Chapter 2 Caleb
CALEB
I couldn’t believe it when I saw the dispatch.
Correspondents said everyone was out of the house, which came as a relief. I managed to pick some of my heart off the floor when I knew she was alive.
But I still couldn’t have mentally prepared.
Piper Hart. I’ve been avoiding Bean There ever since I stepped foot back into Maple Crossing two months ago. Still, after successfully managing to not run into her, I figured she had left town.
I stare into those steel-blue eyes of hers and almost can’t believe my own, can’t believe that I’m seeing her in real time.
Her house is on fire and there’s not much we can do to save it.
The kid in her arms wrenches my heart for some reason.
Judging from the age of the boy, Piper moved on fast after I left.
She had good reason to, seeing as I never even gave her the full explanation.
But it was better that way. Things would’ve grown complicated, and dragging her into my mess wouldn’t have been fair when she already had the fallout from her father’s disappearance to deal with.
She moved on.
And so did I.
I’m here today to simply do a job.
I clench the hose in my hand and use the thing as an anchor for support while my world gets flipped on its head. Piper’s icy eyes tend to throw everything off course. They rewire your brain until you’re falling in love, willing to sacrifice your home in Long Island for—
“What the actual fuck?” she explodes, slipping into another episode of coughing.
Seeing that the old neighbor woman is taking good care of the kid, I squat beside Piper and catch her eyes. She’s even more of a heartbreaker than before. “I’m sorry to be the one to tell you this—the house is unfortunately inhabitable for the time being.”
“No shit,” she says between labored breaths, throwing her hand hopelessly toward the building that shouldn’t even really be called that anymore.
Once the flames—and my officers—are done with this thing, there unfortunately won’t be much left.
“Are you gonna tell me what your fuck-ass self is doing here after nine years of—?”
“I know.” I sigh in a poor attempt to release the guilt. “But now is not a good time to talk about the past.” I glance over my shoulder as the paramedics approach.
“It’ll be better to do an assessment on you and your son back in the ambulance, away from the smoke.”
Of course they both have to be male paramedics.
I clench my jaw as the two annoyingly handsome men intervene, seeing to the woman I knew first. They guide mother and son over to the ambulance and leave me alone with thoughts I’d prefer not to dive into right now.
I know she has a thing for guys who work in emergency services…
I also know that she is very fucking lucky to be alive, considering the damage.
“Adrenaline not kicking in today, Rourke?” Marco says. “It’s not like you to sit back during a time of crisis.”
“I know. The fire is bad. Kid could’ve died, that’s all. It makes you think twice about fire safety as a parent.”
“As a fireman, I think Ellie is in very capable hands.”
“I know,” I lie, hoping for this conversation to be wrapped up. Because I look back on my life and see that all those closest to me have been burned someway or another.
“At least nobody died here today,” Marco continues. We watch the other unit finish up with the hoses, the atmosphere turned hazy by water spray. “Somebody will be around once we have finished up here to assess damage, and to investigate how the fire started. Did Piper tell you anything?”
As usual, I was too caught up in her eyes.
“Nothing,” I reply, noting that she failed to answer my question.
“But victims tend to respond with silence when you ask them questions about their home that has just burned down.” I stand up with great effort and wipe away a bead of black sweat from my sooty face. “Let’s finish up here and get out.”
Marco and I gather the hoses and start reloading the truck.
Ironically, I remember once parking in this exact same spot nine years ago. After deciding to extend my stay in Maple Crossing, I rented out a truck and I used to wait right here when picking up Piper.
She runs down from the porch with a huge grin on her face. One big enough to cure the world of all evil.
Jeans. T-shirt. She keeps it casual. A fresh breath of air, like the oxygen levels out here.
The part of Long Island I’m from is overcrowded. City air is full of nitrogen. Here it’s perfumed with the floral scent of wildflowers and Piper.
I pack up the truck, slamming the door harder than necessary with a glance at the ambulance. It’s slightly ahead of the truck, the doors closed to prevent people like me from trying to see in.
There was enough soot on Piper’s face for me to draw pictures with it. My chest contracts when I think about how much smoke she could’ve ingested. That coughing sounded nasty, like it was shredding apart her throat.
I stare at the ambulance as annoying memories surface.
Wondrous eyes looking up at me between the trees.
She trips over a tree root, and I catch her instinctively, not thinking much of it…until those bastard eyes are seeing straight through my soul.
The lingering touches. The positive way my cock responds to—
“Caleb,” Marco calls. “Job done.”
I turn around, take one more look at the ambulance, and figure this won’t be the last time I see Piper. She’s still in town. And now, after being called out to save her house, I somehow feel responsible for her, like I want to save her.