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“Can I have another apple juice?” Jordan asks, showing us her empty glass.
Pierce glances around for a server, but with the plates already cleared, they must be in the back, getting dessert ready.
“I’ll go grab it for her at the bar,” Pierce says, giving me a kiss on my cheek. “Be right back.”
CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX
PIERCE
“There he is!” George Robertson says, slapping me on my back. “How have you been, son?”
George was the one who hired me in Boston when Tanya begged for me to give the city a try. As much as I didn’t like living in the city, George is a good man, and I enjoyed working under him. I learned a lot from him during my short time at his station.
“I’m good.” I glance at Kelsie and Jordan and grin. “Damn good, actually.” I grab the bartender’s attention. “Can I get an apple juice, please?”
“I heard…and saw,” George says with a smile, sipping his drink. “It’s like one of those fairy tales my girls read. The hero saves the day and gets the girl. I’m happy for you, Pierce. You deserve to get the girl.”
“What the hell are you talking about?” I laugh in confusion.
“You saving Kelsie and her daughter…” He says it slow, like it’s obvious.
“I’m not sure paying for her groceries would be considered saving them or deem me hero worthy.” I chuckle and shake my head, but George doesn’t laugh.
“Pierce,” he says, his voice serious. “Are you telling me you don’t know who they are?”
“Who, who are?” I ask, starting to get annoyed. The guy isn’t making any sense. “Kelsie and Jordan? Of course I know who they are. We’re engaged and will be married on Christmas.”
“I’m talking about the house fire. The one you ran into and single-handedly saved a mother and her daughter.”
The bartender hands me the apple juice, and I thank him, then turn back to George. “I’ve saved a lot of people over the years. You’ll have to be a bit more specific than that.”
“Holy shit,” he mutters. “You really don’t remember. I guess it makes sense. You were in rough shape that night, having just discovered Tanya was cheating on you.”
“George, what the fuck are you going on about?” The last thing I want to discuss is my cheating ex.
“The woman you’re engaged to and her daughter. You saved their lives. You’re the reason they’re still alive. The night you found out Tanya cheated, you went into that burning house without any gear on while you were off duty and carried them both out of the house before the guys even made it there.”
Visions of that night come back to me.
Catching Tanya giving the married attorney head behind his desk.
Driving around for hours, trying to figure out what to do next.
Seeing the house that was on fire.
“The house is on fire!” the elderly next-door neighbor yelled. “There’s a family who lives there! A young couple and a little girl.”
I acted on instinct and ran inside, not thinking clearly.
“Someone, help, please.”
The plea was coming from upstairs. The fire was already spreading through the house.
I ran up the stairs and found the mom—who had passed out—with her little girl. The smoke was thick, but I was able to lift and carry them out of the house.
When we got outside, the ambulances and firetrucks had arrived. I handed them off, and Keith, the fire officer, insisted I get checked out because of the smoke inhalation.
I was taken in one ambulance and the girls were taken in another.
I saved their lives.
Kelsie and Jordan were the mother and daughter I saved.
“Wait,” I say as the reality of the situation hits me. “If I’m the one who saved them…”
Fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck. I left in one ambulance, and they went in the other. But there was one more person in the house that night. I remember George mentioning the mother wanted to sue because her son had died, but he was dead before they arrived. And because I was off duty, she couldn’t sue me.
Oh God. “If I’m the person who saved Kelsie and Jordan…then I’m also the reason why Trent is dead.”
CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN
KELSIE
It’s been four days since the charity event. Since my life went from feeling like I was living a fairy tale to… I don’t even know what. A nightmare, maybe?
One minute, Pierce was kissing me and the next, he was saying there was an emergency at the station he needed to deal with. He dropped us off, and with a soul-crushing kiss, he left.
I haven’t seen him since. He never came home on Sunday. Then he was scheduled to work a shift the following two days. He should be home now, only he’s not. I woke up feeling nauseous, and I’m praying I haven’t caught a bug less than four days before Christmas and our wedding. But what I’m more concerned about is my fiancé.
