Getting Off Easy

by Erin Nicholas

  Harper frowned slightly. Surely that wasn’t true. But she really had no idea. “Well, I’m sure she’s very proud of you.”

  Sophie just shrugged. “I hope so. I’m trying really hard not to be like my sister and just constantly be in trouble and needing help.”

  Harper couldn’t imagine the straight-A, always-on-time, hardworking, bright young woman being any trouble, but again, she didn’t know her that well. Younger Harper had a lot in common with what she had observed about Sophie, but there were always layers.

  “By the way,” Sophie said, “I love babies, and I’m very responsible. And I could always use a little extra cash.” She smiled. “If you ever need a babysitter, I’d love to do it.”

  Harper hadn’t been expecting that, but it immediately sounded great. The girl was the epitome of responsibility, and, of course, as a college student, a little extra money, maybe a home-cooked meal, a big comfy couch with a TV she didn’t have to share with a roommate for a night, probably sounded perfect.

  “You know what? I’m going to take you up on that,” Harper said. “We actually need to go out tomorrow night.”

  They still needed to hit the jazz club to find some woman James had met through the bartender there. They had planned to ask Lexi and Caleb to do it, but they had their own kids, and Sophie would be able to come over and take care of Isaac in James’s apartment, so they wouldn’t have to transport him back and forth.

  “I’m available,” Sophie said. “What time?”

  “Why don’t you give me your number, and I’ll let you know for sure?” Harper said. “James works until seven, so it will be after that. Is that too late?”

  “Not at all. Is it okay if I bring my laptop and work on a paper after he goes to sleep?”

  “Absolutely.”

  “Great.”

  They exchanged cell numbers, and Harper watched Sophie head off across campus toward her next class.

  “Well, that was very maternal,” Celia mused.

  “Setting up a sitter so we can go out?”

  “Yep.”

  Harper grinned. “It was, wasn’t it?”

  “I think you’re going to be just fine with this,” Celia said.

  Harper’s heart thunked against her rib cage. She hoped so. She really did.

  8

  “You proposed?”

  James laughed at Caleb’s incredulous expression even though he felt just as incredulous really.

  “Listen, I don’t need two years with an amazing woman to realize she’s amazing and that I want to keep her around forever,” he said, referencing the fact that it had taken his friend two years to realize that his feelings for his now girlfriend were more than friendship.

  Caleb opened his mouth, clearly to protest. But quickly shut it again. Because he had no argument here. He nodded. “Fair enough.”

  “So yeah, I proposed. I didn’t really mean to, but it felt right. I mean I wasn’t really ready for the dad thing either, but I’m in the midst of it and I like it. Might as well jump in with both feet, right?”

  They were lounging in the living room area of the fire station. James was in an armchair, one foot propped on the coffee table, a bottle of water in hand. Caleb was in a recliner across from him, tipped back, his attention half on the ballgame on TV. It had been a quiet night so far, thankfully. James was operating on less sleep than usual, but even more, his mind was miles away from Engine 29. He’d be ready instantly if a call came in. That stuff was ingrained, and he took his job seriously. But for now, he was grateful to not have more on his mind than the woman and baby who had taken over his heart in just a few days.

  Who was he kidding? Harper had already been there, and it had taken Isaac about an hour to get to him.

  “Hey, if you can get a woman like the professor to marry you, hell yes, you should go for it,” Caleb said. “She’s way too good for you.”

  James grinned. He knew Caleb didn’t actually mean that. Well, he maybe did mean it—and he wasn’t wrong—but he thought James was a good guy, too. He’d been impressed with the way James had stepped up with Isaac. And that meant a lot. James looked up to Caleb. The other man was older and had been a firefighter for years. He was James’s lieutenant, and he ran Engine 29 with a firm command but also a sense of true concern and care for every firefighter. He demanded a lot, but he also gave a lot. He never asked anyone to do something he wouldn’t do himself, and he definitely supported the men all having lives and loves outside of the station as well. Caleb was also raising his niece, Shay. He’d lost his sister and brother-in-law in a car accident and immediately stepped up as Shay’s guardian. He was a great dad, a great boss, and a great friend.

  “Yeah, I’m not above using her affection for that baby to make her stick around,” James said lightly. He knew Harper felt more for him and that Isaac wasn’t the whole reason she was around, but he meant it. If the baby allowed him to press forward with her a little quicker than he might under normal circumstances, he was going to take advantage of it.

  Caleb nodded. “Well, I can personally attest to the fact that four hands make things easier than just two.” He gave James a sincere look. “It’s great to have a partner. Seriously. Single parents are amazing. I know several. They deserve all the kudos. But if you choose to do it on your own, know that you have a whole bunch of people who will be there for you,” he said. “Of course, if she’ll stick around and make your life easier and happier, then, fuck yeah, go for it.”

  “Thanks,” James said. “I appreciate it.”

  “So you’re just giving up on finding the mom, then?” Caleb asked.

  This was where it got tricky. Because James was actually hoping to ask Caleb for some help here. “No. I think we still need to talk to her.”

  “Makes sense. If you can anyway. Get as much info as possible.”

  “Right. So…” James trailed off.

  Caleb looked away from the TV, eyebrow up. “So, what?”

  “I need to tell you something.”

  Caleb sighed. “Shit.”

  “You don’t even know what it is.”

  “Is it something I’m going to like?”

  “Um...”

  “So, shit.”

  “It’s not bad,” James protested, dropping his foot to the floor and leaning to rest his arms on his thighs. “But I could use some help.”

  “What did you do?”

  James wasn’t sure if he should be offended that Caleb assumed he’d screwed up somehow or relieved that his friend and boss wasn’t already shooting down his “I need some help” request.

  “I slept with Ethan’s sister after his wedding.” He kept his voice down. Ethan was on shift tonight, and even if he wasn’t, everyone in the station knew him, of course.

  Caleb groaned. “Dammit, James. Emily?”

  “He’s only got one sister?”

  “Yes.”

  “Shit.”

  “Exactly.”

  A sister was bad enough, but his only sister? He might be even more protective of her.

  “Does he like her?” James asked. Maybe they had a horrible relationship. Maybe she was the black sheep. Maybe they hardly spoke.

  “Adores her.”

  “Dammit.”

  Caleb shook his head. “Why did it have to be Emily?”

  James shrugged. “She’s gorgeous and brought me muffins.”

  “God, you’re easy.”

  “Chocolate cream cheese muffins from Marci’s. You have to get up early to get those before they sell out. The girl put some real effort into it.”

  Suddenly Caleb sat up, the footrest of the recliner thunking into place. “Shit. Are you telling me about Emily because you think she might be the mom?”

  James nodded.

  “Oh, no.” Caleb scrubbed a hand over his face. “Oh, shit, no.”

  “But if she is, either Ethan doesn’t know she had a baby...” James shot a glance toward the doorway. The other guys were busy playing pool, sleeping, or were
on kitchen duty and were cleaning up after dinner. But soon enough they’d start filtering into the room with the big screen. “Or he doesn’t know it was me.”

  Caleb shot up from his chair and started pacing. “Fuck. Fuck, fuck, fuck.” He swung to glare at James. “You know how this is going to affect the whole house if you two have this kind of issue? Dammit! You didn’t even fucking use a condom?”

  “Of course I did!” James shot back, again looking at the door then frowning at his friend. “Jesus. I’m not an idiot.”

  “Was it old or something?”

  “I don’t have old condoms,” James said. “I go through them plenty fast.”

  Caleb ran a hand through his hair and blew out a breath.

  James just waited. He knew his friend would process the fact that not only had Logan, one of Caleb’s best friends, knocked his now wife up on their first and supposed-to-be-only night together, but Lexi had accidentally gotten pregnant as well. It happened.

  “Sorry,” Caleb finally said. “I’m just worried about the house.”

  “I know. Me too.”

  “So that means you don’t say a fucking word,” Caleb told him, hands on his hips.

  James shook his head. “I have to talk to her. He’s the only one who can give me her number.”

  “You cannot even hint that something went on between you,” Caleb said. “She didn’t tell him. You can’t be the one to tell her brother about a baby that she gave up, James.”

  James thought about that. “So, what do I do?”

  “Let me handle it.”

  James sat up. “You? How are you going to handle it?”

  “I have access to his personnel file. Maybe she’s listed as a contact. If not, his mom or wife surely is. I can come up with some reason that I need her number.”

  James was amazed. “Like what?”

  “I don’t know,” Caleb said, clearly exasperated. “But I’ll think of something.”

  “You’d do that for me?”

  Caleb met his eyes. And nodded. “Yeah. I’d do that for you. You’re my friend. I’ll always have your back.”

  James swallowed hard. “Thanks, man.”

  “And you’re trying to do the right thing. Being a dad is hard enough when you do know everything about the kid from day one. Starting in the dark doesn’t help you or Isaac.”

  James knew that Caleb was going out on a limb here. He wasn’t doing anything unethical, exactly. He was going to find a phone number and was going to try to avoid lying directly to his friend if possible. He was helping another friend out. But this was a gray area about how he was using his power and access to records.

  “I don’t want you to get into trouble,” James said.

  “She dumped the baby on your doorstep,” Caleb said, frowning. “I know you and Ethan don’t get along all the time, but I know him. He’d be pissed at her for that. And I have to believe that he’d want to help the people caring for his nephew however he could. Especially if it was to give them access to his sister’s information so they could make good decisions. That’s not a big ask of him. If he could, you know, separate all of that from the fact that you fucked his sister.”

  “Whose sister?” Daniel Abrams came into the room, followed by three other guys.

  Caleb and James’s alone time was over.

  “Hey, guys,” Caleb said. “James is engaged.”

  Caleb’s obvious attempt to change the subject worked. Daniel stopped with his hand on the refrigerator door. He looked over, clearly shocked. “No shit?”

  James liked the idea of being engaged to Harper. There was the little detail of her not saying yes yet. But she hadn’t said no either. Words mattered to this woman, and there was no way she was going to give him the biggest one of her life without thinking about it hard first.

  But he really wanted that yes.

  “No shit,” Caleb answered for him. “He’s a one-woman man now.”

  “Who’s a one-woman man?” Ethan asked as he came into the room.

  James looked over at Caleb.

  “James.” Caleb was watching Ethan closely.

  Clearly, Caleb had seen Ethan coming and had timed his comment for Ethan to hear.

  “Really.” Ethan gave James a look. “You find Jesus or something?”

  Well, Isaac was a biblical name, and he’d more or less found him. “Yeah, something like that,” James told him.

  “Huh. Well, good for you. A good woman is what most of us need,” Ethan said, grabbing an apple out of the bowl by the sink.

  “Speak for yourself,” Mark Lebers said. “I’m looking for a good man.”

  “Or a few good men, right?” Daniel joked.

  Mark saluted him with his soda can.

  “So we were talking about when James should introduce Harper to his family,” Caleb said. It seemed he was talking to the room at large, but he was looking at Ethan.

  “She hasn’t met your family yet?” Ethan asked, taking a seat on the end of the couch closest to Caleb.

  “Not yet, but they’ve heard about her.” That was true. James had told his parents about the cute professor who lived across from him and shared custody of his dog. More than once.

  “When did you introduce Brianna to your family?” Caleb asked.

  James wasn’t sure where they were going here, but they were now on the subject of Ethan’s family. Which included Emily.

  “Man, I don’t remember exactly,” Ethan said. “After we’d dated a few months, I guess. When I knew it was serious. Way before I proposed, though.”

  “James has the same thing that you do with his family not living close,” Caleb said. “Makes it a little tougher.”

  “How often do you see them?” James asked.

  Ethan shrugged. “Every few months.”

  “So when you go home to visit, you see them all at once?” Caleb asked. “Do your siblings all live close to your parents?”

  “It’s just me and my sister,” Ethan said. “And she’s in Oklahoma City. About four hours from my parents.”

  “So you don’t see her as often?” Caleb asked.

  “Nope. We talk a lot, though.”

  “Man,” Caleb said. “Try to see her as much as you can. I know that siblings sometimes grow apart when they get to be adults, but I’ll tell you from personal experience, you never know what might happen, and you will regret not staying close.”

  There was a moment of total silence.

  Everyone knew about Caleb’s sister dying. Many of them had been working at Engine 29 when it had happened. Those who hadn’t been, knew all about Shay and how he’d come to be raising his niece.

  James stared at his friend. Wow. Caleb had played the dead-sister card for him.

  Ethan cleared his throat. “Yeah, you’re right. I see her as often as I can. I just saw her a couple of months ago.”

  Caleb shot a look at James.

  James frowned. A couple of months?

  If that was true, that would mean that Ethan would have seen her pregnant. He would have known she was having a baby. There was no way he knew James was the dad—evidenced by the fact that James was alive and had no black eyes or broken bones—but Ethan couldn’t have missed the pregnancy.

  “A couple of months?” Caleb said. “You sure? Time goes fast. You need to try to see her every other month at least. It’s important to stay close.”

  Brotherly advice from the guy with the dead sister could seem a little over the top, but Caleb would be given a little leeway if he seemed to be pushing the topic.

  “Yeah, actually more like six weeks,” Ethan said. “It was my dad’s birthday.”

  Damn. Six weeks? She would have been very pregnant. James supposed he owed Emily for not telling Ethan that James was the father. Maybe she’d known what a huge rift that would cause at the station. The guys here had to work together and work well. Lives depended on it. He appreciated that she got that.

  But what about the suddenly-not-there nephew? What story had she
given Ethan about the baby?

  Caleb nodded. “Good. That’s good. So, do you have a brother-in-law? Nieces or nephews?”

  James gave him a frown. Ease up there, dude. But Caleb was trying to help James. He was Ethan’s boss. And his sister had died. James supposed he could get away with this.

  “Nope. Not married. No kids.”

  “She ever planning to do either of those things?”

  Ethan shrugged. “Yeah, I think so. She’s dating a guy right now that she likes a lot. I think she wants to be a mom.”

  “My sister got pregnant with Shay before they got married. They were headed that way anyway, so it worked out, but she was a little freaked out for a bit.” Caleb leaned in, pinning Ethan with a look. “You the kind of brother she would confide in? Would she tell you if something like that happened?”

  Ethan nodded. “Yeah, man, I think so.”

  “You need to be sure. You need to be that kind of brother.” Caleb sat back and looked around at the other guys. “You all need to be that kind of brother. If you’ve got sisters, for sure, but if you’ve got brothers or even just friends. Be someone they can come to and admit their fuck-ups and know that you’ll have their backs anyway.” He looked at Ethan again. “You wouldn’t want her keeping a big secret from you, would you? You wouldn’t like knowing she was worried she couldn’t tell you something that was going on with her because you’d react badly, right?”

  Ethan shook his head slowly. “No, I definitely wouldn’t.”

  “Good,” Caleb said.

  James was watching him with wide eyes. Caleb had really gotten into that for a minute there. Yes, he’d been trying to help get information for James, but he meant every word he’d just said.

  Caleb looked over at James. He lifted a brow.

  James frowned. Then it hit him.

  Emily wasn’t Isaac’s mom.

  She hadn’t been pregnant.

  She would have told Ethan if she was. And Ethan had just seen her six weeks ago. It sounded like she wanted kids, too. She had a boyfriend and a good job. Not really a classic candidate for abandoning a baby in a basket.

  James sat back in his chair as that realization sank in.