Chapter 14
Chapter Fourteen
DRAKE
Sienna bounces at my side, her little hand tugging at mine as I reach for the doorbell of Chief’s home.
“Why are we having dinner here? Don’t we usually eat at Nannan and Grandad’s on Sundays?”
I clear my throat, rolling my shoulders as if that’ll loosen the knot in my gut. “Chief invited us. Thought it’d be nice to spend time with… friends.”
Her sharp little eyes narrow. “With Miss Sparks?”
Bloody hell. She doesn’t miss a thing. “She’ll be here, yeah.”
“And she’s your girlfriend now?”
I nearly choke on my tongue. “Who told you that?”
“I heard you and Uncle Phoenix talking at church,” she says sweetly, like she’s delivering gospel truth. “He said, ‘have fun on your date with the teacher.’”
I make a mental note to kill Phoenix. Slowly. “It’s complicated, bug.”
She tilts her head. “Do you like her?”
My finger hovers over the bell. The truth wedges in my throat. Yes. Too much. More than I should.
“She’s… nice,” I mutter.
A smile spreads across her face, revealing her missing front tooth. “I think she’s pretty.”
“Yeah? How would you feel about her hanging out with us more often?” I hold my breath, hoping we’re on the same page, because my daughter’s happiness comes first.
“I’d like that, Daddy. No offence, but you’re no good at girl’s hair.”
“I learnt how to braid.”
She digs a little hand onto her hip, her lips pouting. “You sucked my hair up with the hoover.”
“I saw it on TikTok.” A laugh rumbles out of me at the memory, and Sienna doubles over in giggles.
“All right, bug. Point taken. I guess we’ll ask Miss Sparks if she wants to hang out with us more.” I clear my throat and straighten the collar on my shirt. “Now remember, Chief’s my boss. Good manners at the table.”
Sienna nods, still giggling about the hoover incident.
The door swings open before I can answer. Heat and the smell of roast beef waft out, and there she is—Ember in a green dress, red waves tumbling, dark lashes making her eyes even greener.
My pulse slams like a drum.
Bloody hell. I’m in trouble.
Sienna’s grin stretches ear to ear. “Told you she was pretty,” she announces, loud enough for Ember to hear.
Ember’s cheeks flush, her lips parting in surprise before she covers it with a laugh. “Hi, Sienna. You look beautiful.”
Sienna twirls around in her blue dress. “It’s like Elsa.”
Flint strides down the hall. “Come in, let me take your coats.”
I hand over my jacket. “Sienna wouldn’t wear a coat.”
She does another twirl and sings, “The cold never bothered me, anyway.”
Ember and Seraphina laugh, but the joke seems lost on Flint.
“Dinner’s ready, come through,” Flint calls, his voice carrying as he strides down the hall.
Sienna skips ahead, her dress swishing, while Ember and I follow at a slower pace. My hand twitches, wanting to reach for hers, but Flint’s presence in the kitchen is enough to keep me in check.
The dining table is already set. A pot roast sits in the middle of the table, and the smell of roast beef reminds me of traditional roast dinners back in the UK. Though now, my life there seems like a distant memory, and here in Starlight Bay feels like home.
Flint serves, Seraphina at his elbow, handing him plates as if they’ve done this a hundred times before.
Sienna plops herself into the chair opposite, eyes shining. “This smells better than Nannan’s,” she declares.
Flint chuckles. “Don’t tell your grandparents that.”
“I won’t,” she promises solemnly, then points her fork towards Seraphina. “Is Chief Sparks your dad?”
The room freezes. Ember’s cough sounds suspiciously like a laugh.
Seraphina blinks, cheeks pink. “Uh—no. No, definitely not.”
Flint mutters under his breath, but his ears are red as he hands her another plate.
Sienna tilts her head, confused.
Bloody hell. I pinch the bridge of my nose. “Bug…”
Seraphina recovers quickly, flashing a grin. “He’s like family. He acts like my dad sometimes.”
“Oh,” Sienna says, satisfied. Then she adds with brutal honesty, “You don’t look alike, anyway. You’re not grumpy.”
Ember nearly spits out her water. Flint’s jaw works, but Seraphina beams as if she’s just been crowned Miss Universe.
I risk a glance at Ember, who’s biting her lip to keep from laughing. Our eyes meet, and heat hums low in my chest.
Plates are passed around, the usual chorus of clinking cutlery filling the silence. Ember sits beside me, the edge of her green dress brushing my arm. Too close, but not close enough.
Under the table, my knuckles graze hers by accident. At least, that’s how it starts. She stiffens, then lets out a breath, her hand still.
I should move, but instead, I turn my palm, slow and deliberate, and let my fingers slide against hers. Her skin is soft, warm. She doesn’t pull away.
When I glance sideways, she’s already watching me. Her green eyes soft and uncertain, but warm.
I tilt my mouth into the smallest grin, squeeze her hand once beneath the tablecloth.
Her lips curve in return. A shy, secret smile, meant only for me.
The table chatter carries on—Sienna telling a long story about a cat at school, Seraphina teasing Flint about his one speciality dish he cooks all the time, but it all blurs to background noise.
Because in this moment, it’s just Ember and me, caught in the smallest, most dangerous fire I’ve ever started as our fingers entwine. My heart thuds beneath my ribs, but I can’t let go of her, not even to pick up my fork, because right now the only thing I’m hungry for is her.
Flint lifts his glass. “So, Ember,” he says, glancing at me with a glint of mischief, “still keeping dragon boy on his toes?”
Ember groans. “Please don’t call him that.”
Seraphina smirks into her Coke. “It fits.”
The whole table chuckles, even Sienna, who wiggles her shoulders like she’s in on the joke. Ember’s cheeks burn crimson, and I fight the urge to lean over and kiss the colour right off her skin.
Flint carves another slice of beef, his expression softening. “You know, when we were kids, Em used to climb up on the shed roof with a book and a bag of chips. Mom would shout herself hoarse trying to get her down.”
Ember covers her face with her hands. “Oh God, not this story again.”
“She said she was waiting for a dragon to come and rescue her.” Flint’s grin deepens as his eyes flick towards me. “Guess she wasn’t wrong after all.”
“Yeah. It’s only taken forty years.”
Sienna gasps. “Miss Sparks, are you really that old?”
Ember groans into her hands, muttering, “Yes, I’m old, but not as old as the grumpy chief here.”
The table erupts. Seraphina cackles, but I don’t laugh. Because that story hit me square in the chest. She’s been waiting for a dragon. And here I am.
Sienna chews on a piece of meat. “Daddy, can I tell them about Mummy on the roof?”
My throat tightens instantly, but before I can speak, Flint nods gently. “Go ahead, kiddo.”
“Mummy climbed out of my bedroom window onto our roof to hang Christmas lights, and Daddy had to get the fire engine ladder to get her down.” She beams, then falters when she looks up at me.
My eyes sting, and I blink hard, but it’s too late.
Her little mouth presses shut. She stares at her plate. “Sorry, Daddy.”
My chest caves. “Bug…” My voice cracks, but I manage a smile. “Never apologise for talking about your mum. She’d want us to remember her.”
The silence that follows crackles like a log on a fire. Ember strokes Sienna’s hair, her voice soft. “Your mum sounds very brave.”
“She sounds like someone else I know,” Seraphina points her fork at Ember with a small laugh.
Ember turns to me. “So you do just go around rescuing damsels from roofs and mischievous kittens.”
I can’t stop the small chuckle from rumbling out of me. “What else are dragons good for?”
Ember’s laugh is soft, but it tugs deep in my chest. Across the table, Flint shakes his head, amusement pulling at his mouth.
For once, he’s not the chief, not the hard-edged man who orders us into burning buildings.
He’s just a brother, teasing his sister, entertaining a young woman as she smirks over the rim of her glass.
This isn’t awkward at all. Well, as long as Sienna doesn’t ask any more embarrassing questions, I think this dinner will go without a hitch.
Flint wipes his mouth with his napkin, smirking.
“Course, dragon boy here isn’t always so smooth. Ask him about the time he turned the hose on himself instead of the fire.”
Sienna perks up, sitting straighter in her seat. “Daddy, did you wet yourself?”
I groan. “It was my first week. Wrong valve.”
Ember can’t contain her smile. “I wish I’d seen that.”
“He was less dragon and more drowned rat,” Flint says, chuckling.
“Thanks, Chief,” I say, cheeks burning as I lift my glass, though even I can’t keep the grin off my face. I fit here. In this kitchen, at this table. With her. With them.
When Elise died, I thought those doors had slammed shut forever. Family dinners, warm kitchens, laughter around a meal. That belonged to another life. But sitting here, fingers tangled with Ember’s under the tablecloth, it doesn’t feel impossible anymore. It feels like home.
“Coleman,” Flint says suddenly, passing me the potatoes. “Didn’t think I’d say this, but… glad you came.” His tone is gruff, but his eyes soften, just for a beat.
“Thanks,” I manage, my throat thick.
Sienna looks up, cheeks stuffed full of carrots. “Can we do this every Sunday?” She’s missed the laughter around meals as much as me. Harold and May’s Sunday dinners are more sombre with the empty chair at the dinner table a constant reminder of what we’re missing.
The table stills for a second, then laughter breaks out—Flint chuckling into his glass, Ember pressing a hand to her lips, Seraphina giggling outright. But my daughter’s question lodges in me like a spark ready to catch.
Because for the first time in years, I want to say yes.
“Maybe next time we'll have dinner at ours and invite everyone round, including Nannan and Grandad.” I glance around the table. “How are you all fixed for Thanksgiving?”
Flint raises an eyebrow. “You sure you can handle a turkey? You burnt the toast at the station the other day.”
The table bursts into laughter again, and maybe this is a roasting, but I can’t help laugh along with everyone, especially when I see how happy my daughter is.
“It was the bloody grill setting!” I protest. “Faulty toaster.”
Flint snorts. “You filled the station with smoke, Coleman. We had to evacuate.”
Sienna giggles. “Daddy, you’re supposed to stop fires, not make them!”
Ember’s eyes dance. “Maybe you really are a dragon.”
I lean in close enough that only she can hear, my mouth brushing the shell of her ear.
“You haven’t seen anything yet,” I say, my chest thudding like I’ve just run into a blaze.
Her breath catches, colour rising in her cheeks. But she doesn’t move away. And under the table, her fingers squeeze mine tighter. “Then you’ll have to show me.”
Her green eyes are almost fluorescent as I gaze into them, ready to lose myself and bask in her light. I know there’s sadness in her past too, but maybe we can fight the darkness together.