My kids file out of the class with me right behind them. The hallway is smoky, but I’m not sure where the fire is coming from. What feels like hours later, though I know it’s only been mere minutes, we’re at the back side of the school parking lot. The school is empty, and the fire department has arrived to put out whatever fire has occurred in the school. I don’t know how much time passes before Shayna is making her way over to me and the firemen are wrapping up and exiting the school.
“Honey, you okay?” she asks.
“Mmmhmm.” I nod quietly. Now that the danger is gone, my panic is setting in. My heart rate has kicked up, and I can feel my body getting clammy. Shit. I do not need this here. Not right now. Not in front of my kids. I breathe in deeply, trying to get a reign on the anxiety that’s moving through my body.
I can hear murmured voices around me. I can make out Shayna’s voice. She’s talking to someone. I try to focus so that I can get a hold of myself, to try and stop this before it gets worse. There’s a male voice—or two, I don’t know. I can’t distinguish them anymore. My body starts shaking. Dammit. It’s happening and there’s no way to stop it.
A strong, warm hand lands on my shoulder. I feel it instantly. Surprisingly, my breaths become more even. I can feel my heart rate calming down, and slowly but surely, the panic attack is receding.
“Ma’am, can you hear me? Are you okay?” The voice is deep and rumbling through me. I start nodding my head, gathering as much strength as I can before I open my eyes.
“Can you look at me? I need to make sure you’re alright.” The voice is speaking to me again. I wish that voice could speak to me all night. I’m sure I would have the most peaceful sleep.
I open my eyes and stare at my hands, which are knotted together at my waist. I untangle my fingers and shake out the last of the panic attack. I don’t know how I was able to get control of it, but I am so thankful that I did.
“Ma’am?” There’s that damn voice again. Only then do I recognize the hand that’s sliding down my shoulder and gripping my upper arm.
I look up to thank whomever has been holding me stable through all of this. My eyes run over a trim, fit body encased in a fire suit. He must have discarded his jacket, because I can see his muscular arms through his gray shirt. Up, up, up farther, to a gorgeous face that seems so familiar. My eyes roam over his chiseled jaw smattered with day-old stubble, and up to his sharp nose. When my eyes collide with the deep emerald green staring at me beneath a mop of messy dark hair, I can’t hold back my gasp.
“Rhett?” I whisper.
He drops my arm like it’s on fire. The irony isn’t lost on me. He stands there, eyes scanning back and forth over my face like he’s seeing a ghost. Like it’s unbelievable that I’m standing right in front of him after all these years. Which it kind of is.
“M?”
Chapter Four
Rhett
I don’t understand. This can’t be Emma Grace. This can’t be M. It’s been too long. Why would she even be back here? I stare at this ghost of a person that I once loved so much. I stare for what feels like forever, or maybe it’s just seconds. My eyes drink her up. Shocked gray-blue eyes stare up at me. Her auburn hair is in a mass of waves around her beautiful face. Her soft pink lips are parted on a gasp. I can hear people calling my name and the faint noises of the chaos surrounding me. I should move to help, but I’m frozen in this moment and I’m powerless to control it. She just stares back at me with those beautiful gray eyes, both of us too shell-shocked to speak. She closes her eyes and shakes her head, confusion still evident in her features.
“Rhett, man, come the hell on. We got a walk-through to do before we can work on making your naughty librarian fantasy a reality,” I hear Micah yell. That snaps me from my daze. I have a job to do. I jog off in Micah’s direction, looking back to where I just left Emma.
Smoke still fills the halls, and I’m truly thankful that they got everyone out safely. The fire itself isn’t the only dangerous thing; the smoke alone can suffocate a person in minutes. Even though this was a very minor fire, it could have gotten out of control very easily.
We survey the area, and there seems to be no logical explanation for the fire in the first place. It started in the middle of the room on a bookcase and spread outwards, traveling along the numerous books on the shelves. It had to be started by someone, because there’s nothing electrical in the middle of the room where the shelves were lined up. In my opinion, it looks like someone intentionally started this fire, but why? Why would someone risk all of these kids? It just doesn’t make sense. I hear Chief talking with the sheriff, and they seem to both agree that this fire was set on purpose. Now we let the investigation begin and hope they catch this shithead.
“Dude, why the fuck did you spaz out back there? You never do that shit. I’ve been known to freak out a time or two, but never you. Hell, you always set us straight. Everything okay, man?” Micah asks, concern dripping from his voice.
“Yeah, I’m fine. I just saw someone from my past is all, and I was stuck there like my feet were covered in concrete or something. Do you remember the girl I told you about when we were kids?” I ask him, knowing he remembers, because she was all I ever talked about back then.
“M&M? Holy shit, man. The holy grail of females has returned to Mobile?” He pauses, slapping a hand on my chest as his eyes widen. “What if she decides she’s in love with me? You know, at first sight. Women can’t control that shit, and it would be awkward for our friendship.” He’s joking, I know, but it still pisses me off.
“Micah, shut the hell up. First things first—you do not get to call her M, you got that? She is Emma to you and anyone else. Second—I seriously doubt you have to worry about her loving you at first sight. Repulsion seems more likely. Got it?” I say, knowing I have no claim on her, but for some reason I can’t control myself. The shit-eating grin on Micah’s face says he got the reaction he was fishing for.
“Rhett,” he says between laughs, “you’ve still got it bad, brother. This is going to be so fucking fun to watch. C’mon, lover boy. Let’s go see if she’s still out there.”
Except for the random few bystanders, news crews, and staff, most of the people have cleared out by the time we get back outside. I go in search of Emma Grace, but it’s hard with people constantly stopping me and asking questions. Normally it doesn’t bother me, but today I need to get to her, check on her, and—fuck—make sure it really is her and not just my mind playin’ tricks on me.
“Why, lookie here, if it ain’t this town’s finest. Rhett, Micah, I’m not sure what we’d ever do without y’all. Big ol’ strong firemen, riskin’ y’all’s lives for us, day in and day out. I sleep so much better at night knowing y’all are out there,” Shayna coos in her best “sexy” voice, laying it on thick, as always. Shayna hits on us every chance she gets. I never can tell if it’s Micah or me she wants. She’s always popping up out of nowhere. Now, mind you, she’s far from ugly, but she annoys the fuck out of me. For that reason alone, I could never even bring myself to go on one date with her. Thank God for Micah, because he can normally sweet-talk her enough to get her off our backs. I wondered at one time if he secretly had a crush on her, but that would be crazy. Micah doesn’t have crushes, he has whores, and Shayna is a good girl. Far from a whore.
“Thank you, Shay-belle. That means a lot to me. Truly touches me on a deep level,” Micah says, and I try my best not to roll my eyes at his dumb ass. He is in hero mode now. No stopping him when he’s in hero mode. I’m half-expecting a speech to follow.
“Shayna, can I ask you a question?” I ask, glancing at her.
“Sure thing, sugar. What’s up?” she purrs.
“That woman who was out here earlier with you. Who is she and what is she doing here?”
“Oh, that’s Emma Grace. She’s new here. She just moved in next door to me a lil’ over a month ago and started teachin’ here shortly after. She moved from some fancy-schmancy place up north just to
accept this job here. Can you believe that? Leavin’ that big city just to move to this little town? I’m not sure I ever could do that. Her friend Cam moved with her too. They’re some sweet girls. I like havin’ them next door. Why you ask? Do you know her?” she asks, confused.
“Yeah, I know her from a very long time ago. I’m not even sure if she’s the same person anymore or if she’s completely different. One more thing, Shayna—she was pretty shaken when I got here. Did she seem okay when she left?”
“Oh, that’s great that y’all knew each other! And no, she wasn’t okay. Apparently she suffers from severe anxiety. Poor thing. She was havin’ a panic attack when y’all got here, but it seemed to pass, oddly enough—after you talked her down. That was kind of amazin’ to watch, Rhett. I’ve never seen anythin’ like it. You should stop by sometime and see her, and don’t forget to say hi to me,” she says, grinning.
“Sure thing. Thanks, Shayna.”
“No problem, sugar.”
I don’t know what to do. Hell, I don’t even know what to say to her. It’s been so long. I honestly never thought that I would see her again. My mind is racing. I don’t know exactly how to handle this, but I know one thing for sure; now that she’s back, there is no fucking way that I’m letting her go again. I lost her once and I will not fucking lose her again.
Chapter Five
Emma Grace
“Pick up. Pick up. Pick up, pick up, pick up!” I’m mumbling into my cell phone.
“Hi. It’s Cam. I’m too busy being fabulous to answer my phone right now. Leave a message and I will call you back if I feel like it. Toodles.” Cam’s voice fills my ear, followed by that horrible beep that’s on every voicemail in America.
“Cameron Lynn. I swear to all that is holy, if you do not call me back the second you get this message, I will officially denounce you of your best-friend status. Call me.” I end the call and start playing the past few hours over and over in my head again.
I’m still in shock. I don’t know what else to feel. My body is strung so tightly I feel like a rubber band stretched to its limits. Rhett. Freaking. McCoy. Go figure I would run into my childhood best friend—my now very grown, very sexy childhood best friend—during the middle of a flipping panic attack. He probably thinks I’m a basket case.
Shayna and I talked for a minute when Rhett took off to go do whatever it is firemen do when a fire is put out. She was looking at me like I was about to break, so I had to explain my panic attacks. I hate doing that. Most people think it’s some exaggerated mind game that I could control if I wanted to. Trust me, if I could control it, I would. I mean, do people actually think I get a kick out of not being able to take a full breath, or having spots cloud my vision, or trying to stand while my limbs shake? Normally my anxiety medication curbs the attacks, but in high-stress situations—like, I don’t know, your freaking school catching on fire—the attacks still come and I’m helpless to stop them.
I thought the brisk walk home would clear my head, but as I reach my front door, I realize I was sorely mistaken. I’m still a wreck and I don’t really know why. Maybe it was seeing someone that I never thought I would see again for the first time in 15 years. Maybe it was that Rhett was even more ruggedly handsome than I had imagined over the years. Maybe it’s the fact that I acted like a bumbling idiot in front of him. I mean, if I would have known I was going to see Rhett, I would have definitely brought my A game. Normally I’m hanging around a C. I’m not totally sure that I even have an A game, but I’ll be dammed if I don’t find it before I see him again.
My phone buzzes in my hand, and I realize I’m standing in the middle of my living room, staring at nothing. I look down to my phone and see a text from Cam.
Cam: Everything okay? Call you soon.
Me: Bring beer. And chocolate. And Johnny Depp.
Cam: Oh SHIT. I’ll be there in 20.
I smile and relax a little. I know that once Cam gets here and I hash this all out, I’ll be fine. There is nothing that beer, chocolate, and Johnny Depp can’t fix.
True to her word, Cam flies through the door exactly twenty minutes after her last text.
“Hell’s bells, chiquita. What is going on? I got here as fast as I could. Thank God it’s so close to Halloween, because Redbox only had the latest Pirates of the Caribbean, but I managed to get a copy of Sleepy Hollow in their holiday section, so we are in luck!” she states proudly, holding up the DVDs. She flings the beer and bag of mixed chocolate in the chair and comes to sit next to me.
“So, the school caught on fire today,” I start.
“WHAT! Oh my GOD, Emma Grace! Are you okay? Are the kids okay? What happened? When?”
“It’s okay. I’m fine, the kids are fine. Apparently it started in the library, but I don’t know much more than that,” I say, trying to calm her down a little bit. “But afterwards, when we were all standing in the parking lot, I started having a panic attack.”
“Oh shit.”
“Oh yeah, and to make it better, I had a hot, sexy fireman come help me out.” Her eyes get wide, and a small smile starts to take over her face “Of course, much to my surprise, said fireman turned out to be Rhett.” Cam knows everything about me, so name-dropping Rhett will sink in pretty quickly.
Her jaw drops. “Surely you can’t be serious right now.”
“I am serious. And don’t call me Shirley,” I say with a grin.
“It’s worse than I thought. You’re quoting Airplane! for Christ’s sake.” She hops off the couch and heads straight for the beer. “Seventy-five points for that one, by the way. You know, creativity in a high-stress situation and all,” she says over her shoulder as she puts the rest of the beer in the fridge.
Handing me my bottle, she perches on the coffee table, in full counselor mode. “So, what happened with Rhett?”
“Nothing happened, really. I was a total spaz. Once I finally calmed down and realized that he was the one talking to me, I choked. All I could get out was his name. He looked at me like he’d seen a ghost, then got called away for fireman duties,” I explained.
“Did he not say anything to you before he left?”
“I didn’t wait around to find out if he would or not. I explained to Shayna about my panic attacks and told her I needed to get home. They had already dismissed the kids for the day, and most of the teachers were leaving anyway. I just walked home.” She looks at me like I’ve lost my mind.
“Why would you walk away from your long-lost childhood bestie turned sexy fireman superhero?” she asks.
Before I can answer her, someone knocks on our door. I look at Cam like she’s expecting someone. “Don’t look at me,” she says. “I’m not expecting anyone.”
Then it dawns on me. With the events of today, it could only be one person. Shayna is probably just as freaked as I was about the fire. “It’s probably Shayna,” I say, standing to answer the door. “She said she would probably swing by after things calmed down at the school.”
I fling the door open with a smile, expecting to see my new friend. What I get is my old friend. Hand poised to knock again, Rhett stares right at me like he still can’t believe I’m standing here. He shakes his head a little and runs his hands through his dark hair.
“M&M. Jesus Christ. It is you,” he says, a smile lighting up his face.
I’m still standing there, holding on to the doorknob. “What are you doing here?” I ask before I can help it. Word vomit. It’s the worst. I swear.
He backs up a little and puts his hands in the pockets of his well-worn jeans. “Sorry to just show up like this. It’s just, I was talking to Shayna, and she mentioned you lived next door to her. Christ, M, it’s been forever. I wanted to know if you were okay, you know, after today—with everything at the school.” He continues to explain while I just stand there like an idiot.
“Sorry! I didn’t mean it like that. I’m just shocked to see you is all. I mean, I saw you earlier, obviously. But having you here, it’s surprising.” I of
fer him a smile, hoping to make this whole thing less awkward. “And I’m good. The whole thing earlier just threw me for a loop. The fire. The kids. It was just a lot. But everybody is okay, so I’m good.”
“Good.” He smiles at me again and rocks back on his heels. The silence stretches between us. He runs his hands through his hair again. “Listen, I just wanted to make sure everything was good. Sorry for just popping in like this, but I wanted to see you—needed¬ to see you—and make sure that everything was okay with you. It obviously is, so I will see you around, okay?”
He makes a move to leave and that spurs me into action. “Rhett!” I call after him. He turns to look back at me. “Not that it’s anything glorious, but we were going to veg out and watch some movies tonight. Maybe order a pizza? I’d love to catch up. I mean, if you’re free. You probably have plans, but if not, do you want to come in for a while?” I’ve resorted to rambling. Fabulous.
A real smile lights up his face. “Yeah, M&M. I’d like that a lot.” I nod my head and hold the door open wide for him to come in.
Cam is sitting on the couch. If the smirk on her face is anything to go by, there’s no doubt she has heard this whole unbelievably odd exchange. I shoot her a look, telling her to behave, but the look in her eyes says she has other plans. This is going to be interesting.
Chapter Six
Rhett
“So…Rhett? That is your real name, right? Rhett McCoy?”
“Umm, yeah? That’s my real name.”
“Well, are you the real McCoy?” Cam asks, shooting a look at Emma, and they both burst out in laughter. “No seriously, dude, what exactly are your intentions with my BFF? Are you married? Gay? Into some weird, kinky bondage shit? Do you wear women’s underwear? Do you secretly hate Johnny Depp?” Cam asks, glaring in my direction while giving me the fifth degree.
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