“The first of many dinners to come! You are always welcome here, sweetheart,” Charles says with a warm smile splitting his bearded face. The kindness and genuine words pouring from Remington’s parents is overwhelming. There is no show or pretense here, they actually mean every word they say.
Being with all of them made my anxiety vanish. All night Ihave been able to talk, laugh, and be myself. I can’t even be myself around my own family. I have to be the polished, up-to-par version they want, and even then they will find some flaw to pick at. What the LeBlancs had was rare, and I wanted to do whatever I could to stick around and soak up more of it.
The whole time we were there, Remington did what he promised. He stayed close, always touching me in comforting ways—an arm around my shoulders, holding my hand, a kiss to the top of my head, his thumb rubbing the inside of my thigh. He also kept checking in to see if I wanted to stay or leave, but no part of me was ready to bolt like I thought I would.
The night was made even more fun when Sutton showed up for dessert, a fresh blueberry buckle that his mom swears I will be capable of making on my own, but she insisted on teaching me sometime soon. When she said that she would love to bake with me after Remington went on and on about my apple pie, I felt like my whole heart was going to pound right out of my chest. It was about to land right in his hands, and I have a feeling I won’t ever ask for it back. The more time we spend together, the harder it is for me to keep taking things slow physically when my heart is in an absolute free fall.
Today is another family meal of sorts. Remington invited me back to the fire station for “family dinner.” He explained that this is different from the meals that the crew eat together on a daily basis. Once a quarter they have a big meal for the whole fire station crew, their significant others, and kids. It’s a good way to bond and enjoy seeing everyone at one time. I asked what I could bring, but Remington told me that they all pitchin to have it catered so that nobody has to cook. This time Gino’s is making the meal, and Remington told me he had them order extra cheese bread—to make sure I would get as much as I wanted.
Since Remington is on shift today I had to meet him here. I am looking forward to being introduced to more people and hopefully getting to know some of the wives and girlfriends. We have spent a lot of time with Eli because he’s Remington’s best friend, but he is a self-proclaimed bachelor, so I doubt he will be inviting anyone to family dinner anytime soon.
Walking into the fire station I feel overwhelmed by the amazing smell of Gino’s waiting to be eaten by everyone and the sight of so many firefighters. Muscles, mustaches, and men are everywhere along with kids and women. Everyone is smiling, chatting, and enjoying themselves. My eyes scan the room for the one person I want to see most, finally locking in on Remington all the way across the room talking to Chief Roberts. Feeling my gaze, he looks over to me, and a smile lights up his handsome face. He points my way and Chief waves to me, slapping Remington on the back.
Remington makes his way to me, meeting me in the middle of the chaos. He palms my cheeks gently and kisses me deeply, not giving a shit that we are in a room full of people. Whoops ring out, echoing around us, and he pulls back from my lips with reluctance. “Well, hello,” I say, feeling like my cheeks must be as red as the fire trucks.
“Hi, beautiful. I missed you.” He takes my hand and leads me over to a group of people. “Hey, Ryder, Jess. This is my girlfriend, Lainey. Lainey, you remember Matt Ryder from when you came before? And this is his wife, Jessica.” Matt is a few inches shorter than Remington, but a solid wall of thick muscle. He has dark hair and even darker eyes, and olive skin. His wife, Jess, is his exact opposite. She has fair skin and a dusting of freckles on her cheeks, white-blonde curls fallaround her shoulders, and she has piercing, icy-blue eyes. She’s holding an adorable baby in her arms that looks about a year old.
“It’s so nice to meet you,” I say and shake both of their hands. “And who is this cutie?” I ask looking toward the baby, who’s now drooling all down his chubby arm.
Jess looks down at him with a dreamy smile and says, “This is Cooper, he’s one. We have two more playing over there.” She points to a large area with lots of toys and kids of various ages. “Noah is seven and Liam is five.”
“Wow, they are all so cute,” I say easily spotting which of them she is pointing out to me in the crowd, their blond hair matching hers and Cooper’s. “Remington told me all of you had the flu a while ago. That must have been terrible.” I look back to Jess.
“Yes, that was the most miserable couple days. Matt had to leave his shift early because he was sick. We all got taken down hard. It’s one thing when the kids are sick, but us both having the flu too, and having to take care of all three boys ... It was so rough. Thank God for Rem.” Jess bounces Cooper on her hip.
“Oh, what did he do?” I ask curiously. Cooper babbles and reaches his arms out toward Remington, who scoops him up with ease. He blows a raspberry on Cooper’s belly, which sends him into a fit of giggles, and then he snuggles into Remington’s chest like they have done this a hundred times.
And my ovaries freaking explode. Good lord, as if he wasn’t hot enough already?
“He covered my extra shift for me right after working his own. And then dropped off several bags of essentials that we couldn’t go get ourselves, including the kids’ favorite Popsicles. We didn’t even ask, he just did it, and didn’t even tell us.” Matt grins at Remington.
He shuffles on his feet, uneasy with the attention andcompliments. “It was no big deal, I just knew y’all were stuck in the house, and I figured you could use a few things.”
Matt looks at me and says, “We wouldn’t have even known it was Rem had we not caught him on our security camera. He was just planning on dropping everything and sneaking off like a flu delivery service elf.” We all laugh, and I smile at Remington, loving getting to see this side of him. I know he does so much for me, but he is selfless with everyone in his life. It flows from him naturally and pulls people into his orbit, making others want to be better, do better, just by his example. He probably does not even realize the impact he makes just being himself.
As if I wasn’t already in deep with him ...
The rest of the night is so much fun. Gino’s was delicious, of course, and I got plenty of my favorite cheese bread thanks to my boyfriend. Remington was right: This is more than a job for him. It’s a calling, and these people are his extended family. They have all welcomed me in and made me part of the group without question. Jess took charge, making introductions to other wives and partners. They were so easy to get along with and opposite of most interactions with any new “girl groups” that I have tried to become friendly with in the past. I got to know the firefighters that were on the other shifts and the paramedic teams that included a couple of really awesome women as well. I was added to the “significant others” group chat. Jess told me that they all keep each other up to date with parties, announcements, things that are going on, and most importantly if something big happens during a fire or emergency.
With full bellies and sleepy kids, we were all sitting around, laughing, and talking when all of a sudden the alarms in the station went off and madness erupted. Everyone went from relaxed to responsive and moving instantly; even the women and older kids seemed to know exactly what to do.Remington, who was sitting next to me with his hand on my thigh when the alarms started, grabbed my face in a kiss so quick I am not sure it even happened, telling me, “Jess will tell you what to do, baby.” Then he was rushing away with more than half the people at the table. I just stood there in shock, twisting my hands, trying to stay out of the way.
Jess, with all three of her boys wrangled around her, came up to me and said, “It is really overwhelming, especially the first time you witness it. Don’t worry, Lainey, you get used to it, come on.” I obediently followed her like one of her kids.
Sirens were still blaring as we walked into the visitor parking lot in time to see the three department trucks and the two ambulances fly out of the station. I catch a quick glance of Remington in the driver seat of the second truck, which takes my breath and heart with him as he drives away.
“Are they all going?” I ask Jess as worry for Remington takes over my mind, knowing that he and all of the people that just left, the ones that welcomed me into their found family, are racing off into a dangerous situation without any hesitation. I obviously knew what his job was, that it was intense and difficult, but until today I had not let myself truly register the very real uncertainty that Remington faces. It makes me feel naive and unequipped to handle this. I don’t know if I am strong enough to watch him walk out the door every day and not know what will happen to him.
Jess rubs my arm, bringing me back to the moment and says, “Dinner and everything was wrapped up. Only the guys on shift go, unless they need more backup called in once they assess the scene. So, we’re all going home now. There’s no telling how long they will be out. There is no point in waiting around. We will get some updates on the group text, and I am sure Rem will call you later if it’s not too late.”
“Okay, thanks, Jess,” I say sincerely as she pulls me into a tight hug, Cooper sandwiched between us giggling.
“Don’t mention it. And you have my number if you ever need anything. This life is an adjustment, so don’t hesitate to reach out. We will get together soon, promise.” She shifts Cooper on her hip and opens her van doors to let the other kids climb inside.
“I’m so grateful to have met you and the other girls today, Jess. It means a lot that you’re taking me under your wing.” I smile at her as she clips the youngest Ryder into his car seat. I am in awe of how she seems to have it so together, managing all three kids and seeing her husband drive off the same way I just watched my boyfriend leave. Jess doesn’t seem rattled at all.
Reading my mind again, she pulls open her door and says, “It tears me up every time they get called out too, but I can’t let the fear take over. For Matt, for me, and especially for the boys ...” She shakes her head. “What they do is too important for my own fear to be a weakness that holds him back from his dreams.” With a final nod, she hops in the van and drives off toward her house.
22
