A Partner for the Paramedic: A Fuller Family Novel (Brush Creek Brides Book 11)

by Liz Isaacson

  She didn’t want to ruin that for her sister. “I’ll tell him,” she said.

  “When?” Jazzy challenged.

  Fabi had no idea. “I’m not sure when I’ll see him again, so—”

  “Today,” Jazzy interjected. “Call him and ask him to meet you for a picnic after church. Or take him up to those waterfalls you like so much. Or ask him to drive to the hieroglyphs with you. But do it today.”

  Fabi swallowed, sure she couldn’t possibly figure out a way to tell Ed who she really was in only a few hours, especially because church sat between now and then. But she couldn’t deny Jazzy, so she simply nodded.

  Jazzy wore a wary edge in her eye, but she nodded and left Fabi alone in the bathroom. Alone to figure out what to say. Alone to admit to herself that she needed to do this to keep Ed in her life—right where she wanted him.

  She thought maybe she could put things off a little. Another week. She wouldn’t have to see Ed until the weekend if she didn’t want to. Of course, she did want to, but she could go another few days, just until she figured out what to say.

  But the moment she sat down in church, Wren tapped her on the shoulder and whispered, “So I heard you were holding hands with Max Robinson in the park the other day.”

  Fabi froze, her thoughts coiling around each other. Once Wren knew, Tate would know, and even though Max hadn’t said anything yet, Fabi couldn’t ask everyone in town to keep her secret.

  She shook her head. “That was Jazzy,” she said, because it was. And Max knew it was Jazzy, so as long as everyone else did too….

  Her heart leapt. Except for Ed. If word got back to Ed that it was Jazzy holding hands with Max in the park, wouldn’t he wonder who he’d been holding hands with? Who he’d been kissing goodnight?

  And Ed was a smart guy. If he figured out it wasn’t Jazzy, he’d know who it was. She needed to talk to him quickly. Part of her wondered if she should leave church and track him down right now.

  Then her mother slid onto the bench and escape was out of the question. “Hey, dear,” her mother said. “Your great-grandpa is insisting on grilling today. Two o’clock. I’ve already got the fire department on stand-by.” She chuckled and turned her attention to the front of the chapel as Pastor Peters stood.

  Fabi could barely focus on the word the man said, which only fueled her frustration. Church was her escape from the real world, from the things about herself she didn’t like. At church, she resolved to be better that week, do more good, become the person she wanted to be.

  Sure, maybe she took some steps backward some weeks. Maybe some weeks her steps were stumbling. Maybe some she got in a few baby steps. But as least she was trying.

  Halfway through the sermon, she pulled her phone out of her skirt pocket and tilted it to the right, away from her mother. Family picnic at two?

  She read over the text several times, finally sending it to Ed. Then she added, I have something to tell you before we go. Want to pick me up at one-thirty?

  Not able to stand staring at her phone while she waited for him to answer, she stuffed it back in her pocket. Her mom didn’t approve of devices out during church anyway. Why Fabi cared, she wasn’t sure. She wasn’t a child anymore, but some lessons had obviously stuck with her.

  Her phone vibrated, but she waited several long seconds before she checked it.

  See you at one-thirty.

  Max finished with Matilda’s lawn by nine o’clock on Sunday morning. She rewarded him with a pan of freshly baked cinnamon rolls and a smile in her wrinkled face. “You’re a good boy, Max,” she said as if he were a dog and not a thirty-five-year-old man.

  “Thank you, ma’am,” he said, noting that the pan of rolls was still warm. No sense in angering the woman who kept him fed. “I’ll get the weeds done and the bushes in the back trimmed, and then I’ll get out of your hair.” He flashed her a smile and headed for his house. “Be right back.”

  Through a series of texts, Jazzy had asked him if he went to church. Max hadn’t been particularly keen on spending his Sunday’s in a white shirt and tie, but he’d been raised going to church. He’d told her as much, and hinted that something had happened in his past that kept him from darkening the chapel doorway.

  She’d put the pieces together, and sent him a text late last night. Your ex-wife?

  Max hadn’t answered, and he wasn’t even sure why. Jazzy knew about Irina, though Max had never said her name. Jazzy just didn’t know all the nitty gritty details. And Max didn’t want to provide them, because it meant he had to relive them.

  He dug the corner cinnamon roll out of the pan and took an ooey, gooey bite, a moan of pleasure sliding up his throat at the taste of sugar and cinnamon and baked bread. After consuming his breakfast, he washed it down with several chugs of milk right from the jug and went back outside to finish the yard work.

  Matilda sat in her rocking chair on the front porch and watched him work. Max hated to admit it, but he could hear Birdy chattering from his place as he clipped rose bushes and trimmed hedges in the back yard.

  By the time he finished, the summer sun beat down on the town of Brush Creek. Matilda had gone inside, and Max headed home to shower. After he’d washed away the morning’s sweat and dressed in a pair of gym shorts and a T-shirt, he grabbed his guitar, intending to spend the rest of his day with a song on his fingertips. Before he could even pluck one chord, his phone rang from where he’d left it on the kitchen counter. He swiped it on with a smile when he saw Jazzy’s name on the screen.

  “Hey, beautiful.” He opened the fridge to reach for a bottle of water.

  “Max,” she said, a little on the breathless side.

  He abandoned his quest for a drink. “What’s wrong?”

  “I slipped and fell.” Pain radiated through her words. “I’m sorry to call you. My sister just left and….” She panted the words out, and Max swiped his keys off the hook by the door that led to the garage.

  “I’m on my way,” he said. “Are you bleeding? Did you hit your head?”

  She groaned, and Max ran for his truck. He kept talking to Jazzy on his quick drive over, and when he got to her apartment, he knocked loudly but went right in. The way his concern for her drove him wasn’t lost on Max, and he realized what was happening. After all, he’d fallen in love before.

  The scent of salt hung in the air, and Max glanced around, trying to figure out what was going on. He found Jazzy lying on the couch, the phone pressed to her ear and tears running down her face.

  “Hey.” He took the phone from her and ended her call with him. “What happened?” She obviously hadn’t fallen here. And what was that smell? Really salty, a little bit sweet.

  Her breathing was still labored and when she opened her eyes, it took a moment for them to focus on him. “You’re here.”

  “What happened?” he repeated.

  “I spilled some marinade in the kitchen,” she said. “My grandpa is grilling this afternoon, and my mom wanted me to bring the soy sauce chicken.”

  “All right.” Max took her talking as a good sign, and now he knew that the saltiness in the air belonged to soy sauce.

  “I had just put it in the cooler for transport, and Fabi left, and then I realized the bag was leaking all over the place. I stepped around it to get a washcloth, but I stepped in it. It’s mostly oil and I went right down.” She wiped her eyes, the tears gone now. “I feel like a fool.”

  Max wiped her hair off her face and smiled gently at her. “No reason for that, sweetheart. People have accidents.”

  “I did the splits, and let me tell you, I am not that flexible. I think I pulled my groin.”

  “Is that what hurts the most?” He scanned her from head to toe, his analysis of her long legs and curvy hips purely medical. He brushed her hair back again. “Did you hit your head?”

  “I think so, yes. It’s my back that hurts the most.”

  “Can you sit up?” He put his hand on her upper back as she tried to get up and guided her. S
he sucked in a breath as she straightened fully, and Max said, “Yep, I’m taking you to the hospital.”

  Her panicked eyes met his. “Really? You think it’s that bad?”

  “You can’t even sit up without pain, sharp pain I’m guessing, from the way you gasped.” He lifted his eyebrows. “Yes?”

  “My back.” Her eyes filled with tears again, and Max wanted to sweep her into his arms and assure her that everything would be fine. Everything would be fine because he was there, and he was going to take care of her.

  But Max knew better than anyone that he couldn’t take someone else’s pain as his own. That he couldn’t make some hurts better. That he couldn’t fix everything, even when he tried really hard.

  But he could take Jazzy to the hospital and make sure she could use the only back she had for another day.

  “If you can’t walk, I’ll carry you,” he whispered, very aware that he was letting out the soft parts of his emotions. He’d vowed he’d never do that again, but something about Jazzy had him unlocking all the padlocks on his heart. Almost like she was the key and he couldn’t keep his feelings contained even though he was trying.

  Her eyes met his, and that fantastic charge that had always existed between them surged. He saw more in her expression than he’d expected, and he wondered if she’d ever been in love. The way she looked at him, Max certainly felt the glow of affection, and the desire to kiss her reached epic proportions.

  Not the right time, he told himself. But at least now he knew—Jazzy wanted to kiss him too.

  “All right,” he said, sweeping one arm around her back and slipping the other under her knees. “Hold on, sweetheart. The emergency room is waiting.”

  She squealed as he lifted her and cradled her against his chest. Then her arms came around his neck, and Max didn’t care that he was only carrying her because she couldn’t walk herself. It still felt really nice to have this woman in his arms.

  Chapter Eight

  Fabi paced in her mother’s living room, the cheery sunshine outside the window actually making her nervous. Normally she enjoyed the sun, how it warmed her skin and make her feel carefree. But today it meant Ed would be meeting her family—and he still thought she was Jazzy.

  Just the fact that she’d invited him to this barbecue was ridiculous. She hadn’t brought a man home in…ever. Never. She’d never brought a man home. That would require dating someone for more than an evening, and Fabi didn’t excel in that department.

  She’d texted him an hour ago to just meet her at her parents’ house, because she was too big of a chicken to talk to him first. But she couldn’t say anything to her family either. Number one, her mother would never go along with it. Number two, her brothers would tease her mercilessly if they found out she’d actually been out with someone for several dates and he still didn’t know her name.

  “You’ve got to get out of here,” she whispered to herself, grasping for any reason to leave this shindig and never come back. It would have to be a good enough reason to satisfy her mother and Ed, who’d seemed excited about the prospect of meeting all the Fullers.

  Someone shouted upstairs and then deafening footsteps landed as children ran down from above, one crying and the other yelling.

  Ed would change his mind once he got here, and fear struck Fabi right in the chest. What had she been thinking? Ed had one sister—one—and two nieces. Fabi was sure they were the quiet kind of nieces, who ate all their vegetables and never quarreled.

  Her phone vibrated in her pocket and she practically ripped it out. Ed’s smiling face sat on the screen and Fabi almost flung the device into the fireplace. In the end, she answered it just before it was about to go to voicemail.

  “Hey,” he said. “Have you heard about Fabi?”

  “Fabi?” Confusion raced through her, and then understanding hit her like an avalanche. Chills raced down her back. He meant Jazzy.

  “Yeah, Fabi. I guess she called Max because she slipped and fell in the kitchen. He’s taking her to the hospital.”

  Fabi seized onto the information and used it like a lifeline. “I’ll head over there now.” Her mother would likely want to come too, but Fabi could convince her to stay, that she’d go and see what all the fuss was about.

  “You don’t have to,” Ed said.

  “Sure I do.” Fabi started into the kitchen, where two of her brothers stood talking to their upset children while her mother flurried about, making this salad dressing and then putting cheese on that bread.

  “Mom, I have to go,” she said.

  That got her mother to stop. “Go? Where are you going?”

  Even Milt and Patrick cast her a look before sending their kids outside to run off their excess energy.

  “Grandpa only grills once a summer,” her mom said, laying on the guilt in thick layers. “We never miss it.”

  “Jazzy’s going to miss it too,” Fabi said. “She just went to the hospital. I’m going to go see what’s going on.” She slipped her feet into her sandals.

  “The hospital?” The alarm in her mom’s voice filled the rafters.

  “I’m sure it’s nothing,” Fabi said. “Ed said she slipped and fell. Max was taking her just as a precaution. I’ll go.” She practically threw the last two words out of her mouth. “That way, you can stay here and keep everything together.” Fabi knew she’d succeeded with that last sentence. She knew what her mother prided herself on, and that was keeping their overly large family happy and content and together.

  Her mother finally nodded. “Call when you find out what’s going on.”

  “Of course.” With those parting words, Fabi got the heck off her family’s property. The last thing she needed was Ed showing up to give her a ride and having to introduce him to someone.

  Half a block away from the house, she realized he couldn’t go to the hospital either. If he did, he’d see that Jazzy was the one being looked after, not Fabi. She groaned, nothing working out the way she wanted it to.

  What should I do? she prayed as she came to the four-way stop at the end of the street.

  Of course, she knew what she needed to do: Tell him the truth. Why was that so hard? She’d never had a hard time telling a man that she wasn’t interested in him, that she didn’t want to go out again—or that she did.

  She pulled to the side of the road and looked into her blue eyes. “He likes you. It doesn’t matter what your name is.” But she didn’t quite believe herself. No matter what, she had to do something before he found out which twin she was from somewhere or someone else.

  With the phone dialing, she found she couldn’t breathe very well. The line rang, and every instinct in her told her to hang up and pretend she’d accidentally called him. Then he said, “Hey, Jazzy. I just pulled into the parking garage at the hospital.”

  “Will you wait for me?” she asked, praying with all her might that he’d say yes.

  “Sure. Everything okay?”

  “Actually, it’s not.” Fabi thought she’d wanted to tell him in person, but suddenly, telling him over the phone sounded like a much better idea.

  “Oh. Well. What’s going on?”

  She drew in a breath and couldn’t push the words out. Silence hovered on the line, the tension building until Fabi herself thought she’d snap.

  “Jazzy?”

  “That’s just it,” Fabi said, grabbing onto the name that wasn’t hers. “I’m not Jazzy.”

  Now it was Ed’s turn to fill the air with nothing. “I’m sorry. What?”

  “I’m Fabiana,” she said. “There was this mix up and it’s really funny actually.” She started to laugh and she couldn’t rein in the giggles. She sounded one second away from madness, and she felt like it too.

  “You’re not making any sense,” Ed said, his voice taking on a dangerous, dark current Fabi didn’t like. “Mix up?”

  “I have to go,” she blurted. “My mother’s calling.” She hung up, the guilt over her little white lie plunging deep into her chest.
She stared out the windshield, this perfect summer Sabbath surreal and far from her grasp.

  What had she just done?

  “You blew it with Ed,” she said to the glass in front of her. She’d let go of men before. She’d been dumped before. But somehow, this time it was different.

  This time it was different, because this time it was Ed Moon who she couldn’t have.

  “I’m fine.” Jazzy may have enunciated the word fine a bit too much. But she couldn’t bring herself to care. First Max had waited on her while she was in the hospital. It was only for a few hours, but it felt like weeks. She hadn’t torn anything or broken anything. Just a pulled groin and a bruised back. Nothing to do but rest and take painkillers, which she’d been doing for six solid days now.

  If she had to spend one more day in the recliner Kyler had brought over, she was going to scream.

  Fabi, the target of Jazzy’s snarkiness, backed away. “I was just asking,” she said.

  Jazzy sighed, the apology she should say pooling beneath her tongue. Fabi had worked all their jobs alone this week. She’d brought home dinner, and she’d disappeared into their bedroom when Max came to visit.

  She hadn’t said anything about Ed, but she hadn’t gone out with him either, and Max had whispered a few things to her while he snuggled Jazzy in his arms in the evenings. Something about how Fabi had told Ed who she really was, and now Ed didn’t know what to think or what to do.

  Jazzy, drugged up at the time, hadn’t said anything. But now that her pain was receding and she was getting back to her normal self, she wondered why Ed’s and Max’s reactions were so different.

  “Fabi, I’m sorry,” Jazzy called into the kitchen where her sister worked. “If I go slow, will you walk with me in the park?”

  “Tonight?”

  “Yes, tonight. I have to get out of here.”

  Fabi came around the couches and sat on the coffee table, her eyes wide and fearful. “We can’t go to the park tonight.”