Lemon Meringue Season (April) Part 5

 "Fabian wasn't in the vardo."

 "He must have been. Somebody left that dog out and set it on me."

 "Fabian was at work. The dog left himself out. I'm confused, Carl. If you love Lisa so much, why would you set her house on fire with her in it?"

 "I was going to rescue her. That interfering woman and that miserable little brat got in my way. If Lisa got hurt, it's their fault. They interrupted me." Carl shrugged. "And maybe Lisa finally learned her lesson. She has got to stop breaking my heart. We're meant to be and that's that. And now that she doesn't have the house or the property any more, that circus freak isn't going to want her. Carl smiled. "I heard the explosions were spectacular. I wish I'd been able to stay to see them. That little brat has a lot to answer for. She did that on purpose -- setting those geese on me."

 "Lisa didn't lose the house. The damage really wasn't that bad," his father informed him. "What did you plan to do with that little girl, anyway? She saw you -- she could identify you. Did you plan to kill her?"

 "I hadn't really decided," Carl admitted. "I was leaning towards driving her to the game lands and letting her out. Or the East Mill races were a possibility, too. The Mowerys have a ton of kids -- they probably wouldn't miss her. And that's not what I heard about Lisa's house. Friend of mine told me it was a total loss. I also heard that Moreno got seriously injured and might never walk again."

 "So now you've punished everyone you need to punish and tried to make your dad a hero to everyone. Problem is, I wasn't the hero that night."

 "Of course you were! You're the fire chief!"

 "Fabian DiSanti rescued Lisa before the fire got too bad. And Pablo Moreno saved my life. He got too close to the exploding saw because he'd just pushed me out of the way. You almost killed your father with those explosions. And since Lisa was there, she saw it all."

 "What? No! You're the hero!"

 The Chief shook his head.

 "Moreno was the only one who noticed the chain saw. He pushed me out of the way and took the brunt of the explosion. He's your hero, Carl. All you did was ruin your own life for nothing. Lisa is still getting married -- and not to you. Pablo Moreno is a hero who saved my life. And you're being charged with I don't even know what all."

 "Rick will probably be willing to make a deal."

 "Maybe. But I seriously doubt that you're going to walk away from this." The Chief shook his head and got up. As he reached the door, he couldn't resist one more shot. He turned. "By the way, since you're so fascinated by heroes. Did you know that Fabian saved Lisa's life once before? He saved her from drowning when she was four. You have him to thank that she's even around at all.

The cherry trees led the way at the end of March, bursting into glorious soft white blossoms. The other fruit trees followed. Some of the blossoms were fragrant; not quite strong enough to conquer the acrid smell of burned building, but enough to sweeten it a little. The bees, happy in their repaired hive, did their work diligently. People came around to photograph the riot of blooms that was Lisa's orchard. Most said this was the prettiest it had ever been.