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“Are you sure?” I hesitated.
“Absolutely. Go!” She waved me toward the door. “You need to get ready to leave,” she ordered.
I hustled out. A moment later, I delivered Humpty to her. Just as I was opening the door to the back hallway, Rowan Cole, one of my friends and one of the reasons I was here in Alaska, was coming through. “Oh, hey there,” he said. “We’ve got two crews heading out. Are you going with us?”
“Headed to the locker room right now to grab my gear.”
“All right, see you out back.”
Rowan was from my hometown—Stolen Hearts Valley, North Carolina. He’d ended up here in Alaska to chase the thrill of hotshot firefighting like me, along with another friend from our hometown, Remy Martin. The world could be small.
I’d trained as a firefighter in North Carolina with Remy and Rowan. When Remy heard about what happened with my ex-fiancée, he told me he’d give me a shout if there was an opening out here, promising me I’d love it. I’d needed more than one reason for a change of scenery. Between my world blowing up and learning how many people had known about one of my friends having a yearlong affair with my ex-fiancée, it was safe to say that knowledge had burned a lot of bridges for me. Even worse, my dad’s death before that had sent me spiraling into grief.
I’d always said I’d been blessed to have my parents. I had, but it hurt all the more to lose my dad as a result. Cindy’s explanation, or her lame-ass excuse as far as I was concerned, for why she’d looked elsewhere when I caught my old friend balls deep inside her was that I hadn’t been emotionally available since my dad had died.
Maybe that was true, but I guess I was one of those people who believed you should be there for each other, even when things were hard. Especially when life knocked you down.
As I quickly changed into my gear and jogged out to the helicopter, my mind spun back to Farrah and the look of surprise in her eyes when I’d pointed out the obvious truth. Shewasbeautiful. I wanted to see her again, and I knew that was stupid.
I was in no shape for romance. At all.
ChapterFour
FARRAH
“Pass me that bottle of wine, please,” Alice said, holding her hand up.
I handed it across the table while Maisie looked askance at her. “Rough day?” she prompted.
“Hell, yes. I had two emergency surgeries. I really need to hire another vet,” Alice replied as she filled her wineglass.
As a sort of new person in town, I was still getting to know everyone, but Alice and Tiffany made sure I came along when they had occasional card nights with a group of friends in town. Many of these women had been born and raised here, while I was still assimilating into the small world of Willow Brook, Alaska.
“Who’s driving?” Tiffany Mills prompted. Tiffany was our office manager and would be working to get caught up for us in the office after being out the day prior.
“I’m the designated driver,” Amelia offered with a glance down at her belly. “Because I’m pregnant, and I can’t drink. I hate being pregnant, but it’s not because I can’t drink. My back hurts all the damn time.”
“Well, I’m sorry about that, but we’re all grateful you’re driving,” I offered with a smile, lifting my wineglass and taking a swallow. Amelia chuckled. I looked at Alice. “Also, I know you had two emergency surgeries, but I swear my job title for the day was anal gland expresser. Three cats and two dogs today.”
Maisie grinned. “I have one of your cats.”
“I don’t have a cat,” I pointed out, looking her way curiously.
“Humpty. I meant one of the cats whose glands you expressed. The guys all went out to a big fire north of here yesterday. Cooper showed up with his cat because he didn’t have time to find someone to check on him. I meant to ask Janet, but I forgot, so I just took Humpty home with me. I need to find someone else, though, because our cat is seriously pissed about it,” she explained.
“I can take Humpty,” I offered.
“Really?” At my nod, she added, “He’s cute and sweet, but our cat is a ball of hissing. He also sat in the window with his back to me this morning.”
Tiffany let out a laugh. “Your cat sounds passive-aggressive.”
Maisie’s brown curls swung as she nodded vigorously. “He totally is.” Her gaze shifted to me again. “Are you serious about taking Cooper’s cat while he’s gone? It could be a week or more. You never know how long the crews will be out when they go to a fire.”
“Sure. I met Humpty when Cooper brought him in yesterday. It was a fun appointment,” I said dryly.
Lucy Phillips snorted from where she was seated beside me. “I can’t imagine doing that. I’m glad all we have is a hamster.”
“And, how is Ham 2?” Alice prompted as she set her wineglass on the table.
