A Winter Wedding(80)

“Have you heard from her tonight?” Brandon asked his wife.

Olivia gaped at him. “Brandon, stop! Not you, too.”

He lifted his hands. “Kyle’s my brother, babe. And she’s the only one who’s got a grudge against him. It makes sense to tie down her whereabouts. If she really has nothing to hide, you don’t have anything to worry about.”

Brandon’s words must’ve seemed reasonable, because Olivia’s shoulders slumped. “Have they even established that it was set on purpose?”

“Not yet,” Kyle said. Which was why he should’ve waited. One minute he told himself to hold off; the next he was dying to hunt Noelle down.

He needed that fight he was spoiling for. Sitting here drinking was far too innocuous, especially since he couldn’t keep from looking at Lourdes—and wanting her in spite of everything.

“Then why are you even asking about her?” Olivia demanded.

“Because he saw her there,” Lourdes replied as if she couldn’t resist speaking up. “Tonight.”

The blood drained from Olivia’s face, and her eyes were riveted on him. “Noelle was there? When?”

Kyle finished his drink. “After the fire broke out.”

“A lot of people probably showed up after the fire broke out,” she said. “Stanley, our neighbor, told us he’d never been to a fire that had so many people running around.”

“I’m not arguing with that,” Kyle said. “We don’t have too many emergencies in Whiskey Creek, so they attract plenty of attention.”

“But Stan was referring to firefighters,” Brandon said. “Noelle’s not a volunteer, so...what? She came to watch?”

“I’m not sure what she came to do,” Kyle admitted and repeated what he’d seen and how quickly she’d driven off.

Olivia bit her lip. “So you’re not positive it was her car. You said yourself that it was difficult to see. That there was a lot of movement and chaos and smoke.”

Kyle exchanged a look with Brandon. “That’s true.”

“Fine.” The narrowing of her eyes suggested she wasn’t happy that Brandon was taking his side. “I’ll call her. Right now. And I’ll ask where she was tonight.”

“It’s late,” Kyle said. “Let’s see what the police find. I only brought her up because I was hoping you could tell me she was with you all evening.” Besides, at this point he just wanted them to go home before the negative emotions charging through him busted out in some way.

But Olivia wouldn’t listen. She hesitated briefly, then reached into her pocket for her cell phone.

They all watched as she held the phone to her ear and moved toward the fireplace. “Hey, there you are. I thought maybe you’d gone to bed, but you’re usually such a night owl.”

Noelle had obviously answered; Kyle felt his pulse gallop even faster.

“I was just calling to see if you’d heard about Kyle’s plant,” Olivia said. “No?” She sent them a glance that suggested this gave her hope. “There was a fire there tonight...It was bad—just about burned down...What? They have no idea...Of course it’ll set him back...Don’t say that. You might be mad at him right now, but he’s been really good to you...Our neighbor told us. He’s a volunteer...Because we were just finishing a movie...I feel so bad for Kyle. He’s devastated—”

Kyle gritted his teeth. If Noelle had set the fire, he didn’t want her to know how badly it’d hurt him, that she’d hit her intended target with a direct bull’s-eye. He wished Olivia would hang up. He’d heard enough.

“Anyone would be,” Olivia went on. “Of course he has insurance, but it’s not that simple. It’ll cover some of the losses, sure. But insurance doesn’t always take care of everything. And what about the orders he’ll lose while the plant’s down? The clients who can’t wait for him to deliver their solar panels will have to go somewhere else...”

It was difficult for Kyle not to snatch the phone away and accuse Noelle of lying. Even if she hadn’t set it, he knew she’d seen it.

“What’d she say?” Brandon asked when Olivia finally finished her call.

“She seemed genuinely surprised,” Olivia replied.

“That’s bullshit!” Suddenly too agitated to sit, Kyle stood. “She knew about the fire before you told her. I saw her there. Why would she pretend otherwise?”

“Maybe you only thought you saw her there,” Olivia said.

Brandon got up and put his arm around his wife. “I’m sorry, honey. I know you don’t want to think she could do something this terrible, not when you two are finally getting along. But she’s not a normal person. She doesn’t care how her actions affect others, takes no responsibility for what she does. I could honestly imagine her torching Kyle’s plant.”

Olivia gave him a pleading look. “Don’t assume she’s guilty until we have proof, okay? Kyle was distraught when he thought he saw her. He could’ve been wrong. I’m telling you, she was very convincing on the phone.”

Kyle pinched the bridge of his nose, trying to keep his irritation at bay a little longer. “Because she’s a good liar. She’s always been a good liar.”