Chapter 25
25
Asher
“What the hell is this?” Coop said as he tossed a sheet of white paper on top of the laptop I was using to fill out the Incident Report for this morning’s brush fire. I was almost finished and now I’d been interrupted. Again.
I glared at him. “What the hell is what?”
Coop stood there, glaring right back, looking pissed. “That shit. Read it.”
It was a printout of an email to Haley March from some random Gmail account.
Dear Haley,
Enclosed please find links to a shared drive where you can access all the photos I’ve taken of you and Coop and Roman. They are all raw, untouched photos for you to have and use as you wish. I’m sorry I wasn’t able to edit them. Due to unforeseen circumstances, I will be moving soon and therefore I cannot process and edit them in a timely manner for you. I know finding someone who can adjust the images wasn’t something you were expecting to deal with, but know I’m deeply sorry for the inconvenience. I know you had offered to pay me for my time, but I cannot in good conscience accept. Please accept them as my gift. It was lovely meeting you both and I wish you well in your future together and the baby yet to come. You make a beautiful couple. Hopefully I’ve captured that in the photos. I’m sorry I didn’t have an opportunity to spend time with you. I wish you all the best in life.
Sincerely, Sienna
“What the fuck did you do?” Coop snapped.
I rubbed the ache forever burning my chest. She was moving? Fuck! I’d done that. I took her world and fucked it all up. I tossed the email to the side, unable to refocus on my computer screen.
The pain I’d been trying to ignore came back with a vengeance. “It’s over.”
“What’s over?”
Great. Now Hawk was up my ass again.
He took a seat next to me at the picnic table we had set up in the back of the bays, waiting on an answer. Fuck if I was going to tell him.
Coop snagged the email, tossing it to Hawk. “This. Fucking dumbass did something.”
“What did you do?” Hawk asked as he started reading.
“She moving in with you?” Coop asked. “Because my wife had a complete meltdown after reading that. Sienna won’t return her calls. Shit just goes to a voicemail that isn’t even active.”
Hawk glanced over at me. “What does this mean, she’s moving?”
I ignored Hawk and addressed Coop’s question. “No. Now both of you, fuck off.”
Coop failed to heed my warning. He straddled the bench across from me, still glaring. Apparently, I hadn’t been clear enough.
“She sent over three hundred of the most amazing photos I’ve ever seen to my wife, and now my wife is asking me what the fuck you did.”
“What the fuck did I do? I didn’t do shit. She lied to me. End of story.”
“Ooh, I have to hear this.” Hawk inched closer. “Show me on this diagram where the hot girl lied to you.”
I shot him a glare.
Coop leaned up on the table across from me. “Normally I don’t give a single shit who you fuck or date or whatever. But my wife is very pregnant which means she cries over everything. And she was bawling over that.” He nodded at the paper sitting out there on display, just like the insides of my chest were feeling. “Last Saturday, you were the happiest I’ve ever seen you in all the years I’ve known you. That email came on Tuesday, so again, what the fuck happened?”
“She lied to me.”
“About?” Coop questioned.
I glared at Hawk, all bunched up waiting for new gossip.
“Who she is,” I said back to both of them. “Look, I know her. She was a neighbor of mine back home when we were kids. I didn’t remember her. She didn’t share that she remembered me. And in doing so, she gave me a fake name.”
Hawk perked up. “Hold up. You’re saying you knew the hot girl from when you were kids but instead of her telling you who she was, she didn’t? And now you’re mad about that?”
Coop nodded. “Yeah, I’m not following.”
“Fuck you both.” I rubbed my face. “My high school girlfriend used to babysit her.” Could they not see the problem here?
Hawk narrowed his eyes at me. “So, the younger-than-your-old-ass but totally smoking hot woman with a fantastic ass and perfect tits that you’ve been fucking for, what? Weeks? Is someone your old girlfriend used to babysit, and that has you mad?”
“I hate you both.”
Coop started laughing. “He has a point, Hayes.”
Hawk sat up and leaned away. “Man, you fucked up.”
“She lived next door to me.” I tried to explain the seriousness of the situation.
“Jesus Christ, this just keeps getting better and better,” Hawk drawled. “Next time you’re back in the old ‘hood, you best go thank the town for whatever shit they’re putting in that water to grow such a fine woman. That’s all I’m saying.”
I rested my aching head in my hands. I did fuck up. I caught Coop staring at me. He didn’t need to say anything. I got it.
But that didn’t stop him from tossing more gas. “I don’t know where your head’s at, but Sienna… that woman was head over heels for you. And from the way it looked on this side, you were already there too.” He leaned closer. “Fix it. Haley wants to barbecue you on a spit and, again, she’s pregnant. Who the fuck knows what she’s capable of doing. She scares me.”
Coop stood and gave my shoulder a pat as he walked off, pulling Hawk with him.
They had their points, but they didn’t know what it all was doing to my head. I used to call Sienna, I mean Syla, my little Berry. She was always touching that tiny, red birthmark on her neck—something I should have noticed she still did as a grown woman. Yeah, she was grown. Fully grown. She was twenty-six, almost twenty-seven. And I had eleven years on her.
She was no longer the memories I had of her back then, most of which were tied to Jillian. And I most definitely didn’t want to remember Jillian or the crap she’d put me through.
I rubbed my chest again on the way to my bunk. The hard mattress squeaked under my weight as I kicked my boots up. I rested my forearm on my head, just needing a moment of peace.
Jillian had done my young heart in, but Sienna… she was no longer Syla from next door. No, losing her had wrecked me way beyond what I’d felt for other relationships in the past. And I couldn’t compare the two. Jillian had cheated on me, with my own fucking brother.
Sienna didn’t cheat. She didn’t betray me.
She just kept me from realizing things that would have prevented me from getting to know who she was now. Or give us a chance to explore that unburdened by it.
She didn’t want me thinking about Jillian.
Or the memories of that night I’d caught her in Liam’s bed the day after we’d buried my mom. Remembering finding Dad at the kitchen table; the bottle of Jack in his hand almost empty. He didn’t acknowledge me, and it didn’t matter at that point. We’d had nothing to say. He was a trucker, on the road most of the year doing long hauls cross country. He wasn’t there, spooning liquid food into Mom’s mouth, watching her choke on soup. But he sure as fuck was there when it was too late.
I’d taken the stairs two at a time and opened Liam’s bedroom door to tell him I’d just talked to the Army recruiter. The first thing I saw was his bare ass piledriving into a naked body below his. I remember apologizing for busting in and interrupting before turning to leave. But that’s when I heard her voice. Jillian’s. “Oh my God, Asher.”
I turned, seeing her scramble out from under Liam, who just fell to the bed and barely moved. “It’s not what you think it is.”
Did she really just say that? “What is it then, Jillian? We’re you not just screwing my brother?”
She pulled her clothes from the floor and held them to her bare chest. “It just happened. I came here looking for you and found him wasted.”
“So you fucked him because I wasn’t home?”
“No, it wasn’t like that. He needed a hug; he was so sad, and I held him. Then he kissed me, and one thing led to another.”
“And you fucked him? My brother!”
“No. Yes. No, I didn’t mean to. It just happened.”
“We’re done.” I glared at Liam. “You piece of shit. You can have her.”
Jillian begged and pleaded for forgiveness. But when she finally realized she wasn’t getting it, she started getting dressed. I snagged one of Liam’s motorcycle boots from the floor and whipped it at his head. He moaned and rolled over, his dick open and bare. He wasn’t even using a condom with her.
“What the fuck Liam? How could you do that to me?”
“Do what, Asshhner?”
“Fuck Jillian!”
“I’d didn’t screw herrrr. Bitch fuckedt me.” Liam's words were slurred so much I could barely understand him.
“Go to hell. I don’t care how drunk you are. You knew exactly what you were doing. I’ve seen the way you look at her. Well, now you can have her. I’ve got no use for her or you.”
I’d packed some clothes in my room in a duffle, went to my parent's room, and opened the safe Dad never kept locked. I took a few hundred dollars and left. I’d find somewhere to stay until I shipped out. No one needed to worry about me ever again.
Tones echoed out through the building.
My eyes flew open as the call came through.
“Engine 42, Engine 47. Ladder 42, Ladder 47. Medic 45, Medic 46. Battalion 2. Respond to a single dwelling house fire, corner of Jepson and Ross. Time out 2330.”
The back of the house was fully engulfed by the time we arrived.
As soon as we pulled up, a man came out of the front carrying his wife.
My gut sank.
“Is anyone still inside?” I yelled as we started pulling hoses. No one seemed to have a clear answer for a good three minutes. That could be the difference between having survivors or casualties. We had hoses on the hottest part of the house, which started in the back near the kitchen.
It took us well over an hour to get it all contained.
Hawk and I continued to hose down what was left of the kitchen.
“Looks like the stove started it,” he said to me.
Propane seemed to be the bane of my existence. All it took was an electric charge to set gas off.
The couple fortunately had made it out in time. They were lucky. Smoke gathers quickly which was often what took people out first.
I started pulling our hose back, watching the guy hold his wife. They’d just watched their entire house go up in flames but at least they had each other.
What did I have? Nothing.
I had a fantastic woman, and I threw it all away over something stupid. Sienna had her reasons to do what she’d done, but I didn’t give her an opportunity to explain.
I’d let my temper take over instead.
I missed her so much it hurt. Instead of pulling her out of the embers, I let her burn in the grass alone.
I needed to fix it. Make it right.
Instead of driving home after shift, I drove past her house, but her car was gone. So was Candace’s SUV. That sinking feeling that she’d left town made it difficult to swallow. Texting her wouldn’t do it. I wouldn’t blame her if she already blocked my number. Some things just needed to be said face to face.
Anticipation curled my gut as I drove across town, feeling the miles stretch between us. If she wasn’t here, then I was too late. My only option then would be to drive over to the flower shop and find out what Candace knew.
Would Sienna leave and not tell her where she was going? I squeezed my phone in my hand as I crossed over Foster Avenue and then made a left.
It was a good thing Oscar wasn’t with me. He’d be in mid panic with me. I made a right turn and then slowed down, stretching to see into the parking lot.
Sweet relief flooded me. A blue, four-door Toyota was parked in the last spot.
Now it was just a matter of waiting until four o’clock.
I could wait, although it would kill me slowly.