Page 78 of Burn Point

“You girls come on in here and tell me all about what you’ve been up to. I haven’t seen you or Mike in an age, young lady. I hope that’s because you’ve been taking advantage of that hunky man of yours.” Mrs. O’Malley wiggled her eyebrows at Leah. To my surprise Leah flushed bright red.

“Mrs. O’Malley, play nice,” she admonished.

The older woman harrumphed and tottered to a table, coming back with a calendar in hand. She shoved it in my direction demanding, “Which one is your beau?”

I set my mug on the table and thumbed through a calendar of public safety members, all of them shirtless. Any other time I would’ve appreciated the photos more. I turned the page and saw a photo of Mike with a precious puppy nestled in the crook of his arm. On the next page was Nate. One leg propped on the step of the fire engine, wearing his gear, smiling adorably at a golden retriever puppy.

Tears filled my eyes.

What if he was hurt right now?

The urge to bolt and run away and hide from this extreme fear was strong. But I knew I couldn’t leave without knowing if Nate was okay.

What would I do if something happened to him?

The calendar was tugged out of my hands and Mrs. O’Malley’s sad face appeared through my watery vision. She clasped my hands, giving them a squeeze. “Sweetheart, you find a way to go on.”

“I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to say that out loud. It’s just…” I squeezed my eyes closed. The words wrestled forth painfully. “This is a lot.”

Leah gathered close to us, wrapping an arm across my shoulders. “That’s why we are together. It’s too scary to go through alone.”

I tried to let her comforting words sink in. Mrs. O’Malley pulled me to a couch where they sheltered me between them.

“Now dear, I’m sure that he is going to be quite all right. This town has had too much trauma lately to have to deal with more. I believe that to my soul. I need you to take a breath and tell me what this is really about.”

I glanced up, meeting her kind eyes. She looked so concerned for me.

“When I was a teenager, my dad was in a plane crash. He was hurt very badly, brain injury. I don’t think I ever fully processed that, and this feels so much like that terrible waiting period. Not knowing if he was going to live, or if he did, if he would ever be the same.”

Leah rubbed my back, still offering me comfort, trying to soothe my fears. “That’s terrible, Jordan. I’m so sorry. I didn’t know.”

Mrs. O’Malley reached forward to the short coffee table and plucked a tissue out of the dispenser, sitting back to wipe my eyes with one hand while her other held both of mine.

“My dear. Regardless of what has happened before, it’s plain to me that you care very much about your Nate. Does he feel the same about you?”

I blinked. Did he?

“We’ve not said the words so much, but he makes me feel like he cares for me.”

“Then have faith that he will do everything he can to make sure he stays safe. It’s not a foregone conclusion that he’s the one injured right now.”

I took a deep, gulping breath, allowing the truth of her words to sink in. If something happened to him…I shoved the thought away. I couldn’t go there. As excruciating as it was, now was time to wait.

Chapter 22

Nate

The building was a total loss. The whole scene had been a shitshow from the beginning. First the water source had been unreliable. Then the pumper had failed to engage. By the time we got inside, the fire had progressed unusually fast, and had become a monster before we could make any real headway.

To top it off, Rook acted like he was scared to death and had gotten himself cornered. I’d gone on a retrieval mission, trying to pull him out of a fucking burning building instead of fighting the fire.

Thoren and I worked our way to him, beating back the flames. We found him huddled in a corner, his oxygen tank bell screaming that he was running low on air. I tapped Thoren on the shoulder and radioed in that I had him. I slung the idiot over my shoulder, and Thoren and I retreated to the safety of the yard, where I dumped him then fell to my knees.

Medics met us and took over his care. I jumped up and ran back to Captain Collins at the scene command.

“Williams,” Collins barked. “How is he?”

“Alive. Medics have him now.” I ripped my helmet off and sloshed a bottle of water over my head, trying to cool my body temp down.

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