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“Meghan.” He held her tightly. “I hear a firefighter has been hurt, but no one knows who.”
She snapped her head up. “How hurt? What happened? Where are they now?”
Franklin gripped her arms to steady her. “It’s okay, Meghan. We will get details when we can.”
Meg stepped away from his hold and grabbed her phone from her pocket. There were no messages or texts from Chet. From anyone. She took a deep breath in and let it out. Of course there wouldn’t be any messages. Chet was fighting a fire. Focused. She had to keep her head about her. He’d have no time to stop and text her. He had a job to do.
A job that she had done before.
A job she swore she’d never get close to again.
A job that took her brother.
A job that could just as easily take Chet.
Maybe it already had.
Chapter Twenty-Two
Chet sat inthe waiting room of the hospital with another firefighter and their captain, Cliff, waiting for word on the crew member who’d been injured. He couldn’t remember a time he’d been more exhausted. Every muscle in his body ached. He stunk of smoke from head to toe.
He’d fought fires before, but this one had been bad.
A group of teenagers had thought it would be fun to celebrate the holiday by lighting a fire in a massive cauldron. Worse yet, they’d done it inside a barn on one of the kid’s grandparent’s property. There were no adults around so when the fire started, it took longer than normal for someone to call the fire department. By then, most of it was lit up like a roman candle, and the rest of the night had been spent not only putting out the fire but working to protect the buildings in the surrounding area.
He wanted to let Meg know what had happened. He’d get an earful from Eva, too. The last thing he was going to do was complain, but he wished he hadn’t left his phone at home that night.
At least he didn’t have to worry about Dottie. They had an agreement that if he had to run to a fire for work, Eva would look after her for him. He had to smile at that—his first thoughts after working a hellish fire were of three females. One of them a canine. How fast his life had changed in just a few short months.
A doctor in green scrubs entered the waiting room. Chet and his friends stood.
“Your friend will be fine. He suffered minor burns, but his worst injury is a broken ankle. He should heal up nicely with some rest and time off. He’s asleep now and doing well.”
“Thank you, Doctor,” Chet said.
“Rest and time off. That’s the last thing any of us like to hear,” Cliff said. They all laughed and agreed.
As they left the hospital, the sun was coming up. They drove back to the station house. Chet looked at his watch. If he had to guess, Meg would be at the park soon to run. If he hurried, he could shower all the soot off that covered him and meet her.
“You’re not gonna crash out?” Phil asked as Chet grabbed his towel and headed for the showers.
“Nope. I’ve got something way more important.”
Phil shook his head and left the room.
*
Meg took abig swig of water, set the bottle on the picnic table, and leaned down to touch her toes. After barely sleeping a wink the night before, she was surprised she felt up for a run but her body buzzed with adrenaline, so she figured a run was exactly what she needed.
She had spent the night before cleaning up the diner booth at the festival, grateful for the distraction. It kept her from checking her phone a thousand times a minute or asking everyone else if they had news. But without anything to distract her at home, she’d found herself staring at the ceiling most of the night, willing her phone todingwith an alert.
Before she’d left the park the night before, Eva assured her that Chet would contact her when he could, reminding Meg that he wasn’t good about keeping his phone on him. It was a negative Eva had teased, trying to lighten the mood, but shouldn’t be a deal breaker. As Meg had lain in her bed all nightworried and waiting for news, she wondered if it was a deal breaker, or she should break something of Chet’s for being so poor at communicating.
She crossed one arm over the other, stretching out her upper body. What weighed heavy on her heart now was not that he never had his phone. No, the deal breaker that had her tossing and turning all night was his job. Because of the time they’d spent together, the way she allowed herself to feel about him, Meg had set aside the fact that Chet was a fireman. Could she bear to risk that again?
“I thought I might find you here.”
His voice behind her whispered into her ear. Tears formed in her eyes but she blinked them away. Now was the time to stand her ground, not cave.
