him when they got there. She looked exhausted, and they both had soot on their faces from ash floating in the air.
“You need to lie down and get some rest,” he said gently.
“Thank you for coming. I was terrified till I got there. They already had it under control. But the damage could be pretty bad. I don’t know how much merchandise we lost. We had a leak in the warehouse last week, now this.” She looked beaten for a moment, and he gave her a hug.
“Sleep. It’ll look better in the morning. And your insurance will take care of it,” he reminded her, and she nodded. Marcy had already called and left a message. “I’ll call you,” he said, and then remembered that he didn’t have her number. She gave it to him willingly, and he gave her his. He had been so kind and compassionate all night. It was amazing how life worked out at times. Only a day ago she had considered him a potential enemy, and overnight he had become a friend. His showing up at the fire had demonstrated that he was a decent human being and a good person. As he left in a cab to go home, she realized that she hadn’t heard from Bill all night. He hadn’t called to check on her after the party, to see how things had worked out. And Mike had come there to see what he could do to help. Bill hadn’t given any sign of life. It was a big statement about how little he cared about her, and it wasn’t lost on her.
She went back to the store that morning after she’d slept for a few hours. There was burnt wood and charred furniture piled up in the street. Marcy had called a cleaning crew to take the debris away. They were already working. There were two firefighters on the scene who escorted Spencer and Marcy into the building to survey the damage. The top floor was frightening. The other floors had been untouched by the fire. But there was noticeable smoke damage, and some water had gotten to the lower floors. The store would probably have to be closed while they made repairs. The insurance adjuster was coming on Monday morning to assess the damage.