Page 101 of That One Heartbreak

Addy was safe, she knew that much. Shana had left her with a neighbor when the ambulance arrived, and then Marley’s brother had come to pick her up. She’d stay the night with him and his wife. Cassie had already messaged her to say that Addy was asleep and safe.

As for James, she’d already made the decision not to tell him what happened. Because she knew her oldest son would be beating himself up, too. She wanted him to enjoy camp. She’d tell him when she picked him up next week.

If Ethan was well enough to have been discharged from the hospital.Please let him be okay.

“Just hang in there,” Marley said, his voice low. “You’ve got this, sweetheart.”

But it didn’t feel like she had anything. At all.

Marley dropped Kate off at the entrance to the hospital. She barely said a word as she got out, practically running to the door and disappearing into the building. He drove to the parking lot, easily finding a space and turning off the engine.

As he climbed out, the warmth of the night time air surrounded him. And he had to take a deep breath, because every part of him wanted to scream.

Watching her break down next to him as he drove as fast as he could without breaking the speed limit was excruciating. Seeing her blame herself when she had nothing to do with what had happened to Ethan was even harder.

If anybody was to blame it was Marley. He knew that deep in his soul. He was the firefighter. He should have given Ethan more of a warning about the grill. Discussed fire safety with him. They both knew about the kid’s obsession with it, after all.

And he should have been here. He fucking promised Paul he’d take care of his family. Making sure they were okay.

Instead, he’d spent the past few weeks taking care of Paul’s wife.

As soon as he stepped inside the sliding glass doors, he could smell that familiar, sterile, cold aroma. He’d been here way too many times – mostly when they had casualties from incidents they were called to.

But the time he would never get out of his head was two years ago. When he’d come in with Paul. They’d spent twenty minutes trying to revive him, as the ambulance rushed his body to the hospital.

But Paul never woke up. The memory of it swirled like nausea inside his body.

He looked at the one night clerk at the front desk, before he heard his name being called.

“Hey, Hartson,” a voice called from the seating area.

Of course Tayto would be here. If he’d heard about one of Tayto’s kids being here, Marley would have been waiting here for news, too. They were a family. Even with Paul gone, James, Ethan, and Addy were part of that.

“Hey.” Marley nodded at his friend. “Did you see Kate come in?”

“Yeah, they took her straight to him.” Tayto eyed him carefully. “You two were away somewhere, huh?”

He really didn’t want to talk about that right now. Not when the guilt felt like chains weighing down his body. “Have you heard how Ethan is?” he asked.

“It’s looking like second-degree burns. On his arm, nowhere else. Shana did a good job of responding. We should recruit her.” Tayto smiled, but Marley didn’t smile back. He just nodded and walked over to the desk.

“Hey.” The clerk – Darren – smiled at him. Marley had been in enough times for the guy to recognize him. “We’re still waiting for news on the kid. If that’s what you’re asking.”

“Can I go see him?” Marley asked.

Darren looked awkward. “Not really. We have a two visitor rule at night and there’s already two people with him. But if you sit with your friend I’ll let you know as soon as we have news.”

“Okay, thanks.” He wasn’t going to argue his way in. The last thing Kate needed was him making a scene.

But he didn’t walk over to sit with Tayto either. Mostly because the thought of explaining himself to his friend made him want to hurl.

Yeah, I spent most of the day in bed with Paul’s wife. While his kid got hurt. I’m a great friend, huh?

So instead he paced the hallway, trying not to think about the promise he’d made to Paul as he died. Not being able to think about anything else.

I’m sorry. So fucking sorry. I told you I’d take care of them.

And he didn’t. He’d messed up so badly and he wasn’t sure he’d ever be able to get over that.

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