Beaming up at him, probably looking like a total fool, I say, “As long as you keep kissing me likethat, yeah, all is forgiven.”
Remington pulls me into a tight hug and kisses the top of my head. “Deal, beautiful. Can I give you the grand tour of the fire station now?”
“I’d love one! But I have something for you, remember?” I unfortunately have to leave his warm embrace to go back to my car and get his pie. Handing it to him he looks so surprised, like it’s the first pie he’s ever seen.
“Did you make this?” His voice is warm and reverent.
“Yes, it’s my special apple pie. I spent well over a year experimenting and perfecting it,” I tell him, suddenly feelingworried again. “I thought you might enjoy it because you told me apples are your favorite.”
“Hell, yes! Thank you. This is amazing, and so kind. Nobody has ever made a pie just for me before.” His smile is so bright and happy, it could power our small town.
“You are actually the first person I’ve ever made it for.” My hands feel the need to fidget again with my admission, so I fiddle with the strap of my bag that I grabbed off the passenger seat.
Remington surprises me again with a sweet, quick kiss on my lips. “Nothing will taste as amazing as your kisses, but I am willing to try anything you make.”
Blushing, I start to laugh uncontrollably, tears stream, and a side stitch forms. Remington patiently stands there, grinning and waiting to be let in on my inside joke. “What is so funny about that?”
“Trust me, you didn’t want to try all my practice pies before I perfected this recipe, Remington.”
“Sure I would have!” he defends himself.
“No, really. They weresoawful most ended up in the trash. Working on this pie was part of my therapy. Allowing myself to experiment and learn and grow in the kitchen ... in a way that I wasn’t able to when I was growing up.” I sigh, swallowing a lump of emotions, hating to bring down the moment.
Remington, still happy and smiling, says, “I think that’s great! And I pinky promise that if you want to experiment with any new recipe in the future, I will try them all, even the trash batches.” Grinning still, he takes my hand, kisses the back of it, and leads me toward the station doors.
“Who even are you?” I ask in disbelief.
“Your man.” He states it so effortlessly, like it was meant to be, and I think maybe he’s right ... because there is nothing that would make me happier than having him claim me.
13
Remington
Everyone at FGFD loved Lainey. How could they not? She is kind, sweet, and has the perfect amount of sass to keep me on my toes. She’s also incredibly thoughtful. I had no idea what would happen when she pulled up to the station, but when she stepped out of the car looking like a damn snack, I knew I needed to get my hands on her. Needed to remedy the epic fumble from the ending of our first date and show her just how much I wanted her. And then when she gave me the green light, told me I could mess up her sexy new haircut? I could have died right there before our lips ever touched, but thank fuck that didn’t happen, because that was the hottest kiss of my life.
It didn’t feel like a first kiss. It felt like the kiss I have been waiting my entire life for. It’s not just because Lainey is a great kisser, and I’m getting hard just remembering the feel of her lips on mine and the little moans she made. No, kissing her cracked open that closed-off place inside of myself. She fully shattered the illusion I built up years ago when I told myself that I didn’t really needthis—a connection that is so real there is no point denying it or tryingto run from it.
Wanting something and having it are two totally different realities. I thought that I had “it” with Cora. We had so many plans for our future, and she ruined everything. I thought I knew who she was, after all we grew up together, and she was Sutton’s best friend. They loved the idea of being “sisters” and would talk about how the day Cora and I got married would make it official. Cora and I never even really talked about marriage explicitly, it was just kind of assumed that it was going to eventually happen. I felt a numb contentedness in our relationship, happy with where my life was headed ... until I wasn’t.
My unsettled feelings didn’t even have anything to do with Cora at first, they came with my chosen career path. I started college as a finance major. Being good with numbers and thinking about comfortable jobs, it felt like a solid, safe plan. The coursework was not overly challenging for me, but still interesting. Cora was going to school for a hospitality degree, minoring in business. She wanted to pursue being some kind of wedding or event planner. Sheinformed methat I was going to help her with the business and money side of things because my degree would snap right in place with her plan. She had it all mapped out, spreadsheets to match. I told her I was happy to help her figure things out, but I didn’t want to be full-time in wedding and event planning when I graduated. My parents wanted Sutton and myself to follow our passions, and mine did not march down aisles next to bridezillas or manage finances for overpriced parties. Cora just laughed.
The more I thought about it, the less appealinganykind of finance position felt. I went to a job fair put on through the different college departments trying to see what was out there and hated all the options. I felt sick, like I was wasting time and money not knowing what I really wanted to do. There was only one table that day that stirred any kind of excitement in me that I saw when I was about to give up. It was one thathad a display about earning a degree in fire science. I talked to the guys at the table for over an hour. I had some previous knowledge of the degree because of Eli, but I didn’t know the full ins and outs. A lot of entry level firefighting jobs don’t require something like that, but it would open up different opportunities for the future. I could be a fire investigator, fire safety inspector, teach different aspects of fire safety and preparedness. There were a lot of things that were interesting, and I had always felt a pull toward doing some kind of service, but I didn’t know what I was called to pursue until that moment.
Walking away from that job fair, I knew exactly what I wanted. I switched my major for a degree in fire science with a minor in finance so I wouldn’t lose all the credits and time I had already put in. I worked my ass off to take extra classes for the fire science degree so I could still graduate on time, which meant going to school year-round. I was so excited and motivated. I didn’t care that I had little time for anything else. This was going to secure the future that I could be proud of. One that wasn’t dull, dreary, and constantly about punching a clock. I would be helping my community in a meaningful way, and the best part was Eli was also going to be a firefighter.
Eli knew from the time he was little that was his passion, and it never changed. He dressed up as a firefighter for Halloween every single year from the time he was in third grade. Eli was happy to share his dream with me, encouraging me every step of the way, just like I should have expected him to. He was already in the program when I changed my plans, and he helped me catch up. I was worried he would be upset or feel like I was stepping on his toes. When I told him that,he told meI was an idiot, and then dragged me to the gym for a hard workout so he could kick my ass in the boxing ring. He’s my brother in every variation of the word, that will never change.
Cora was not thrilled with my choice. She was tepidly supportive, and it was wearing on our relationship, but we stayed together through graduation. As soon as caps were tossed, and gowns were taken off—Cora looked at me expectantly. She had on a short white dress, and her dark hair barely had a dent from the cardboard hats we were just sweating in. Our families were all there, ready to celebrate and then move us back home. As the day went on, Cora became colder and angry. Turns out, she told everyone that I was going to propose after the ceremony. I absolutely wasnot. That wasn’t on my mind at all. There was no ring. Even if our relationship was in a good place, which it wasn’t, I would never want to do something like that publicly. I think that moment should be special, thoughtful, and personal ... not rushed and showy. Surrounded by our family, maybe—but not thousands of other strangers. That night at my apartment, as I was packing up my last few belongings, she dropped bombs that broke apart the pieces that were left of our struggling relationship, leaving nothing but shrapnel behind.
“Now that graduation is over we can finally really get the business going,” Cora had stated as she sifted through my things in the half-packed box on the dresser.
I looked over at her, confused. “Yeah, you can set everything up how you planned and make the event business what you want. You have been dreaming about this for a long time, it will be great.”
“It isourdream, silly goose! Don’t you remember all of our plans? You promised me you would run the business and finances. I need all my focus to be on the creative side and the clients. Now that school is done we can really get cracking. I already have two potential brides lined up in Fox Grove, and one big party in Norfolk.” She spun to me, flipping her long hair over one shoulder, and smiling in a weird way that didn’tsit well, like she was convincing me that this was my idea all along.
What the fuck?Cora knew this was not happening. I told her when I changed majors years ago that my dream was being a firefighter, and she supported me. Albeit, reluctantly, but we had been together the entire time I had gone to school for this.
“Cora, I’m a firefighter. I already interviewed and I have a full-time job lined up at Fox Grove Fire Department. My dream isthat. Not to run a finance department for your business.” She glared at me.Jesus, if looks could kill. “Oranybusiness,” I emphasized.
