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“It’s not going to get better overnight—isn’t that what you told me? So let me help you. Let’s release your hold on that guilt, and day by day, we’ll let it go.”
Her words soothe my soul in a way nothing and no one ever has, and little by little, I feel the burden lifting from my shoulders.
27
Claire
My heart aches for Trevor. I wish more than anything that I would’ve found out about his secret sooner so I could’ve eased his mind. No one should carry a burden like that around. I just hope he can move past it, and maybe, if I’m lucky, he’ll move past it with me.
Trevor pushes up from the floor and comes to sit next to me on the couch. Reclining, he rests his head against the back cushion and closes his eyes. A tear leaks out of the side of his eye, dripping down his temple. I brush it away. My thumb lingers against his skin, and he wraps his hand around my wrist. He brings my fingers to his lips and holds them there while the silence seeps in around us.
“Talk to me, Trevor. What are you thinking about?”
He opens his eyes and slowly lowe
rs my hand from his face, resting it on his chest.
“I’m wondering what I did to deserve someone like you in my life. I’m thinking about how terrified I was that night I found out you’d run back into the building to save those kids. It reminded me so much of what your father did, and I didn’t know how I was going to survive if I couldn’t get to you. Come here, Claire.”
Trevor opens his arms, and I waste no time crawling into his lap. With my head tucked under his chin and body nestled in the crook of his arm, Trevor holds me. Placing his lips atop my head, he kisses me and whispers, “I don’t know what I would’ve done if something had happened to you.”
Hooking an arm around his chest, I burrow as close as I can without physically mounting him. “You saved my life.”
“I did what any good firefighter would do.”
I contemplate his words, and while he’s right, I also believe there was more at play that evening. I’ve always believed in fate, and Trevor was meant to be the one to save me.
I’m always here for you, Claire Bear. No matter where you are, I’m always here. I’ve come to understand my dad’s desire for me to be safe a bit differently over the last few days. I’ve thought a lot about what Trevor told me about his job, and while I know I need to be smart and make responsible choices, I think it’s okay to need help sometimes as well.
A smile touches my lips—maybe it was my dad who put Trevor there with me in that fire.
“You may be right, but not just any firefighter ran in after me,” I tell Trevor. “You did. And not only did you get those boys out, you threw yourself on top of me when the ceiling caved in. I don’t know how I’m ever going to repay you for that.”
“We’ve already discussed this. You don’t owe me anything. I’d do it again, over and over if it meant saving your life. You need to know that.”
I lift my head to look up at him. “Because of my father? Because you feel like you owe me something?”
I hate the words even before they pass through my lips, but I have to ask him. I need to know—need to make sure that whatever is happening between us isn’t because of the guilt he’s been carrying around.
He shakes his head. “No.” Threading his fingers through my hair, Trevor holds the back of my head. “Because of you.”
Trevor
Dropping my forehead to hers, I breathe Claire in. Her lavender scent surrounds me, infiltrates my veins, and brings peace in a way I never thought possible.
“What do you mean ‘because of me’?”
Taking a deep breath, I give myself permission to be happy and take chances, and I tell Claire all of the crazy things that have gone through my head over the years.
“Because I have loved you for as long as I can remember.”
I wait for dread to fill me, but it doesn’t come. Instead I feel lighter than I ever have, and I realize it doesn’t matter whether Claire feels the same way about me. What matters is that she knows how I feel. I love Claire Daniels. Her happiness means more to me than anything else, and I would walk through a thousand fires if it meant seeing her smile.
“What?” she gasps.
“You showed up at the rock quarry in a purple bikini, but it wasn’t the swimsuit that stole my heart for the first time; it was your laughter and your kindness. Do you remember what you did for me that day?”
Tears fall down her face as she nods, but Claire makes no attempt to talk. That’s okay, I can talk for both of us.
