Page 100 of My Grumpy Fire Chief Next Door
I rest my hand on the stone. “I really want to try without holding back now. Because living in the past, it’s… It’s just another way of dying, isn’t it?”
“I’m not replacing you. I never could. But I need to stop hiding behind your memory like it’s a shield. Because you’d hate that. You always wanted me to be happy, even when I didn’t think I deserved it.”
A breeze cuts through the cemetery again, sudden and cold. But somehow, I feel warm.
“I love her, Josie,” I whisper. “I really do.”
I push up to stand, brush off my hands, and glance down at the stone.
“I miss you. I’ll always miss you. But I think I’m ready now. I think it’s time.”
I close my eyes.
It’s the truth, and it softens everything inside me, like a thaw after a long winter.
I press my fingers against the stone once more, then rise.
And as I turn back toward the truck, I know exactly where I’m going next.
The ride to Elaine’s house is quiet. I roll the windows down. The smell of pine and salt air fills the cab, and something unspools inside me. I don’t know what it is. Maybe relief. Maybe hope. Maybe both.
By the time I pull into her driveway, dusk is curling at the edges of the sky, the porch light flickering on like it was waiting for me.
Elaine opens the door before I even knock.
She takes a single look at me, just one, and pulls me into a hug that damn near undoes me.
“Oh, sweetheart,” she murmurs against my shoulder. “I’ve been waiting for you to make this visit. I know the reason you’re here. Josie would’ve wanted this for you. She would’ve wanted youhappy.”
I swallow hard, the lump in my throat too thick to speak. I’m so grateful that I don’t need to search for the words.
“You’re allowed to love again, Noah,” she says gently, cupping my cheek as she pulls back to look at me. “It doesn’t erase what you had. It just means your heart’s still working. Still open. That’s not a betrayal. That’s a gift.”
I nod, jaw tight, barely holding it together. “Thank you.”
“Is Tara around?” I ask after a beat, already bracing myself.
Elaine winces. “She’s in the kitchen.”
I barely get the door open before I hear Tara’s voice.
“Guess I was right, she was hiding something,” she mutters, arms crossed, eyes downcast.
"Tara," I start, but she doesn't let me finish.
“I guess I thought maybe I still mattered to you. That what we shared through Josie meant something.”
But she doesn’t wait for a response. Just disappears into the hallway with a sigh.
I stand there in the silence that follows, heat rising behind my ribs.
Elaine steps up beside me, resting a hand lightly on my arm. “I’m sorry. She’s...”
I shake my head. “You don’t have to apologize. I’m not here for her, just wanted to let her know Josie will forever have a place in my heart.”
She smiles softly. “Then go get your girl.”
I don’t waste another second.
