Jennifer Faye – Her Christmas Pregnancy Surprise (страница 9)

She shook her head, not trusting her voice. She didn’t want to go anywhere.

She wasn’t sure how much time had passed when a firefighter stepped up to them. “I was told the owner is here.” The older man’s gaze immediately moved to Simon. “Is that you?”

“Pepper owns the bakery.”

She glanced at the man’s helmet. It said Captain on it. To her, he was the messenger of bad news. “The bakery—is it completely burned?”

“Afraid so.”

In that moment, she was thankful for Simon’s support. This was like losing a member of her family...again. She’d lost her eccentric mother and her conservative grandmother. The bakery was all she had left of either of them. And now she didn’t have it either.

“But there’s some good news,” the fire captain said. “Thanks to the fire alarm, we were able to get here fast enough to save the second story. Granted, there will be smoke damage, but it won’t need the repairs the first floor will need.” The man paused and looked at her as though expecting her to launch endless questions at him. “I’m really sorry, ma’am.”

“How...how soon can I get in there?”

He shook his head. “It’ll be a while. The fire marshal has been requested.”

“The fire marshal?” Simon finally spoke.

The captain nodded. “In cases like this, he’s called in to determine if this was a case of arson.”

“Arson?” Pepper’s eyes widened. “Who would burn down a bakery?”

The captain looked at her, but he didn’t say anything. And then she realized she was now considered a suspect—torching her own place for the insurance money. She was certain it wasn’t a secret that her bakery was struggling now that the chain store had moved in.

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