Chapter 6 - Through the Flames
Dominic pulled his linen shirt over his mouth and nose as he kicked open the wooden gate leading to the rear courtyard greenhouse.
The heat was suffocating. Smoke billowed out from the connecting back door of the main store, but the glass greenhouse itself was only partially caught in the fire.
In the center of the structure, resting under a UV lamp, was the original terracotta pot containing the heritage sweet pea mother-plant—the source of all the pale purple blooms Nora had cultivated for a decade.
Dominic grabbed a metal fire extinguisher from the wall, blasting the flames creeping along the wooden benches. The glass above his head cracked under the extreme heat, showering shrapnel over his shoulders.
He reached the center table, grabbed the heavy terracotta pot, and wrapped his jacket around it to protect the delicate green vines from the blistering air.
As he turned to leave, a wooden beam collapsed across the exit, blocking his path with a wall of fire.
Coughing violently, his skin burning from the heat, Dominic backed away toward the outer glass wall. Without hesitating, he turned his shoulder and threw his entire body against the glass panes, crashing through the structure into the cold, wet alleyway outside.
He tumbled onto the wet asphalt, clutching the terracotta pot tightly against his chest.
"Dominic!"
Nora came running down the alley, breaking away from Adrian’s grasp. She dropped to her knees beside him in the wet rain, her hands frantically touching his face, his bloodied arms, and his scorched shirt.
"You idiot!" she sobbed, tears washing clean tracks through the soot on her cheeks. "You absolute idiot!"
Dominic sat up slowly, coughing out smoke, and gently lifted his jacket.
Unscathed inside the heavy wool was the green, delicate vine of the sweet pea plant, its tiny purple buds holding strong against the night.
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"They're safe," Dominic whispered, his voice raspy from smoke. "I promised you."
Nora buried her face in his neck, wrapping her arms around him and weeping uncontrollably as the rain began to fall over the burning ruins of her life.
