The old house was on fire. I called John Stewart immediately. He was a rescue squad captain. If anyone could help, it was him.
"John, the old house is on fire! Your dad drank too much and he's still asleep inside! You have to get your team here now—!"
Before I could even finish, John hung up.
Two minutes later, a voice message came through.
"Stella Delgado, even if it's April Fools' Day, you shouldn't joke about something like this!"
"I know you're jealous because I went out alone with Denise, but it's her birthday. I have to stay with her until it's over, so stop bothering me!"
I stared at the inferno raging in front of me, frozen.
I scrambled to record a video and sent it to him. In the footage, you could clearly hear my father-in-law's agonized screams.
But the moment the message went through, a red exclamation mark appeared beside it.
John had blocked me. He'd actually blocked me so I wouldn't disturb him again.
The old house sat deep in the mountains, at the end of roads so rough they barely qualified as roads. Even if I called 911, they wouldn't make it here until morning.
I started calling John over and over, frantic, desperate.
I called until my phone died. Until the screen went black. I never got through.
I collapsed to the ground as my father-in-law's screams tore through the night, raw and guttural, until they didn't.
It wasn't until the following dawn, sitting in the ashes of what had been a home, that I finally saw John.
——
He'd been chatting and laughing with Denise Simmons as they walked up. The moment he saw the wreckage, he went rigid.
Eight years of marriage. Even though the last two years had worn us down to something thin and colorless, this was still life and death. His father's life and death.
I gathered what little strength I had left and stood, wanting to comfort him.
"John, I'm so sor—"
"Sorry? Don't you dare say sorry to me!"
He cut me off, voice like a blade. He jabbed a finger at the scorched earth behind me and screamed in my face.
"Stella, are you out of your mind?!"
"Over an April Fools' prank, you actually burned down the house? I spent over four hundred thousand dollars building this place!"
"Denise kept warning me. She said something was off with you, told me I needed to keep a closer eye on you. I didn't listen. Turns out she was right all along. You really are that stupid!"
I opened my mouth to fight back, to say something.
But then I thought of my father-in-law. Burned alive in there last night.
The words died in my throat.
John's mother had hemorrhaged during his birth and never made it. For over twenty years, his father had raised him alone, playing both mother and father. That was why John's bond with his dad ran so deep.
I swallowed my anger. Steadied myself. Stepped toward him again.
"John, I didn't set the fire. The wiring was old. It short-circuited. Your dad—"
"Why do you keep bringing up my dad?!"
He cut me off again.
"Don't think that just because my dad was good to you, you can burn the house down and get away with it!"
"Faulty wiring? Stella, you can't even lie properly. I built this house last year. Denise connected me with the construction crew. Top-quality work across the board. You're telling me the wiring failed in one year?"
Denise covered her mouth and let out a little laugh.
"Stella, I know you must be jealous that John spent my birthday with me, but you can't just burn the house down in a fit of rage! If you keep being this reckless, John's only going to resent you more."
"He doesn't have to wait." John pointed his finger straight at the tip of my nose, disgust pooling in his eyes. "I already can't stand the sight of you."
"Stella, I'm telling you right now. However you destroyed this house, you're going to put it back exactly the way it was. If a single thing is off, you'll see what happens."
