Chapter 25
Nolan couldn’t wait to hear how Helena’s day went.
Some days being a firefighter was nonstop.
Call after call. Crisis after crisis. Other days it was rescuing granddaughters from trees and wannabe mothers-of-the-bride trying to bribe firefighters with food.
Then other days, like today, were the calm before the storm.
Literally. Tomorrow’s winter storm was going to blow in fast and strong.
Today was nothing but storm prep. They had baby kits packed and ready due to there being so many pregnant women in town. They would be crazy not to be prepared for at least one birth. Not with a storm and a full moon. Jace had even called them in near panic to make sure they were prepared.
Tire chains were ready to be put on the firetrucks. Tanks of oxygen and carbon monoxide testers were lined up because people tended to leave heaters on or burn gas heaters indoors even though they were only meant for outdoor use.
There were fifty other things they checked and double-checked.
They posted warnings and tips on social media, and Nolan knew it still wouldn’t be enough.
It was seventy degrees today. Although it was dropping down to sixty as night fell.
Overnight the temperature would drop quickly and the rain would turn to ice and snow by morning.
Nolan wasn’t the only fireman at the café tonight.
They all were. They were trying to spread the word and they were also fueling up.
Nolan would eat twice his normal amount and they’d take several days’ worth of to-go dinners with them.
Once this storm hit, it wouldn’t get above freezing for the entire weekend.
The sun wouldn’t be back out until late afternoon on Monday. Until then, they’d be on call 24/7.
Nolan and his team were eating their first dinner when Pam, the former head of the PTA turned demolition derby hobbyist, sat down with them. “Should I attach the flame thrower to my Hummer? Although, my minivan is great in the snow.”
“Wouldn’t hurt,” Colton said with a shrug. “Nolan and Conley have plows on their trucks. Nolan got his new truck today, so at least he won’t freeze.”
“The bullet holes were badass,” Pam said while wearing khaki shorts that reached the top of her knees and a pink polo shirt.
“Thanks, Pam.” Nolan loved this town. It was going to be hard to leave it, but he would for Helena. He knew what he did was important, but it wasn’t the same level of importance as what Helena did. She changed the world. He changed Keeneston.
“You look deep in thought,” Colton said to him, dropping his voice so Pam and the rest of the firefighters could strategize who did what with emergency vehicles. Pam had spent decades organizing the PTA, she was the most qualified in the town to organize a local emergency response.
“I love her,” Nolan confessed.
“Yeah, we all know that. But what has you so upset about it?”
“I’ll need to move to New York to be with her. I’m the opposite of a New York City guy, but I’m going to do it. What happens, though, when she sees how out of place I am there?”
“You’ll find a new brotherhood with the fire department. We’ll miss the hell out of you, though. Do you want me to reach out to some of the captains I met during those national conferences? I can see if they have any openings.”
“Yeah. Thanks. I’d appreciate it.” Nolan turned as the door opened and in walked Helena with Cy.
Cy headed to the table full of his brothers and their wives while Helena looked around and smiled when she found him.
Their eyes locked and all his worries vanished.
Yes, it would be an adjustment, but it would be so worth it to be with the woman he loved.
Nolan stood up and kissed her cheek when she approached. He caught the slight frown when she saw his empty plate of food. “Oh, I’m sorry. I didn’t think I was too late.”
“You’re not. That was first dinner.” Nolan and the guys chuckled at her curious expression. “Tomorrow’s weather means we won’t have that much time to eat. So, tonight we’re having two dinners,” Nolan explained.
“Are you sure it’s going to be that bad of a storm? I mean, I didn’t even need a jacket today.” Nolan grimaced as all the guys groaned. “Sorry. Sorry. I promise I won’t bring it up again.”
Nolan moved his hand to the small of her back. “I got us a table over there for dinner. How was your day? I’ve been dying to hear how everyone took the news.”
Nolan escorted Helena to the table and Poppy quickly took their order before heading back to the firefighters for round two. Nolan listened to Helena’s day and felt that the way Abu and Lamya reacted showed exactly who they were. The DNA tests would confirm it.
“Kori gave them phones, so they have been texting me,” Helena said, holding up her phone where a slew of texts were coming through. “It looks like they told their friends. Kuol is asking me if nineteen is too young to be Lamya’s head of security.”
“It is not. The boy is a natural.”
Only decades of training kept Nolan from jumping at Ahmed’s sudden appearance. It didn’t stop Helena’s shriek of surprise, which made most of the café laugh.
“Sorry,” Helena said, with her hand over her heart as if she was forcibly trying to calm it down. “You were saying?”
“The boy is a warrior. I have seldom seen such an inherent need to protect in someone so young. But given what they’ve gone through”—Ahmed frowned— “I will train him. He will take over security by the time they leave Keeneston. I have learned from just a couple of hours in their company that they need to stick together. They may not be blood family, but they’re family. The only family they have left.”
Helena glanced at her phone. “I agree. Fiza is worried that if it’s true and they’re rich, that Abu and Lamya won’t want to have anything to do with them anymore.”
“I’ve seen this countless times,” Ahmed told her. “The opposite is true. Abu and Lamya will depend on them even more since they know they are true friends and not just there for the money. I’ll talk to them tomorrow when we begin our real training.”
“Thank you, Ahmed,” Helena told him. “Be careful of the storm.”
“I can walk to the security building, but it’s not going to storm. It’s sixty degrees out.”
The entire table of firefighters groaned again.
Nolan enjoyed the next hour as they ate and talked about things besides work.
He had her tell him about New York and what part of the city she lived in.
What her favorite things were to do there and her favorite places to eat.
Nolan needed to find Ariana—who lived part-time in New York—and who had become friends with Helena to get her help finding him someplace to live.
“Nolan,” Colton said as he waited for Helena to get back from where she had been stopped by Gigi and Bette. “We need to get back and get some shut-eye before the storm moves in.”
Nolan nodded. He hated knowing the next several days were going to be a blur and he wouldn’t get the time he wanted with Helena.
“Hel,” he said softly, hating to interrupt what looked like some good conversation, “I have to get going. Do you want me to walk you home?”
“No!” Bette called out, reaching for Helena’s hand. “Sit with us for a while and chat. Quinn said she’s coming by any minute now.”
The look of excitement on Helena’s face at the mention of her best friend overrode any danger Nolan was worried about.
He glanced around the café and saw Talon and Lucas hanging out with a group of guys.
He caught their eye and looked to Helena and then back to them.
They nodded. They didn’t need words to know what Nolan was asking.
“No problem. Have fun. Lucas and Talon will walk you back when you’re ready. ”
“Be safe,” Helena told him, looking momentarily worried even if she didn’t believe a storm was going to hit.
She rose up on her toes and placed a kiss on his lips.
Each kiss was electric, but Nolan loved the way their kisses were now so natural.
There was no pausing to wonder if they should kiss or not. “Love you.”
“Love you too. Call me if you need anything.”
“That man is head over boots,” Bette said with an envious sigh as Helena took a seat and joined them. “I am so jealous of you right now.”
“Me too,” Gigi admitted as she glanced at the table of firefighters collecting to-go containers.
“You know, I moved here from New York thinking I would never find a single guy in some small town, but my niece and nephew have been bugging me about it. They’re not even ten yet, but they said Aunt Gigi needs a real man. ”
Helena laughed at that. “Where did they get it that you need a real man?”
“Probably my brother. My last relationship didn’t end well. It’s one of the main reasons I took this transfer so quickly. Well, that and the pay. But I was ready to get far away from my ex. Then I come here and it’s harder to compete for a date than in New York, but the men here are worth it.”
“I couldn’t agree more,” Bette said, dropping her voice and also looking over at the firefighters as they were leaving.
“Flint is . . . everything. But, it’s like I don’t exist. And I have done the New York dating scene.
Probably the same one you have, Helena. And don’t tell me it’s not so much better here.
Even if you might have to sabotage a Keeneston Belle or two. ”
Helena chuckled at the idea of sabotaging some of the Keeneston Belles, who were very similar to the society debs Helena was used to.
“I would pay good money to see you take them down. Especially Amber. I catch her flirting with Nolan all the time. Of course, unlike in New York, Nolan doesn’t flirt back. ”
“I really thought I would miss New York, but I don’t,” Gigi told them before pausing as Quinn joined them.
Hel got a huge hug then they were all leaning forward talking about New York.
“As I was saying, I miss things about New York. The food for sure. Although this is good, but what I wouldn’t give for a fresh bagel and some pizza. ”
“I’ve tried to make my own,” Quinn admitted. “It’s not the same.”
“And I have to be so careful walking down the sidewalk,” Gigi told them, already laughing at herself.
“I’m used to shouldering people out of my way.
You know, claiming your space on the tightly packed sidewalk.
I can’t do that here. Not that I ever need to, but every now and then I see someone coming and prepare to take them down only to be stopped by a smile and small talk. ”
“So,” Helena asked several minutes later after they each said what they missed about New York, “would you all move back to the city then?”
“Never!”
“No!”
“Absolutely not!”
Helena was surprised at how fast they replied and how passionately they replied. “Surely, the jobs are better in New York. I mean, Bette, you could take over society there and have any high-level job you want. And Gigi, you were at SA Tech! And Quinn—”
“Stop right there,” Quinn said, holding up her hand.
“You know better than anyone how global the world is now. It’s not like I can’t link up on a video chat with the SACC1 office in New York or South Carolina.
It’s not the same anymore. No one’s tied to a desk and a landline these days.
I don’t think headquarters in big cities is a requirement any longer. ”
“Absolutely true,” Gigi added. “Sebastian Abel is moving his headquarters here and leaving some higher-ups in New York to run that office. He’ll visit monthly and video in for weekly reports.
He told me when I moved here that the days of huge international hubs are over.
I’m still with SA Tech. Just not in New York. ”
“Hel, think about it. How often are you actually at your office in New York and not traveling?” Quinn asked.
“I guess I’m in my office half the time. Maybe even less than that.”
“Right,” Quinn told her. “And would it matter if your office was in London and not New York?”
“Well, no,” Helena admitted.
“So, would it really matter if your office was say, in Keeneston instead of New York? Is there anything you couldn’t do here that you could do in New York or London?” Quinn asked. Helena started to immediately protest. “No,” Quinn said cutting her off, “stop and actually think before you answer.”
So Helena did. She thought about her daily routines for work. It was a lot of time on the phone, on video calls, and online doing research. None of that was exclusive to the city she was in. “I guess not, but I wouldn’t have access to the people I need to meet and my team of paralegals.”
“Like who?” Quinn pushed. “Who just walks into your law firm to meet with you?”
“Some people testifying at the UN,” Helena answered.
“Is there a reason you couldn’t travel to New York to set meetings around when the UN is in session?
What are we talking about? A week or two every year?
The UN meets annually. As for your team, don’t you think there are lawyers and paralegals here?
Also, you’ve been complaining about the fact that your firm isn’t promoting you.
They still have you as a junior associate when you’re taking on bigger jobs than the partners,” Quinn pointed out.
That was something Helena had been complaining to Quinn about. “What exactly are you all suggesting?”
“I think you should move to Keeneston, start your own firm, claim your man, and have mandatory weekly girls’ nights with us,” Quinn told her. And she wasn’t joking. She was serious. There was no way . . .
“Best thing I ever did,” Gigi told her. “You’re one of us. You should be here with us.”
“If it’s family pressure—” Bette started, but Helena shook her head.
“No. My parents are very supportive. It was me who wanted to prove myself.”
“I understand that. I’m doing the same thing,” Bette told her. “Then, if your parents are supportive, you can have what you have in New York, but better since you’d be your own boss and have the guy you love. What’s stopping you?”
Helena didn’t answer and they didn’t push.
They had given her a lot to think about.
And Helena did think about it. All night.
Even after Lucas and Talon had walked her back to the bed and breakfast. She lay in bed staring up at the ceiling thinking of it.
Could she really move her whole life to Keeneston?
Helena turned on the light and grabbed her laptop.
She shot off an email to the managing partner.
She asked, again, for a promotion. She didn’t beg.
She didn’t say ‘or else.’ She simply said she deserved it, attached her billings and client list, and asked for it.
Several of the men she started off with had been promoted and she did twice the amount of work they did.
Then she looked at the clock. It was one in the morning, but she knew he’d be up. She grabbed her phone and waited as the call connected and rang. “Hi, Dad. Can I run something by you?”