27. Lilly
Chapter 27
Lilly
“ T hat was so awesome,” Nellie says, excitement dancing in her eyes.
I force a smile while my stomach turns at the idea of Noah going into a fire. Since we got together, the idea of him being a firefighter has sort of been in the abstract. I've never had to experience him leaving for an alarm.
Seeing him fly out of the parking lot and into a fire truck was gut-wrenching. He could be hurt at any time.
I try to hide my worry, knowing Nellie is excited and doesn't understand the danger that her father's in.
“We need to get going, baby. Let's head back to the car, and maybe we can try to call Dad later and check on him.”
Nellie's still got her eyes glued to the horizon where the fire truck disappeared.
I can tell that she doesn't want to leave, but without Noah here, she also doesn't want to stay. Rachel walks over to us before I have a chance to guide Nellie away from the other students.
Rachel grimaces. “I’ve never seen him do that before.” She looks over her shoulder at her class, still gathered by the fire truck where the rest of the guys are teaching their lesson about fire safety. “I have to get back to my students, but I wanted to get your phone number before you left. I’d love to get together one night to hang out.”
I grin. “That would be great.” I pull out my phone and hand it over to Rachel.
“There. I put my phone number in and sent myself a text message.” She gives me a smile before she heads back to her students.
Nellie stands beside me, disappointment practically pouring from her. She isn’t ready to leave yet.
I run my fingers through her hair. “We’ll come back another day, baby. I promise.”
With a nod, she follows me to the car. An SUV pulls up right next to us before we can get in.
The window rolls down, revealing a head of gorgeous red hair and a smile a mile wide. Noah’s mom pushes her sunglasses off her face. “I was hoping to be here before you guys left,” she says, with sadness tinging her voice.
Keeping hold of Nellie's hand, I respond, “Noah just got called out to a fire.
“Could I interest you in some lunch, then?” Natalie asks.
I turn to look at Nellie to see if she is up for it. “Would you like to have lunch with Gram?”
“Cheeseburgers! Let’s get cheeseburgers,” Nellie says with a grin.
“You’re going to turn into a cheeseburger,” I tease.
Natalie laughs from her car. “Cheeseburgers it is, sweet girl! How about we go to Jones’s?”
“Jones’s sounds perfect,” I respond. “We'll meet you there.”
I turn to get Nellie into the car as Natalie leaves the parking lot.
“I’m sorry we had to leave early,” I say as we drive to the diner.
“It's okay. I'm just glad I got to see Dad. Now I know what it looks like when he goes to work.”
The reminder of Noah being called out is a punch to the gut. The more I think about it, the more I worry. What will it be like whenever we're further on in our relationship, and he’s on a shift? I won't know when he gets called out to a fire.
What happens if he gets injured while he’s on the job?
Will somebody call me?
Will he be able to call me?
I don't know.
And not knowing is the problem.
Before my thoughts can spiral even further, I pull into the parking lot of Jones’s Diner. The place hasn’t changed since I was a kid.
It’s had a facelift recently, but it still looks like it was pulled straight from the fifties. The sunshine glints off the metal siding, and I can see the red leather booths through the window.
There’s something special about knowing without a doubt that the diner will look exactly as I remember it.
This is the first time I’ll have been inside since I came back to Sonoma. We’ve only ever gotten it to go, and as odd as it seems, they use a drive-through window for that.
I help Nellie out of the car and walk hand in hand with her inside. Natalie’s already sitting in one of the booths, so we walk up to the table and sit down.
Her flaming red hair is curled in waves that hang in a beautiful cascade around her shoulders. A sparkle shines in her emerald eyes as we sit down, making me feel more at home in a place I haven't been to in forever.
I always loved that about Natalie.
Every time I went to Noah's house, she always made me feel more welcome there than I ever felt at my own.
It was difficult to go home after spending a day with Noah and his family. The chilly atmosphere of my parents’ house compared to the warmth of Noah's was drastic.
It's moments like these that I think back and wonder how I let my mother influence me as strongly as she did.
Then again, she was my mother. What else was I supposed to do?
“How was the fire station?” Natalie asks Nellie.
Nellie's looking at the menu and doesn't respond immediately. She looks over at me. “I want a cheeseburger and a strawberry milkshake.”
I smile at her. “You got it. Now tell Gram about the fire station.”
Nellie's eyes light up. “It was so cool. Dad showed us everywhere in the fire station. Even places I don't think we were allowed to go. Like the bunk room. That seems like a private place. Then he let me sit in the front seat of the fire truck, and I got to sit in the same spot Pop sat in, too. Well, I guess he used to sit there since he drives his own truck now. His explanation didn’t make any sense. Shouldn’t he sit in the fire truck with everybody else?”
Natalie looks like she's about to burst from laughter, but she's trying to hold it back. “Your Pop has a different truck because he's the fire chief. He has some important meetings at city hall he has to attend, so instead of driving the fire truck to city hall, he has a special SUV that he drives over there. That way, if he gets called out to a fire while he's in a meeting, he'll have a car to take him over there.”
“Oh,” Nellie says. “That makes so much more sense. He wouldn't want to drive a fire truck to his meetings. That would be a waste of resources.”
Natalie's giggle finally breaks through. “You're right, baby. It would be a waste of resources to drive the fire truck over to his city hall meetings.”
“Hey, Aunt Natalie, how are you?” Charlotte comes walking up to the table with a black apron on and a notepad in her hand. She looks as cute as a button, having pulled her dark brown hair back with a bow. Her golden eyes are shockingly gorgeous, and her petite frame makes her look like the epitome of the girl next door.
“Lottie,” Natalie looks over at me. “You remember Lilly, Noah's girlfriend. And this little cutie is Nellie. She’s my granddaughter.”
As Natalie introduces us, pride shines out of her. The way she's looking at me makes me just as proud to be Nellie's mother. My mom always made me feel guilty about the fact that I had Nellie at all. And yet, Natalie looks as if she might burst from happiness.
I never knew I needed that validation until this moment.
Lottie grins at us. “It's so great to see you again. I’ve heard so much about you. Mom and I wanted to say hello at Trish’s store the other day, but Aunt Natalie said we had to wait.” She grins.
I laugh. “That was not my finest moment, so I appreciated the distance. It’s good to see you again.”
Her bright smile makes me grin in return. “What can I get started for you?”
I order Nellie and me two cheeseburgers, fries, and strawberry shakes.
Natalie orders a burger, as well, before handing our menus back to Lottie. “I’ll be right back with your drinks,” she says as she moves back behind the counter.
“What are your plans for the rest of the day?” Natalie asks.
“We’ve got a couple of school lessons to finish up, but that’s about it.”
Natalie starts asking about homeschooling and how it works. Our conversation flows from there, talking about nothing and everything. Nellie starts to rock in her seat next to me while we wait for our food, so I grab her headphones. I hadn't noticed how loud the diner was between the din of the customers and being able to hear all the noise from the kitchen.
Nellie snatches her headphones out of my hands and quickly puts them on. She continues to rock a little while her headphones are on, but the rigidity of her muscles begins to relax.
Natalie looks at me with a serious expression. “How are you feeling knowing Noah is out on a call?”
My exhale puffs out my cheeks while my shoulders deflate. “Seeing him get his turnout gear on was hard. It's one thing to know he’ll go out on a call when he's on a shift. It's another thing to see it with my own eyes. How have you done it with both your husband and son being a firefighter?”
She gives me a knowing look. “I’ll be honest, it's not always easy. Now that Tucker's the chief, it’s not quite as hard, but, for all intents and purposes, I've traded one firefighter for another. Every call they go on, I know Noah is likely going into that building. It's not easy on this old mother's heart.”
I shake my head at her, a small smile tilting the corner of my mouth. “You're not old. Far from it, actually.”
Natalie laughs. “Regardless, it does get easier. Well…” she hedges. “You just get used to it, really. Tucker and I have been through our fair share of injuries. Trust me. But we've come out on the other side stronger than we were before. I know that you and Noah will share the same experience.”
Lottie brings our food over, interrupting our moment. “All right, you three. I hope you enjoy your food. Let me know if you need anything else.”
The rest of our lunch is spent giggling at Nellie and her silly stories. Some are made up while others are true. Nellie enjoys making us guess which ones are true.
Natalie’s acceptance of Nellie and me into her life has made this so much easier on us. I don't feel as if I'm constantly worried about saying the wrong thing or having to mitigate any of Nellie’s quirks. It’s refreshing, to say the least.
When we're done with lunch, Natalie walks with us back out to the car. She invites us over to their house since she knows we don’t have any other plans, but I can tell that Nellie is tapped out. Even though my parents' house isn't exactly home, it's become a safe space for Nellie. We say our goodbyes to Natalie and move toward the car.
My phone rings before I have a chance to drive out of the parking lot. The unknown number makes me frown, but I answer it anyway. “Hello?”
“Hey, Bumblebee. It’s Noah. Um, listen… Don’t freak out.”
My stomach drops at his words. “What happened?”
“One of the stairs at the structure fire we were called to gave out underneath my feet. And I sort of fell down the staircase.” Noah's hesitancy comes out as more of a question than a statement.
“Are you okay?” I ask him.
“As far as I’m aware. Dad's driving me to the ER right now. I think I just dislocated my shoulder on the way down. The doctors are going to check me out, though, and make sure.”
“Nellie and I will come to the hospital. We’ll stay with you.”
“No. I don't want to make Nellie uncomfortable. Especially for something as little as a dislocated shoulder.”
I huff in irritation. He has a point, but I also don't like it. Nellie and I would likely have to sit in the waiting room for hours before we even get to see him. “You promise you're okay?
“I swear, I'm fine, Bumblebee. Trust me, I'd love nothing more than for you to put on some sexy outfit and play nurse for me.”
“Noah!” I exclaim. His laughter rings through the phone, telling me he's just fine. “Please keep me updated. Nellie and I are headed home now. We had lunch with your mom today.”
“That sounds fun. I'm glad you were able to spend time together.”
“If you don't have to go back to the station after you're done in the hospital, please come see me.” I feel a little desperate, asking Noah to come over, but I need to get my hands on him to ensure he’s okay.
“I’ll have to go get my stuff from the station when I'm done at the hospital, but as soon as I have my stuff, I’ll come to your house.”
I blow out of breath. “Okay, I'll take that. If anything else happens while you're in the hospital, please call me.”
“I will, Bumblebee. I lo—I’ll see you soon,” he stumbles.
If I'm not mistaken, I'm pretty sure he was about to tell me he loves me. What's even crazier is that I wanted him to. I wanted to hear those three little words from him with every ounce of my being. I think that means that it’s time to say it to him in return.