Page 33 of Sexy Summer Flings (Bear Mountain Rescue 2)

He gingerly stepped onto the roof, walking slowly. He got to the window and cleared the rest of the glass off the sill. The room light was on, illuminating the woman and her daughter. Virginia was in her late twenties, and wearing an extra-large T-shirt and pajama pants. He could see her daughter huddled at the end of the bed with her head on her knees, her small shoulders shaking. Trent’s heart squeezed.

“It’s going to be alright now. Okay, one at a time.”

Virginia picked up her daughter from the floor and handed her through the window to him before stepping out.

“Watch out for the glass.” As he helped them across the roof, the give of the shingles made him nervous.

He’d just gotten them to the edge when he felt the roof give beneath him. Then he was falling through. A short, raw pain shot up his leg and the rest of his body until, finally, he jolted to a stop.

Virginia cried out and reached for her daughter who was still in his arms. He handed her off to Virginia, trying to process what had happened. The two clung together.

His leg. It had gone through the roof. And he could still feel the wood splintering around his thigh.

It was going to cave.

“Virginia, I need you and your daughter off this roof now.” He smiled at Molly, encouraging her as she stepped toward the ladder a few feet away. “You can do it, sweetie.”

The girl glanced at him fearfully before letting her mother go and grabbing the top of the ladder. Virginia was shouting down that he’d fallen through, and he then heard another crack.

“Get off the damn roof!” he hollered.

They had just disappeared over the edge of the ladder when the roof gave way beneath him. Trent was falling.

Chapter 18

Hunter raced to the pit, waiting for the ambulance that held the injured firefighter. The minute those double doors opened and they wheeled the gurney inside, he knew it was Trent. His stomach twisted.

“What happened?”

“He fell through the roof of a home that was on fire. Possible broken leg and burns. BP 150 over 90.”

Hunter wasn’t worried about the elevated blood pressure. It was typical for pain and panic to cause it to skyrocket.

“Trent,” he said, addressing the man calmly. “You’re going to be alright.”

Trent gave him a slight smile, his face blackened and the oxygen tubes in his nose rising with the lift of his lips. “What’s up, Doc?” he rasped.

“If it hurts to talk, don’t.” Hunter and Enrique started stripping him gently, and he saw a burn on Trent’s arm that would need to be debrided and cleaned.

“Let’s get him some pain meds on board!”

Trent grabbed Hunter’s arm and squeezed it. “Will you have somebody call Penny?”

Hunter fought back the spike of jealousy. “Sure, but what about family?”

“The closest thing I have to it is the guys at the station and they’ll be out there waiting already. Penny’s the only one who won’t know. I want her here.”

As Trent passed out, Hunter flashed back to the time when he’d thought that he and Allie Fairchild would work out. But when his best friend, Dex, had almost died, Allie had realized she was in love with Dex. It had been disappointing, but now Hunter knew he hadn’t ever been in love with Allie.

If Penny found out Trent was hurt, would it trigger her to make a choice?

Would that choice break him?

Hunter turned to Mike, one of the firemen standing in the doorway. “Call Penelope Davis and let her know that Trent Bush has been hurt and is at the hospital. Tell her to come quickly, but let her know he’s going to be fine.”

After Penny got the call that Trent was hurt, she’d lef

t work and rushed over to the hospital. Actually, rushed was an understatement; she’d almost hit warp speed.

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