by Nella Tyler
“You’ve set a pretty high bar for your future namesake,” Hector said, grinning down at Blaze, a teasing shine in his eyes. “I’m glad you’ll be around to each him or her how to be a stand up, selfless human being.”
Blaze smiled again. “I couldn’t leave all that up to you, now could I?”
Hector’s smile widened. He turned and nodded to Johnny. “We’ll be out in the hall if you need us, Sami,” he said to me. And then they both walked out of the room, leaving me alone with Blaze.
I gazed down at Blaze, feeling a little dizzy with how happy I was after so many hours of worrying, starting with the minute I heard his name on that news report. And then the explosion.
I was sure when Hector called me, he was going to tell me Blaze was dead. Instead, he told me Blaze had been rushed to the hospital and provided the details. I’d still been so upset that I’d taken an Uber, not wanting to risk an accident during the 30 minute drive.
“I was worried about you,” I said in a light tone that didn’t property convey the feelings stirring inside me.
“I think I died and went to heaven,” he whispered in his low, gravelly voice. “Because the first thing I saw when I opened my eyes was an angel.”
I actually laughed out loud, covering my mouth at how the giggles echoed in the room. This didn’t feel like the place for that. But he was such a goofball, he was even cracking jokes after nearly losing his life and waking up from unconsciousness.
“You are ridiculous,” I said, but kindly. I stood to lean over him and plant a feather-light kiss on his lips, just wanting to taste that small piece of him and know he was okay, that the nightmare I’d been inhabiting since earlier that evening was finally over.
I sat back down in my seat, unable to pull my gaze from his wide green eyes. He looked a little hazy, and I knew that was the painkillers.
“Are you in any pain?” I asked. “I can call a nurse.”
“No, I feel okay. A little bit like I’m floating.” He gave another small smile, his eyes drifting closed for a second before opening again. “I guess I’m probably on quite a few drugs.” He breathed in deeply and let the air out again. “How bad am I hurt?”
I explained his injuries, not going too deeply into detail, but not lying to him either.
He considered my words in silence as I laid a hand on his arm, just needing to touch him. I swallowed back the tears of relief that wanted to come. Now wasn’t the time. I could cry after he was asleep. The last thing I wanted to do was upset him.
“Did anyone else get hurt?” he asked. “Or die?”
I shook my head, a tiny smile springing to my lips. “No one was killed. A few other people were hospitalized, but everyone will recover, including the woman your team saved.”
He looked sleepy, but pleased.
“I was really scared after I heard about the fire. They mentioned you on the news and said you were trapped inside that building.” I swallowed again, blinking my eyes to keep the burning tears back as I forced myself to smile again. “But I’m so proud of you, Blaze. You saved so many lives today. I can’t express how honored I am to even know you, let alone be lucky enough to be engaged to you.”
His eyes widened a little, the green in them so intense against the pale and bruised skin of his face. “I’m lucky, too, Sami.”
“Well, you’re my hero. I can’t wait to marry you and start our lives together.” I squeezed his arm, just a little, not wanting to hurt him if this was a sore spot.
He grinned again, a little bigger this time, casting some of that sleepiness out of his eyes. “Maybe we should wait a few weeks. At least when I can actually stand up again.”
I laughed, and so did he, though it made him wince a little.
“I love you so much,” I said after we calmed down again. “You don’t know how happy it makes me just to have your eyes on me again.”
“I love you, too, Sami. There’s no one I’d rather see after regaining consciousness.”
I grinned and stood to kiss him again, a little deeper this time.
Chapter Thirty Nine – Blaze – Mid-June
Sami held my leg steady while I stretched it. I’d gotten my full range of motion back, but it had been a slow, painful process. We’d moved all the way in together after the accident, putting my place on the market immediately while we looked for a house that would be the setting for our lives together. It had sold quickly, and I socked the profit into an account to use on our dream house. Once we found it, Sami meant to put her small place up for sale, as well.
It took me a few hours every day to complete my exercises and endurance training, but I’d recovered surprisingly well, considering the extent of my injuries. I still couldn’t believe I’d jumped through a fucking second story window. But every time I caught Sami looking at me with love shining in her eyes, I was damned glad I had. We had a future together thanks to my momentary lapse in judgment.
“You’re a pro at these exercises now,” she said, standing back as I rose from the ground.
I grinned. “I don’t know about that, but I do feel like I’m finally back to normal.”
“Are you ready for lunch?”
I nodded, sitting down on the couch to rest. “Oh yeah, I’ve been ready for about an hour.”
She went into the kitchen to bring out a few sandwiches she’d picked up after showing some clients several houses this morning. She handed me a plate and sat down next to me with her own.
I took a big bite and finished chewing before I gave her my news. I’d been to see the doctor that morning while she was at work and had gotten some news that was good for me, but might not be good for her.
“How was your appointment this morning?” she asked, as though reading my mind. She was good at that.
“I’m all healed and ready to go,” I replied, smiling carefully when she beamed at me. “The doctor said I’d be ready to go back to limited duty at the station in less than a month.”
She glanced away from me, looking hard at her sandwich, her lips pressed into a tight line. After a second she said, “That’s great, Blaze.” She lifted her eyes to mine again, lips twitching into a small smile. “I mean it.”
“Is that really how you feel?” I asked her. “I know how scared you were after what happened at the plant. And, firefighting is dangerous. Any call could be my last.”
She swallowed hard, her dark eyes widening. She’d cut her hair shorter, just below her shoulders, and it was pulled back in a ponytail, exposing her ears and the smooth, clean lines of her face. She’d put on bright red lipstick this morning, but not much else, her cheeks and eyes naked the way I loved them, letting her natural beauty shine through.
“I thought seriously about asking you not to return to the department,” she said. “I don’t want something like what happened a few months ago to happen again, or worse. Every time you leave the house, it could be the last time.”
I nodded when she paused, but didn’t speak. I wanted to hear her honest opinion. And though I wanted more than anything to return to the department, I knew I’d quit if she asked me to. My new reason for living was her, not firefighting. I wanted our lives together, even if that meant giving up what I’d been doing since I graduated from college.
“But I’ve watched you and the guys together in the time it’s taken you to heal. You’re so happy when you’re with them. The work you do formed a real brotherhood. I could never take that away from you. It’s part of who you are, which is why I fell in love with you in the first place.”
She smiled playfully, though the worry was still in her eyes the way I’d seen in it in Juanita’s eyes sometimes when she looked at Hector. That kind of worry wouldn’t go away until we retired from the department. I didn’t like laying that on the woman I loved, but if she was willing to accept me for who I was, she would find a way to accept that, too. Juanita had accepted that with Hector, and their relationship was rock solid. I just wanted the same thing for Sami and me. But if this life was a deal
breaker for her, I was ready to do whatever was necessary to keep her with me.
“How could I strip being a firefighter away from a man with a name like Blaze Simmers?” she asked, eyes sparkling with that playful light I loved so much. “You had no choice but to be a hero with a name like that.”
I smiled, but hadn’t yet relaxed. I didn’t just want her to put on a brave face. I wanted her to be okay with this. Because there would be a lot of days away from her and any kids we had, a lot of close calls. I saw the toll it took on Juanita, but I also saw how she was Hector’s rock. He’d be the first to admit that he couldn’t have done any of this without her.
“Are you really okay with this? I know how worried you were on that last call.”
“I thought you were dead,” she corrected, smile fading from her face.
“I know.”
“I was scared to death.”
I nodded. “I know that, too.”
Her face softened again, but not into a smile. “I’m always going to worry about you when you leave for a shift at the station, but I love the man that you are. Being a firefighter is part of that.” She smiled again warmly. “I’ve actually had a few great conversations with Juanita Alvarez about this. You guys have your brotherhood. We have our sisterhood. My love for you will get me through the worry. I want you to be happy, Blaze, and I know how much being a firefighter means to you.”
I reached to take her hand. “I love you so much, Sami. I’m still in shock that I somehow managed to get a woman like you to fall in love with me. I don’t want to wait until next year to get married like we planned. Life’s too short for that. I want us to officially start our lives together sooner rather than later.”
Her grin widened as she squeezed my fingers with her tiny hand. “What do you have in mind?”
“What about August?” I asked. “I’ll be fully recovered and can give you the fireworks on our wedding night that you deserve.”
She giggled, her dark eyes flashing at me, so I laughed, too. “I think that sounds like an amazing idea.”
We leaned to kiss each other, our sandwiches momentarily forgotten in our laps as our lips touched.
Epilogue – Blaze – Late Summer, A Few Years Later
We walked around the side of Hector and Juanita’s house, following the sounds of laughter and conversation to the barbecue in back. Hector was at the grill, flipping burgers and roasting hotdogs. Juanita was setting down a bowl of fruit salad onto the picnic table. She grinned when she saw us, crossing the yard to give us each a hug.
Johnny was there too along with Sami’s friend Amy, who he’d been dating for a solid three years. Something had shifted in him after my accident at that plant. He said it had changed the way he looked at the world and at life. He realized the people he cared about were what mattered, and he wanted a woman in his life that would be there for the long haul. Conveniently, Sami had told me that she wanted to set him up with Amy. The rest was history. I couldn’t help but notice the engagement ring on Amy’s finger, the diamond blinding when it caught the sunshine the right way.
Sami followed Juanita across to the grass to where Amy was sitting at the picnic table, and I wandered over to the grill where Hector and Johnny were standing. The kids were running around the yard with water guns, spraying each other and laughing like crazy. All of a sudden, my little namesake made a beeline for me, crashing into my legs, still giggling. She glanced up at me, her dark eyes sparkling underneath a mess of crazy black curls.
I scooped her up, which got her laughing again, and curled her tiny body around my hip.
“Hi, Uncle Blaze!” she said, grinning. It tickled her pink that we had the same name. She was due to turn four in a few months and was whip smart for her age.
“Hi, munchkin,” I said, drawing another laugh from her.
“Burgers are done,” Hector announced, but I kept my eyes on little Bee, which is what everyone called her.
“I got a secret,” she whispered, bringing her round face close to mine, her brown eyes suddenly serious.
“What is it?” I asked, matching her whisper.
“I wanna be a firegirl when I grow up. Like you and Daddy.”
I smiled down at her. “You’ve got the right name for it, kid.” She was getting wiggly, so I set her down. “Show me how you’d put out a fire with your water gun.”
She scooped her water gun off the ground and sprayed at some nearby bushes, hitting them right in the middle.
“Spray at the bottom, Bee,” I instructed, and she shifted the stream of water she was shooting. “That’s how you put out a fire.”
She kept spraying it, her tongue sticking out of the side of her mouth the way I’d seen Hector’s do whenever he was focusing hard on something.
“I did it!” Bee exclaimed, looking up at me with a huge grin on her face.
“High five!” I said and leaned down to give her one.
“Time to eat, kids!” Juanita called, and Bee ran off towards the picnic table, followed by her brother and sister.
I went around the table and sat down next to Sami.
“You look ready for kids of your own,” Hector remarked with a grin. He’d been harping on me about this for months, even though he and Juanita didn’t get started having kids right away after they were married.
I smiled over at Sami. “I think we should have several kids and name them all Blaze. I don’t care how many we have or whether they’re boys or girls.”
“That would be epic,” Johnny agreed. Amy giggled and pushed him a little at the same time Sami pushed me.
“We’re not having any juniors,” she said. “I can’t stand that.”
“Oh, I agree,” Juanita said. “My brother is a fourth. It’s terrible.”
“And, who says I even want to reproduce with you,” Sami said, giving me some side eye. Everyone at the table started laughing.
“We’d have some pretty babies,” I said.
She seemed to be thinking about it. “That’s true, we would.”
The other two couples at the table were watching us with interest. What had started off playfully now felt extremely serious. I knew that, somehow, we were really deciding all of this in front of our best friends.
Sami’s eyes were glowing in the bright sunlight, that healthy color high in her cheeks. She hadn’t put on a stitch of makeup today, and I’d never seen her look prettier.
“I can’t think of anything I’d rather do that have a child with you,” she said, and I leaned to kiss her as the table erupted in cheers.
“We can get started as soon as we get home,” I murmured, just to her.
She grinned and kissed me again.
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DIRTY
THE COMPLETE SERIES
By Nella Tyler
This book is a work of fiction. The names, characters, places and incidents are products of the writer's imagination or have been used fictitiously and are not to be construed as real. Any resemblance to persons, living or dead, actual events, locales or organizations is entirely coincidental.
Copyright © 2016 Nella Tyler
Chapter One
Autumn
I watched my dad surveying the new expansion to the farm, looking both satisfied and worried. “I don’t know why I talked myself into buying the new plot,” he said, shaking his head slightly.
“We need it,” Tuck said, looking out over the new territory, as well. “Besides, you have to have enough land to pass on to both me and Autumn when the time comes, right?” Tuck looked at me with a smirk.
“You don’t have to pass anything on to me,” I said quickly. Tuck had considered the family farm his since he was old enough to start working it; for myself, I thought that as long as I had enough money to live on and enough work to occupy my time, I’d just as soon live in town—but things hadn’t worked out that way.
“Anyway, you got it at a steal, so it might as well be us that owns it and not some development company,” Tuck pointed out. In my opinion, that was far more helpful.
“And, you’ll be able to turn enough profit on it that you can hire a crew, and not be out here working like a field hand all day, every day,” I pointed out. Tuck gave me a less-than-pleasant glance for that reminder.
“I’m just not sure I’ll actually be able to get out this far every day,” Dad said. He looked at me. “Even with that new tractor we’ve got, it’s a big farm now.”
“You can hire someone,” I suggested. “You should, actually. We made enough last year to pay at least one guy to come out.”
“We can handle it ourselves,” Tuck insisted. “Hell, now that Addie’s almost one, she could be out working it with us—putting down seed, chasing away the crows. Get her some dungarees and she’ll be set.” I rolled my eyes.
“Addie is still being weaned,” I pointed out. “You get squeamish on me whenever I wear a bathing suit—how would you feel about me breastfeeding her in the field?”
Dad crouched down on the cleared-out land and scooped up a handful of dirt. It would take some working to make the new expansion ready for the planting in a few weeks’ time. He had had a notion to divide it between corn and soy beans for the first season, to see what kind of yields we could get.
Dad had been growing corn for longer than I’d been alive, and he’d started growing soy beans for a challenge when I’d been about twelve years old, though never as much as the corn. If the soy took to the expansion well, he had told me, he would alternate between it and corn every other year, and hopefully expand the farm’s profits.
I wished that I could be more help to Dad, but since I’d given birth to my daughter Adelyn, I’d wanted to stay with her as much as humanly possible. Now that she was almost a year old, I was able to do more and more around the house to help Dad and Mom—I took care of the vegetable garden and helped Mom in the kitchen and with the cleaning—but it was a different thing altogether to spend the day out in the field, sweating and working my ass off, taking breaks every few hours to feed my baby.