Page 65 of That One Heartbreak

Eighteen

It was a quarter after eleven.Kate knew because she’d been checking her phone every two minutes. She’d sent Marley a message at 11:01pm to tell him that everybody was asleep. And then, yeah, she’d sent him a photo of her silky pajamas. Short and revealing.

Because this man made her come, then walked away without making any demands. She felt he deserved a treat.

But he still hadn’t called and now she was worried she’d gone too far. What if he thought she was being too forward?

The man made you come on his fingers. A photo of you in your pajamas isn’t forward. It’s practically Victorian.

But then the wail of a siren cut through the nighttime silence. It was so familiar yet the high-pitched sound still made her wince. She got out of bed and opened the curtains to look outside.

She could see the flashing lights in the distance, on the main road out of town. And she knew exactly why he hadn’t called. She watched as it disappeared around the corner, and then two minutes later another engine followed.

Was he on the first? The second? What kind of call was it?

Her chest felt almost too tight to breathe. She’d been the wife of a firefighter for way too long not to know about the dangers he’d face as soon as they arrived at the call out. Her stomach twisted at the thought of him getting hurt.

Or worse.

“Mom?” Ethan’s voice called out.

“Yes, honey?” She grabbed her robe and wrapped it around her, padding on her bare feet out into the hallway. When she pushed open his door, Ethan was sitting up in bed. He was wearing one of Paul’s FDHC t-shirts Marley had given them.

“Was that a fire engine?”

“I think so.” She gave him a soft smile. “Go back to sleep. They’ve gone past now.”

“Is there a fire?” he asked, his eyes wide.

“I don’t know. If there is, it isn’t nearby. I can’t see any flames or smoke.” She walked over and stroked his hair. He felt so warm and soft. Sometimes it was hard to believe he was already eight. “Try to get to sleep. We have church in the morning.”

“James doesn’t have to go to church,” he muttered.

“Because James goes to junior firefighters.”

“Can I join junior firefighters?” Ethan asked, a hopeful look in his eyes.

The thought of it forced the breath from her lungs. It was bad enough that James had insisted on joining. The thought of Ethan wanting to be part of that world was too much.

What if Addy wanted to join when she was older?

“You’re too young. Now go back to sleep.” She leaned down to kiss his cheek. “Love you.”

“Love you too.” He turned on his side and closed his eyes.

If she never heard the wail of a fire engine again it would be too soon.

Because now she had somebody else to worry about, and she wasn’t sure her heart could take it.

The buzz of her phone woke her up a couple of hours later. Not that she was in deep sleep. Her mind had been too fitful for that. She reached out for it, frowning when she saw it was almost two am.

No good news ever came at this hour of the night.

It took three tries to unlock her screen. Mostly because she was frowning and for some reason the facial recognition didn’t like that. But when she did, she saw she had a message.

Open your window. – Marley

She ran the tip of her tongue over her dry lips. According to the time stamp it had been sent a minute ago. And then her heart started racing as the memories of the sirens from earlier in the night filled her mind. Was he okay?

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