He opened a package of gauze and moved in beside her. The airbag had deployed, but the driver still had a badly busted-up face. Maybe he’d hit it on the window or the passenger’s shoulder or head as they rolled.
“Hold his head to the back of the seat to keep him still and try to staunch the bleeding as best you can. Listen to his breathing.”
Without waiting for an answer, she grabbed the bag and went around to the passenger side. “Ma’am, can you hear me?”
There was a low moan and Gavin watched as Cait did a quick assessment. The car was a newer model with multiple airbags, and they’d both been wearing their seat belts, but it had still been a hell of a ride.
“My head,” the woman moaned. “My neck hurts.”
“There’s a foam collar in the bag,” Gavin said. “It’s not much.”
“It’s better than nothing.” Holding the patient’s head against the seat with one hand, Cait reached in the bag and found the collar. After fastening it around the woman’s neck, she spoke again in a calm voice. “I need to look at your leg and it might hurt, but I need you to be very still and not move your head.”
That’s when Gavin saw the shard of glass in the woman’s thigh. There was a lot of blood.
“I’m okay,” the driver said, he voice rough and slightly muffled by the gauze. “I can hold this and I won’t move my head.”
Gavin looked to Cait and when she gave a sharp nod, he transferred the man’s hand to the gauze and went around the car. The door wouldn’t open, but he had to stay out of Cait’s way, so he crawled through the broken window into the back seat. The roof was slightly caved, so it was a tight fit, but he was able to reach from behind and hold the woman’s head against the seat.
“Got her.”
He could hear sirens, but cars had been jamming up on the other side of his truck so, depending on which direction they were coming from, it could be a few minutes.
Cait worked with quick, efficient movements, cutting away the fabric so she could see the wound. Then after a quick examination, she delicately packed gauze around it. Then she ran tape over it to keep the glass from moving.
“Get it out,” the woman pleaded, her voice weak.
“That could make it worse,” Cait explained in a calm, firm voice. “The ambulance is almost here and I’d rather wait until we can get you out of the car and get a better look at it, okay?”
Unless it was a paramedic unit responding, they’d probably wait until they got her to the hospital, Gavin thought.
“How are you doing, sir?” she asked the driver.
“I’m okay,” he said again. “Just take care of my wife.”
“Your wife is—don’t move your head, sir. Your wife is going to be fine. The fire department and the ambulance are pulling up now.”
The first face Gavin saw through the busted window was Jamie Kincaid’s. Scott’s wife leaned over to look in as an EMT took over for Cait. He was putting a proper collar on the passenger, but Gavin waited until he was given the signal before letting go of her head.
“Hey, Gavin. You want to climb out before we break out the hydraulics?”
“I’m not sure I can.”
But he made it through and stood back as Jamie’s crew moved in to cut open the car. Cait was talking to EMS and he was glad to see one of the guys was a paramedic because that thigh wound didn’t look good.
Then he saw the guy he’d told to go sit in his car. He’d gone back behind the truck, but he was standing on the other side of the bed, cell phone in hand and obviously taking a video.
Great. As tempting as it was to say something to the idiot, Gavin just turned his back on him. The last few years, bystanders filming accident and fire scenes had become par for the course and most of the guys ignored them. There had been one video they all watched, though, because the bystander had run it on fast-forward to funny cartoon music and they’d gotten a laugh out of it.
While Gavin was more than happy for them to hand responsibility of the scene over to the folks officially on the clock, it felt like forever before they were allowed to leave. There were reports to fill out and paperwork to do and explanations to give.
But finally, they were back in his truck and on their way back to his place. It was a quiet ride, with their hands clasped on the center console. The music was turned up and Cait sang along quietly. It was decompressing time and he was content to let her be.
“I should head home,” she said when he parked—miraculously within sight of her car. “But I don’t want to.”
“I want you to stay.” He always wanted her to stay.
“You have to work tomorrow and it’s already late.”
“It’s going to take me a while to fall asleep after what happened,” he said, squeezing her hand. “I’d rather spend the time with you.”
It was too late for a soak in the tub, but they stripped down and stepped into the shower, running the water as hot as he could stand it, which was how she liked it. Some of the tension eased from his muscles as the water beat against his body, and he smiled at the way Cait closed her eyes and turned her face into the spray.
“I’m sorry my shampoo doesn’t smell very pretty,” he said as he squeezed some into his palm. Then he started working it through her thick hair, kneading her scalp with the tips of his fingers.
She groaned and tilted her head back against his touch. “I don’t care what it smells like when you’re doing that.”
“If you tell me what you like, I can get a bottle.” He managed to say it matter-of-factly, as if offering up space in his shower wasn’t a huge step for him. One he’d never taken with a woman, actually. The only girlfriend he’d gotten close to that serious with had her own apartment and preferred they spend their time there.
“I have an extra bottle,” she said. “I’ll try to remember to put it in my car next time I come over.”
He kissed her shoulder, avoiding the shampoo running down her back. “Step back and I’ll rinse your hair.”
They didn’t linger long in the shower. It was late and he wanted her in his bed. He wanted his arms around her and his mouth on hers. It had been a rough ending to their date and he wanted to push those memories away.
He was wrapping a towel around her when she started to tremble slightly. “Cait? What’s wrong?”
“That was scary.” He watched her blink back tears, her breath a shuddering sight. “I thought we were going to hit that car. And I thought somebody would have to call...”
The words trailed off, but he watched her throat work at swallowing and knew where her mind had gone. She was imagining what would happen if her mother got a phone call that something had happened to her daughter.
He pulled her close, her hair damp under his chin. “We didn’t hit them. We’re okay and they’re going to be okay.”
“I know. I’m sorry. I just... It was scary.”
“Hell yeah, it was.” He didn’t even want to think about it, honestly. “But we handled it.”
She pulled her head back so she could look up at him. “We did. We’re a good team.”
He grinned and was relieved when she smiled back. “We’re a damn good team.”
They finished drying off and he shut off the lights while Cait climbed into her side of the bed, telling him to hurry up because the sheets were cold.
He liked that she had a side of the bed.
When he slid in beside her, he pulled her into his arms. He didn’t push further, not sure if she was still feeling a little shaky. Holding her was enough. But then her hand slid over his chest and she kissed him, nipping at his bottom lip.
Gavin lost himself in her, making love to her until they were both breathless and sated. He loved exploring her body, finding the spots that made her sigh and squirm. And he loved the sight and taste of her, and the way she sprawled over him—her breath hot and
quick against his skin—when it was over.
She fell asleep quickly, but he lay awake for a few minutes, savoring the feel of her in his arms.
As the events of the night passed through his mind again, he couldn’t help but smile at the memory of how well they’d handled the emergency together. And how right it felt to have her in his bed with him.
They were definitely one hell of a good team.
* * *
When the alarm went off and it was still dark, Cait groaned and pulled the blanket up over her head. She didn’t have to work today, but Gavin did. He was the kind of morning person who slept until the last possible second and then sprinted through the shower and the kitchen on his way out the door, so he was ready to kiss her goodbye by the time she stumbled into the kitchen.
She didn’t even want to imagine what her hair looked like, after making love and falling asleep with it still damp from the shower.
“I’ll call you later,” he said, and then he risked her morning breath for a second kiss. “Let me know what your mom says about dinner tomorrow, okay?”
“Be safe,” she told him as he walked out the door.
She thought about brewing herself a mug of coffee, but decided instead to throw her clothes back on and head home. It was a pain in the ass not having a fresh set of clothes or her own toothpaste—she hated Gavin’s brand of gel—and there was no sense in starting her day twice. At least this time, she wouldn’t be rushing to get home and get ready for work before her shift.
But he’d offered to buy her shampoo. It was the first step in having some of her things at his place, and her stomach knotted. It was a big step—and a scary one, considering how things were at home—and had surprised her.
Gavin had also surprised her yesterday—on a couple of levels—Cait thought as she drove back to her mom’s house. First was extending the Valentine’s Day dinner invitation to include her mom and Carter. That was sweet and unexpected, and it said a lot about how seriously he was taking their relationship.
But he’d also surprised her at the accident scene. After taking a minute to make sure the car was safe, he had been quick to hand the scene over to her. There had been no doubt she was in charge and he hadn’t even blinked. She’d been in the first-responder business long enough to know there were a lot of men who took over just because they were men, and Gavin wasn’t one of them.
He rocked her world, made her laugh and respected her professionally. It was like winning the lottery and butterflies danced in her stomach when she allowed herself to imagine a possible future with him. And she was imagining it a lot lately.
When she let herself into the house, she was surprised the living room light was on. And seeing her mom sitting on the couch, sideways so her head rested against the back, set off alarm bells in her head. The TV was on, too, though the volume was turned down low.
“Mom, it’s early. What are you doing up?” She tossed her keys on the side table and sat down on the other end of the couch, curling her legs under her. “Is something wrong?”
“Nothing’s wrong. I just couldn’t sleep so I decided to watch TV for a while.” She was trying too hard to sound cheerful, and Cait’s stomach sank.
“Why couldn’t you sleep?”
“I don’t know. Just restless, I guess. It’s so quiet at night without Duke’s snoring, so I can’t go to sleep. Then I can’t stay asleep. I thought if I came downstairs and turned the TV on, maybe I’d fall asleep on the couch for a little while.”
That was a recurring theme. Most women complained about their husbands’ snoring, but her mom had found it comforting and it was one of the things that hit her every night when she went to bed. Cait had bought her a white noise machine, but it wasn’t the same. And there was nothing she could do to help.
“I saw you on the news this morning,” her mom continued. “At that accident.”
Okay, so maybe this was residual anxiety from the emotional meltdown her mom had after Cait was trapped in the house with Gavin and the little boy. She could deal with that. “The accident was in front of us, but the car made it look worse than it was. The people are fine. I guess everybody will be talking about it at work.”
“I don’t understand why you wouldn’t want people to know. You’re both single. He’s very attractive. So what if they talk.”
“It’s not that I don’t want anybody to know. To be honest, most of the people in our lives already know. But being on the news will make everybody want to talk to me about him and I don’t like talking about my personal life at work. Other than with Tony, I mean.”
“You hardly talk to me about him, so I don’t imagine you want other people in your business.”
Cait heard the little bit of hurt in her tone and sighed. “We’re still getting to know each other, so I guess I just don’t want it to be a thing in case it doesn’t work out and then everybody knows.”
“Are you afraid to share being happy with a new love with me because I’m still struggling with losing Duke?”
Cait squirmed, not really wanting to answer that. It had been important to her from the beginning that her mom not feel bad or shamed about her grief, but she also couldn’t deny that it might play a part in how little she’d shared about seeing Gavin.
“I want you to be happy, Cait. I want you to fall madly in love and make a home and a family. I lost your dad and I lost Duke, but I wouldn’t trade the years I had with them for anything. I want you to...” The words trailed off into a sob, but instead of coming undone, she took a deep breath and continued. “Will I get to meet him soon?”
“Actually, he wants to take all three of us out to dinner tomorrow for Valentine’s Day.”
“Was that his idea or yours?”
“It was his. He wants to meet you and it’ll make the day more special.”
Tears shimmered in her mom’s eyes, but they didn’t fall. “That’s so sweet. But I don’t want to intrude on your date. It’s a day for romance.”
“I want you to go out with us, Mom. And so does he.”
She smiled. “I guess you can always have dessert privately after dinner.”
“Mom!” Cait laughed. “That might be part of the plan, yes.”
“I love how happy you look lately, so I definitely want to meet this young man. And it’ll be nice to have an occasion to dress up a little.”
Cait grimaced, which made her mom laugh. She hadn’t considered the dressing-up part. She and Gavin were perfectly happy going through life in jeans and sweatshirts or sweaters, but her mom was right. Valentine’s Day dinner out was an occasion for a little bit of glamour.
She just hoped she had something in her closet that didn’t look like she was going to a funeral or holding a bride’s flowers.
Chapter Thirteen
Jeff barely let Gavin get in the door before he brought up the accident. “Hey, Boudreau, I saw you on the news last night.”
He’d been expecting that. Even if not a single guy on either crew had watched the news, Scott’s wife had responded to the scene, so he knew. And what he knew, everybody knew.
“It could have been a lot worse,” he said. It was a pretty standard response for anybody talking about an accident with no fatalities, but the sentiment behind it had cost him some sleep last night.
It could have been worse. He could have been unable to stop and plowed into the rolling car. Cait could have been the one in the neck brace with a shard of glass in her thigh.
His stomach rolled and he tried to shake off the what-ifs. He was usually good at that, since it was a useful skill in his line of work, but too many scenarios had tormented him as he lay in his bed in the dark.
“Jamie said he was playing the EMT’s assistant when she got there,” Scott said, obviously trying to get a reaction out of him.
“She had it all under control,” was all he said, refusing to rise t
o the bait.
He had to retell the story several times as they did their equipment and apparatus checks before moving on to some housekeeping chores. He’d just finished stowing the vacuum when Rick Gullotti reached past him into the storage closet for the broom and dustpan.
“So you and Cait are a pretty steady thing now, huh?”
“We seem to be, I guess.”
“I’ve gotta be honest with you. I did not see that coming.”
Gavin laughed. “Trust me, neither did I.”
“Got plans for the big day tomorrow?”
“Yeah, I’m taking her and her mom and brother out to dinner.”
Rick’s eyebrows shot up. “So you’ve already met the family and you’re doing family dinners?”
“Not exactly. I met her brother when he played basketball with us recently, but I’ll be meeting her mom tomorrow night when I pick them up.”
“Sounds like you guys are a more steady thing than I thought.”
“She’s... I don’t know.” He was still having a hard time admitting to himself how important Cait was to him already, so he certainly wasn’t ready to talk about it with somebody else. “I really like her. We have fun and enjoy each other’s company and stuff and she’s got...a lot. Her family’s pretty needy sometimes. It’s hard to explain.”
“It’s not hard to explain at all,” Rick argued. “She’s a woman with adult responsibilities and you don’t want to help carry anybody’s baggage.”
Gavin frowned because the LT’s tone made it clear he was criticizing, not empathizing. “That’s bullshit.”
“You like her, but her family needing her might be too much for you to put up with?”
He gave himself a few seconds to get his temper under control before responding. While they might just be having a casual conversation, if push literally came to shove, Rick was his superior. “I don’t want to start helping her carry her baggage and then decide it’s too heavy for me and drop it on her.”
Rick looked at him for a long moment before nodding. “You really do care about her, then?”
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