Page 38 of Memories with Fire

Nothing comes out, and Luke gives his head a shake. “I’m going to try abdominal thrusts.”

Pulling my hands back, I watch, slightly awestruck, as he holds the pup with one arm against his body and uses his other hand to push in and up in the hollow of the dog’s rib cage. It takes three thrusts before the dog makes a gagging sound followed by a cough, and then a soda bottle top is ejected from its mouth. Instantly the puppy’s breathing is better, but she doesn’t move a whole lot in Luke’s arms.

Liam, who disappeared into the bay, returns with a blanket and a water bottle. The two men make quick work of getting down on the floor, laying the dog on the blanket while Luke uses his hand as a bowl to pour water into. After a couple slurps, the puppy’s tail finally begins to wag.

“There we go. That’s right, girl,” Luke soothes, and I curse the way my stomach flips. “I bet that feels better, doesn’t it?”

I look at the woman who brought her in. “She isn’t yours?”

The woman shakes her head. “No. Like I said, I found her while I was walking my own dog. I was half a block away from the fire station, so I ran in a side door that was just shutting from someone coming in.”

It’s now that I realize there’s another dog standing obediently behind the woman, watching and waiting patiently for the drama to end so the walk can continue. I nod with a smile. “Okay, well thanks for bringing her in.”

“What happens to her now?”

I don’t even know if it is a her, but we all seem to be using the term.

“We try and find her home.” Or rather, animal control does. This lady doesn’t need to know that though. I reiterate, “Thanks for bringing her in.”

The woman nods. “Thanks for saving her.”

I glance at the two men still on the ground with the puppy, and then walk the lady and her dog back out the side entrance. When I come back, the little thing is wiggling its way all over Liam.

“Why are you crawling on me?” he asks, rubbing its adorable little face. It’s got to be some kind of shepherd by the looks of it. “Luke’s the one that saved you.”

“She is all about you, bro,” Luke says with a laugh, looking pretty happy with the situation. Those dimples of his are popping like crazy. He glances up at me, catching me watching him. “Good work.”

I shake my head at him. “Oh no. This was all you. You single handedly saved that little puppy’s life.”

When his smile grows ten-fold and those dimples deepen, I know I’m in trouble.

CHAPTER 13

HAILEY

It’s pouringrain and has been for days now. At times, it’s come down in buckets. It’s been two weeks since Luke saved the puppy that Liam now calls Tosha. He fell in love with her as she crawled all over him that day, and when she turned out not to be chipped, or have anyone claim her, he bit the bullet and became a dog dad.

He’s in love, and so is everyone else around the station when he brings her in.

What I’m not in love with is this stupid rain.

Of course, it would choose to start coming down like that now, right when I make a mad dash to my car after shift. Stupidly, I didn’t look for my car keys prior to leaving the building, which was dumber than shit, no matter how much I rifle through my bag.

I’ve only been out in this weather for thirty seconds, tops, and I’m already a drowned rat.

Crying in frustration, I give up, running back to the building, where I have to take another ten seconds to put my code into the door before I can get somewhere dry.

The door opens just before I reach it. Luke’s coming through it, but I barrel towards him, my hands at his chest. He stumbles backwards with my forward momentum, not expecting me. Like I knew he would, though, his hands grab onto my waist to keep me from falling, and we crash into the wall just inside the door.

“What the heck are you doing?” he asks, bewildered, eyes a little frantic, hands finding better purchase around me when we stumble further into the hall as the door slams shut.

“Sorry,” I say sheepishly when we finally come to a stop. “You opened the door, and I wasn’t stopping.”

“I thought you left ten minutes ago.”

“I tried,” I answer. “I got distracted.”

Much like the distraction I’m now faced with. Literally.

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