Chapter 36
CHAPTER THIRTY-SIX
HAZEL
I watched Tucker disappear back into the flames as a woman in EMS gear dropped to her knees at my side. I twisted to see past her. Because one second, Tucker had been kissing me through his mask like it was a vow. The next, he was gone, swallowed by smoke and fire and the scream of sirens.
To find my dad…
While I sat here, shaking, covered in soot and crushed under the weight of everything I hadn’t said.
The EMT poked and prodded and asked me questions about who I was and how many fingers she was holding. I answered by rote.
When she was certain I didn’t seem to be concussed, she pressed gauze to my temple. “Probably feels worse than it actually is, but it wouldn’t hurt to go to the hospital—”
“I’m not leaving,” I croaked, not taking my eyes off the building—just as two strong arms carefully closed around me from the other side.
Caleb. All heat and muscle, grounding me with the kind of quiet strength only someone who’d known me forever could bring. Then Ryder, who pulled me close with a gentleness that didn’t match the fury and concern on his face.
And then a smaller hand slipped into mine—Penny’s. Pregnant, radiant, and wearing a face mask to protect her from the polluted air, she looked like a sparkly space alien.
From behind me, another set of arms wrapped around my waist—Emma. I hadn’t even heard them arrive, but I was surrounded from all sides.
Held by the people who’d become my family.
The heat from the fire scorched the air, but they anchored the panic clawing up my throat.
“Tucker,” I whispered, throat tight. The building was completely engulfed in flames now, shooting high into the night sky. “He went in to find Dad. What if—”
“He knows what he’s doing.” Ryder tipped my head up to eye the cut on my temple. “Stitches?” he asked the EMT.
“I butterflied it since she refused to go to the hospital.”
“Shocking,” he muttered, then stood in front of me, eyes fierce. “Haze—”
“I’m not going anywhere. Not until they come out.”
Ryder’s voice was firm. “He’ll come back, Haze. And you know why?”
When I didn’t answer, he bent his knees a little to look into my eyes. “Because there’s nothing that’s going to keep him from you, not this time.” He paused. “I know he’s got a hard shell, but the way he feels about you—”
My throat burned worse than the smoke. “I know.”
“Do you?” he asked almost anxiously. “Do you really?”
I did. For so long, I’d wondered if I was the only one still holding on. If I was the only one who’d never moved on.
But then he’d shown up for me. Over and over. Quietly, constantly.
I could see shadow figures of the firefighters tackling the flames and knew Tucker was inside, putting his life on the line to get my dad out. “Yes,” I whispered. “I know. Because I feel the same way.”
He let out a long breath and brushed soot from my cheek.
“You can always blame it on the stars,” Caleb said.
“Hey.” Emma cocked her head at her fiancé. “You saying you only fell for me because of the Legend?”
Caleb grimaced. “No! I didn’t mean it like that—”
“Uh-huh.”
“Em.” He pulled her into him. “I’m so stupid in love with you that I walk around with an even stupider smile on my face, which has nothing to do with the stars and everything to do with you. You’re it for me.”
“Same question for you,” Penny said to Ryder.
Ryder, still tense with worry for Tucker, tugged Penny close, giving her a one-armed hug while smoothing his free hand over her belly.
“Babe, I fell for you the second I first saw you, way before I saw the stars. And I’ll fall again today and tomorrow, and every day after.
You’re stuck with me for the rest of our lives.
And beyond, if I have anything to say about it. ”
Penny’s eyes filled. “Baby hormones,” she whispered, fanning her face.
Caleb nudged his shoulder to mine. “You know I was just kidding, right?” he asked seriously. “It’s not the stars. It’s you. And it’s been you ever since you two were teenagers.”
Ryder tugged gently on one of my curls. “He’s right. Since the moment Tucker realized you were more than just a girl with sawdust in her hair and a wrench in her back pocket, you’ve been the one.”
That hit like a hammer to the chest. I hadn’t been just a girl with a wrench in her back pocket. I’d been his. And somewhere along the line, I’d stopped believing I still could be.
Tears stung. “I’ve made so many mistakes.”
“So did this guy,” Emma said, hooking a thumb in Caleb’s direction. “So did I. So did they.” She pointed at Penny and Ryder. “And yet…” She sent Caleb a goofy smile. “I wouldn’t trade what I have for anything in the world.”
Caleb kissed the top of her head. “The harder you resist, the harder you fall. And when you fall for real, you do really dumb things to protect yourself.”
And I had. Over and over. Like leaving without saying goodbye. Like not telling Tucker about the pregnancy. Or the job offer. Like building a thousand defenses around my heart so I could run from love.
But Tucker…he didn’t run from anything.
He showed up. Over and over, quietly without fail. He stayed. Even when it hurt him.
I’d spent so much time blaming him for not meeting me that night, for not fighting harder, not realizing he’d been carrying the same shame and hurt that I was.
But he’d never stopped caring. He’d been there for me at my accident.
Helped me that night Ricky had come for me.
When I was breaking apart and too stubborn to admit it.
When I needed a space to breathe, he built it.
When I needed air, he gave it. And when I was drowning, he was the one who pulled me out.
When I needed a reason to stay, he was it.
And so much more. Like how he always stood at my side. Letting me work through things on my terms. Staying close but never too close. Holding space without pushing.
And I’d never told him I saw any of that. That I saw him.
God, I did see him.
I also loved him.
A shout rang out. I turned, heart stuttering as Tucker and Jayden strode out of the smoke and chaos—carrying my dad between them.
“Dad!”
He waved a hand, coughing. “I’m fine.”
Tucker’s knees buckled. He sagged forward, and my heart flat-out snapped.
I broke from the circle of Caleb’s arms and ran to him.
“Tucker.” I caught him as he dropped to one knee, my heart falling out of my chest. “Tucker!”
“I’m fine,” he said hoarsely as EMS swarmed him, pulling off his helmet and gear. I was on my knees beside him, brushing damp hair off his forehead, gripping his gloved hand like it was the only solid thing in the world.
“Probable smoke inhalation,” Jayden said, dropping to his knees as well. “He gave his mask to the vic and pulled on his backup, but he was exposed for at least thirty seconds.”
Both men were fitted with oxygen masks as I crouched beside Tucker, pressing my forehead to his. “You’re okay,” I whispered. “You have to be okay.”
His eyes locked on mine. Amused. Exhausted. “Are you saying I don’t look okay?”
“Hospital now, both of you,” Tucker’s captain cut in, jogging over. “No arguments. We’ll save that for when you’re well and I can yell at you both.”
“Not arguing,” Jayden rasped. “Just breathing.”
Tucker looked like he most definitely wanted to argue but had run out of steam. I held on to his hand as long as they let me before they loaded him into the ambulance.
“He’ll be okay. It’s just protocol,” one of the medics assured me.
I nodded and leaned over Tucker. “Don’t you dare die, you hear me?”
Definitely amusement in those beautiful hazel eyes, but they were drooping. “Love you, Haze.”
I blinked. Did he really just say—
I looked up at the EMT, who was grinning. “Maybe he hit his head,” she suggested.
I stared down at Tucker, knowing my mouth was agape and I probably had the whites of my eyes showing.
What if, what if, what if…? What if I let myself believe?
I gathered all my inner bravery but still closed my eyes to say, “That’s convenient, because I love you back. I always have.”
At the radio silence, I opened my eyes.
His were closed.
“Tucker?”
They loaded him into the ambulance.
I started to hop in and go with him when a uniformed officer stepped into my path.
He cleared his throat gently, a respectful nod already halfway to a wince. “Ms. Pierce?”
I turned, still dazed. “Yes?”
He looked kind. Tired, but kind. “Your father came to me, told me about his involvement, and wants to go to the station and make a statement. He’s bruised but stable and cooperative, so we’re going to take him now. He’s asking if you’ll come with him.”
I stared at him, going from numb to shocked. He’d confessed. The relief nearly buckled me. There’d be restitution. A legal battle. Possibly jail time. But he was alive. And for the first time in a long time, he was willing to face the truth head-on.
I nodded slowly, the weight of the last hour settling onto my shoulders like wet cement.
I turned toward the ambulance. Caleb was climbing in beside Tucker, hand on his foot like he couldn’t bear to let go. My chest ached, and a lump formed in my throat.
Tucker had stayed. He’d risked everything. For me.
For us.
And if I was brave enough, maybe, just maybe, I could finally stay too.
But first, this. I nodded to the officer, took a deep breath, and followed him into the night.