Hometown Fireman

by Lissa Manley

  “Is your back starting to hurt?” Drew asked, his brow furrowed. Amazing. He was always concerned for her, more than anyone else in her life. Ever.

  Trying to act normal when little warning bombs were exploding in her brain, she stretched her neck both ways. Okay, so her back was a little tight. Not unexpected, considering they’d been down here for going on four hours. If she told him that, would he drag a chair in, or something equally as considerate?

  Instead, she shook her head. “Nah. I’m tough.”

  “I know.”

  Oh, yeah. He knew her whole ugly story, ’cause she’d put it all out there. Needing a change of subject, she looked at the puppy, whom they’d named Allison after Ally’s given name. “How’s she doing?”

  They’d tried to get her to nurse, but she wasn’t mobile enough yet. Hopefully, she’d rally quickly, or an emergency call to the local vet would be in order.

  Ally tried not to worry that she had no money to pay for the vet, though in a few weeks she might have enough saved up from babysitting Heidi to pay a portion of a vet bill. Nightly she thanked God for Carson’s job offer, and it was certainly no chore to keep Heidi entertained at Grace’s house for a few hours after school.

  “She’s squirming,” he replied. “Should we try to see if she’ll eat again?”

  “Yes, let’s.” Ally needed a distraction. Quick.

  All the other pups had crawled over and started nursing with that instinct that all mammals had. Ally gently moved the biggest one aside, a strapping male they’d named Tank. Then, holding her breath, she watched as Drew set Allison down close to her mama, so all the little girl had to do was lift her head and eat away.

  Without much thought, Ally reached out and took Drew’s hand. “Let’s say a silent prayer.”

  He stilled and then nodded. In unison, they bent their heads, and Ally asked God to save the precious, tiny puppy. She felt Drew’s presence with everything in her as they prayed silently on their own, yet, somehow, as one.

  Doing her best to keep focused on what mattered, Ally kept her eyes on Allison and, after a few moments, the pup sniffed around, her little eyes obviously still closed as they would be for the next few weeks. Then, nature prevailed in just the way Ally had hoped, and Allison lifted her head just a bit, rooted around and…latched on to Sadie.

  Drew squeezed Ally’s hand. “Looks like she knows what to do.”

  She nodded, then looked upward. “Thank You, God, again, for heeding our prayers.”

  “Amen,” Drew murmured.

  Ally blinked. “Are you back to talking to God?” she asked hopefully, feeling deep in her soul that Drew relying on God was a good thing.

  Drew looked at her, his blue eyes intent. “Yes, and it feels…good.” Without a word, he leaned over, slid his arm around her and pulled her close. “And I have you to thank for that.”

  She sank into his embrace, not wanting to fight it any longer. It seemed like the most natural thing in the world to lift her face. He gazed at her for a long, pulse-pounding moment, and then his head dipped and he kissed her, an ever-so-soft touch of his lips. She hung on and kissed him back, her good sense scrambled, all thoughts of keeping her guard up dashed away by the touch of Drew’s lips. And so much more.

  He pulled back but stayed close, and his hand came up to tenderly cup her jaw. “I didn’t plan on kissing you.”

  “I know.” She leaned in and rested her face in the space between his neck and shoulder, savoring the wonderful feeling of being close to this man. “I didn’t plan on kissing you back.” But she had. Without thought or hesitation.

  “I’m not planning this, either,” he said, lifting her face for another kiss, this one more intense than the first.

  Ally felt the kiss clear down to the soles of her slipper-clad feet. At that moment it was clear that she’d made a multilevel connection with Drew, one that was deeper than any she’d ever formed before.

  A dangerous bond, one that would have the power to change her life. Or topple her world.

  *

  Two days later, Mom called Drew at work from her garden-club meeting. She was beyond frantic after Dad had called her from the E.R. with complaints of chest pains. With dread hollowing out his belly, Drew quickly told her he would meet her there.

  As he jetted across town, nearly breaking the speed limit to get to the hospital, he briefly considered calling Phoebe. But she was out of town on business, and he didn’t want to worry her before he knew what was up with Dad.

  His hands tight on the steering wheel, Drew sped into the hospital parking lot, slammed the truck into Park in a designated E.R. space and quickly exited the vehicle.

  He hurried through the drizzle to the main doors and veered left to the E.R. reception counter.

  “May I help you?” a plump, gray-haired nurse in pink scrubs asked him.

  “Yes. My father was admitted with chest pains.”

  “His name?”

  “Hugh Sellers.” Drew couldn’t believe he was uttering his dad’s name at an E.R. desk—Dad had always been as healthy as a horse and hadn’t taken a sick day at work for as long as Drew could remember.

  “Ah, yes,” the nurse said. “Your mother arrived a few minutes ago.”

  The nurse pointed left to some double doors. “Go through there, and then make a right. E.R. bay 4 is halfway down on the left.”

  “Thank you.”

  Drew headed through the doors, trying not to think the worst about the situation. Maybe Dad was just overtired or stressed out. Wouldn’t be surprising given what was going on between him and Mom.

  Drew found E.R. bay 4. The curtain was closed, so he paused for a moment to gather his emotions and present a calm front. He planned on being a paramedic; he needed to find a way to maintain his composure through this unexpected emergency, even if it was his own father and not a stranger lying on the bed behind the curtain.

  Oddly, his mind turned to Ally then, wishing she were here beside him. Not surprising now that he thought about it. They had shared a knock-him-out-at-the-knees kiss just a few days ago, a kiss that hadn’t been far from his mind since.

  He took a deep breath and slowly released it, then grabbed the edge of the curtain and pulled it aside, steeling himself to see Dad laid out in a hospital bed.

  Sure enough, Dad was there, dressed in a light blue hospital gown, a cotton blanket covering most of him. He looked pale and drawn, and suddenly…old. Dad had never looked his age, so this change was…disturbing.

  Mom sat next to the bed, holding Dad’s hand in her much smaller one, her brow furrowed. Interesting, since they hadn’t been in the same room for weeks as far as Drew knew. She looked a bit pale, too. Not surprising, he figured, given what had happened in the past hour.

  “Drew.” She stood and he instantly gave her a tight bear hug.

  “How’re you guys doing?” he asked when she stepped back.

  “I’m fine,” she said, looking at Dad. “Your dad? Not so much.”

  Drew went over and held out his hand. Dad took it, and Drew noted how cold his dad’s skin felt. “What happened?”

  Dad shook his head. “I didn’t sleep well, so I was up early. I went into work to catch up on some paperwork, and I felt nauseous. And my left arm and my chest ached.”

  Classic heart attack precursors.

  “I figured I’d picked up a stomach bug or something, so I kept working.”

  And classic Dad reaction.

  “When Jan arrived,” Dad said, “she took one look at me and asked what was wrong. I told her how I was feeling, and she said her dad had had a heart attack some years ago, so she knew the symptoms. She immediately drove me here.”

  Made sense; the hospital was only a mile from the Sellers Real Estate office, so that would be faster than calling 911.

  “So what did the doctor say?” Drew asked.

  “He’s not sure, so he’s ordering some tests.”

  “Does he think it’s your heart?”

  “He w
as being pretty cagey, but, yeah, that’s the way it looks.” For the first time in Drew’s memory, his dad looked scared. “Possibly blockages.”

  Drew felt his shoulders tighten. Not exactly the best news of the day. “I’ll have to be sure to thank Jan.”

  “Yeah, I’m thinking maybe a raise is in order.”

  Mom broke in. “Listen, you two, I have a feeling it’s going to be a long day, so I’m going to go get some coffee.” She looked at Drew. “You want some?”

  “Sure, that’d be great. Thanks, Mom.”

  She left the room.

  Dad shifted on the bed, yanking on the gown. “These things are such a pain.”

  Drew sat down in the chair by the head of the bed. “How do you feel now?”

  “Achy,” Dad said, flexing his left arm. “But the nausea is better.”

  Drew nodded. “That’s something.”

  “Hope so.” Dad grimaced. “Listen, son, I need to talk to you.”

  “What’s up?” Drew sincerely hoped that his father wasn’t going to give him the you-need-to-stay-here-and-not-become-a-firefighter speech again. Seemed inappropriate at a time like this, but you never knew.

  Dad studied his thumbnail for a long moment. “Well, the thing is, this has knocked me for a bit of a loop.”

  Drew waited.

  “And…well, I have a confession.”

  Sounded ominous. He just nodded.

  “Um…I haven’t been completely…forthcoming about the financial state of the business.”

  Drew pulled in his chin. “Okay.”

  “The truth is, the company is on the verge of collapsing.”

  Shock reverberated along Drew’s spine. “What?”

  “The real estate bubble bursting really hurt the vacation rental market,” Dad said.

  “I know,” Drew replied, jerking a hand through his hair. Everybody knew that the real estate market had been in the cellar for a long time and that resort towns like Moonlight Cove had suffered badly. “But…I had no idea things were this bad.”

  “I, uh…kind of kept the true state of things under wraps,” Dad said sheepishly.

  Drew sagged back into his chair. “No kidding.” He knew the business had taken a hit. But collapse?

  “I really thought that I could turn things around with some good old-fashioned hard work.”

  “But…?” Drew asked, though he dreaded the expected answer.

  Dad wagged his head slowly. “I can’t keep up, and it’s only a matter of time until I’m going to have to close up shop.”

  Guilt hit Drew squarely in the chest, packing a painful punch. Letting out a pent-up breath, he regarded his dad. “I wish you’d told me sooner.”

  “I have my pride,” Dad said with a lift of his stubbly chin.

  Maybe he was too proud. “I know, Dad, but I might have been able to help.” A thought struck him. “Do you think the stress of the situation might have contributed to your…problem here? You’ve been working insane hours.”

  “Maybe,” Dad said halfheartedly.

  More guilt piled on Drew, until he felt as if he were drowning.

  “Plus, I’m ashamed to say that one of the reasons I wanted you to stay was because I thought losing you would make the business fail even sooner.” Dad looked at his hands. “I really thought you were the key.”

  “I didn’t know I was so important to the company,” Drew replied.

  Dad made a face. “You accounted for over half our closed sales last year. How could you not be important?”

  “You never handed out much praise.”

  Wincing visibly, Dad said, “I guess you’re right about that. My only explanation is that I was just so caught up in what was going on the company balance sheets, I couldn’t see the forest for the trees. I’m sorry.”

  “So much makes sense now,” Drew said, rolling a shoulder. “And I’m glad you finally told me. I never could figure out exactly why you were so against me leaving.”

  “Well, now you have the dirty details.” Dad chewed on his cheek. “Except…there’s more.”

  Drew blinked. “Lay it on me.” No sense in delaying the truth. What good would that do?

  “Your mother doesn’t know about any of this.”

  “This just keeps getting better and better,” Drew said, his stomach sinking. He rose, shaking his head.

  “Our…falling-out was directly related to my work hours.”

  A disturbing picture was beginning to emerge. “Go on,” Drew said tightly. “Just…spit it out.”

  “Your mother was angry about how much time I was spending at the office, and we got in an argument one night when I got home after midnight.”

  “Now that I think about it, I remember her making some offhand comments about her ‘missing’ husband a while back.” Drew hadn’t thought much about her remarks at the time; after all, successful real estate professionals had to work odd hours, and mom had been a real estate agent’s wife for a long time. She knew the drill.

  “Well, it came to a head that night, and your mom—” Dad broke off, shaking his head, his face reddening almost instantly.

  Drew sensed that this was big. He reached out and took Dad’s arm. “Mom what?”

  Dad’s jaw tightened, and so did his grip on Drew’s hand, as if he were hanging on for dear life. “She actually had the gall to ask me if there was…another woman.”

  Drew stared, his spine stiff, his head cocked. “Come again?”

  “She thought I was having an affair,” Dad said, his voice a flat monotone.

  “I’m…flabbergasted.”

  “Yeah, so was I,” Dad replied. “But more than that, I was just plain wounded. What she said…well, it’s left a scar that is never far from my thoughts.”

  Drew paced away, struggling to process this information. “So, did you tell her the truth?” He didn’t for one moment think his dad had been seeing anyone else, and he wondered what had prompted Mom to think such a thing.

  Dad’s jaw flexed. “No. I asked her how she could believe I would do something like that, and then I walked out.”

  More of the picture was coming to light, and Drew suddenly had an inkling about why his mom had always been so reluctant to talk to him and Phoebe about what was going on between her and Dad. “Was that the night you moved into the apartment?”

  Dad nodded stiffly.

  “And you haven’t talked about it since?” Drew asked, his voice rising in sheer disbelief.

  “Your mom thinks I’m an adulterer, and that breaks my heart into a million jagged pieces.” Dad blinked several times, and his eyes glittered. “What more is there to talk about?”

  “You can tell her the truth about where you were all those nights—trying to save the business.”

  Dad’s face crumbled. “How could she believe that about me?”

  His dad’s reaction landed a punch. Drew cleared his throat. “She wasn’t working with all the information, Dad—information you deliberately didn’t divulge to her.”

  “Still doesn’t excuse what she thinks.”

  “No, it doesn’t. But you have some responsibility here, too, and you have the power to fix everything.”

  “I don’t think I’ve ever been more hurt,” Dad said, his voice cracking.

  “You’ve been keeping a lot of balls in the air, haven’t you?” Drew asked, more lights going off in his brain. No wonder Dad had been in such a foul mood lately, so hard to deal with. So flipped out by Drew’s plans.

  Dad gave a shaky nod. “Yeah, I have. And it’s been really wearing on me.” He gestured around. “Obviously.”

  Weight pressed down on Drew’s shoulders. “You should have told me,” he said. “Why did you hide all this from Mom and me?” Drew asked again, hoping he could eventually understand.

  Dad looked ashamed. “Foolish pride. I’ve always been the one to keep this family going financially. I just couldn’t face admitting to you guys that I’d failed.”

  A knot wound tight in Drew’s h
ead. “We would have understood,” he replied. “Now…well, now we’ve got an even bigger problem on our hands. Now your health is suffering as well as your marriage.”

  “What should I do?” Dad asked.

  “You need to come clean to Mom as soon as you can.”

  “I figured that’s what you were going to say.” Dad shook his head ruefully. “I’m such an idiot.”

  “I have another suggestion.”

  “Tell me.”

  “You need to pray to the Lord for help in dealing with this situation.” It felt good to believe that God could help, that Drew and his family had a Higher Power to lean on when things got tough. Ally had shown him that.

  Dad smiled. “When did you get so smart?”

  Drew bent down and hugged him. “You taught me everything I know.”

  “Until now, I would have believed that.” Dad’s voice was husky. “Now, I’m not so sure.”

  Drew pulled back and saw tears on his dad’s pale cheeks. Drew’s own eyes burned, and a lump formed in his throat. “You’re human, Dad, and your mistakes were made out of love. God knows that, and so do I. And Mom will see it, too.”

  “I hope you’re right,” Dad replied, sniffing. “I’ve made a mess of things, and I’ve held myself aloof from your mom when I should have been relying on her from the start, when I should have let our bond see us through.”

  “Sounds like you’ve learned something from this.”

  “Yeah, the hard way.” Dad peered at him. “Are you taking notes?”

  “What do you mean?”

  “Phoebe told me about you and Ally.”

  Drew tried hard to look perplexed. “What about her?”

  Dad smiled knowingly. “That you two have been spending a lot of time together lately.”

  “I—”

  “And that you like her.”

  True. “She’s nice, but—”

  “But what?” Dad pointed at him. “Take it from me and don’t squander love. Don’t hold things in.” He looked around. “Look where that tack has gotten me.”

  Drew didn’t know what to say—this was a lot to take in, given the stressful situation. Or ever, really. Plus, he wasn’t sure he wanted to argue with Dad while he was lying in a hospital bed with chest pains.