Mayfly Melodies

Thirty-One

Noah

Sometimes I think life is just a rodeo. The trick is to ride and make to the bell—John Fogerty

"I was here when it happened. Ethan and I were in the barn. One of their mares had been foaling and the vet was running late. He'd gotten held up at his clinic in town and I'd stayed to help Ethan out. His family was gone for the weekend. His sisters were barrel racing in a rodeo in Denton and his parents had gone to watch so it was just the two of us."

They were sitting on the ground in front of the fireplace in Ethan's living room. He had his own place, a little cottage-like structure, on his parents' ranch. It was a place Noah was abundantly familiar with. Not only had he helped Ethan build the house, Noah had spent countless nights crashed on Ethan's couch when he'd been too tired to head home or knowing that they would be up early to leave for a rodeo. In any sense, Ethan's house had once been like a second home to Noah.

Now, it felt like it belonged to a stranger.

Noah wasn't entirely certain how he'd ended up there, seated in front of a fire that actually was little more smoldering embers in Ethan's home with Bailey beside him. He hadn't stepped foot in Ethan's house since the day he'd left Wichita Falls and he'd been almost certain that he would never cross the threshold again. But somehow he was there and Ethan was not. He'd escaped the awkwardness and the tension and fled to his parents' house for the night. They'd made plans for breakfast the next morning but Noah wasn't sure how well it was going to go.

As for Bailey, Noah had absolutely no clue how she'd come to be in Wichita Falls. She'd appeared seemingly out of nowhere, a bright shiny beacon in a very dark cave. He'd felt embarrassed about how he'd acted at the cemetery but it felt nice to have her there now. Natural, like she should have been there from the start.

It had been entirely overwhelming for him. Noah hadn't even planned on coming to Wichita Falls but somehow he'd just ended up there in the cemetery with his family. He hadn't even realized how alone and lost he felt until Bailey had come along and pulled him back to the land of the living.

And somehow, after it all, Noah had found himself telling her everything.

"When the vet finally arrived, I headed home. It was sometime after midnight and when I got there, the house was on fire. Some boys, just kids really, they'd been shooting off bottle rockets. I don't know where they got them since the kind they were using had been banned in Texas since 2008 but somehow they had them."

Bailey shuffled slightly and put her hand on his knee. It was a slight motion but Noah felt his body's response immediately. He felt more connected to her now, like every fiber of his being was fine-tuned to her. The slightest touch reached him deep in his soul. He didn't look away from the fireplace to where the flames, so similar to the ones that destroyed his life, licked away at the pieces of wood but he moved to hold Bailey in his arms. She settled back against him, leaning against his chest, and he rested his chin on top of her head.

"One of the fireworks landed on the roof of my house and the whole place went up in flames," he continued. "I called 9-1-1 and told them to hurry and then I went inside. I just...I couldn't stand outside knowing that my family was inside. The house was filled with smoke. I remember feeling it sting my eyes and hurt my throat when I breathed.

"The bedrooms were on the second floor so I went there first. Aaron had woken up already and he'd gone to get Caroline. I told the two of them to get out of the house while I got mom and dad but the ceiling started to collapse before I could get to our parents."

Noah felt like it was all happening to him again. He could feel the heat of the fire licking up his arms exactly where his scars were now. He could taste the acrid smoke as it went down his throat. The only thing that kept him grounded was feeling Bailey in his arms but still, despite his heart hammering in chest, he continued on.