Chapter 14
Kaiah rolled over and stretched, rubbing her eyes as she took in the room. A three-drawer wood dresser with a mirror filled
the wall across from her while four paintings of the same beach scene, representing each of the seasons, adorned the opposite
wall. A light-colored desk with a chair sat on the third wall.
For a moment she didn’t know where she was, but then it all came back to her in a rush—Reid setting up the spare room for
her, watching a movie with him on the sofa, talking until they were both ready for bed.
A lazy smile filled her face as she remembered his muscled frame sitting beside her smaller one. They’d laughed through Miss Congeniality (which he watched without complaint!), and when the movie was over, they swapped stories about their childhoods. Everything
seemed so simple with Reid. Easy. They never ran out of words. She never felt uncomfortable with him. It was the total opposite
of what she’d experienced with Hayes.
Kaiah groaned. The last thing she wanted was to let Hayes live in her head rent-free. She rolled to her side before she reached for her phone on the nightstand. It was eight fifteen. Time to get up and make breakfast before Piper came running out.
She pulled on a pair of jeans and a T-shirt, then scooped her hair up in a ponytail before heading out to the kitchen. By
the time Piper came scampering out in her mermaid-theme pajamas, the table was set with two plates of scrambled eggs, toast,
and bacon.
“Bacon!” Piper exclaimed. “That’s my favorite!”
Kaiah sat down beside her, and they dug in. “So what do you want to do today, Miss Piper?”
“Can we play outside for a while?”
The young woman smiled. “Sounds like a plan.”
After breakfast, Kaiah took Piper outside, where she played on her elaborate wooden swing set. Kaiah pushed the six-year-old
on the swing until, after a few minutes, Piper grew bored and decided to play in her sandbox.
Kaiah sat on the deck with a glass of sweet tea and watched the girl lift a small shovel filled with sand and slowly let the
grains drift down like a waterfall. Truthfully it was mesmerizing. Piper sang to herself as she lifted the sand in clumps
with her hands and patted them together, smoothing the formation to make an igloo. Kaiah lost herself in the moment, watching
the girl create in the sand. Her revery was broken when her phone dinged with a text. Instantly her heart rate bumped up.
Was it Reid? She glanced down at the screen, and her face clouded with a glower.
Hayes: Hey. We should talk.
Kaiah’s stomach twisted. She hadn’t expected to hear from him again.
In fact, she hoped she wouldn’t. She squeezed the bridge of her nose and debated what to do.
Part of her wanted to delete his text and block him.
And wouldn’t that feel good? It was something she’d thought about a hundred times since their breakup.
But the same dilemma tripped her up every single time.
What if George was sick? Or what if Hayes wanted to bring George to her?
If George needed her, then she’d jump at the chance to have him back. So, no. She couldn’t block Hayes. Not as long as she
knew George was alive.
She peered across the yard to where Piper was drawing ice blocks on her sand igloo. She’d be okay if Kaiah was distracted
for a minute or two. Kaiah poised her thumbs over her phone and responded.
Kaiah: Is George okay?
A few moments passed without a response, and Kaiah held her breath. Finally, the dancing dots appeared on the screen.
Hayes: He’s fine.
She blew out a breath. Thank goodness.
Kaiah: Do you need a freelancer to help with a story?
Hayes: No. Although I’ve been reading your Hidden Gems series. Really good stuff.
She rolled her eyes. That was all she needed to know. If her dog was fine and Hayes didn’t have any business to discuss, then
she was done with him.
Kaiah: Then there’s nothing for us to talk about.
Hayes: Kaiah, I need to explain to you why I left.
Her head swam with dizziness. Had she stopped breathing too? Her heart was thundering in her chest when she forced herself
to look back down at the screen.
Hayes: I never would’ve let you go if I hadn’t gotten that job. You have to believe me. I’m still trying to convince Global
Media they need another travel reporter. Once I do, you can move out here and we can be together again. We can be a family
with George. Please, Kaiah. You have to understand why I left. I took this job for us—for you. I still love you.
Kaiah rolled her eyes before she locked her phone. Hayes was still the narcissist he always was, and that would never change.
She was better off without him.
“Miss Kaiah.” Piper trotted over to the deck, and Kaiah was happy for the distraction. “Can we watch The Little Mermaid?”
“You got it, sweetie.”
Later that evening, Reid walked out behind the fire station where a couple of his fellow firefighters were playing basketball.
He sat on the curb to relax for a minute and watch the game. They’d had a calm day with only a couple of nonurgent medical
calls.
He’d done his best to focus on work, but he also kept wondering how Piper’s day was going with Kaiah.
He especially couldn’t stop thinking about his not-a-date-but-kind-of-a-date with Kaiah the previous evening.
He craved more quiet nights with her but knew those nights were numbered.
He’d just have to enjoy every minute he could manage to steal away with her.
“Lieutenant,” Cash called from the bay.
He joined Cash by the trucks. “Did you need me, Chief?”
“Have you talked to Piper and Kaiah today?”
“Yeah,” Reid said. “I checked on them earlier. They’ve been playing outside for a lot of the day. Sounds like they’re having
fun.”
Cash nodded slowly. “It seems like you and Piper have gotten close to Kaiah.”
Reid sat down on a stool. Here we go. “We have. And Becks has too.”
“She’s mentioned that to me.” Cash paused for a moment. “Honestly, bro? I’m just gonna come out and say it. Kaiah seems great
for you and for Piper.”
Reid nodded. “I agree. But there’s one problem: She’s not staying in Coral Cove. Once the festival is over and she finishes
her articles about Coral Cove, she’ll be long gone.”
Cash didn’t look convinced. “I don’t know about that.”
Reid arched an eyebrow. “What do you mean?”
“I just have a feeling that you and Kaiah might remain friends after all of this is over. If not more than friends.” Cash
looked right into his eyes. “I’m sure you’re lonely. And Piper could sure use a mom.”
Reid let his brother-in-law’s comment settle over him.
He couldn’t ignore the small feeling—was it hope?
—that began sprouting in his heart. He cared deeply for Kaiah, and more than ever he felt compelled to ask her to stay.
Was that a huge step? Absolutely. Was it too much too soon?
Maybe. But seemingly overnight, his heart had been overtaken by this smart, beautiful, compassionate woman.
He knew enough by now that if he wanted a shot with Kaiah, he had to take it, even if the circumstances weren’t what he’d choose.
But his thoughts were cut off as a long, shrill tone screamed through the loudspeakers. At the same time the fluorescent lights
above them automatically flipped on and off.
“All available units respond to accident with injuries at Fifth Street and Ocean Boulevard,” the bodiless voice over the radio
blared. “Repeat. All available units respond to accident with injuries at Fifth Street and Ocean Boulevard.”
A switch flipped in Reid’s brain. Gone were any thoughts of emotion, replaced with a cool head and the muscle memory of emergency
response. Adrenaline pumped through his veins as he and his team pulled on their turnout gear and piled into the fire truck.
Soon they were on their way with the siren wailing and the diesel engine roaring down the road.
When they reached the scene of the accident, the fire truck parked in the center of the street. Reid and his team jumped out
of the truck, and when his eyes focused on the scene of the accident, he froze.
A blue Hyundai sedan was lying on its side, a door crunched in, the hood smoldering. And a large pickup truck with its front
smashed in sat on the side of the road.
Immediately Reid was yanked four years back in time when he’d responded to a similar accident. Only the sedan wasn’t a Hyundai.
It was a Toyota. And the driver hadn’t survived.
Brynn wasn’t supposed to be there. Reid should’ve picked up Piper that day. It was his turn, but he backed out at the last
minute for a work meeting that he could’ve skipped.
No, that he should’ve skipped. If he had, Brynn would be alive today. She’d be here to celebrate her birthday tomorrow.
Bile burned his throat. He wanted to turn and run, but his feet were cemented in place. He was stuck there—forced to face the deadly mistake he’d made that had changed his and Piper’s life forever.
Cash and the rest of his team were already checking on the occupants in the vehicles. Reid pushed his hands down his face.
A hot sweat broke out on the back of his neck, and as memories of that day scrolled through his mind, he feared he was going
to be sick. He could smell the gasoline. He could see the smashed metal.
And he could see . . . Brynn.
She could’ve been sleeping. Her expression seemed so serene, so at peace.
Stop it! Stop it!
Sirens wailed in the distance and moved closer, slicing through his painful thoughts as he struggled to breathe. A couple
of police cruisers pulled up to the scene, and the officers jumped out and quickly began to direct traffic.
“Lieutenant Turner!”
Reid spun to where Cash waved at him. “We need you over here.”
Reid forced himself to swallow the bile in his throat and take a deep breath. “Yes, Chief.”
He managed to propel himself forward, and stuffing down his agonizing memories, he focused on the passengers in the sedan,
who were banged up but alert. He spent the next two hours tending to the victims, removing them from the vehicles and loading
them into the ambulances.
Once the patients were gone, the team focused on cleaning up the scene.
Every muscle in Reid’s body was sore by the time they returned to the firehouse. After a debrief session with his captain and his chief, Reid started toward the showers. He wanted just to stand under the hot water and wash the painful memories and exhaustion down the drain.
“Lieutenant Turner,” Cash called after him.
Reid froze. He knew what was coming. Cash had witnessed his breakdown, and a lecture was certain to follow. He took a cleansing
breath and then returned to face his brother-in-law, who was also his boss’s boss. “Yes, Chief?”
“Could you give us a minute please, Chris?” Cash asked Captain Ward.
Captain Ward stood. “Of course.” He nodded at Reid on his way out the door.
“Come into my office and close the door,” Cash told Reid.
Reid did as he was instructed and sat across from Cash at his desk. “You want to discuss how I froze at the accident site
earlier.”
Cash steepled his hands. “You were remembering Brynn’s accident.”
Reid let out a heavy sigh. “I know I messed up today.” He could hear the strain in his voice. “I can assure you it won’t happen
again.”
“Reid, I didn’t call you in here to reprimand you. I wanted to offer to listen.”
The younger man shook his head and tried to ignore how his throat thickened. “I’m fine, Chief. Really. I just had a moment.”
Cash seemed to study him.
“I’m telling the truth, man. I’m fine. I just had to regroup. I mean it when I say it won’t happen again.”
“All right.” Cash paused and studied him. “If you needed to talk, would you tell me?”
Reid brushed his hand over his throat. “Yes. I would.” He swallowed.
“I haven’t had a . . . a moment in a long time.
I saw that sedan knocked over with a truck sitting beside it, and I think it all hit me at once.
The memory of the accident. And that tomorrow is Brynn’s birthday.
” He held up his hands. “But I promise this was an isolated incident. I won’t let my emotions interfere with my performance again, Chief. You have my word.”
“Reid, I’m talking to you as your brother-in-law and friend, not as your chief.” Cash rested his hand on the wooden desk.
“Sometimes you’re going to have a moment. You’re human. It happens. If you need to talk, I’m here. Becca is always available
too.”
Reid nodded as his eyes started to sting. He’d learned as a rookie to compartmentalize his emotions.
But the accident. And Brynn’s birthday. It all just felt so overwhelming.
Cash tilted back in the chair. “Listen, it’s okay to talk to someone. If you don’t want to talk to me or your sister, I get
it. Please know you can always reach out to one of the staff counselors. They’re here to help you. You are never alone.”
“Yes, sir.” Reid nodded.
Cash gave him a small smile. “Dismissed.”
As Reid headed out of the office, he squared his shoulders. He would get his emotions under control. He had to. His job and
his sanity depended on it.