Page 84 of Nanny for the Firefighter

My jaw works as I try to focus around the swirl of what-ifs that tangle up my thoughts. It is so much harder to let go of the fear than I thought it would be.

All I can think is that I could have been my damn father. I could have left Mia alone like he left me.

I can’t be that man. I need to be there for her. I’m all she has left.

“Hey,” Bridget says, knocking me out of my thoughts. “You’re okay. We’re right here with you. Okay?”

I’m shaking, which I donotlike, but I just hold her stare, focusing on those beautiful blue eyes of Bridget’s.

“The thought of not coming home,” my voice cracks, “my father…”

Bridget focuses on me intently, squeezing my hand where it rests on Mia’s back, who’s promptly fallen back asleep.

There’s this understanding in Bridget’s stare, and she nods gently before hesitantly kissing me on the cheek.

“What happened to your father didn’t happen to you, okay? You’re safe. We won’t let that ever happen to you. You’re here, you’re safe, and you’ve got Mia in your arms. That’s all that matters.”

The solidity of Bridget right next to me, the way I can feel her sitting right on the bed, makes the furious spinning of the earth slow down.

I force myself to take a deep breath, and as Bridget releases my hand, I’m quick to use the one wrapped around her back to keep her in place. She’s not going anywhere.

“I have both of you. That’s what matters.”

Leaning forward, I kiss her, leaving the hospital behind as I focus on the feeling of Bridget’s lips on mine.

We linger there for several moments until I pull back enough to smile at her, noting the tears on her cheeks.

“Thank you so much for taking care of Mia today. You…you’re remarkable, Bridget.”

She shrugs playfully, waving me off with a hand. “Ah, it’s nothing.”

“It’s everything.”

Normalcy slips back in, and I lean back against the bed with a hiss. Mia lays on me asleep, and I have no problem staying in this exact position all night.

“A tree branch?”

Looking over to Bridget, I take in how her brows are knitted together as she runs her stare over my bandages.

“A branch. Yeah. It fell on me after I knocked Patches out of the way.” I gesture with my head at where my buddy is sitting on a hospital bed across from me, getting a burn on his arm dealt with. “Nothing I couldn’t handle, though.”

Bridget rolls her eyes at me. “You really are a hero, huh?”

“Mr. Hayes!” Turning toward the loud voice, that gaggle of reporters floods around my hospital bed, and I cover Mia’s face instinctively. “We heard about your heroic actions today. Would you like to tell us more?”

“Umm…”

As I’m frozen there, Bridget takes a step back, leaving me with the reporters circled around the bed. The look on her face is pure discomfort, and I can see that the thought of being on camera doesn’t sit well with her.

“If you can be quiet around my daughter, sure.”

The news crew settles, and I’m actually pretty damn surprised they care enough to keep it down.

“So, Mr. Hayes, what happened out there? Why did you have to act so quickly for your fellow firefighter, Mr. Jones?”

“Oh, well, we were creating a new break-fire, making a control line, so that the fire couldn’t spread. Patches, which is what I’m used to calling him, got his foot stuck under some falling debris. He wasn’t going to move himself, so…”

The reporters laugh, but this feels incredibly awkward. When I look over at Bridget for a bit of support, I can’t help but notice how muchmoreuncomfortable she looks.

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