Page 55 of Until I Found You
“C’mon, Halle, just let me give you a kiss. A little sweat now will make up for the misery you’d be putting yourself through later,” I joke.
I take a step toward her, then another. I get a foot away from her before she attempts to bolt again. Reaching out, I grab her by her arm and pull her back to me.
“Oh, Graham, you’re wet,” she cries, her back pressed against my chest as I lean forward kissing her neck.
“Oh my God, you’re so gross.” She laughs, feigning that she’s mad and hates it but the giggles that ensue tell a different story.
“Don’t try to run from me again, Halle Keegan. I let you go once, I’m not going to let it happen again,” I growl, kissing her neck.
“Promise?”
“You’re damn right I promise. I’m never letting you go.”
Wrapping my arms like a band around her waist, I hold her close to me and she melts into me at those words.
“You’re lucky I like you,” she whispers, and I moan in appreciation.
She turns in my arms, giving into me and finally letting me kiss her. We are lost in our own world, like we always are, when Halle breaks her lips apart taking a step away from me.
“Do you smell that?” She looks frantic, looking over at the house scanning across the yard, then back to me.
“Smell what?”
“You don’t smell that?” she asks, looking concerned. “It smells like something’s burning.”
The words are no more out of her mouth when the sound of an explosion hits. Flames erupt toward the side of the garage.
Panic surges through me, quickly replaced with adrenaline. I hear Halle cry my name, as I run over toward where the fire hits.
“Halle, I need you to get my mom out of the house. Now. Hurry.”
Halle races over to the deck and up the stairs. “Call 911!” I yell, as she disappears inside.
Flames burst from the garbage cans sitting along the side of the garage. Thankfully I already had the hose out, watering the flowers in the backyard. Grabbing it from where it lies on the ground, I spray water on the fire, doing everything I can to stop it from spreading. I just want Halle and my mom to get out of there.
“Graham, they’re coming!” Halle shouts, standing in the street. I see my mom across the street in our neighbors’ yard, her hand covering her mouth.
The tightness in my chest eases seeing they are both safe as sirens blare, approaching.
It all happens so quickly. Firefighters, police officers, and EMT workers show up.
Just like that, I’m pulled back to the night of Gage’s accident as I run across the street, wrapping my mom and Halle in a hug. Watching as they furiously work to put out the fire, I picture the red and blue lights flashing in my face that night. The same burning sensation in my lungs as I struggled through every breath.
I whisper in my mom’s ear that I love her and pull Halle in a hug pressing a kiss against her temple. Our earlier banter is gone, as she wraps her arms around me holding me against her. Her body trembles in my arms, the adrenaline we both feel running high. I rub my hand over her back, reassuring her it’s okay.
I’m reminded how life can change in a moment’s notice. Holding the two women I love more than anything close to me, I vow once again to myself and to God, I will give my last breath before I’d ever let anything happen to them.
