Page 2 of We Wish You a Happily Ever After

The firefighter said her name, which only annoyed her because she knew who she was. What she didn’t know was what had happened.

“Bella Hoffman?”

She spun around to look at the idiot man who wasn’t doing anything to help her. “I go by Burton actually. Is there someone in charge here?” she demanded as she looked past the imbecile in front of her, out the door where she’d seen another firefighter, a woman, speaking to Mrs. Arthur when she’d returned to the house. “Where is the other one?”

“The other…firefighter?”

“Yes.” She was quickly losing patience. “I need someone who is in charge to tell me what happened and what is wrong with my grandfather. When I left him, he was doing just fine and going to have a—” As her own words filled the room, she realized what she was saying. She turned back to her grandfather, who was now struggling to sit up and put his hearing aids in at the same time.

“A nap?” The annoying firefighter finished for her with a smugness to his voice that made her see red. “Were you having a nap, Roy?” He leaned in next to Bella, and the fresh, crisp scent of him filled her, causing her to momentarily forget that she was completely unimpressed by his presence.

She shook her head and refocused on the real issue. “Papa? Are you—”

“Having a nap,” he interrupted her with a chuckle. “At least I was.” Papa looked between her and the firefighter, whose nearness was starting to distract her on a cellular level that was increasingly frustrating. “What’s happening here?”

“Yes.” Bella spun to the other man, a move she instantly regretted because he was standing much closer than she thought. She came practically nose to nose with him but instead of bumping into him, she took a step back and hit her leg on the coffee table that had trapped her between the couch and the firefighter, who seemed to have grown in size in the last few seconds.

He grabbed her shoulder, preventing her from crashing hard on her bottom, and held her a moment longer than was necessary.

“Are you okay?”

She nodded, momentarily unable to speak, which was ridiculous because she was never at a loss for words, especially if it involved a man. And never in an emergency situation, which she had to assume they were still in.

“We had a call that there was a fire,” he said, still holding her shoulder.

She nodded as if it made sense, which it didn’t. The fact that there was a fire truck outside and a firefighter standing in front of her notwithstanding.

“A fire?”

“In the oven.”

“In the—oh shit.” Her hand flew to her mouth as she realized exactly what had happened.

The frozen lasagna she’d popped in to heat up before running out to the store to get the garlic bread and salad so she could serve Papa a home-cooked meal. Or at least, a home-prepared meal.

The man in front of her chuckled. “I assume you had something to do with that?” He looked strangely relieved, even though there was nothing about the situation that called for relief.

She nodded and shook her head all at once.

Beside her, her grandfather had risen to his feet, a smile on his always friendly face. “You thought it was me again, didn’t you, Jeremy? Joke’s on you this time. I told you I’d be more careful.”

It took Bella a moment, but she stared at her grandfather. “What do you mean, again? Does this happen a lot? And…” She turned to the firefighter, who all of a sudden she was looking at in a new light. “Wait. Jeremy?”

There was no way.

“Jeremy Davis? Who I used to play hide-and-seek with when I came to visit?”

His handsome—and much more grown up than she remembered—face split into a smile. “More like hide-and-forget.” He nodded. “It’s good to see you, Bella. It’s been…what…ten years?”

“Thirteen.”

His eyes went round and he shook his head. “Wow. That long, hey?”

“My Bella here isn’t much for the mountains,” Papa said.

Even though she knew it hurt her grandfather that she hadn’t been to visit him, there was still so much pride and love in his voice. It only made her feel guiltier.

“Besides, you can’t become a famous singer in the middle of nowhere,” he continued. “The city has always been where she belongs.”

---