Page 73 of Once Upon a Summer Night

She pulled them both into a tight hug, the movement sending a fresh jolt of pain to Chase’s right ankle. He thought it was probably just a sprain until his gaze settled on the two mangled planks now resting where Noah had stood only seconds ago. Damn, one must have hit his ankle as he dove out of the way.

“Chase? What’s wrong?” Hannah asked.

He forced a smile. “Think I might be needing to borrow your dad’s crutches on our way to get some X-rays.”

“Oh no.”

She released Noah to carefully roll up Chase’s uniform pants and a hiss of pain escaped him. Nope, this definitely felt different from the last time he’d sprained it. Less like an ache and more like it was on fire. Thankfully, Hannah continued her assessment without further jostling.

“Nothing poking through the skin, so that’s good. Noah, sweetheart, it’s our turn to help Chase now. Can we do that for him?” At his nod, Hannah sent him to get Grandpa into the house and sitting, then to bring the crutches back to her. Next, she called for Del to bring her truck around.

Hannah took his hand in hers. “Hold tight, honey, we’ll get you to the ER as fast as we can.”

“I’m holding,” he said, bringing her hand to his lips for a kiss.

“I’m so sorry about all of this,” she said, brows drawn together with worry. “Thank you for saving Noah.”

He gave her hand a squeeze. “It’s what you do for the people you love.”

“We love you, too. So, so, much.” She offered him a gentle hug, then shifted to sit behind him so he could lean back on her.

Chase shifted to extract his phone from a pocket and was relieved to find it unharmed. He texted Joey that he would be out of commission for a bit, then settled back against Hannah. “I’m just glad I got to him in time.”

“Me, too,” she said, her voice barely above a whisper. She pressed a kiss to the top of his head. A sweet gesture, but right now Chase wanted more. Needed more, after all the emotional highs and lows of the day. He turned so his lips could reach hers and kissed her until Noah arrived with the crutches and Del arrived with her truck.

“Okay, pard,” Del said, offering him a hand. “Let’s get you off the wet grass and over to the ER, huh?”

With both the girls’ help, he managed to get upright once more. Chase tried putting weight on his right ankle as a test, and nearly fell over from the pain. He cursed under his breath, and Hannah’s face appeared before his.

“What can I do to help?”

“I don’t know.” As the fire in his ankle reduced to a dull throb, he met her gaze and grinned. “Say you’ll marry me?”

“Rightnow?” she laughed.

“Well, X-rays first. We can pick out a ring afterward.”

“Deal.” Grinning, she stretched on her tiptoes to kiss him. “But no wedding until you’re well enough to walk down the aisle.”

“Fair.” He took the crutches from Noah and winked. “And I know the perfect ring bearer.”

Epilogue

Hannah stepped outof the farmhouse on a beautiful, sunny day in late September, helping her aunt with drink refills at the picnic tables set up out back. Gathered around them were their family and friends, there to celebrate a number of things. Before this summer, she would have preferred to keep the gathering small. But with Chase’s help, she was learning to embrace Bourbon Falls and its supportive, close-knit community.

A community that had done so much for her and her family over the years.

According to the National Weather Service, an EF1 tornado had hopped, skipped, and jumped its way across Marshall County on June 22, hitting some properties while avoiding others. Thankfully, in Bourbon Falls, the overall damage had been mostly superficial and Brooks Books had gone unscathed. The largest structural damage reported was sustained by the barn at her father’s property.

A barn that all their friends and neighbors had come together to repair.

But that wasn’t the only event worth celebrating. After breaking a bone in his right ankle during his heroic rescue of Noah and Sunny, Chase earned himself six weeks off from the fire station, which had allowed Hannah to be brought on as an official interim captain at Bourbon Falls Fire Station One. It hadalsoallowed her father and the commissioner time to create a new position for her, ready when she was done filling in for Chase: safety inspection and training manager for north central Indiana. Which meant she and Noah were in Bourbon Falls to stay.

“So, are you all settled in over at Chase’s house, now?” Robyn Owens asked as Hannah refilled her lemonade. She sat with her husband, Drew, and Mia, Alex, and Brooklyn.

“We’re getting there. Poor guy had no idea just how much stuff we were bringing along with us.” Hannah said with a laugh. “It was a little bittersweet leaving Kankakee, though. Some of my favorite memories with Beth and Noah were made there.”

“Which I’m sure you will treasure always,” Mia said across from her.

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