Chapter 34
CHAPTER THIRTY-FOUR
WYATT
I’m keyed up as I wait for Rachel and Dottie to arrive, lingering by the window to watch for their car.
I already had the crew clean the engine earlier, and after dinner I had them straighten up around the common area and the barracks.
All of them grumbled the entire time, which is fine.
Whatever. They’d want us to do the same thing if they were trying to impress someone who was coming to visit the station for the first time.
I finally spot Paige’s car pulling into the small parking lot, and I go outside and stand on the front porch. It’s only Rachel and Dottie who get out of the car, though. My daughter barrels straight for me, and I grab her, picking her up off the ground before I swing her into my arms.
“Daddy!” she squeals. I give her a kiss on the cheek as she prattles on. “I ate all of my dinner. You’d be so proud of me. I love broccoli! Especially with ranch. Paige made us yummy food, and she had ranch from Mitchell’s!”
“That’s great, sweetheart. I am so proud of you.” I kiss her cheek again and set her on her feet, glancing over at Rachel, who’s watching me with what appear to be sad eyes. Uh-oh. “Where’s Paige?”
She shifts closer to me, murmuring, “We had an . . . argument. I’ll tell you about it later.”
Well, shit. Paige doesn’t argue much with anyone.
I reach for Rachel’s hand, giving it a squeeze before I tug her close to me, kissing her soundly on the lips.
Right in front of Dottie, who doesn’t seem bothered by it at all.
I don’t care anymore who sees us together.
I want everyone, including my child, to know I’m falling for this woman. “Want to go on a tour?”
“I’ve already seen the station lots of times. I don’t need a tour,” Dottie grumbles.
“Wasn’t asking you, Dot.” I tug on the end of her hair, and she runs ahead of us to get away from me, giggling. “I was asking Rachel.”
“I would love a tour.” Rachel smiles at me, and I get a little lost in her eyes for a moment, so damn glad to see her.
It’s been a few days since I’ve had her in my presence, and I didn’t realize how much I missed her until this very moment.
I want her to see where I work and to meet my crew.
This feels like a big deal for me. For us.
I show Rachel around outside while Dottie runs around us, full of endless energy.
I take them into the garage to see the engine and open the driver’s side door so Dottie can climb in and pretend to drive it.
She sits on my lap with her hands on the steering wheel while Rachel sits in the passenger seat, her eyes wide as she takes in everything.
“We’re really high up,” she notes as she peeks her head out the open window and down at the ground. “This thing is huge. And you actually drive it? I would be terrified.”
“I do drive it, and it’s not scary once you get used to it. They put us through extensive training at the academy. The last thing they want us to do is wreck one of these things.”
“Does that happen often? Fire trucks getting in wrecks?”
“Not really.” I shrug. “I mean, it can happen. One of my first seasons working, a new engineer rolled one. And it was brand-new too.”
“Oh my God. Was anyone hurt?”
“They were all okay. Where it can get sketchy is when we have to drive it up rough terrain. Like sometimes we’re going straight up mountains.” I grin, but Rachel’s expression is just short of horrified.
“Mountains?” Her voice is more like a squeak. “Wow. Your job can be pretty . . . dangerous, huh?”
Did she only just realize this?
I slap my hands tight over Dottie’s ears so she can’t hear me. “It can definitely be dangerous, yes. We take every safety precaution that we can, but things can happen that are out of our control.”
I drop my hands, and Dottie glances up at me. “Why did you do that?”
“I said a bunch of curse words, and I didn’t want you to hear them.
” I reach into the front pocket of my uniform shirt, remembering that I stuffed a five-dollar bill in there earlier when we stopped at a convenience store.
Suz was craving a certain kind of iced tea, and that store is the only one in the area that carries it.
I ended up getting one too. “I didn’t want to burn your precious little ears. Here’s your payment.”
“Five dollars!” Dottie snaps the bill in between her fingers, stretching it out. “I’m rich.”
Rachel and I share a smile, but I can see she’s still bothered by what I told her. Or maybe it’s the Paige stuff that’s upsetting her. Whatever it is, she’s out of sorts, and I wish I could make everything better for her.
Eventually, Dottie gets bored, and I help my girls out of the engine, escorting them into the main building.
After I show them the kitchen, we enter the common area to find everyone sitting on the couches and chairs, pretending to watch Jeopardy!
on TV, but really, I think they’ve been waiting around for us to appear.
None of them care about Jeopardy! and I’m guessing they’re all curious about Rachel, save for Suzi.
“Everyone, say hi to Dottie.” They all call out her name in greeting, and Dottie waves without a peep, hiding behind my leg because, on occasion, my extrovert daughter can get a little shy.
I glance over at Rachel, who seems nervous. “And this is Rachel.”
“Hey, Rachel.” Suzi jumps up from the couch and comes toward her, wrapping her up in a big hug and letting her go just as quick. “It’s good to see you again.”
“Hey, Suzi.” Rachel smiles.
“We need to get together again at the Snowline.” Suz starts laughing. “Maybe not drink as much as last time, though.”
I introduce everyone by name to Rachel, and they all say hello, everyone being polite, not that I think they’d be rude. I’m proud of this group of people, my crew. Considering we spend so much time together, they’re practically my second family.
“I want to see where you sleep, Daddy!” Dottie finally shouts, which for some reason is her favorite thing to do here besides sitting in the engine.
I take them into the barracks, and Dottie runs from bed to bed, her sandals slapping against the shiny floor and echoing throughout the room, making Rachel wince. She glances around the room, checking out all the beds before she turns to look at me.
“This reminds me of camp.”
“Did you go to camp as a kid? I never did that, though we have camps here around the lake,” I tell her.
“I know, I met a few of the counselors a couple of weeks ago. They’re so nice.
” She examines the beds again. “Yeah, I went to summer camp every year from the time I was eight until I was like . . . thirteen? I loved it. Well, the first summer I was sad and wanted to go home, but eventually, I made friends, and I didn’t want to leave by the end of summer. It was so much fun.”
I can’t imagine letting Dottie leave me for weeks at a time over the summer in two years. Unfathomable. “I bet you were a cute little camper.”
“I was a raggedy mess.” Rachel laughs, shaking her head.
“But that was my favorite part about camp. It was my one time during the year where I could let loose and not worry about what I wore or how I looked. We would swim and go out on the lake in canoes. Make crafts and put together plays. Lots of group activities that taught us how to work together as a team. I loved it.”
“You really had to worry about what you wore and how you looked when you were eight?” I watch Dottie, knowing for a fact none of us put any pressure on her or how she looks.
I mean, I want her clean and neat most of the time, and she likes pretty dresses and stuff like that.
But I also let her get down and dirty at the lake.
In the backyard. She likes to go fishing with my dad.
I’d like to think she’s a well-rounded kid and I’m not screwing her up in any way, but as she gets older, will she grow resentful because her mom isn’t in her life?
She’s extra close to my parents—my entire family, really—but is that enough?
Is she lacking because she doesn’t have a mom?
“My dad is in finance and real estate, and he’s made a lot of money. He has a lot of powerful friends, and they always wanted me to look a certain way. The family needed to maintain a certain image.” She pauses. “It was exhausting, really.”
“It sounds exhausting.” I want to ask more questions. Dig a little deeper, but now isn’t the time. My kid is impatient and currently hopping up and down on my bed, the springs squealing, and I go to her, grab her by the waist, and haul her off my bed. “Calm down there, kiddo.”
“We should probably get going,” Rachel says, and I fight the disappointment that wants to take over me, though I know she’s right. “Dottie still needs a bath.”
Dottie’s face falls. “Paige said I could swim in the pool and that’ll be my bath for tonight!”
Rachel looks away, fighting a smile. “Oh, I don’t know about that.”
“Whatever. Water is wet.” I shrug.
“Chlorine kills bacteria,” Rachel points out as we exit out the back door from the barracks, walking around the side of the building so we end up in the parking lot. “And we’d give her a real bath, of course.”
“She’ll be fine in the pool,” I tell her, meaning it. What’s one night of swimming instead of a bath? Dottie will love it.
“Pretend you never heard Dottie say that, and we’re good.” Rachel laughs.
I walk them back to Paige’s car, and the moment Dottie is seated and secured, I shut the door and pin Rachel to the side of the car with my lower body. “I hate that you seem sad.”
“It’s fine. I know Paige and I will make up. I just hate that I upset her.” She ducks her head, and I slip my fingers beneath her chin, tipping her face up so I can look in her eyes.
“Paige doesn’t stay mad for long. Look at how she is with my brother.”
“See, but that’s the thing. I told her what I said to you about her crush on Nate fading, and actually . . . I made that part up. Paige never actually said that. And when I confessed everything, she was so angry.”
“Really? You made that up?” I’m frowning. Rachel lied? It’s a little lie, but still.
Rachel nods, her misery apparent with her creased forehead and that frown curving her lush mouth downward. “It was stupid. I thought saying something like that could be the jump start that Nate needed, and instead I upset everyone, and now my friend hates me.”
“She doesn’t hate you.” I give her a hug. Drop a lingering kiss on her lips. “You’ll fix this.”
Rachel kisses me again, and it gets a little deeper, our tongues tangling. My skin heating from having her nestled so close. Until Dottie starts yelling “Daddy!” from within the car, and we break apart.
“I should go. I loved meeting everyone, and tell them bye from me, okay?” She reaches for the driver’s side door, opening it and climbing into the car.
I go to her, bracing my hand on top of the car. “I’ll see you tomorrow night.”
“Okay.” Rachel nods, looking away from me as she starts the car. “Good night.”
“Good night.” I lean forward, making eye contact with my daughter. “Bye, Dottie. I love you.”
“I love you too, Daddy!”
I slam the car door shut and watch them leave, my heart aching like I’m a complete sap who can’t be away from them for too long. I’ve worked this sort of schedule for years. What’s my problem now? Is it because I’m worried this is all going to end and it’ll just be Dottie and me?
Maybe.