Page 20 of Firefighter Midlife Wolf

It was hard to speak past the lump in his throat. “Hi. It’s Hayden.”

“Is Jack okay?”

The urgency in her voice and her immediate concern for Jack made Hayden feel both fantastic and terrible. She genuinely cared about Jack, but he wanted so much more from her. “Yes. He’s fine, at least technically. I’m just worried about him.” Hayden detailed how down on himself Jack had been over the last few days, and it’d only been getting worse.

“I can come by and have a chat with him,” Jessica volunteered as soon as Hayden was finished. “I could be there in about five minutes or so.”

“That’d be great. Thank you.” There was no way in hell he could concentrate on groceries now that he knew Jessica was coming by. His mind was full of concern for Jack and desire for his mate. He should be putting something in the oven for dinner. Or maybe he should wait because he didn’t know how long Jessica would be there. He could see what Jack might want to eat, but he wouldn’t get a good answer out of him. Shit. He was a fucking mess.

When the doorbell rang, his heart jumped up in his throat. He jogged to the door and swung it open, with no doubt of exactly who stood there. It turned out he wasn’t exactly right.

“Hi,” Jessica said with a smile. Her hair was down for a change. He’d only ever seen it bound up in a braid, a clip, or a bun while she worked. The dark waves fell past her shoulders, resting against a delicate floral blouse instead of a scrub top. “This is my daughter, Paige. I wouldn’t usually bring her along, but we were already out together when you called.”

The girl was standing just behind Jessica and to the right. Her features were similar to her mother’s, but her hair was a rich shade of reddish brown. She waggled her fingers shyly. “Hi.”

“Hi. Um, no. That’s fine. Of course.” He let them in, feeling like an ass. “I’m so sorry I bothered you while you were off the clock. I wasn’t even thinking about that.”

“No, don’t worry about it,” Jessica insisted. “I wouldn’t have come by if I wasn’t able to.”

“Okay.” Where had all of his breath gone? Hayden forced air into his lungs, wondering if he’d actually been breathing at all for the last few minutes. He knew how to stay calm and cool when an inferno raged in front of him, but this woman turned him into a mess every time.

“Dad!” Constant thumping like a drumroll sounded on the stairs as Ellie came charging down. “What’s for dinner? I was wondering if we could have—oh. Hi!”

He knew he should correct her for running down the stairs, but apparently, any sort of disciplinary action just wasn’t going to happen today. “I haven’t figured out dinner yet. Ellie, I think you remember Jack’s nurse, Jessica. This is her daughter, Paige.”

Ellie’s eyes widened as she stepped up to the older girl. “Your hair is really pretty.”

“Thanks,” Paige giggled.

“Do you want to come see my room?”

Paige gave her mom a questioning but hopeful look.

Jessica glanced at Hayden and then nodded. “Go on, honey. I’ll let you know when I’m done.”

The thunder on the stairs started all over again as the two girls ran up.

“Sorry about that,” Hayden said quietly, trying to make sure Jack didn’t overhear. “Ellie’s been a little lonely now that her playmate isn’t available.”

Jessica’s eyes rolled toward the ceiling, and she smiled as the sound of giggling filtered down from the second floor. “I think Paige could use a friend, too.”

It shouldn’t mean that much to him that their daughters were enjoying some time together, but his wolf felt very satisfied at the moment. “Jack, Jessica came by to see you.”

He glanced up at her. “Hey.”

“I’m, um,” Hayden pointed at the kitchen door, “just going to go figure out dinner.” His wolf didn’t like the idea of him being in the next room, and all that satisfaction it’d been enjoying a moment ago quickly melted away.

Hayden could hear the murmur of their voices through the door, but he tried to ignore it. He hoped Jessica could help Jack because he was clearly getting under his son’s skin, as much as he hated to admit it. It was frustrating enough to know that Jack was struggling so much, so why had fate given him that extra twist of the knife and brought Jessica along right now?

As he stared down at a package of chicken breasts and wondered what the hell to do with it, Jessica poked her head into the kitchen. “Hey. Can I talk to you for a sec?”

Only a second? He wanted to spend a lifetime with her. That was part of the problem. Hayden quickly abandoned the chicken. “Sure. Come on in. And really, I’m so sorry that I bothered you in your free time, especially since you were with your daughter. I know how precious that time is with kids.”

“Yeah, I’m sure you do,” she replied with a sad smile that encompassed everything Hayden had gone through with Jack. “I also know how hard it is when your kid is ill and you don’t feel like you can do anything about it. They ought to make a mandatory course about how helpless and guilty you feel as a parent sometimes. We’d all still do it anyway, though.”

“That’s true.” Hayden had plenty of regrets when it came to his children. He did wish that Jack had shifter blood, but only for his own sake so that he could heal. More than that, he felt guilty that he’d gone for the wrong woman and that Jack and Ellie now came from a broken home. Plenty of other kids they knew had gone through the same thing, but he still felt bad. “Did you find anything?”

“No, not really,” she admitted. “Physically, he’s right where he should be. He doesn’t have any sign of infection. His incisions are healing well, and it looks like he’s kept up with all the physical therapy that he’s supposed to do. It’s probably psychosomatic. A lot of people in situations like his deal with some very heavy depression as they find themselves suddenly able to do far less than they used to. It can really affect them.”

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