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“You bet your fucking ass, you can!” he orders.
I shake my head again, stating firmly, “I love her.”
Then I walk out of his office, and out of Station 18—the place that’s been more of a home to me than home has ever been—climb into my Suburban, and drive out of the parking lot.
And I don’t look back.
Lauren
When the phone rings with Garrett’s name, I finally let out the breath I’ve been holding since the earthquake happened. I’ve been busy and stressed, and I’ve known Garrett was okay, but being able to talk to him again—see him with my own eyes—is a reunion I’ve been longing for.
“Hello?”
“Hey, babe.”
“Hey,” I say, melting into my couch in a gooey pile of warmth.
“You home?”
“Yes,” I answer, tucking the phone between my cheek and my shoulder so I can unscrew the cap on my bottle of water. “Just got in from the hospital a couple hours ago, and I’m dead on my freaking feet. It’s been too long since I’ve worked in a trauma environment, and I’m out of shape.”
He chuckles lightly, but he doesn’t sound right. I know he must be tired too, but still, I ask anyway. “What’s going on? Are you okay?”
“I’m good, babe. I just wanted to check with you and see if it was okay if I came over for a little bit before I go get the kids. I want to sleep, but I’d like to do it with you.”
“Of course. But are you sure you’re okay? Did you talk to my dad?”
“Yes, I promise. And yes, I did. We’ll talk about it when I get there.”
My eyebrows draw together at his cryptic foreshadowing. “What happened?”
“Lauren—”
“Garrett…what happened?”
He sighs heavily. “Okay, but listen. It’s not a big deal. It doesn’t change anything for us, okay?”
“What doesn’t change anything?”
“Lauren—”
“Garrett, tell me.”
“He fired me.”
My spine goes stiff as I pop up from my couch like a jack-in-the-box. “He what?”
“Baby, this is not a big deal.”
“Not a big deal, my ass!” I yell. Even Frank jumps in his little fishy tank.
“Lauren—”
“Gotta go,” I say simply before taking the phone away from my ear and jumping into action. All remnants of fatigue long gone.
I run around like a madwoman, gathering my purse and keys and putting on a pair of shoes, and just like that, I’m out of the house.
Jimmy Carroll is going to get a piece of my mind whether he wants it or not.
I speed down my dad’s street and slide into the driveway on what feels like two wheels.
Shell, having apparently come over at some point with the kids, steps out the front door at the sound of me slamming my car door. She gets one good look at my face and shoves her kids back inside the house.
“Where is he?” I yell.
“Are you talking about Dad?” Shell asks, somewhat bewildered. My dad and I have always gotten along well, even when my sisters and he have had bumps in the road. In fact, I don’t think we’ve ever had a big fight, but let me tell you, we’re about to.
“Yes, I’m talking about Dad!” I shout back. “Where is he?”
Shell, if I’m not mistaken, actually kind of smiles as she steps back toward the front door and offers, “Let me see if I can find him.”
Clearly, she’s getting a twisted form of pleasure out of this little sign of the apocalypse.
When my dad steps through the front door and comes down the steps, his face is just as steely as my own.
“You summoned me?” he says, his attitude so thick it could smother a bat.
“Don’t play coy. You know what you’ve done.”
“What I’ve done?” He snorts and points a sarcastic hand toward himself before turning that exact hand toward me. “How about what you’ve done? What Alexander’s done? Clearly, he didn’t have any trouble opening his mouth to tell you I’d fired him, but he sure as hell didn’t exercise his ability to speak when it came to telling me what the hell was going on between the two of you.”
“That’s because it wasn’t any of your business.”
“Bullshit. It was because you knew what you were doing was wrong, and you didn’t want to be made to feel bad, Laurie.”
I grit my teeth. “There is nothing wrong with Garrett and me being together, and if you hadn’t sown so many seeds of doubt into my head in the first place, I would have seen that a hell of a lot sooner.”
“Cut the crap, Laurie!”
“No, you cut the crap, Dad!” I scream. “You fired him! He’s dedicated his entire life to this, just like you, and you didn’t even hesitate to take it away.”
He shakes his head. “At least look at the silver lining, baby girl. You may be with a shithead liar, but at least he’ll be home now.”
“No,” I protest. “You don’t get to do that.”
