Page 21 of Take Me Now

I chuckled. I had warned my mother that I had a one-bedroom apartment. I would’ve gladly let her use my bedroom while I slept on the couch, but she would’ve felt bad about displacing me like that.

“Mom, that’s great. I’m glad you’ll have company on the flight. It’s not a short one.”

“From when we get on the plane here until we land in Anchorage, it will be fifteen hours! I could fly to Europe faster than that.”

“I know. Mom, I gotta roll,” I said, glancing at the clock on the wall in the break area in the back of the fire station.

“Of course. I love you.”

“Love you too, Mom.”

I ended the call, tossing my phone on the table and reaching for my coffee. I took a bracing swallow. Iwouldbe glad to see my mom. I missed her. I’d had mixed feelings about taking this job in Alaska when the opportunity came up, yet my mom had wanted me to go. She was still grieving my father, but she had a lot of friends. She wasn’t a wealthy woman, but she and my father had planned wisely, so their house had been paid off years before my father passed away. She lived comfortably and assured me that while she would always miss my father, she kept herself busy.

I contemplated her comments about Cindy. My mom was a pleaser. She wanted everyone to be happy. Even though she’d been furious about what Cindy did, she was still friends with Cindy’s mom, and I knew that was a source of pressure for her. Stolen Hearts Valley was a small town, just like Willow Brook. In any small town, it was hard to escape rumors. Nobody would argue that someone screwing around with their fiancé’s friend was a good look. I was thoroughly over Cindy, but Dan’s involvement still burned.

When it came to having a good time, Dan put himself first. He was a funny guy, always good for a laugh and a little fun. The problem was, he usually got away with a lot, and people cut him a lot of slack as a result. To this day, I think he thought we could somehow rebuild those bridges. I could be friendly, but I could never be the guy he called when he needed something. Not anymore.

“What’s up?” Beck asked, his voice snapping through my thoughts. He’d just walked out of the locker room with damp hair from a recent shower. During lulls between fires out in the backcountry, we did training exercises and so on here at the station. He poured a cup of coffee and sat down across from me, eyeing me expectantly.

I shrugged. “Not much.”

Just then, Rowan appeared through that same doorway. “Just got off the phone with my mom,” he began as he mirrored Beck’s actions, pouring a cup of coffee and sitting down. “I guess my mom and your mom are traveling here together.” He flashed a grin. “I gotta say, I’m relieved. It’s nice my mom will have someone with her. Mae and I love having her visit, but…” He shrugged.

“I get it. I don’t really have space for company. I have a nice apartment, but I’d have to give up my bed for my mom. I have no problem doing that, but this way, she’ll be hanging out with your mom. They can hit the town together.”

Beck glanced at us both. “I’ll give them my mom’s number. Maybe they can have a night on the town together.”

“We’ll send them to the Gallery Café, though, not Wildlands,” Rowan deadpanned.

We laughed together. I took another swallow of coffee just as Rowan said, “So my mom tells me your mom hopes you and Cindy work things out.”

I sputtered on my coffee, managing not to make a mess. I lowered my cup and cleared my throat. “Fuck my life,” I muttered. “My mom just talked to me about it. I guess Cindy is sad about how things turned out.” I let out a sigh as I scrubbed a hand over my hair.

“Who is Cindy? And what did she do?” Beck asked.

I slid my gaze to him. “Anybody ever point out you’re nosy?”

Unabashed, Beck nodded. “I’m nosy as fuck. But if you tell me to keep something quiet, I will.” He crossed his hand over his heart.

Rowan snorted. “He will. Sorry, maybe I shouldn’t have mentioned it.”

I shrugged. “Cindy is my ex-fiancée. She screwed around with a good friend of mine back in my hometown, so I broke things off.”

Those were the bare bones of the situation. I left out her excuse about how I’d been emotionally unavailable because I was grieving too much after my dad died. What the ever-loving fuck? Talk about a situation that offered the opportunity to see what someone might do when the chips were down. I was relieved I’d learned that about Cindy before we got married.

Beck narrowed his eyes. “Your ex screwed around with your friend?”

“Yup,” I said dryly.

“Some people never learn,” he returned.

“Never learn what?” Rowan prompted.

“That there are always consequences. I’m not the kind of guy who believes life is here to punish us, and I’m not a big fan of carrying the shame and guilt and shit forever. Because we all fuck up. Maybe she really feels bad. Maybe your friend really feels bad, or he’s not really your friend,” he corrected. “But what the hell? Did she think you were gonna just go back and make nice in a small town, knowing she already fucked around with one of your friends?”

I nodded in agreement. “I’m with you there.” For all his nosiness and teasing, Beck was a solid guy with his head screwed on straight. Maybe it was being a dad, perhaps it was life, but he seemed to know his priorities. “I told my mom to stop feeling bad for Cindy.” Glancing at Rowan, I added, “You know her. She always wants to please everybody. I don’t need to hear all the details to know that Cindy is embarrassed. It’s been over a year, but it is a small town. She can’t really run from those rumors. I’m not refusing to get back together with her because I refused to forgive her. I’ve honestly forgiven her. I’m not mad, not anymore, but I’m over her. She showed me how she handles life when hard things happen. Hopefully, she learns from it so when she falls in love again, if she does, she’ll handle it differently.”

A few hours later, I was home. It was dark outside, and I didn’t know where Humpty was. When I got home, I realized I had left the bathroom window open, not too much, but wide enough for a cat to knock the screen loose and slip out.

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