Archer leaped after her when she ran down the drive, but the leash brought his bark to an abrupt end.
Katherine's heartbeat thundered in her ears, nearly blocking out the hungry growl of the fire. This couldn’t happen. They were sorting things out. Her life was showing a glimmer of happiness. She leaped off the curb and over a hose, skirting the hysterical, stunned mob of apartment dwellers and headed for the nearest engine. The top floor on this side of the building was fully involved and orange flames licked up over the roof.
The first engine she passed was a pumper not a ladder truck and had a twelve stenciled on the side. Swerving around it, she headed for the ladder truck. She'd passed the cab when a strong arm caught her around the waist, lifting her off her feet.
“I don’t think so.”
“No. You don’t understand.” She jerked in his grasp, twisting far enough to recognize the face.
“I’m sorry, Katherine, but you've got to stay out of the way,” Vince said. “You know how this works.”
“I have to know if he's okay.” She sobbed. “You can’t do this to me.”
“He's a professional, and he’ll work better if he knows you’re safe.” Vince’s grip on her loosened when she stopped struggling, but he kept his arm around her. “That’s better. You need a Kleenex?”
She shook her head. “I need to know where he is.”
“I know. You stay right here, and I’ll see if I can find something out, all right? What’s his name?”
“Jack.” She pressed her hand over one eye. Panic pounding through her brain. “Jack Conley. He’s with nine.”
Vince looked at her and pointed at the ground. “Right here.”
She nodded and leaned back against the engine before her knees gave out. Her ingrained police wife training kicked in, and she felt her face forming a mask. Always stay calm for the public. Keep your head in a crisis. Your emotions come later, in private. Never let the photographers get a picture of you falling apart. They already had one of those. She looked around for the cameras of the local paper. They, at least, wouldn’t run the awful ones.
“Katherine?”
She looked to the left at the firefighter working the controls in the side of the ladder truck. By the time she looked at him he'd turned back to the task at hand and it took her a moment to place his profile. “Kevin?”
Kevin glanced over. “He said you’d show up.”
“Where is he?” She took a step toward Kevin before she remembered she’d promised to stay where she was.
“Third floor.”
“What’s he doing up there?” Katherine tried to control the squeal of panic slipping into her voice.
“That’s where the fire is.” Kevin gestured at the side of the truck. “Take a seat on the running board.”
Katherine eased down. Her knees felt like jelly, and she didn’t know if she would ever catch her breath again. Fire seemed to be everywhere, flickering in the puddles on the street, and roaring through the air. She drove past this building on her way home from the library. It was considered an at risk location by the police. Why did it have to burn down now?
Vince came back. “He’s up on the third floor, and he just reported in so he’s fine.”
As the words left his mouth, Katherine, who had not taken her eyes off the building, rose to her feet. A whimper escaped her. Vince and Kevin both turned to see what she was watching. Vince reached for her.
A firefighter had backed out onto the wooden porch. Katherine watched with frozen fascination as the supports broke away, causing the porch to tilt. Grabbing for a handhold, the firefighter fell backward through the railing, dropping two stories to the hillside. He tried to catch himself with one arm when he hit the ground and that arm twisted underneath him. The paramedics ran forward, but Katherine never moved. She stood watching with one hand gripping the edge of the cab, not breathing. After a moment, they helped him to his feet and he followed them to their truck.
Katherine walked toward them, shaking. It had to be Jack. Since he’d walked away, it couldn’t be bad. They positioned him on the running board of the paramedic truck. One knelt in front, immobilizing his wrist with an air cast.
“Just a tip,” the man working on his wrist said. “When you're falling from a height greater than your feet, using your hand to stop yourself is a really bad idea.”
Katherine looked down and realized the paramedic was Dan, who had helped Jack move in and fixed her garage roof. Jack took off his helmet. His face was dirtier now than it had been a little while ago but he had a band of clean skin where his helmet rested. She fought the impulse to lean down and kiss it. They had an audience. Some of the crowd had turned from the drama of the burning building to the drama of the injured firefighter.
She swallowed hard and tried to breathe. Whole, hale and healthy except for the wrist. His eyes met hers, and she thought she saw him cringe a little.
“Look,” he said with a forced cheer. “All in one piece.”
“Yes. I saw. It was a lovely dive. It won’t get you out of your lease, but I give it an eight point five. Next time try to do it into a pool. How bad is it?” she asked Dan. She felt Vince and someone else stop behind her. A glance told her it was Jack’s captain.
“He can’t even break anything right. It looks like a bad sprain.”
“Really? Hey, I’ll be out for a while with that.” Jack grabbed Katherine’s hand. “Wanna get married?”
She sighed. “You’re broken now. I don’t accept damaged goods.”
“I’ll get better.”
“That won’t get you out of the lease either.” Katherine felt herself start to smile.
“I know. I want to sign a longer one. A permanent one. I want to marry you.”
Someone in the crowd shouted, “Come on, marry him.”
Katherine frowned. Her heart had started to slow down. Marry him? Was he joking? She’d watched this lunatic fall two stories from a fire. His fingers squeezed hers while his golden eyes searched hers for an answer. A real answer. “Well, okay.”
She heard a shutter snap close by and looked up. A reporter stood nearby grinning. She knew his face. He worked for the Arden Journal. Maybe she would be able to convince them to run the picture with the wedding announcement. Some of the apartment dwellers started to cheer.
Jack pulled her down next to him and draped his uninjured arm over her shoulders. She leaned against him and closed her eyes. Maybe being married to a hero wouldn’t be so bad after all.
Epilogue
Archer paced around the foyer. From Jack to the bottom of the stairs and back. He knew they were leaving, and he got the impression he wasn’t going. In the nine months since they had married, he hadn’t gotten to go a lot. The wedding had been fun. A bunch of people and a couple of other dogs in the park. Then they’d added a whole second floor to the house. But since then, things had gone downhill. Sometimes they even locked him out of the bedroom. And about six months ago, her scent had changed, which worried Archer at first. The last time that happened, he’d gotten a new owner. That had worked out, but Archer didn’t feel like training another new owner.
“Are you ready?” Jack shouted. “We’re already late.”
“Hey! If you were six months pregnant I’d give you a break once in a while.” Katherine started down the stairs. Archer stood at the bottom of the steps watching her hopefully. Maybe she would relent and let him go. She stooped to pat his head as she passed him.
“I’m never going to be six months pregnant, so it’s all speculation, isn’t it?”
Katherine handed Jack her coat so he could help her put it on. “I can’t believe you’re taking me to Wendy’s for Valentine’s Day dinner.”
“You suggested it.” Jack slid her coat up to her shoulders.
Archer sat on the floor and watched them. Something fishy was going on in the room at the top of the stairs. It had been repainted and re-carpeted. New furniture kept showing up.
She leaned back against his
chest. “Oh, I forgot.”
He put his arm around her middle and kissed her cheek.
“I thought you were worried about being late,” she scolded.
“I was. I’m not any more. It’s Valentine’s Day, let’s stand them up.”
“You are evil. Lew needs our support, and if the whole gang doesn't show, he might chicken out and then where will you be? Your grandmother will not be happy.” She turned out of his arms.
“All right, you nag. Archer, back room,” Jack ordered.
Archer flattened his ears to look as pathetic as possible. If they wouldn’t take him with them, they could at least let him stay in the house.
“Let him stay in. It’s cold back there, and we won’t be gone long.” Katherine scratched his ears. “You’ll be good, won’t you?”
Archer licked her hand.
“You are so gullible.” Jack opened the door. “Archer, guard the house. Don’t let anything happen to the baby’s room.”
Katherine walked out first followed by Jack, and the door locked from the outside. Archer ran to the kitchen window and watched them get the truck out of the garage. Archer ran to the foyer window and watched the truck back onto the road and drive away.
They’d done it again. They’d left without him. Archer walked up the stairs and turned into the room at the top. There was a sink and a counter on one wall and a tiny refrigerator under the window. On the other wall sat a crib with a rocking chair beside it. The curtains had flowers all over them. Archer lay down in the middle of the floor. He liked to sleep in this room when they locked him out of the bedroom. It was quiet here. And he didn’t mind much that they locked him out, because since they started sleeping in the same place, they both seemed happier. Archer groaned and rolled over on his side. He could sleep until they got back.
Christa Maurice
For my seventh birthday my brother gave me The Eagles’ Hotel California and I was completely enchanted by the title track. No clue what it meant, but I loved it and my fate was sealed. Unfortunately, as a hard core introvert, performing onstage in any capacity was off the table as a career choice. So I turned to writing and spent many boring college lectures detailing the adventures of Touchstone in the margins of my notebooks. Years later I decided to do something with them and wrote what became Heaven Beside You. These things do tend to get out of control with me. A fun side project that kept me entertained while I was teaching English in Korea turned into a series that I was working on through a stint in Chile, the US and the Middle East. And I’m not slowing down.
When not writing, I like to travel so much that I recently had to have pages added to my passport. I also enjoy eating, reading and listening to music. Often simultaneously.
Also by Christa Maurice
Drawn to the Rhythm Series
Satellite of Love
Heaven Beside You
Twenty Flight Rock
Let Me Be the One
Keep Coming Back to Love
Arden FD Series
Three Alarm Tenant
Struck By Lightning
Spark of Desire
Weaver’s Circle Series
Secrets Everybody Knows
Long Memory
One Ring to Rule
Melody Unchained
Lyrical Press books are published by
Kensington Publishing Corp. 119 West 40th Street New York, NY 10018
Copyright © 2009 Christa Maurice
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any means without the prior written consent of the publisher, excepting brief quotes used in reviews.
Lyrical Press and the L logo are trademarks of Kensington Publishing Corp.
First Electronic Edition: May 2009
ISBN-13: 978-098241-707-2
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