“You weren’t dating him when the fire struck.”
“That’s true. Though we were pretty cozy at the Steels’ wedding reception for Dale and Ashley.”
“But Lamone wasn’t there.”
“No, he wasn’t. Not that I saw anyway. But this is a small town, and news travels fast.”
“He’s back, and he wants something,” Rory says. “If it’s money, why would he go to all the trouble of starting a fire?”
“I don’t know. Just call it a hunch. I’ve had that feeling since he surfaced. He tried to destroy us once, and he failed. How best to destroy us than to take away our family’s ability to make a living?”
“You think it’s not just money? But some sort of twisted revenge?”
“I don’t know. Like I said, call it a hunch. And since I’ve been with Donny, I’ve learned one thing. He never ignores his hunches, and I don’t think I should either.”
CHAPTER SIXTEEN
DONNY
“What’s your hunch?” I ask Callie as she ends the call with her sister.
She turns quickly, nearly dropping her phone.
“I’m sorry,” I say. “I didn’t mean to eavesdrop. But I couldn’t help hearing that you told Rory you had a hunch and that you had decided not to ignore your hunches.”
“I learned from the best.” She gives me a nervous smile.
“Tell me. What’s your hunch? Maybe I’ll have some insight.”
She clears her throat. And I stare at her. She’s still naked, of course, as am I. I’m already hardening at the sight of her. We won’t be leaving this room anytime soon.
“I’m not sure it makes a lot of sense, especially since you and I weren’t together at the time of the fire, but here we are…and Pat Lamone is back in town. Do you happen to know when he returned?”
“I don’t. I saw him at the same time you did, at the Snow Creek Inn that night.”
“Yeah. Maybe we should find out when he first came back. Because I was thinking… What if he started that fire, Donny?”
“Interesting. But if he’s trying to get money out of me…”
“You and I both know that our property took the brunt of that fire. Dale’s Syrah vineyards were an unfortunate side effect.”
I wrinkle my forehead. “I don’t want to discount your hunch, but it would be really hard to control where a fire goes. It depends on the wind, the humidity in the air, so many other factors that an arsonist wouldn’t have any control over.”
“Really? Any good meteorologist could have given him the information he needs.”
Callie is looking to blame someone for the fact that her family has suffered such a loss. For the fact that her law school has been put on hold. I don’t blame her. Pointing the finger, although it doesn’t change anything, can at least give you someone to blame. Someone other than the weather. Someone other than God and his random acts.
“I don’t know,” I tell her. “But I can tell you this. The fire marshal does think the fire was started by a campfire. Dale is wringing his hands over that, of course, because he was camping in the area at that time.”
Her hand flies to her mouth. “Dale thinks he started the fire?”
“My brother is always very careful when he camps. It’s doubtful that he started it, but I know him. If he thinks there’s a reason he can blame himself for it, he will. The truth of the matter is, Callie, that we’ll never actually know. If it was started by a campfire, Dale was hardly the only person out there during that time.”
“And as you said, Dale is always very careful.”
“Yeah. He really is. He’s been going up into those mountains for years to camp. He’s a loner. Always has been as you know, and sometimes he seeks solace, and he finds it in nature.”
“That makes sense. And for what it’s worth, I don’t believe for one minute that Dale was the cause of that fire.”