All traffic on Main Street had stopped, and people were coming out of the businesses. Sirens were blasting, announcing the approach of emergency vehicles. People were getting out of their vehicles, and the man who’d hit her was out of his car and sitting on the curb a short distance away.

And then the wreck exploded into flames, sending shrapnel-like pieces of metal flying in all directions and burning debris up into the air. It went up, and then it began to come down, sending onlookers running for safety.

Sully stumbled from the impact of the blast at the same time he was hit on the shoulder by a sharp, burning blow.

The woman was coughing and struggling to breathe. He had to get her out of this smoke, so he kept running straight to the front door of the restaurant. But now, burning debris was also coming down from above them. He was only yards from the café when the door flew open and an older woman ran out.

“In here! In here!” she cried, and he leaped across the threshold with the injured woman in his arms.

* * *

Granny’s dining room was doing business as usual up until the wreck. The sound of crunching metal and screeching tires was impossible to miss. At that point, diners began getting up and running to the windows to see what had happened.

Lovey was up front at the checkout counter when she heard the impact. She jumped up from her seat and pushed the curtains aside to look out just as the cars exploded into flames.

“Oh my lord!” she gasped, staring openmouthed at the huge plume of smoke and fire shooting up into the sky.

And then she saw a man running across the street and into her parking lot with a woman in his arms, with burning debris falling down around them.

With no time to waste, Lovey ran out from behind the counter and opened the door only seconds ahead of them.

“In here! In here!” she shouted, and then stepped outside long enough for them to run past her before ducking back inside.

The man was in the act of laying the woman down on the bench seating in the lobby when Lovey saw her face.

“Oh my God! It’s Melissa! She’s bleeding!” she cried, and then saw a scorched and bloody spot on the man’s back and realized he’d been hit by some of the debris. “Mister, you’re bleeding, too,” Lovey said.

Sully didn’t look up. “I’m okay. Will you please call 911 and let them know one of the victims is in here?”

“What did you say?” Lovey asked.

Everyone who worked at Granny’s was well aware Lovey had lost complete hearing in one ear.

Mercy Pittman, who did all the baking at Granny’s, had come out of the kitchen with most of the others in the dining room when the explosion happened, and she’d followed Lovey into the lobby. When Lovey didn’t hear what the man asked for, Mercy tapped her on the shoulder.