“No,” I said.
Riggs chuckled. “She didn’t go in the building, but—”
I shot him a look that stopped him. “She was here,” I explained, “but she left.”
Bianca frowned. “Where’d she go?”
“I don’t know,” I said.
Bianca continued looking around, but Anna studied me carefully as if sensing something important. Had Vicki said something to her about us? Did she know?”
Riggs finished wrapping my ankle. “There you go. I think you’ll be fine now.”
“Well, I’m not going to be fine.” Bianca pressed both hands to her heart. “I don’t know if I’ll ever be fine after seeing what I saw. Vicki probably left because you scared her to death.”
Riggs chuckled. “Something scared her, all right.”
Bianca glanced at Riggs before pinning me with her gaze. “It’s time for you to take that library job, Seth Watson.”
I stared at her blankly. “Library job?”
“You know. The safe one at the library, where all you do is shelve books and tell people what they should read. I mean, we all know you look hot in your turnout gear, and you’re very brave, but it’s time for you to do something safe like work at the library.”
Riggs laughed, but I didn’t say anything. My parents had both worked safe jobs, then they’d been killed in a freak airplane accident. Even Robbie hadn’t been doing anything that dangerous.
There were no guarantees in life. Nothing was 100 percent safe.
With the fire extinguished, my captain came over to the ambulance to tell Bianca and Anna that they needed to leave so as not to interfere with official firefighting business.
Offended, Bianca bristled. “Can I at least give Seth another hug? He’s practically family. Seeing him fall through that roof—” She shuddered. “It was truly dreadful. I don’t know what we’d do if anything happened to him.”
The captain grunted.
Bianca interpreted his grunt as a yes and threw her arms around me, squeezing me tight. “You need to be more careful, okay? You’re like a little brother to us. We don’t want to lose another brother, so please, please don’t be so reckless. And please think about that library job.”
Chapter 36
Vicki
I sat by myself in Anna’s kitchen, soaking my foot. The sticker bur had cut me, but it wasn’t deep enough to need a stitch. If it didn’t hurt so bad, I would’ve walked home. By the time I reached Anna’s house, however, my foot was throbbing, so I let myself in to rest for a minute.
The front door opened, and I worried it was going to be Nick and all the kids home from my parents’ house. Instead, I heard Anna’s voice saying good-bye to Bianca. “Call me as soon as you find her, okay?”
“I will,” Bianca hollered.
They were talking about me. I felt a pang of guilt for worrying them, but I couldn’t bring myself to call out that I was here.
Alone, Anna came into the kitchen. “Oh, Vicki, you’re here. Let me just text Bianca and let her know you’re okay.”
I nodded as tears spilled over, dropping onto my lap.
“Oh, sweetheart.” She crossed the room and hugged me. “What’s wrong?”
Unable to stop crying, I shook my head. She sat beside me and rubbed my back.
“Are you worried about Seth? You know he made it out of the house just fine. He hurt his ankle, but he’s going to be okay. Bianca and I talked to him.”
I sniffed hard. “I know. I saw him too.”
“Is it your foot?”
“No.” I pulled my foot out of the tub of soapy water, blotted it with a napkin, and showed it to her. Like a paper cut, it hurt worse than it looked.
“Ouch,” Anna said. “Did you step on a piece of glass?”
“A sticker bur.”
“I hate those things. They’re so tiny, but they hurt like crazy.”
I nodded. “So, you and Bianca talked to Seth?”
“Yes. Bianca tried to convince him to quit firefighting and become a librarian.”
“What’d he say?”
Anna sat back in the chair and studied me carefully. “He didn’t say anything, but I have a feeling he would give up anything to be with you.”
“What?”
“He’s in love with you, Vicki. And I think you’re in love with him too.”
I started to deny it, but I couldn’t. Slowly, I nodded as my eyes filled with tears once again.
She hugged me. “Oh, honey. That’s not such a bad thing. When I saw the two of you on the dance floor, it was obvious you were meant for each other.”
I squeezed my eyes tight and tried to figure out a way Seth and I could be together without having to sacrifice so much. “When we were dancing, he said he loved me and wanted to be with me. He said if I didn’t want kids, that would be okay.”
“You don’t want kids?” she asked.
I shook my head. “I’m too afraid.”
“Of kids or just babies? You’ve always seemed comfortable with my older ones, but I know babies make you nervous.”
“You do?”
“Of course. You’ve never held any of my babies. Well, you held Travis in the hospital when he was an infant, but I could tell it upset you.”
Nodding, I tried to push away all the bad memories. I messed up so bad. I’d been more focused on my own agenda when I should’ve been paying attention to Allie.
“Babies scare me,” I admitted. “But seeing Seth fall through the roof was terrifying. How can I be with someone like that?”
“You’d be amazed what you can do when you love somebody. How does that Alan Jackson song go? ‘Love can walk through fire without blinking’?” She smiled. “I didn’t think I’d ever be able to be with another soldier after your brother died, but now, I can’t imagine my life without Nick.”
“You two seem really happy.”
“We are happy. Most of the time. Every marriage has its struggles, but I’m so glad I didn’t let my fears stop me from building a life with Nick.”
I stared down at my hands. “How did you do it? How did you get over your fears?”
She exhaled slowly. “I think it was a combination of faith and forcing myself to confront my fears instead of running away from them.”
I tried to imagine what confronting my fears would look like.
“Sometimes, I’m still afraid,” Anna admitted. “When Nick is late getting home or away on deployment, I often worry. But that’s when I have to remember that God truly is in charge. He’s not going to let anything bad happen to you that isn’t in His divine wisdom.”
“I really struggle with that concept.”
She laughed. “We all do. Letting go of control and trusting that things will work out is one of the hardest things a person can do.”
I smiled. “Will you do me a favor?”
“Anything.”
“Will you drive me to Seth’s so I can talk to him?”
She laughed. “I’d love to, but first, let me get a Band-Aid for your foot.”
Chapter 37
Seth
After seeing the doctor and being told to stay off my ankle for the next few days, Oscar drove me home to King and situated me on the couch. “Okay, you’ve got the remote, your water, food, what else?”
“I think that’s it.”
“Are you sure you don’t want to stay at my place? Wanda would love to fuss over you.”
“Thanks, but I’ll be fine here. I’ve got my crutches and King. Besides, I know your wife isn’t a big fan of furry dogs, and I don’t want to leave him.”
Oscar patted King’s head. “Nothing personal, big guy. She just likes things nice and clean and not covered with dog hair.”
I gave a sad smile and checked my phone. No messages.
“Is that about Vicki?” Oscar almost sounded as if he were trying to be compassionate instead of just poking fun at me. “Look, she obviously loves you. I have no idea why, but she does. She’ll come around.”
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“You think?”
“Yeah, I do. I don’t know if you saw, but she plowed down the sheriff in order to get to you. If that isn’t true love, then I don’t know what is.”
I nodded but didn’t say anything. I hadn’t seen Vicki push past the sheriff, but the thought of it made me smile.
“You know,” Oscar said, “Wanda could talk to her if you wanted. She could tell her how wonderful it is being married to a firefighter.”
“That’s okay.”
“All right.” Oscar put up his hands in surrender. “The offer stands if you change your mind.”
“Thanks.”
“Yeah. No problem. And call if you need anything.”
“I will.”
He headed toward the door. As he opened it, he chuckled. “Well, hello there.”
“Hi,” Vicki said, causing my heart to crash into my rib cage. She was here!
“If you’re looking for Seth,” Oscar said, “I’m afraid he’s not here.”
“Ignore him.” My heart pounding with excitement, I grabbed my crutches and made my way to the door.
“Oh, my mistake.” Oscar held the door open for Vicki, who stepped into the house.
King wagged his tail as Vicki bent over and rubbed his head. “Hey there, boy.”
Grinning, Oscar looked from Vicki to me. “Well, I’d love to stay and chat, but I’ll leave you two lovebirds alone.”
I ignored him and kept my focus on Vicki. What was she doing here?
Giving King one last rub, she straightened. “How’s your ankle?”
“It’s fine. I just twisted it.”
“No other injuries?”
“No.” I shook my head. Let her talk, I told myself. Just let her talk.
She took a deep breath and slowly exhaled. “Seth—”
“Look, I don’t know what happened or what you’re thinking, but whatever it is, we can work it out. If you need me to quit being a firefighter, I can do that. Bianca said I should find a job at the library. I’d do that for you. Or maybe I could get my teaching certificate or start a landscaping business. I don’t know. But if firefighting—”
“Seth. It’s not firefighting. It’s not you at all. It’s me.”
Her words felt like a knife to my gut. “Don’t say that. If you don’t want me—”
“I do want you.” Her eyes filled as she pressed a hand to her chest. “I do.”
“You do?”
“Yes.” Tears streamed down her face. “More than anything.”
With my crutches, I inched closer but didn’t touch her. Swiping at her tears, she shook her head. “I want you, Seth, but I have to tell you something.”
All the hairs on the back of my neck stood up. “What is it?”
She glanced at the couch. “Can we sit down?”
“Yeah, of course.”
We went into the living room and sat on the couch. I tried not to worry as she wrung her hands together.
“When you fell through the roof,” she said, “I was so scared.”
“I know. I’m sorry I scared you.”
She nodded. “When I reached you, I can’t even describe the relief I felt, knowing you were okay. But then, all these memories came back.”
“Memories?”
“I’ve never told anyone this before, but it’s why I changed my mind about having kids. It’s why—”
A large sob racked her body. I wanted to hold her and take away her pain, but I held back, giving her the space she needed to tell her story.
Sniffing hard, she continued. “You were right when you said that I always wanted to be a mom. I’ve always loved kids and even babies, but then something really bad happened when I was babysitting.”
My mind raced with all kinds of horrible scenarios. I’d gone on numerous calls involving babysitters and injured kids. Some of those runs tore your heart out. Fortunately, kids bounced, and a lot of them recovered with no visible scars. Others weren’t so lucky.
“When I first came back to the island, dealing with what happened was hard. Falling in love with you and buying the bakery kept the bad memories away for a while. When you fell through the roof, however, it all came rushing back . . . the ambulance, the paramedics, the flashing lights . . . it all reminded me of Allie.”
“Allie?”
She nodded. “Allie was the baby I used to take care of. She had two older brothers. Twins. Max and Red. The boys were four, and Allie was just a baby. She was so cute, and I loved taking care of her.”
More tears came, and she wiped them away. “Sorry.”
“It’s okay, baby. Just take your time.”
She swallowed hard and continued. “When Allie was about a year old, her parents went away for the weekend, leaving me with all three kids. I didn’t think it’d be a big deal because I loved the kids. For the most part, they were easy. The boys were active, but they always listened to me. And Allie . . .”
Vicki smiled sadly. “I loved Allie like she was my own.
“By Saturday night, I was exhausted. I’d taken care of the kids most of Friday and all day Saturday. After dinner that night, I gave them a bath, which wasn’t an easy thing to do. As I was helping the boys put on their pajamas, Allie crawled around their room, something she did all the time.
“When she crawled into the bathroom, I wasn’t worried because there wasn’t anything she could get into. Mrs. Quinn was obsessed with safety, so everything had a lock on it—the cabinet, the linen closet, even the toilet. Plus, I knew I’d pulled the plug to drain the water in the bathtub, so I wasn’t worried.”
Vicki wiped her eyes again and looked right at me. “What I didn’t know was that a toy had gotten stuck in the drain, so there was still water in the bathtub. As I was wrangling the twins into their pajamas, something at the back of my mind told me to check on Allie, but I didn’t. I was just so focused on getting the boys ready for bed that I ignored the little voice that told me something was wrong.
“When I heard the splash, my heart dropped. I raced into the bathroom and . . .” Vicki choked back a sob. “Allie was face down in the water, struggling. I yanked her out of the tub. Blood gushed from her forehead where she must’ve sliced it on the porcelain. She was crying so hard, and there was so much blood.”
Vicki covered her face and wept into her hands. “She almost died, Seth. She almost died. If she had, it would’ve been all my fault.”
I leaned over and pulled Vicki into my arms. “But she didn’t die, right? You got to her in time?”
Vicki nodded. “There was so much blood, and Allie wouldn’t stop crying. I called Mrs. Quinn. She called nine one one, and an ambulance arrived right after that.
“Allie was finally settling down. I was rocking her and holding a towel to her forehead when the paramedics barged into the house. I told them Allie was doing better, but they just ripped her right out of my arms.
“Allie screamed, and I begged them to let me hold her again, but they said the parents had called because the child was in danger. They had no choice but to take over.
“When Mrs. Quinn arrived, she screamed at me to get out. She said she was going to press charges against me. I told her I was sorry, but she just yelled at me to leave.”
“Oh, baby.”
Vicki continued. “I wanted to stay for the boys, but Mrs. Quinn wouldn’t stop yelling at me to leave, so I did. I just left.”
“Did you ever go back? Did you ever see them again?”
She shook her head. “No.”
I reached up and wiped the tears off her face. “I’m so sorry that happened to you.”
She closed her eyes and leaned into me. I held her tight for a long time.
Opening her eyes and lifting her head, she offered a sad smile. “The hardest part is not knowing if Allie is okay. I haven’t been able to bring myself to look up the Quinns on social media. I’m just so afraid. What if she got some water in her lungs and ended up dying?”
I shook my head and readjusted my ankle,
which was throbbing. “I don’t think that happened. It doesn’t sound like she suffered from a lack of oxygen or even passed out. She probably got stitches and was sent home that night.”
“What about the twins? They saw the whole thing. When the paramedics showed up, they must’ve been so traumatized.”
I took Vicki’s hands in mine. “Look at me. Kids are resilient. They’re so incredibly resilient it’s ridiculous. I’m sure Allie’s brothers don’t even remember what happened.”
“I hope not.”
“You need to find out how they’re doing so you can stop worrying. Carrying around all this guilt and worry has to be miserable.”
“It is.” She fell silent for a moment, then she nodded. “Okay. Will you look for me?”
“Of course.” Reaching for my device, I typed in the name Vicki gave me. On one of the social media sites, I found dozens of pictures of Louisa Quinn and her three gorgeous children.
“Oh, Seth. They’re so beautiful.” Vicki smiled. “And they look so healthy and happy. And Allie . . .” She laughed. “Look at Allie. She looks perfect.”
“She does.”
We scrolled through dozens of photos of the Quinn family. After we finished, Vicki turned to me, her expression serious.
“Seth, I need to ask you something.”
“Anything.”
“Will you help me do something?”
“Of course.”
Smiling, Vicki told me her plan.
Chapter 38
Vicki
As I checked the temperature on the oven a few days later, Bianca strode into the bakery’s kitchen with the newspaper. “You and Seth Watson? Really, Vicki?” She tossed the paper onto the counter with mock indignation. “You didn’t think this was something I needed to know?”
I’d already seen the paper this morning, but I glanced at it again and smiled. Seth and I had made the front page. A photographer had captured the two of us embraced in a hug after Seth emerged from the fire.
“Local firefighter saves the day and gets the girl,” the headline read. The article identified us by name but didn’t say anything about our relationship.
Vicki’s Gift Page 22