Hometown Fireman

by Lissa Manley

  Dad laughed. “I’d like to see you try.”

  “Yeah, right,” Drew exclaimed ruefully. “Ally isn’t exactly the kind of woman who’d allow that.”

  “She likes to stand on her own, then?” Dad asked, his one eyebrow cocked up.

  “Yep, she does.” It was one of the things Drew loved most about her—her independent spirit and backbone. And so many other things he’d miss.

  “So you’re just going to drive away and leave her behind without a battle?” Dad shook his head. “Seems pretty final to me.”

  Final. Drew closed his eyes briefly, gathering his strength to do what had to be done. What Ally wanted. What he wanted, too. “Yes. It’s what she wants, so please, just let this go.” It was too much to deal with. Too much to assimilate. Too great a risk to take for a shaky outcome he couldn’t be sure of. “Ally won’t ever love me, end of story.”

  “I’d like to let it go,” Dad said softly, “but I’ve been alone because of my own stubbornness, and I regret that with everything in me.” He laid a firm hand on Drew’s shoulder. “Sometimes we all just need to have a little faith.”

  Drew didn’t know what to say to that. How could he have faith in love when Ally didn’t seem to have any? “You’re right, Dad. And I have faith that going to Atherton is the right path.”

  “Does it have to be either/or?”

  “According to Ally, it does.” Drew swallowed. “I’ve already made my decision, and I don’t want to second-guess myself.”

  Dad inclined his head to the side in grudging acquiescence. “All right. I hear you. I only hope you don’t regret walking away.”

  “So do I, Dad. So do I.”

  *

  “So I hear Drew left town earlier today.”

  Ally looked at Molly from where she was straightening the squeaky toy shelf at Bow Wow Boutique. She’d started her first shift a few hours ago and, frankly, was grateful for the distraction of working.

  Anything was better than thinking about Drew.

  “Yes, he did,” she said, her throat tightening. She’d stood at the Sellerses’ kitchen window and forced herself to watch him drive away, as if seeing him leave would somehow make everything peachy. Rosy. Right as the rain that had started falling that morning.

  Ha. Talk about the best-laid plans going up in flames. Instead, nothing was anywhere close to peachy, the rain had turned into a downpour, and she’d gone to her room and had a good long cry. And then she’d cried some more.

  She was going to miss him. More than she’d thought possible just a month ago. Guess that was the breaks for letting him close to her heart.

  Molly flipped her red curls over her shoulder as she wiped the front display case an enthusiastic boxer named Bo had slobbered up. “How do you feel about that?”

  Ally furrowed her brow, wondering how to respond. She wasn’t keen on dissecting her reaction to Drew’s departure; it would be easier to forget him without rehashing. And forget him she would. Eventually. She had to. “Um…why do you ask?” she replied, hoping to deflect Molly’s interest.

  “Well, it’s obvious that you’ve been crying—”

  “It is?” Ally exclaimed, her hands going to her cheeks. She’d done everything she could to get rid of any traces of her crying jag, including a cold compress and more cover-up than she usually wore. Guess she hadn’t done a very good job. Then again, it had been a crying jag of epic proportions.

  “Well, yes.” Molly gave her a look tinged with sympathy. “Don’t worry about it, though. I know how hard it is to watch someone important leave.” She quirked her lips. “I’m pretty sure I bawled like a baby when Grant left town to go back to Seattle.”

  Ah. So Molly’s look had been edged with empathy. She clearly understood what Ally was going through. Ally bit her lip, her usual inclination to handle things on her own at war with desperately wanting to talk to someone about the emotional roller coaster she’d been riding lately, thanks to a wonderful man named Drew.

  Before she could respond, Molly came over and softly said, “You wanna talk about it?”

  Ally’s eyes burned. “Um…I’m not really a talker.” Until Drew had come along. With him, she’d opened up. What a mistake. Hindsight was like that, though.

  “But?”

  “But…” Ally slumped her shoulders, feeling her will to stand on her own crumble. “I’m having a hard time dealing with all this.”

  “Do you have feelings for him?”

  “I don’t want to,” Ally said, hedging.

  Molly smiled knowingly. “But you do, right?”

  “Possibly,” Ally whispered, wincing as the words came out. This wasn’t what she wanted. Caring about someone was brutal when it ended.

  “And I’m going to take a wild guess and say that’s a bad thing in your mind, right?”

  Ally nodded as she got to her feet. Molly understood. “I don’t want to care for him. I’ve fought it all along, and I was telling myself things were fine.”

  “I was there once,” Molly said with a nod. She gestured for Ally to follow her to the back room. “I fought falling in love with Grant for a long time.”

  “You did?” Ally said, trotting along behind her.

  “Oh, yeah.” Molly let out a rueful chuckle. “I was so, so scared to let myself love him, and I was so determined to protect my heart.”

  Ally trailed Molly into the back room. “Sounds familiar.”

  Molly got a couple bottles of water out of the minifridge next to her desk. “I know. I can see you fighting your attraction to him with everything you have.” She handed one of the bottles of water to Ally.

  Ally removed the plastic lid with a twist of her fingers. “Is it that obvious?”

  “I watched you two at his going-away party. He couldn’t take his eyes off you.”

  Ally’s cheeks warmed. “Really?”

  “Really. And I’m pretty sure I saw you watching him quite a lot, too.”

  Busted. “Maybe.” Her eyes had been drawn to him often. As in every minute. She screwed the lid back on her bottle of water, wishing she could twist her feelings back in their proper place as easily.

  Molly gave her a look full of doubt. “No maybe about it, honey. You’re hung up on him, and you know it.”

  Ally sucked in a fresh breath and let it out. “So…what if I am? I’m thinking that maybe now that he’s gone—you know, out of sight, out of mind?—I’ll get un–hung up and I’ll be able to move on with my life the way I had planned all along.” She gave Molly a hopeful look. “Maybe this is just a bump in the road.”

  Molly took a sip of water. “Yeah, that’s what I thought, too, after Grant left.” She laughed softly.

  “And?” Ally asked with bated breath, wanting to both hear the answer and run away at the same time. Although, since Molly and Grant were now happily married, the answer was a given.

  “And trying to forget Grant just because he was gone didn’t work,” Molly said gently, as if she didn’t want to break the news to Ally.

  Anxiety knotted inside Ally. “Not ever?” she uttered, widening her eyes, realizing too late that she’d asked another redundant question. Okay. Maybe she needed to hear the cold, hard truth from Molly. Although, the prospect of facing reality scared Ally more than anything she’d ever come up against.

  “’Fraid not.” Molly set her bottle of water down. “I’ve learned that love is undeniable and enduring, and it doesn’t just go poof and disappear, even with distance.”

  Ally just stared at Molly, shaking her head, her throat frozen with panic. The bottle of water slipped from her hands and landed with a thunk on the floor.

  Without missing a beat, Molly picked up the bottle and handed it back to Ally. “And if you ask Grant, he’d say the same thing. We only lasted three weeks apart before we both gave in to our feelings.”

  The knot of anxiety throbbing inside Ally spread its tentacles outward, tightening every muscle in her upper body while making her legs feel like overcooked noodles. Th
is was not what the protective, love-phobic side of her wanted to hear, though she didn’t blame Molly for being honest. She knew she was just trying to help.

  The bells over the door to the store jangled, heralding the arrival of a customer.

  “I’ll get that,” Molly said, her green eyes soft with understanding. She pushed her rolling desk chair closer to Ally. “You look like you need to sit down.”

  Ally nodded. “I think you’re right.” She gave in to her shaking legs and sank into the chair as Molly left the room. As Ally sat there, her thoughts humming, she couldn’t help but think about what Molly had said.

  Love is undeniable and enduring, and it doesn’t just go poof and disappear, even with distance.

  Profound words, certainly. And Ally believed the sentiment at the core of Molly’s statement. But did any of this apply to Ally?

  On the heels of that thought, a stunning question ricocheted through her consciousness. Was she in such a funk because she’d fallen in love with Drew? Or was she simply caught up in how kind he’d been to her, how he’d made her feel special? Important. Worthy. Things she’d never felt before.

  Confusion spread through her, so she fell back on the familiar. She pressed her hands together in front of her and a prayerful question rose from her lips. “God, I know You’re listening. Please, help me. How am I ever going to figure this out?”

  Just as she uttered the last word, Molly came tearing into the back room. “Ally, Grace just called my cell phone.” Grace, bless her gracious soul, was keeping an eye on Sadie, the puppies and Rex while Ally worked.

  Ally got to her feet, her neck prickling. “What did she want?”

  “Rex escaped from the backyard,” Molly said, her voice tinged with obvious concern. Molly was a dog lover and had two miniature schnauzers she doted on.

  Ally’s stomach dropped and panic tightened her shoulders and cut off her breath. “Did she find him?”

  Molly shook her head. “No. Rex is missing, Ally. There’s been no sign of him, and Grace is frantic with worry.”

  *

  Just as Drew finished eating his breakfast in his new apartment in Atherton, his cell phone rang. He set his cereal bowl in the sink and grabbed his cell from the counter, glancing at the caller ID. Mom.

  He smiled; he’d left Moonlight Cove less than twenty-four hours ago, and she was already checking in. Though now that he thought about it, she’d managed to hold off calling for a whole three-quarters of a day. Once a mom, always a mom. Or so he’d been told. By her.

  He pushed Talk. “Hey, Mom.”

  “Hi, honey.” A sniff and then a pause. “How are things going?”

  “Pretty well,” he replied, careful to make sure he sounded upbeat.

  Actually, though, the hollow feeling he’d noticed when he’d been packing his truck had persisted. Maybe even become worse the farther he’d driven from Moonlight Cove. And he hadn’t slept at all last night, which he’d tried to attribute to nerves over his upcoming first day at Academy, somewhere around 3:00 a.m., but was actually, he knew, more about leaving Ally behind than anything else.

  He could only hope time and distance would remedy the burning ache that had rooted in his chest for the past few days, ever since Ally had told him she never wanted to fall in love.

  “Good. Good,” Mom replied in a scratchy voice. She then went quiet.

  Silence stretched out over the phone line. Odd. Mom was never at a loss for words. “How’s Dad?” Drew asked.

  Another sniff. “Fine.”

  “Do you have a cold?”

  “No.”

  He frowned. A one-word answer. Highly unusual. “Mom, is something…wrong?”

  A sob reverberated in his ear.

  Alarm screeched through him. “Mom?” He switched the phone to his other ear and gripped the device until his knuckles ached. “Did something happen to Dad?”

  “Oh, Drew. It’s so awful. Rex is missing!”

  Drew closed his eyes briefly, shaking his head, dread pulling at him. “What happened?”

  “I was taking care of him, Sadie and the puppies while Ally was at work, and—” her voice broke “—and Rex dug under the fence and ran off.”

  “When did this happen?” Drew drilled out.

  “Yesterday afternoon, not long after you left,” Mom said, her voice cracking again.

  “He’s been missing since yesterday?” he barked. Ally had to be beyond frantic; she loved that dog. “Why didn’t anyone call me?”

  “Ally wouldn’t let us.”

  He frowned. “Why not?”

  “She said she didn’t want to distract you.”

  That sounded like Ally, always wanting to spare others distress, always wanting to handle things on her own. “But you called anyway?”

  “I figured you’d want to know.”

  “You have that right.” He swiped a hand over his jaw. “So there’s been no sign of him?”

  “No sign, and we looked for him all night.”

  Oh, man. Not good. “How’s Ally doing?”

  “Not well at all,” Mom responded. “She’s frantic, of course, and hasn’t stopped looking to eat or sleep. At this rate, she’s going to collapse in exhaustion before nightfall.”

  Concern blasted through him, setting his already stretched nerves on a hard edge.

  Mom went on. “I’m worried about her, Drew. Really worried. She loves that dog with everything in her, and she’s going to be devastated if we don’t find him.”

  He had to go to Ally, had to make sure she was okay. He needed to be there for her, even though she would never ask for his help.

  “I’m coming home,” he said.

  “Doesn’t Academy start today?”

  He headed over to the single bedroom to search for his keys. “Yeah, it does. But Ally’s more important.”

  Mom was silent for a long moment. “Oh, Drew. You love her a lot, don’t you?” she asked in a hushed voice.

  “I care about her, Mom,” he said honestly. “But I’m not in love with her.”

  “Well, I think she loves you.”

  Hope soared, but he pounded it down as he found the jeans he’d worn yesterday and dug his keys out of the pocket. “I don’t think so, Mom.”

  “Why do you say that?”

  “Because she told me she never wants to fall in love.”

  “And you believed her?”

  He grabbed a sweatshirt from the top of the pile of clothes he hadn’t put away yet. “Why wouldn’t I?”

  “Maybe because you have faith in love and in Ally?”

  He froze, her words reverberating through him, then recovered. “I’m not sure that’s enough.”

  “Of course it is. You just don’t know it yet.”

  “I don’t agree with you,” he replied. “But right now, I don’t have time to discuss the matter. I just have to get back to Moonlight Cove and help search for Rex.”

  “What about Academy?”

  “There will be other academies,” he replied, hoping his words proved true. He’d deal with that when the time came.

  “But there won’t be another Ally, will there?”

  His throat clogged. “No, there won’t,” he said thickly, heading out to the living room. She was one of a kind.

  “So, why aren’t you willing to take a risk for love?”

  He felt the beginnings of a headache and hoped he’d remembered to pack some ibuprofen. “Mom, I have to go so I can get home and help look for Rex.” Nothing more. No love, no risk. Good or bad, right or wrong, he’d deal with that reality.

  What other choice did he have?

  Chapter Fifteen

  Ally sat at the Sellerses’ kitchen table and stared at the fried-egg sandwich Grace had kindly made for her. Ally’s stomach pitched. For the life of her, she couldn’t pick up the food and take a bite. Not with Rex still missing.

  Tears pricked the backs of her eyelids and the panic that had been dogging her since Rex had run off flared again. She, Grace, Car
son, Phoebe and Heidi had spent hours and hours looking for the dog all over Moonlight Cove in the pouring rain, calling his name until their voices were hoarse. Nothing. Not even a spotting.

  Where could he be?

  “Not hungry?” Grace asked from where she hovered nearby, clearly trying to pretend she was puttering around the kitchen rather than keeping an eye on Ally.

  “I’m sorry, no,” Ally replied, her voice scratchy. “Would it be okay if I wrap it up and eat it later?” Although she was doubtful she’d be able to eat at all unless they found Rex.

  And if they never did? Tears welled and ran down her cheeks. She said a silent prayer for Rex’s safe return.

  “Of course,” Grace murmured as she took the plate. “Can I get you anything else?”

  Ally rose, unable to sit when Rex was out there, lost and wet and alone. “No, thank you,” she said. “I think I’m going to go back out. Do you mind if I borrow your car again? I want to check the beach one more time.” Rex loved the beach, and it seemed logical that he’d go there. Although a dog didn’t need to act logical at all.

  “Go right ahead,” Grace said, pointing to the key hook on the wall. “I’ll head back into town in Hugh’s car to look there, and he can hold down the fort here.” Hugh hadn’t been cleared by his doctor for much physical activity since his procedure, so he’d been staying home to coordinate search efforts and watch Sadie and the puppies. Turned out Mr. Sellers was quite enamored of the puppies, Allison in particular, and he spent a lot of time in the whelping room, holding and cuddling the baby dogs.

  “Okay,” Ally said, her voice breaking.

  Grace came over and enfolded her in a hug.

  Ally automatically stiffened but then let herself relax and draw on the comfort Grace was offering. She hugged Grace back, and immediately some of her anxiety eased.

  “Don’t worry,” Grace said, rubbing Ally’s back. “We’ll find him.”

  “I hope so,” Ally replied huskily. “I don’t know what I’m going to do if I lose him.”

  “You’re not going to lose him.”

  Drew’s voice jolted through Ally, and she lifted her head with a jerk, blinking.