Page 96 of Clearly Charmed

‘Bella, maybe now is not—’

Clo’s words were cut off by a jarring alarm blasting out of my phone. The screen filled quickly with a flood of texts from Lia that made my blood run cold.

The thick gray clouds. Faint scent of charred wood in the air. I should have recognized it. A fire was burning in a dry patch of land only fifteen miles away.

‘What’s wrong?’ Clo pulled the phone from my hand, her eyes darkening. ‘Bella, call Judge Greene and Eric. Tell them to bring their largest ladders. I also need them to tow over the portable water rig they have and all their hoses.’

Belladonna gave me a wide-eyed stare. ‘Wildfire?’

‘Yes. There’s not an evacuation order yet, but we need to be ready.’

Belladonna nodded and rushed inside to use the landline.

While we had a minute alone, I stepped closer to Clo. ‘What are the two of you hiding? It’s the reason she’s back, right?’

‘We can’t do this now.’

‘Clo,’ I pressed. ‘I won’t let her hurt Aster and Lia again. Neither of them can handle it.’

This time she clasped my wrist before I could step away. ‘You may not like it, but your mother is correct about one thing. It’s time you stopped pushing things away that are right for you. Every single minute of your life you do not need to act like the eldest daughter. Feeling like you’re responsible for everyone. That you have to control all the variables around you in order to ensure things go right. The way you’ve always acted older than your years. How you keep all your feelings bottled up.’ She glanced back to the house. ‘I know Bella has hurt you, but this time I need you to listen.’

I was about to protest, tell her that Belladonna had nothing I wanted to hear, when the groan and squeal of Lia’s Jeepster cut through the air. Behind it was the grind of another engine. I moved to the far end of the deck. In a swirl of dust, Lia’s truck vaulted up onto the top of the driveway with Aster holding on from the passenger seat. A familiar black SUV was behind them. What the hell was Bryce doing here?

I moved through the house and went down the stairs, meeting them in the driveway. Clo followed me out the door.

‘You get my texts?’ Lia grunted, tugging at the red bandana around her neck. Aster stayed behind her, her gaze fixed on the churning orange sky. I wasn’t the one that could sense emotion, but by the tremble in Aster’s jaw, the steel in Lia’s voice, it was clear the wildfire was burning out of control.

‘Yes.’ Before I could say any more, Belladonna walked outside and Lia’s face became an unemotional mask.

‘Mother, I’ve called for the water rig like you asked.’ She smiled at Lia and Aster. ‘Hello, my girls, I’ve missed you.’

Lia ignored her and pointed to the garage. ‘Ast, help me pull out all the hoses. We need to hook them to the faucets on the north and south sides of the house. Start soaking all the dry brush as far as you can get the lines to reach.’

Aster stayed frozen, her gaze fixed on Belladonna. The pain etched into the lines of my little sister’s face was heartbreaking.

I gripped her arm, pulling her a few feet away. ‘Are you all right?’

She gave me a reluctant nod, her small body trembling. I needed to distract her. ‘Do you know why Bryce is here?’

‘He got the alarms too. Lia said he came to the station to ask questions, probably for his article. Insisted he follow us here so he could help.’ Her voice was barely a whisper.

‘If it’s too hard to be here with Belladonna, I can get Bryce to drive you back to the Blossom.’

‘No, I’m staying,’ she said roughly. ‘I’ll go help Lia with the hoses.’

Belladonna walked toward Aster, and I blocked her path. ‘Not now.’

She shrank back at the acid in my tone. I started to tell her to go inside when Bryce stepped toward us tentatively.

‘Dani, what can I do?’

‘You can go home,’ I said.

Bella raised an eyebrow and shot out her hand. ‘You must be Bryce.’

He glanced at me, waiting for an introduction.

‘This is Belladonna,’ I said flatly.