Page 26 of Memories with Fire

But I’ve longed for this. How was I to know that the last kiss we would ever share would be in an airport before I got on a flight back to Texas? How could I have known that was the last time I would get to kiss lips that are now parted, the bottom one slightly poutier than the top. The last time I would hold her in my arms and inhale her vanilla and coconut scent.

The last time she would look at me with love in her eyes.

Sucking in a breath, my fingertips graze the strands of hair covering her face, sliding them back towards her ear so I can see more of her. They’re as silky as I remember them, but I don’t linger on the copper. Instead I take my fill of her freckles, a smattering of them all over her cheeks and forehead. They might not be as pronounced after winter, but they’re still there, and they still do it for me.

“I’ve missed you so much,” I whisper to her, the words surprising me. It’s not that they aren’t true, they are. But to admit them out loud isn’t something I would do in any other situation.

Mostly because I don’t know that she’d believe me.

There’s a lump in my throat that I swallow around to offer her one more piece of truth. “I never got over you, Freckles. I don’t know if I’ll ever be over you.”

Even though I shouldn’t do it, I lean in and press my lips to her forehead. Her skin is warm and smooth, and I linger in the moment for a long second, breathing that familiar vanilla and coconut in.

It brings a smile to my face when I realize that the airport is no longer the last time I got to relish in her scent. Even if doing so makes me a creep.

“Mmm, Luke?” Hailey murmurs, stirring in her seat.

For a second, I freeze, cursing myself and what I’m doing. Crossing so many frickin’ lines. If she kicked me in the nuts now, I’d deserve it. But as I move back, her hand catches my shirt, pulling me forward. I’m an inch, maybe two, from her lips as her eyes open and she peers up at me leaning over her. Glassiness watches me, and I know the alcohol is raging in her veins right now, know that not a single thing can happen between us, even if all I want to do is kiss her.

“The world doesn’t usually spin this bad in my dreams,” she half mumbles, half slurs, and for a second, I don’t think I heard her right. Then she adds, “But you smell right. And you feel right. And you only come in my dreams.”

Frickin’ heck, words I didn’t need to hear. Lately my dreams are the only place I’ve been coming, too.

“Okay Freckles, time to get you inside, yeah?” I mutter, trying to erase thoughts of coming in her dreams out of my brain because I know she didn’t mean it like that.

With my shirt still fisted in her hand, I reach over and undo her seatbelt, then slip an arm around her back, and under her knees. When I pull her from the Jeep, she snuggles into my chest, her forehead resting against my neck as I give the car door a kick to shut it.

We’re not even at the front door when it opens, and Hailey’s mom, Debra, steps out, a hand clutched to her chest, her other around her midsection. There’s panic in her voice as she asks, “What happened?”

“She’s okay,” I assure her, carrying Hailey up the steps. “Just too much to drink.”

She looks at me then, eyes widening as she gasps. “Luke?”

I dip my head to her in greeting, a little surprised myself. She’s acting like Hailey hasn’t told her I’m back, which doesn’t seem very Hailey-like. She and her mom were always close. “Miss Debra. Ma’am. Should I put her in her old room?”

Debra stutters, grasping for words that seem to be escaping her, finally just nodding as she points inside.

Like I’m some kind of vampire who now has permission to enter, I step over the threshold of the split-level and take the stairs up. Debra wasn’t my biggest fan, so I imagine if Hailey didn’t tell her I was back, her surprise is justified.

Turning left at the top to go down the hallway, there are two bedrooms on either side of the hall. One belonging to Debra, the other Hailey’s old room, plus the bathroom.

I’m a step past the latter when Hailey perks up in my arms, mumbling a slew of unintelligible words. It’s enough. Years on the job tell me exactly what’s about to happen, and I change course as quickly as I can, dropping my arm from under her knees to turn her away from me while supporting her body weight. We’re in the bathroom a second later, and like Hailey subconsciously knew exactly where she needed to be, she manages to find the toilet before the contents of her stomach are coming up.

Scooping her hair the best I can, I hold it back for her while she’s sick, kneeling down to rub her back.

“Oh Hailey,” her mother says from behind me, and I’d almost swear she sounds disappointed about her twenty-seven year old daughter getting so drunk she’s sick.

I glance over my shoulder. “Could you grab her a glass of water? She’s going to need it. A cold compress too.”

Debra opens her mouth to say something, blinks a few times at me, and then closes it. As though she can’t believe I just ordered her around. After a look at Hailey, she nods, then disappears, just in time for Hailey to start heaving once more.

“That’s it, Freckles. Get it out. You’ll feel better,” I murmur encouragingly.

A few minutes later, her mom is back with both the water and a cool washcloth, and Hailey is slumping backwards against me. Debra sets the cloth over Hailey’s forehead, and when Hailey groans, her mom offers her a sip of water which Hailey greedily takes.

“Easy, Freckles, you don’t want to start throwing up again. Small sips,” I remind the paramedic in the room with a chuckle.

“I’ll get a bucket,” Debra offers, meeting my eyes. “Will you…”

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