Rescued By Love: Park City Firefighter Romance

by Checketts, Cami

  Her dad chuckled and turned, walking slowly back into the house.

  Cam tugged Sage to a stop. She glanced up at him with those dark brown eyes, and he knew he was a goner.

  “Only a good kiss?” he asked.

  Sage’s beautiful face broke into a smile. “Forgive me. Kissing on the face was amazing.”

  Cam kissed her lightly again. He wanted to get lost in her, but her dad cleared his throat from the entryway, and he realized he’d better focus on impressing the parents before he continued showing their daughter how much he liked her.

  * * *

  Sage thought that dinner with her parents went really well. She was glowing from Cam lifting her and throwing her around like she weighed nothing and the amazing “kissing on the face.” Her parents noticed how happy she was, even if they were shocked that she’d brought a man to church and Sunday dinner since she’d never done either. Cam and her dad fell into easy banter about the Broncos and the 49ers. Cam had apparently been a Broncos fan even before they were good, but her dad still had to raz him. Her dad thought everybody who liked the Broncos was a bandwagoner.

  She liked watching Cam interact with her mom and dad. Even in her parent’s house, he had that aura of being in charge, but he was very respectful to her dad no matter how much her dad teased him, and he complimented her mom on her cooking and her beautiful yard.

  It was interesting, though, how good he was at avoiding much talk about himself. Even her mom, who could’ve dragged a confession out of a nun, couldn’t get him to open up about his past. He’d give a short answer then change the subject. It killed her. Was he embarrassed, uncomfortable, or just an ultra-private person? She wanted to know everything about him, but how to pry without making him lock up even tighter?

  After they helped clean up dinner, they went on a lazy Sunday walk along the historic rail trail. Cam took her hand, and Sage smiled. Things were comfortable, yet exciting with him. If their relationship kept progressing like this, maybe she wouldn’t wait for Levi to get home and give his approval of Cam.

  “What are you thinking?” Cam asked, nodding to a man with his Saint Bernard on a leash.

  “I like being with you Coach Captain Compton.”

  Cam grinned. “Good, because I plan on spending a lot more time with you.”

  “Do you now?” She tilted her head to the side and studied him. “What if I say no?”

  “Nobody tells the Captain no.”

  She laughed. “What would happen to somebody who told you no?”

  Cam shrugged. “I don’t know. It’s never happened. I guess I’d make it a direct order.”

  Sage shook her head. Cam tugged her to a stop. The trail was quiet, and they were shaded by birch and pine trees. He gazed down at her with a warm intensity that had her quivering with anticipation.

  “If I asked to kiss you, you wouldn’t say no, would you?” His voice had dropped low and husky.

  “I’d have to think about it. What would my punishment be if I dared to say no to ‘O Captain, My Captain’?” She couldn’t believe she’d just said the line she’d been thinking so often when she was around him.

  Cam smiled and traced his hand along her neck and into her hair. Her neck tingled. “I’ll make you polish the bumpers on all the trucks at the station.”

  “That doesn’t sound fun.” Sage took a step closer, only inches separated them, and she had to lean back her head to keep focusing on his eyes. “But I don’t work for you, so you have to think of something else.”

  “I’ll tell your students about their crazy teacher who drives like a bat out of Hades and breaks the law parking in front of fire hydrants.” He cupped the back of her head with his palm and aligned their lips. She could feel his warm breath on her mouth.

  “You wouldn’t. That’s just low, mister.”

  “Don’t tell me no, then.”

  Sage smiled. “Hmm, if I must give permission—Coach Captain Cameron Christian Compton, I hereby give you permission to kiss me.” She lowered her voice. “Any time you want.”

  Cam was so close his lips brushed hers when he smiled. “Thank you, Miss Turner.”

  He kissed her so thoroughly neither of them heard the bikers until they almost ran into them. “Coming through!” The lead guy yelled.

  Cam lifted Sage off her feet and whirled her behind him. The bikers dodged past them. Sage’s heart was beating fast, but almost being run over by the bikes had little to do with that. She loved the sensation of being swept off her feet and protected by her firefighting stud.

  “You just instinctively take care of people, don’t you?”

  Cam turned to her. His eyes trailed over her face. “I will always take care of you, Sage.”

  She bit at her lip. “You can catch me?”

  “Definitely.”

  Then he was kissing her again, and she didn’t care who came on the trail. She was going to enjoy each second.

  Chapter Seventeen

  Monday morning Sage was floating on a cloud. To say spending last weekend with Cam was the most incredible of her life was a massive understatement. She tried to focus, but her class seemed to sense that she was off her game, and they were wired. The spring fever didn’t help. Even though they had a month of school left, they were all ready to be playing outside, not cooped up in a classroom.

  Braden was especially crazy. Teasing with everybody, and she honestly thought he was physically unable to sit still. Sage loved the kid, so she didn’t want to punish him, but she had to keep him under control or she’d lose control of the entire class.

  “Braden!” She forced her voice to be stern, even though she was hiding a smile. He’d been imitating the principal, and though Principal Jensen was a fabulous guy, his voice was high-pitched and his eyebrows were constantly drawn together. Braden’s imitation was spot on.

  Braden glanced fearfully at her. Though he loved to tease, he did not love to be reprimanded. He seemed to crumple. “I’m sorry, Miss Turner.”

  “If it happens again, you won’t participate in class store on Friday.”

  His lip trembled as he nodded somberly and then focused back on his math sheet.

  Sage’s insides took a hit. She hated threatening, especially Braden with the class store. His mom made beautiful bracelets and necklaces, and the girls would run up the bidding on them every week, leaving Braden with lots of class money to buy treats, toys, or whatever else was for sale. For a kid who struggled financially in an extremely affluent area, class store was heaven. His one opportunity to blow money, albeit fake money, on anything he wanted.

  Twenty minutes later, she sent the class to art and heaved a sigh of relief. She loved her students, but sometimes a teacher needed a break to recoup and figure out how to teach her students something when she understood how much they’d rather be out in the beautiful spring air. She was right there with them.

  Sage closed her eyes for a few seconds and simply pictured Cam’s face. His dark blue eyes were sparkling at her and those lips, oh, yum. He’d made her promise to come to dinner at the fire station tonight. She didn’t look forward to seeing that JFK guy, but she wanted to get to know Cam’s crew. They were like his family in a lot of ways. Frowning, she wondered when he was going to tell her more about his parents. At least, he’d shared a lot about his sister.

  The fire alarm shattered her moment of quiet. Sage jumped to her feet. Nobody had told her about a drill today. She pushed out of her door and ran toward the art room. It was through the circular foyer and almost on the opposite end of the school from her classroom.

  The smell of smoke reached her before she saw the cloud, hovering like a misty demon in the hallway where her children were supposed to be. She sprinted toward the smoke, but someone grabbed her as she dashed through the foyer area of the school.

  Sage tried to pull free. “My students!” Looking down at the arms around her waist, she realized whoever was holding her was in firefighter gear. She peered over her shoulder through the face mask. I
t was JFK.

  He said something, but she couldn’t understand him through the mask. He picked her up and tried to carry her out of the building, but he obviously wasn’t as strong as Cam and couldn’t move her very effectively.

  Sage hit him. “No! My students are in there.” Her voice was clogging up with emotion. How bad was the fire? Were her kiddos in danger? She’d reprimanded Braden. What if that was the last thing he heard her say?

  JFK dragged her outside, shoved her against Eli, one of the male teachers, and gestured at him to hold her then turned and ran back into the building.

  “Sage?” Eli questioned. “You okay?”

  “My students are in the art room.”

  Eli’s eyes widened.

  “Is that where the fire is?” She demanded.

  “That’s what I heard.” He nodded.

  “No!” Sage screamed out, trying to break free, but Eli effectively restrained her. She could see flames and smoke billowing out of the window that she was certain was the art room. Many of the children were lined up outside, some crying, some staring in shock. None of them looked injured, but amidst the chaos none of them were lined up with their class like they were supposed to be.

  “I’m sure your class got out.” Eli reassured her, but Sage didn’t believe him.

  More firefighters spilled out of the building, several of them carrying children from her class. She ripped her arm from Eli’s grip and ran to them. “Janie!”

  The little girl glanced up at her. “Miss Turner.” She sobbed.

  “Are you okay?”

  She nodded, tears tracing down her soot-streaked face.

  The firefighter sat her on the grass, where EMTs were gathering around the children who were burned and checking for severity.

  “Is anyone else in there?” Sage asked the little girl.

  She nodded again. “Stuff exploded, and Mrs. James got caught under the desk. She yelled at us to run, but Braden wouldn’t leave her. The fire got really bad.”

  More firefighters came out carrying children. Sage recognized Cam even with his gear on since she’d seen him wearing it before. He set Yvette on the ground. Sage ran to him, grabbing his arm. He turned and glanced down at her.

  “Braden!” she said loudly so he could hear her over the noise.

  He glanced around the yard and said something she couldn’t understand.

  “He’s not here. Janie said Mrs. James was trapped under a desk, and Braden was trying to help her.”

  Cam nodded and took off at a run back into the school, looking like a human tank with all of his gear on.

  Confusion reigned around her. Sage tried to reassure the students gathering around her, but she continually watched the front door for some sign of Cam and Braden. After several excruciating minutes, she couldn’t wait one more second. What had gone wrong? Where were they?

  “I need you all to go sit by the flagpole,” she instructed. “And I’ll be right back.”

  They obeyed quietly, obviously subdued by the scare. Glancing around to make certain Eli or JFK wouldn’t stop her, she crept toward the building. Then when she was sure she wouldn’t be stopped, she ran through the foyer and down the hallway toward the art room. The smoke choked her. She coughed and had to slow her steps, but she couldn’t give up. She had to help Cam find Braden. Isabella couldn’t survive without Braden, and Sage couldn’t survive without Cam.

  * * *

  Cam hustled back into the classroom. He thought everyone was out, but if Sage said Braden and the teacher were still in here, he had to look. The smoke was so thick he couldn’t see anything. He dropped to the ground and started searching, yelling into his mic. “Powers! JFK! I think there are still people in here. Get back in and help me search.”

  “Got it.” JFK responded immediately.

  “Almost to you,” Powers said.

  Cam army-crawled around the room, seeing little jean clad legs in the corner. He scurried to the body. Braden. His shirt had caught fire. No! Cam beat the flames out then dragged him free of the debris and picked him up. He was completely non-responsive. Cam had no clue how bad the burns were, but he couldn’t stop and let worry overtake him right now.

  He ran in a crouch to the door with the little boy and collided with Powers. The smoke was so thick they hadn’t seen each other until they were on top of each other. Handing him off, he said, “Take him. I think the teacher is trapped.”

  JFK appeared. “Let’s go, Cap.”

  Cam turned to lead the way. They had to drop to hands and knees for visibility to cross the last twenty feet. Sure enough the teacher’s body was trapped under a desk. The metal was so hot, Cam was certain his gloves were going to melt. He strained against the desk. It didn’t budge. JFK turned and pushed with his back. The desk groaned and shifted.

  “Do that again!” Cam shouted.

  With an audible grunt, JFK put everything he had into it. Cam pushed with his hands and the desk cleared just enough for Cam to grab the woman’s leg and drag her free. She was badly burned. He had no clue if she was alive or dead. The desk fell back with a crash, and Cam lifted the woman’s torso and wrapped her up from behind like he was about to do the Heimlich. JFK grabbed her legs and they shuffled through the smoke and out into the hallway where there wasn’t much better visibility. For the hallway to get so much worse in the little time he’d been in the room, conditions were deteriorating quickly. The building would probably be a total loss. If the battalion chief hadn’t already gone defensive and pulled out all of the attack crews, Cam was going to recommend it. Halfway down the hallway, he stumbled over something, but righted himself and kept going.

  “She’s not a lightweight,” JFK muttered.

  Cam didn’t respond. He conjured up a quick prayer that the woman and Braden both survived.

  They finally cleared the building and the EMTs met them with a stretcher. Cam didn’t have time to look and see if the woman was going to be okay. He pulled off his helmet and mask as he hurried to the principal. “Did your teachers do a head count? Is everyone accounted for?”

  “Yes. Braden and Mrs. James were the last.”

  Cam pushed out a breath. The adrenaline leaked out and he had time to process it. Braden! Was he okay? He hurried toward the ambulance, looking around for Sage.

  “Sir!” A male teacher approached him. “One of the female teachers went back in there.”

  Cam looked around desperately for Sage.

  “Miss Turner,” the guy said, confirming his fears.

  Cam rushed toward the building. Sage! What was she thinking? “Powers! Emily! Old Guy! JFK! Sage is still in there!” While in motion, he slid his face mask back on then got his helmet in place.

  He could see his crew rushing in after him and heard their responses but didn’t register them. Sage. He couldn’t lose her. All the memories of that night rushed back. The firefighters carrying him and Caylee out. His parents’ bodies finally being brought out. Burned. Smoke inhalation. Echo condition. He couldn’t remember all the words the firefighters and EMTs had flung around that night, but it had all equated to no hope for his family.

  Not Sage!

  Please, Lord. He prayed. Please help me find her.

  He suddenly remembered stumbling over something in the hallway. As he thought about it, it could’ve been a body. Pressurized smoke shot past Cam as he made entry, and even through his turnout gear, he could feel the heat. The thermal layer was dropping and fast. If anyone was still alive in there without fire gear on, they wouldn’t be for long.

  Dropping to the ground, he searched below the smoke layer, which only gave about eighteen inches of clear air. Sage lay sprawled on the industrial carpet. The flames were nowhere near her, but he knew as well as anybody that smoke inhalation could be deadly.

  He reached her body and picked her up in his arms, hurrying back toward the entrance. “I’ve got her,” he said into his mic. “Clear out.”

  His crew responded, but all Cam could focus on was Sage. Two amb
ulances were screaming away from the scene as he carried her body outside.

  “No!” Cam yelled, desperate to help her. “She needs to be transported immediately. Get me some oxygen!”

  “We’ve got more ambulances coming.” Emily’s voice was soothing, but it didn’t help. She keyed her mic to let command know they had brought out another victim.

  Cam set Sage gently on the grass, knelt down, and ripped his helmet off. He had to focus, but the fear was overwhelming, and darkness edged into his vision. Despite the heat of the fire and the sweat soaking everything he was wearing, his body was cold. He pulled off his gloves and felt for a pulse. It was there.

  “Cap?” Jake, a paramedic from B Platoon tugged at him. “Let me look at her.”

  “No!” Cam elbowed him away. He leaned down and put his cheek against her nose. The sweetest breath he’d ever felt brushed against his cheek. “She’s got a pulse, and she’s breathing,” he told Jake.

  “Okay. That’s good, Quad C. The ambulance is two minutes out. Let’s get some oxygen started on her. It’ll be okay, Cap.”

  It wasn’t okay, though. She wasn’t awake. Was it the smoke, or did she have another injury? Cam’s hopes and dreams were fading and imploding the longer she lay there unresponsive.

  Cam forced himself to scoot out of the way. Jake grabbed the oxygen, placed a non-rebreather mask at fifteen liters per minute over her face, and Cam found himself holding his breath as oxygen filtered into her lungs.

  The high-pitched squeal of an ambulance cut through the smoky air.

  “Miss Turner?” A little girl’s voice cried out. Soon other children were joining in the cry, some wailing and sobbing for their teacher.

  Cam lifted her into his arms and hurried to meet the ambulance. Jake followed, holding the oxygen tank. They rolled to a stop, and Jake was opening the back door for him. Cam hefted her up and onto the gurney and started looking for a pulse oximeter.

  “Cap. Let me help her,” Jake said. “I know where everything is.”