Chapter 4
MITCH
I almost lost her tonight.
If I’d gotten to her house a few minutes later, I probably would have.
The house could have collapsed into itself, trapping Penny inside. The flames could have breached the bathroom door and gotten to her before I did. Or she might have decided to jump from the third floor out of sheer desperation, risking a broken back or a traumatic head injury.
She couldn’t have waited for the fire department to arrive. The fire was spreading too quickly. By the time they got their ladders set up, it would have been too late.
Nausea rises. My stomach churns.
Shit.
The night just as easily could have ended in tragedy.
What if I’d left my rescue rope at the station instead of storing it in my trunk? What if I’d waited to change my clothes before heading over there, or decided to call to apologize instead of doing it in person?
I wouldn’t have been able—
No. I’m not going to think about it.
At least, not now. Not when I have more important things to focus on, like taking care of Penny.
She agreed to come home with me after she was checked out at the hospital, which I wasn’t expecting after our conversation at dinner. I thought she might want to go to one of her friends’ houses instead—they all offered, of course—but much to my relief, she accepted my invitation.
“It’s okay if you’d rather not,” I told her, “but it’ll be quiet. You can sleep as long as you want. Duke would love to see you, and once he realizes you’re hurt, he won’t leave your side. And if you start to feel ill, I’m a trained paramedic, so I can help.”
All our friends have kids, so it’s possible that’s the reason why Penny decided to stay here. Not that she doesn’t like kids—she’s incredible with them at the library—but after a night like this, she’s probably not feeling up to the inevitable questions they’d ask.
Regardless of the reason, I’ll take it.
She’s in the shower right now, washing off the dirt and stink of the night while I hurry around the house, getting everything ready for her.
It’s almost two AM, and most likely, all she wants to do is sleep.
But I know how wound up I can get after a stressful night.
No matter how exhausted I am, I can’t fall asleep.
So I’m getting the couch all comfortable for her, just in case she wants to watch something mindless on TV.
I have Penny’s favorite sparkling water and cookies ready and waiting, if she wants them.
Her favorite guilty pleasure, America’s Next Top Model, is ready to play.
And I got out my softest blanket for her to snuggle into, in case she gets chilled.
Or I could snuggle with her. That would work, too.
From the direction of the hallway, the soft drone of the shower cuts off. I survey the living room, trying to think if there’s anything I missed.
Pain pills, I realize. For her hand. She has a second degree burn due to the scalding doorknob, and it’s got to be hurting her by now. I helped tape plastic around her bandage so she could shower, but she might need the ointment and gauze changed, as well.
Hurrying to the other bathroom, I grab all the supplies I need and bring them back into the living room. Then I head back to the guest bedroom to make sure everything’s set up in there.
On my way out, I chuckle to myself. My mom would love to see me like this—rushing around to get my house ready for a woman. She’s been bemoaning my single status for years, and while I’ve mentioned Penny before, I’ve never let on how much I actually like her.
Maybe one day, they’ll meet. But I won’t push for it this time. I’ll wait until Penny is ready. That’s a lesson I learned tonight, and I’m not likely to forget it.
From the corner of the living room, Duke makes a soft whuffling sound. His paws twitch. He’s dreaming of bunnies or squirrels, at best guess, or possibly the purple octopus nestled beneath his chin.
“He really does like that octopus, doesn’t he?”
I turn to face Penny, who’s standing just inside the living room doorway, smiling at Duke. Her hair is still damp from the shower, and her cheeks are flushed pink. She’s wearing the T-shirt and shorts I gave her, which are far too big, but she looks absolutely adorable wearing them.
A bittersweet pang hits me.
I’ve thought about Penny wearing my clothes before, but I never wanted it to happen like this. In my fantasies, she would slip on one of my shirts to sleep in. Not be forced into wearing it because she doesn’t have anything to wear of her own.
“He does,” I agree. Closing the distance between us, I gently take Penny’s injured hand to inspect it.
“The bandages stayed on pretty well,” she says. “It was a little hard washing my hair with one hand, but I think I managed.”
I cradle her poor hand for a few seconds longer before releasing it.
“How are you feeling? Are you in a lot of pain? Do you want to take something for it?” Jerking my chin at the collection of pill bottles sitting on the coffee table, I add, “I’ve got Tylenol, Ibuprofen, or if it’s really bad, I have some of the pills the dentist gave me when I had my wisdom teeth out last year. ”
Penny follows my gaze, then shakes her head. “That’s okay. I took a few Tylenol at the hospital and I think they’re still working. Maybe later, though.”
A moment later, her expression jolts as she takes in the rest of my hastily-arranged setup. “Mitch. Are those sugar wafers? In all three flavors?” Her attention shifts to the TV screen. “And is that America’s Next Top Model?”
“I wasn’t sure if you’d want to go to sleep right away, or if you’d need some time to decompress. So I pulled together some things in case you want to watch TV for a little while.”
Her features soften. “Mitch.”
“The bedroom is all ready for you, too. I put you in the one next to mine, so if you wake up not feeling well, or you have a nightmare…”
Penny stares at me, emotion working in her eyes. Then she leans in to hug me. Her head comes to my shoulder, bringing with it the scent of my shampoo in her hair, which smells completely different on her than it does on me.
I wrap my arms around her, hugging her close. I press a kiss to the top of her head.
She sighs softly. Her breath feathers against my skin.
My eyes prickle with unexpected tears.
I could have lost her.
Following that thought comes another.
I’ll do anything to keep her.
“Mitch.” Her voice is still rough from the smoke. “Thank you. For setting this up, and earlier… I don’t know what I would have—”
“Shh.” I stroke my hand down her hair. “Don’t think about that. You’re here. You’re safe.”
She sighs and sags against me. “I know. It’s just… it doesn’t feel real yet.”
“I know.” I kiss her head again. “What can I do, Pen? Do you want to go to bed? Watch TV? If you’d like some fresh air, we could sit out on the patio. Anything you like.”
She leans back to look at me. Her eyes are still pink from the smoke, but they’re just as beautiful as always. “Could we just… talk for a little while? There are some things… I know it’s late. But after tonight… I don’t want to wait.”
My heart lurches. Is that good? Or bad?
But I don’t ask Penny that. Instead, I loop my arm around her shoulders and lead her over to the couch. Once we’re both seated, she immediately scoots over so she’s pressed up against me. Her uninjured hand reaches for mine.
I take her hand and rub my thumb across the back of it. “What did you want to talk about, Pen?”
“Well.” Her teeth dig into her lip. “When I was in the apartment, and I wasn’t sure if I’d ever see you again…”
“Pen.”
“But it’s true. I wasn’t sure. Not that I didn’t trust you. But the fire… it was spreading so fast.”
“I would have come for you. No matter what.” My voice is rough. Thick with emotion.
“It was so dangerous, Mitch. What you did. Climbing up a burning building like that, without equipment… You can’t tell me you would have done that if you were responding to a fire while you were on duty.”
I won’t lie to her. “No, I wouldn’t have. But I wasn’t responding to a regular fire. You were up there. And I would have done anything—”
A loud buzzing from my pocket interrupts me.
Penny startles. Her hand convulses around mine.
“It’s just my phone,” I reassure her while reaching for it. “Though I’m not sure who’s texting this late.”
Pink tinges her cheeks. “Right. A text. I knew that.” She shakes her head. “I’m just extra jumpy tonight.”
“That’s completely normal.” Once I wrestle my phone from my pocket with my opposite hand—because I’m not letting go of Penny’s, not unless she wants me to—I look down at the screen. “It’s from Dave.”
“Fire marshal Dave?” she asks.
“Yeah.” Dave Enniston isn’t just the fire marshal in Sleepy Hollow, he’s also a good friend and fellow volunteer fire fighter.
He’s the one who’ll head up the initial investigation into the fire at Penny’s place.
But given that it just happened, and it’s basically the middle of the night, I wasn’t exactly expecting to hear from him yet.
But it’s clear from his text he wasn’t wasting any time.
Hey, just finished the walkthrough. With it being Penny’s place, I didn’t want to wait. The house is a total gut, which comes as no surprise. No fatalities, thankfully. The first floor resident was working the night shift, and woman on the second floor is on vacation in Cabo.
Before I read on, I turn to Penny. “Dave did the walkthrough. Since it was your house, he didn’t want to wait. He said your neighbors were out of the building when it happened. So they’re both okay.”
She releases a heavy sigh. “Oh, good. I knew Monica was on vacation, but I wasn’t sure if Will was working tonight or not.”
“They’re both fine,” I assure her. Then I wrap my arm around her and tug her closer, so she can read the rest of Dave’s message along with me.