Page 79 of Shake Your Boo Thang

Bingo, I mouth back.

Gloria sips her tea. “It’s been such a long time, but I’ll never forget how that fire felt as I was trying to escape.”

“What did you hear about the arson investigation afterward?” I pry. “You were interviewed, correct?”

She nods. “They took a statement from me. I mentioned the boy who saved me.” She frowns. “I thought they’d try to track him down to thank him, maybe give him some kind of formal recognition for what he did. But I never heard anything about him again. It was all rather strange.” She cradles her teacup in her hand, her gaze going distant.

“Honestly, I wasn’t paying a lot of attention. The next few days for me were spent in hospital recovering from the smoke inhalation and dealing with outraged but relieved parents.” Her eyes shimmer with tears again. “Then there were the funerals. I went to all of them, even though I didn’t know everyone as well as I did Archie. I felt like I had to, as a kind of apology. For a long time, I was haunted by the notion that I should have done more. That if I hadn’t panicked, if my asthma wasn’t so bad, maybe I could have saved the others too.” She shakes her head. “It took me a long time and years of therapy to accept the idea that I wasn’t at fault. But you never fully get over something like that.”

“That must have been so hard,” Beau murmurs, “but you’re right. None of it was your fault, and you were very lucky to come out of it alive.”

Gloria reaches over and pats his hand with a soft smile. “Yes, I really was.”

“Did you read anything about the investigation in the paper later?” I ask. “What did you think?”

Her brows furrow. “I’ll admit, it seemed like the whole thing was wrapped up rather fast. In the end, I read that it was faulty wiring, but I don’t know. I’m not an expert and wasn’t back then either, but the fire seemed to spread very quickly.” Sadness fills her eyes. “I know some of the families of those who died in the fire kept pushing for more answers, that was in the papers for a while, but once the case was closed, there wasn’t much they could do. It ate away at poor Archie’s parents. They were never the same again.”

“We’re sorry we asked you to revisit such painful memories, but we appreciate hearing your story. Tell me more about Archie. I want to make sure my podcast listeners hear as much as possible about his life.”

For the next little while, Gloria reminisces fondly about her friend and offers small recollections of the other men who died in the fire that night. Learning more about the spirits we’ve met and their former lives makes even me all that more determined to bring them the closure they need to move on.

As for Beau, he listens with rapt attention, his open face conveying every one of his emotions. Beau Montgomery is incredible, and probably one of the most compassionate men I’ve ever known.

What he sees in someone like me is hard for me to fathom, but I have no intention of turning him away from my bed while I still have the opportunity to be with him.

My heart, on the other hand, still has its reservations. Not because I don’t care for him, but because I’m worried that I’m starting to care too much. My self-protection instincts are on high alert and I’m trying not to let them sabotage things.

When we say our goodbyes, it’s still early and I surprise myself by spontaneously suggesting we take a stroll in Hyde Park.

The bright smile Beau gives me while taking my hand in his is like a reward. As we head that direction, he hums happily to himself, and I’m glad I suggested this little detour. I’ve had partners in the past tell me I’m utterly unromantic and I never disagreed. But somehow, Beau manages to bring out impulses that I’ve never experienced until now. And the delight he gets from our little dates makes me want to keep planning them just for him.

“Gloria certainly gave us quite a lot to mull over,” Beau says.

“Aye, she did. I’m beginning to wonder if Reggie and his nephew were both tied to the fire somehow.”

Beau nods. “Same. Between Big Mike mentioning that he saw Owen outside the club that night and Gloria’s mysterious rescuer being around his age, it’s definitely adding him to our short list of suspects.” He frowns. “But if Owen was involved, why help her? Why not get away as fast as he could?”

I shake my head. “Not sure, and I don’t want to speculate too much until we can talk to Reggie and Owen. I do think we’re finally on our way to getting some real answers though.”

I can only hope Liz comes through with information on wherever the hell those two men moved after leaving London. Finding them is our top priority.

Beau and I make our way deeper into the park and walk along the banks of The Serpentine, the man-made lake in the heart of the park. But the moment Beau spies people boating on the water he starts vibrating with excitement.

“Can we rent one of those?” he asks, pointing to a pedalo.

“Aye, if you want to.”

His eyes sparkle with enthusiasm and I immediately turn us toward The Boathouse, where, since it’s not busy at this time of year, we’re able to hire our own pedalo without a reservation. In no time at all, we’re in the water and pedaling along at a leisurely pace.

Beau tilts his head back and basks in the autumn sunshine that’s decided to appear. “This is glorious, isn’t it?”

I snort out a laugh. “Well, enjoy that sunshine while you can. It’s bound to disappear behind some clouds soon.”

Beau pouts. “Don’t rain on my parade, darlin’.”

“Only stating facts, beautiful. We’re into the cold, wet season now and will be here until spring.”

As we drift along, we pass some unperturbed geese bobbing lazily in the water, and even I start to relax. I can’t remember the last time I did something like this.