Chapter 6 #2
When he heard Abe behind him, he knew that Seaton was being taken care of, he put his entire focus on the man in front of him.
"Let go of me, asshole."
Sam shook his head. Daryl certainly liked to curse.
Had he said a single sentence without adding a swear word?
Sam didn't have an issue with swearing, but just like anything else in the world, it made sense to use it in moderation.
The other man's anger was seeping from his pores.
Bleeding into the air around them.
Like the fumes of whiskey that filled Sam’s nose.
It felt like a gas leak, filling the air with impending danger.
He needed to stop the other man before his frustrations caught flame and burned them all to the ground.
"You should leave."
Daryl took his words as if it was just a helpful suggestion. "I don't think I will. I'm taking Seaton home with me and if you know what's good for you-"
Sam heard a police siren and turned his head.
A moment later he realized his mistake.
Pain shot through his jaw and he lost his footing, staggering back on the sidewalk and ending up on his butt with a sharp pain shooting up his spine.
"Sam!"
He braced himself with his hand down on the concrete, managing to keep his eyes on Daryl.
The man showed his true colors when he backed up a few steps and then ran around to the driver's seat of his car.
He was in and gone, tearing off down the quiet residential street like he was in a NASCAR race.
The first police car that rolled past them picked up speed to follow the Jaguar, the second stopped at the curb.
Sam started to get up, but Seaton was beside him, holding him in place.
"Don't get up."
He heard the panic in her voice and while he knew he could get up just fine, she didn't look like she could.
Even though it was mostly dark on the street, he could see enough with the light from the nearby lamp to know that Seaton was decidedly pale.
He'd have to offer her an arm and not the other way around.
"Sam?" Seaton’s voice was barely a whisper of sound.
"Caddo! Abe! I thought I recognized you two."
Sam looked up to see Sheriff's Deputy Hayden Hatcher stepping up on the sidewalk.
She crouched down beside him and gave him a once over. "Any injuries?"
"Probably to his ego."
Sam saw Lincoln come up beside Hayden.
Sam knew that his friend was trying to lighten the mood, but Lincoln's words had the opposite reaction on Seaton.
Her head snapped up to stare at Lincoln.
She wasn't angry so much as shocked. She stared wide-eyed at his fellow firefighter. "What did you say?"
Sam reached his free arm over to touch her arm. The movement made his tailbone roll over a nerve and he gnashed his teeth together to keep himself from hissing in pain. "Seaton?"
Her fingers gripped his arm, her breathing faster.
Harder.
"Seaton, hey."
He softened his voice and swept his thumb over the back of her arm.
"Seaton, look at me, please."
She turned her head toward him, but her eyes stayed on Lincoln until the very end.
She nodded when their gazes met. "Yes?"
"He's not being mean to me." Sam nodded slowly hoping that she'd listen to him. He managed a smile and her expression softened just a hint. "He's trying to ease the tension."
Seaton nodded once and then again. "Okay. Okay. He's your friend."
Lincoln cleared his throat. "Sorry, Seaton. My 'comic' timing is better saved for reading comics and not trying to be one."
She shook her head. "It's okay," Sam noticed that she barely met Lincoln's gaze, "you'd know better than I would."
Sam heard the ache in her voice.
She was struggling to read the 'room.'
He didn't fault her for it. He felt her pain. Her concern.
She was trying to protect him.
For that, he was grateful.
Hayden cleared her throat as she pulled a notebook out of her pocket. "I'm going to have to ask questions of everyone." She looked at Seaton first. It made sense since she was someone that Sam believed she didn't know.
Yet the death grip that she still had on his arm told him she needed a little time.
"Deputy?"
Lincoln stood up slowly.
Hayden rose to talk to him.
"Do you think you could get my statement first and," he gestured behind him, "my friend, Zharia. I should get her home."
Sam heard Zharia speaking softly to Lincoln, her tone full of concern.
Sam turned his head and caught her gaze with his. "I need a minute to get up. You two go ahead and start as long as that's okay with Hayden."
When he looked at Hayden, she gave him a pointed stare and he smiled, hoping she'd take his obvious and likely ham-handed hint.
She sighed, smiling. "You take your time getting up, you poor dear. I'll talk to Abe and his friend on the porch."
Sam thought he was off the hook for a moment with Hayden, but she proved that he hadn't considered all of her options.
"Do you want me to call a bus for your butt, Caddo?"
Seaton gasped in a breath and Sam tried to show her there was nothing to worry about. Laughing softly, he groaned. "I think I'll be okay. I've got some ice in my freezer."
"I'll go and get some ice from my freezer, too."
Seaton started to move away from him, but he took her hand and held it between his.
"Give me a minute, please?"
Seaton relaxed beside him and Hayden walked behind her. The look in Hayden's eyes said she was going to have questions for him, and they didn't all involve the 911 call.
Hayden stopped a few feet away and called his name softly. "Caddo?"
He looked back at her. "Hmm?"
"When you come back to the house, please go inside so we can keep your statements separate. And please-"
"Don't talk about it between us." Seaton turned her head to look at the female deputy. "I know."
Her last two words carried a meaning that humbled him.
He'd made statements to law enforcement before, but he'd never given a statement that involved his personal life.
Accidents and some fires required observations from the firefighters, but tonight?
This was personal for Seaton.
And personal for him.
He'd tried to fill the blanks on his own, and worried that her reality might very well be worse than his imagination.
And that terrified him.
"I... I should probably apologize to Lincoln."
Sam started to get up to his feet and felt her strain as she tried her best to help him.
He could get up on his own, but he liked her touching him. Feeling her support, letting her help him, made him hope that she'd accept more of his help, too.
Seaton didn't strike him as someone who liked to lean on other people for help.
He believed that she was more of the kind of person who liked helping others.
When he was on his feet, he saw her expression and it was a little darker than he liked to see.
"Can you tell me what's in your head right now?"
Seaton looked over at the Deputy Sheriff's car at the curb before she lifted her gaze to his. "I think it's best if we don't spend time together after tonight."
Sam felt a muscle tick in his jaw.
When her eyes widened, he knew she'd seen the change in his expression.
She took a half-step back and while his instinct was to reach for her, he knew that she was tense and looking for a way out, so he wasn't going to push the issue. "Is this because of that guy?"
She nodded slowly. "That's my ex. My ex-husband, as far as I’m concerned. I didn't give him my new address. And I told him I never wanted to see him again. This," she gestured between them with her hand, "is going to cause problems for you."
He waited for more, but when she didn't continue speaking, he stepped in.
"I don't see it as a problem. I see it as something I can help you with, Seaton.
" He smiled at her. "That, and I want to get to know you better.
I want to ask you out when you're ready for it.
But most importantly, I want to be here for you and help you when I can. "
He saw her eyes narrow on him as if she was looking at him through a microscope or something similar.
He certainly didn't blame her.
After having a horrible husband, she wasn't about to jump into a relationship with someone else.
He liked that she was trying to protect herself.
Daryl probably didn't protect her from much when he didn't bother to protect her from himself.
"I know that you're a nice man, but... I don't want him to set his sights on you as a person to bother," she explained. "I don't want you to end up hating me."
"That," he assured her as he reached out for her hand, "wouldn't happen. Especially not because of your ex."
The hesitant look on her face said she didn't believe that.
"Daryl can be... as persistent as he is mean. You don't need to have that in your life."
"What if I want you in my life, Seaton?"
Her expression spoke volumes.
She was torn.
He hoped that meant that she cared about him. Whether it was as a friend or if she wanted more it didn't matter at the moment.
As long as she cared, he was fine.
He could be patient.
He could work around a lot of things.
Apathy?
There was no cure for that.
"The problem is..." She let out a breath, her shoulders sagging under an invisible weight. "I think I want you in my life, too. I just don't know if I'm capable of more than failure."
His heart hurt. It ached in his chest.
When his grandmother had had surgery on her heart, they gave her this pillow to hug. The pressure, they said, eased the pain.
Well, he didn't have a pillow at the moment.
Sam opened his arms and took a step closer to her.
If she'd pulled away from him, he wouldn't chase after her.
He wasn't going to hound her like her ex did.
He'd never do that.
But he was patient.
And he waited.
Seaton drew in a breath and stepped into his embrace.
She pressed her face into his shoulder and wrapped her arms around his waist, holding him tight.
She said something, but he couldn't hear her words. He could feel the vibrations of her voice against his chest, but as sweet as that was, he wanted to hear what she had to say.
He put a hand against the back of her neck and gently rubbed her warm skin with his palm. "What did you say?"
Sam felt her breath through his shirt, fanning over his skin.
When she lifted her head, he didn't move his hand from the back of her neck.
Instead he held it there, cradling her neck as she looked up into his face.
"You," she smiled softly, "make me feel safe and... and cared for."
"Good." He moved his hand up higher along her neck, his fingers combing through her hair at the back of her head. "That's how you should feel, Seaton. And I hope it's only going to get better from now on."
She hesitated at his words, her body tensing against his.
He didn't call her on it.
He didn't want her to feel like she had to feel the way he wanted her to feel. Sam wanted to give her the space she needed.
Pushing her would only push her away.
He wanted her to want his comfort.
To want his support.
And yes, he wanted her to need his love.
He figured that he'd waited this long in his life to meet the woman who could take his heart in her hands and hold on tight, he could give her the time she needed because this relationship... He wanted it to last forever.
"Sam?"
He smiled at the soft and near breathless way she said his name. "Hmm?"
"Thanks for being here tonight. If I'd had to face him by myself..."
"You don't have to face him alone ever again.
" He drew her into his arms again, fitting her against him.
"We'll need to talk to a lawyer," he waited for the words to sink in, "and get a restraining order against him.
The further away from you he is, the better it will be.
Maybe some forced distance will be good for him, too. "
She stood taller, her arms wrapped around his neck, her cheek touching his. "I considered getting one before."
"Considered it?"
She shook her head and he felt the soft caress of her cheek against his. "He promised not to cause any problems and I guess..." Seaton tensed against him and he lowered his hand from her neck to her back to soothe her. “I guess it was stupid wishful thinking on my part.”
They stood there together and Sam wondered if he should be pushing this.
It had to be Seaton’s decision when push came to shove.
She nodded, a slow ponderous movement. “I think I should get a restraining order.”
“Good.” He felt an unnamed emotion swell in his chest. "Okay. We'll get the report that Deputy Hatcher is going to write up and find a lawyer to represent you. They’ll help you get a restraining order."
He hoped that Daryl would get the point.
But either way, he wasn't going to walk away from Seaton unless that was something she wanted him to do.
Until then, he would be there by her side to help her.
Seaton needed people by her side, and he knew of a few more people who would love to be there for her, too.