Chapter Thirty-Nine
Bryce
Every breath felt like razor blades slicing at his lungs but Bryce didn’t care. The only thing that mattered was Emma. He
would never forget the way she had run to him, her face distressed, her eyes wild with fear.
She had rushed to him and wrapped her arms around him as if she couldn’t bear to let him go.
He couldn’t keep up with her quicksilver moods. The last time they spoke, she had pushed him away, making it clear she wasn’t
interested in anything but friendship between them. Yet she had cried his name with so much emotion in it, he felt like his
head was spinning from far more than the smoke.
As soon as he smelled something wrong in the bookstore, all he could think about was protecting Emma’s dream.
He couldn’t let her fail. He didn’t want her to leave town again, even if they could never be together. Yeah, that would mean
he once more would be stuck at the edges of her life, but none of that mattered.
But now she was here, and she hadn’t left his side since she had rushed up to him. That had to mean something, didn’t it?
“What’s the verdict?” he asked Kelly Miller.
“We need to transport you to the ER so the docs can check you out. Sorry, man. Protocol.”
“I’m fine. A little burn on my hand, but it’s nothing. I’ve had worse cooking chili in my kitchen.”
“I don’t make the rules,” Kelly informed him. “You were injured in a fire so you need to be checked out. I don’t expect they’ll keep you, but we have to do our job.”
Bryce sighed in resignation, aware he didn’t have a choice in the matter unless he jumped off the ambulance and made his way
home through the darkness.
“You can ride along with him if you want,” Kelly said to Emma as she took in their still-entwined fingers.
She looked startled but nodded. “Yes. I’ll go with you.”
“What about Olive?” he had to ask.
“She’s with my grandma. I’m sure she’ll be okay. She can sleep there tonight and I’ll get her in the morning,” she replied.
“Right now making sure you’re okay is the priority.”
He wasn’t about to argue. Bryce couldn’t remember the last time someone had wanted to take care of him. It left him feeling
uneasy but also more touched than he had been in a long time.
In the end, they agreed she should drive his truck to the hospital so he would have a way home, since Wood Briar wasn’t exactly
overflowing with taxis or rideshare services.
He didn’t want to let go of her but comforted himself to know it would only be for a short time.
The next few hours were a blur of tests. Blood work, X-rays, consultations with a pulmonologist and burn specialist. While
Bryce wasn’t a fan of hospitals, this time he didn’t mind, with Emma by his side.
He did feel vulnerable and more than a little embarrassed to be stretched out on an emergency room gurney wearing the stupid
hospital gown they put on him. But having Emma nearby, solicitous and concerned, made all of that awkwardness fade into the
background.
Fortunately, the doctors eventually cleared him to go home. To his further embarrassment, though, the medical staff insisted on wheeling him out to his pickup truck for her to drive him home.
“Now, you’re going to want to make sure someone stays with him tonight,” the male nurse said. “The pain meds might make him
a little woozy.”
Emma nodded. “I’ll make sure someone is there,” she said.
He was so damn tired, Bryce wanted to lean his head against the seat and go to sleep. Maybe that’s what they meant about the
pain meds making him woozy. He hadn’t wanted to take them at all but apparently the burns on his hand and arm were more serious
than initially thought.
“I’ll stay with you,” Emma said as she drove with deliberation and caution toward his house. “I need to make sure my mom and
grandma are okay with taking care of Olive. I’m sure it will be no problem. I checked in with my mom after we arrived at the
hospital and she already had Olive tucked into bed. She was planning on having her tomorrow anyway.”
“You don’t have to stay with me,” he said.
“I told the nurse I would.”
“I’ll be fine. I’ve got Pearl.”
He was glad again that he hadn’t taken his dog with him to the bookstore that evening. He had thought about it but she had
been with him at another jobsite all day and seemed happy to be home, stretched out on her dog bed.
“Unfortunately for you,” Emma said, “Pearl lacks opposable thumbs to call for help if the need arises. It’s fine. I’m happy
to stay. Either that or you can come to my mom’s place. Which do you prefer?”
“My house,” he said.
“Smart move, unless you want a little girl jumping all over you, a rooster crowing to wake you up at the crack of dawn and
a yippy dog making a nuisance of herself.”
He wanted to tell her he would be fine on his own, but fatigue weighed on him, sucking him under like an anchor around his ankles. He must have drifted off, much to his dismay. When he awoke, she was pulling into his driveway.
“Here you are. Safe and sound,” she said, then bustled out to open the door for him.
“Thank you for being my chauffeur.”
“You injured yourself trying to save my bookstore, Bryce. I’m not going to leave you to fend for yourself.”
He pulled out his house keys from his pocket, grateful they weren’t on the same side as his injured hand. When he unlocked
the door, Pearl padded toward him, tail wagging.
He petted her with his uninjured hand and led the way into his house. He had made a few changes since his mother first went
into a care center. New paint, new wood floors, new windows. It was clean and functional but had never felt particularly homey.
“That looks like a perfect place for me to sleep,” Emma said, pointing to the sofa in the family room. He could attest that
it was comfortable enough, since he often fell asleep there himself while stretched out watching a ball game on TV.
“You really don’t have to stay, Emma. I’ll be fine.”
He was completely unused to having someone watch over him and didn’t quite know how to handle the situation.
“I’m staying,” she said firmly. “I only need a pillow and a blanket.”
“I’m not going to sleep well, knowing you’re out here on the couch. Why don’t you take the bed and I’ll take the couch?”
Or we could both take the bed.
The words remained unspoken between them. She had pushed him away, he reminded himself. She had told him clearly that she wasn’t interested in more than friendship with him.
“I’m not the one with a deep second-degree burn,” she countered. “Please don’t be difficult, Bryce.”
He sighed, realizing arguing was pointless. “Fine. Thank you, Emma. I hate to ask, but I need a shower desperately. I smell
like, well, a burning building.”
“Are you okay to shower?”
“They said I can if I use one of the plastic sleeves they gave me. I’m not sure I can put it on by myself,” he admitted.
“Of course,” she said, though she seemed to have gone a little pink.
He led the way to his bedroom, with its en suite bathroom. She brought along the package of supplies from the hospital.
“You should, um, probably take off your shirt first.”
He would be throwing away this smoky shirt as soon as possible. Bryce tried to work his way out of the T-shirt, doing his
best to hide a wince when he moved his arm wrong.
“Let me help you,” she said. She moved close to him and he could smell her, clean and fresh and lovely, like a spring rain
shower on a flower garden.
He closed his eyes, wanting to brand her touch, her scent, into his memory.
When he opened them, he saw her eyes were glistening. “Hey. What’s wrong?”
“Your poor arm,” she whispered.
“It will be fine. I’ve had much worse.”
She didn’t seem to take any comfort from his words. A tear trickled down her cheek.
“I was so scared,” she whispered. “When I heard about the fire, I thought . . .” Her voice broke.
Bryce reached for her, pulling her against his now bare chest. “Hey, I’m okay. I’m right here.”
Emma’s composure crumbled. She leaned forward, burying her face in his shoulder as she began to sob.
“I’m sorry,” she murmured against his chest. “You’re the one injured. I should be comforting you.”
“This is the best I’ve felt since you pushed me away the other day,” he told her solemnly, meaning every word.
Her gaze met his, murky green with emotion. “Me, too,” she admitted.
He gazed down at her, then finally surrendered to what he had been wanting to do all evening. Hell, it felt like what he had
been wanting to do all of his life. He lowered his mouth to hers and kissed her with all the pent-up tenderness and longing
inside him.
When he lifted his mouth from hers, she rested her cheek against his chest, listening to what he was certain must be a rapid
heartbeat.
“Oh, Bryce. I’ve been such a fool.”
He tilted her chin up so he could meet her gaze. “About what?”
“Pushing you away. Giving in to my fear.” She swallowed. “Tonight when I thought you were in danger, all I could think about
was how I wish I had told you how much I . . . that I . . .” Her voice trailed off.
She took a deep breath. “How much I’m coming to care about you. I . . . I’m falling in love with you.”
Joy surged through him, white-hot and fiery and he gave a rough laugh before he kissed her again. He wanted to pull her onto
his bed beside them, injured arm be damned. “Are you sure about this, Emma? About me?”
She nodded, then bit her lip. “You are . . . everything I’ve always dreamed of. Caring, kind, decent. I knew it from the moment I came back to town. I also knew you were far too good for someone like me. That’s why I pushed you away.”
“That’s the dumbest thing I’ve ever heard you say.”
“It’s true, though. I’m an addict. I’ve been clean for more than four years but I will always be an addict. You deserve someone
who can come to you without all the baggage I carry around.”
Bryce cupped her face with his uninjured hand. “Emma, I don’t want anyone else. I want you. I’ve wanted you since we were
kids. Your past, your struggles—they’re part of what makes you who you are. And I love who you are.”
Tears spilled down Emma’s cheeks. She looked afraid to believe this could be real. “That’s the pain meds talking.”
“No. That’s my heart talking. The heart that has been yours for most of our lives.”
He pulled her close, capturing her lips in a tender kiss. As they parted, both breathless, Emma rested her forehead against
his.
“Stay with me tonight?” Bryce whispered. “Here, in my bed. I won’t be good for anything but holding you, I’m afraid. Tonight,
anyway. On the other hand, I tend to heal pretty fast. Who knows about tomorrow?”
“That sounds absolutely perfect,” she said, her smile radiant and her eyes bright with an emotion that stole his breath.
Bryce gazed at Emma, his heart swelling with joy and contentment. After years of longing and missed opportunities, he finally
had everything he had ever dreamed of. The woman he loved by his side.
As he held her close, Bryce suddenly knew without question that this moment, forged in fire and loss and pain, marked a beautiful
beginning to the life they would share together.