Light Up The Tree: A Firehouse Three Novel

by Regina Cole

  “Excuse me, while I take out the trash,” Nate said, nodding to the crowd that had gathered as he grabbed Burt by the back of the collar and dragged him out the door. Allison followed, and the rage rolling off of her was enough to make even Nate nervous. Well, he would have been, if he wasn’t dragging a cussing, spitting, flailing Burt Young out the door like a sack of filthy laundry.

  Allison was a hellcat when she was riled, and damn if she wasn’t riled right now.

  Glancing over his shoulder to make sure that Deb had closed the doors behind them, Nate tossed the drunk bastard into the corner. His muscles hummed with energy, his barely-leashed rage boiling under the surface as he stepped closer. He would beat the fucker to within an inch of his life for daring to try to hit her. He’d leave nothing there but a greasy spot for the cleaners to worry over in the morning. He’d—

  A hand landed on his sleeve, and he stopped dead. Looking down at her, he noted the expression on her face. Her lips were pressed in a thin line, her brows narrowed.

  “He’s mine,” she growled, and though his anger howled at the thought of letting Burt go, he stopped his advance and let Allison step forward. He stayed close behind her, ready to jump forward at the first sign of trouble.

  If that fucker dared to raise a fist to Allison Kurtz again, they’d need to call the hospital before they called the cops. That, or the coroner.

  “Now,” Allison said, her normally musical voice pitched low, “do you have something to say to me?”

  Burt pillowed his head on his knees and began sobbing. Clearly, the alcoholic rage had diminished, leaving him in the “woe-is-me” stage of inebriation.

  “Darlin’, I’m sorry,” he sniffed, his wavy hair falling over his forehead as he looked up at Allison with teary eyes. “I just signed the shit the lawyer put in front of me because I was mad. And then I saw that I’d given you the rights to Kurtz and Company, and it just seemed so—so final. I missed you.”

  Nate rolled his eyes, crossing his arms. Yeah, he missed the money Allison brought in. That made him want to pound the fucker even more.

  Kurtz and Company was started by Allison when she was fresh off her MBA. She’d built the business from the ground up, offering her fundraising services to everything from hospitals to elementary schools to pet shelters. And for Burt to think he was entitled to a single dime from the place?

  Typical. Not unexpected. Still made Nate want to stomp a mud hole in the guy’s ass.

  “It is final. It was final as soon as I could manage it. And it would have been a hell of a lot sooner, if you hadn’t been such a—”

  “You expected me to just let you walk away, after the three years we spent together?” Burt shoved himself to his feet, stumbling over into a ficus tree that was strung with white lights. Nate fisted his hands at his sides, balancing his weight on the balls of his feet. His teeth ground together as the adrenaline sang in his veins.

  He almost wanted the idiot to try something, so he’d have an excuse to deck the fucker.

  “Yes. I expected you to let me walk away. After all, you were the one who cheated on me, lied to me, and then thought you could screw me out of half of my business.” She ticked off his sins, one by one, on perfectly manicured fingernails. They were painted Christmas red. Nate’s favorite color.

  “I told you that was a mistake,” he wheedled, the tears drying up now. He reached for Allison’s hands, but she pulled away. Nate almost lunged, but checked himself just in time.

  Burt pasted a smile on his face. “Come on, darlin’, don’t be like this.”

  “Like what? Happy? Independent? Sick of your shit?”

  “I love you, Allison! Don’t you get it, this isn’t over for us.”

  And before Nate could stop him, Burt had swept Allison into his arms and laid a kiss on her red lips.

  He didn’t think, just reacted, yanking Allison away and breaking the kiss.

  For a moment, the old familiar pain in Nate’s heart stunned him, even as the warmth of her skin burned his palm. Here he was, yet again, seeing Allison kiss another man. It shouldn’t bother him anymore; after all, he’d seen the same thing over and over with Burt, and several boyfriends before that. But still, he didn’t suppose he’d ever get to likin’ it.

  And then the sharp crack of her hand against Burt’s face made Nate pull his head out of his ass before he handed Burt his.

  Nate grabbed Burt and yanked him away from Allison, who stumbled, falling against the wall.

  Spinning Burt with his left hand, Nate threw a right cross, catching the bastard right on the jaw.

  Pain shot up Nate’s arm, but he ignored it and threw a second punch, this one on Burt’s patrician nose. The crunching sound that time didn’t come from Nate, it came from the fuckwad who’d dared to lay one on Allison that she hadn’t asked for.

  He’d drawn back his arm again, rage blinding his good sense, when a slim hand with Christmas-red fingernails landed on his bicep.

  “That’s enough, Nate,” Allison said, her voice thin. “Don’t get yourself in trouble because of him. He’s not worth it.”

  “You are,” Nate gritted to Allison, and then he glared down at Burt. The other man was holding his nose with both hands and moaning softly.

  Nate squatted down beside the man. His gaze never left those watery blue eyes.

  “I want you to listen to me, asswipe, and listen up good. If I ever, and I mean ever, catch you giving this woman grief again, I will ruin everything you love. I won’t just bust up your face next time. It’ll be that swanky car you drive, and that pretty house of yours, and that fat sack of shit you call a daddy who bankrolls your stupidity. All of it. Do we understand one ‘nother?”

  Burt nodded, still moaning, as he staggered to his feet.

  “Get on out of here.”

  Nate got back on his feet and stared after Burt as he moved down the hallway toward the exit, one hand on the wall to steady him.

  When the man was out of sight, and Nate had taken several deep breaths to calm himself, he turned to find Allison hanging up the phone.

  That moment was what did it. The way her expression was set, her gray eyes dim as worry lines furrowed her brow.

  How many times had he seen her make that face over the wrong man? Dozens? Hundreds?

  He was done.

  It seemed like he’d been waiting for the right moment with her for as long as he’d known her. But that was over with now. From now on, he’d make whatever moment he had, the right moment with her.

  Allison wouldn’t spend another second worrying over a man other than him, if he had anything to say about it.

  “The ambulance is on the way,” she said, concern in her eyes. “How are you feeling?”

  “What?” Nate frowned, shaking off his reverie. “Why’s the ambulance coming? I’m totally fine.”

  Allison nodded toward his right hand, and he looked down.

  “Oh, shit,” he said, lifting his arm. His right hand was swelling, redness around his knuckles indicating a problem. “Yup, I fucked that one up good. Didn’t have to call the Band-Aid buggy, though. I could drive.”

  “I had them on standby, anyway. The foundation had a few very sick individuals that wanted to attend tonight, so Spencer is doing me a favor. At least this way they won’t be bored to death,” Allison said as she walked with him toward a small tufted bench in the alcove nearest the doors of the ballroom.

  “I’m sorry that this ruined your event,” Nate said as they sat down. He tried to ignore the heat from her leg where it pressed against his. “Go back in, get someone else to handle the rest of it. Let me get you out of here, get some air.”

  Allison’s fingers laced through the uninjured ones of his left hand. “I can’t walk out yet, but I’m not leaving you. You got hurt because you were defending me. What kind of friend would I be if I just left you here?”

  Nate closed his eyes and swallowed hard. God, this hurt. It wasn’t the pain in his hand that he’d finally started to not
ice, the adrenaline of the encounter with Burt subsiding. It was the pain in his heart.

  If this went badly, then he could lose her. But he couldn’t sit back and wait any longer.

  He had to be the one for her. He just had to.

  * * *

  As Allison sat next to her best friend, who’d just screwed up his hand in her defense, her stomach was in knots and her chest felt like a lead weight was sitting on top of it.

  Nate really shouldn’t be there wasting his time on her. He should be out finding a woman who’d work on his Ford with him in that outbuilding that was bigger than his whole house. Finding a woman who was as sweet and as kind as he was, beautiful enough to be his match, young and happy and full of life.

  Basically, the opposite of Allison.

  “Hey, there, big man,” said a tall guy with dark hair and a sparkling white smile. “What’s up?”

  “Hey, Spencer. Busted my digits,” Nate said, wincing as he raised his right hand and tried to wave. “Think I’ll live?”

  Spencer knelt down by the bench and took a look at the swollen fingers as a tall, dark-skinned, muscular guy set a duffel marked “EMS” beside him.

  “Yeah, you’ve definitely done a number on this bastard.”

  “You should see the other guy,” Allison said, looking up at Nate. She smiled, hoping the expression would make him feel better. “He was defending a lady’s honor.”

  “That so?” Spencer hiked a dark brow in her direction. “Well, Cowboy, I didn’t know you had a lady.”

  “I don’t,” he said shortly, hissing in a breath as Spencer tested his range of motion.

  For some reason, the denial made Allison’s chest ache. She looked to the side as Spencer and Nate discussed his injury.

  This was stupid. Nate was her best friend, and she wanted him to be happy. But when he’d handed Burt his cheating, drunk ass, she couldn’t help but wonder if her teenaged self had been right.

  Could she and Nate have been right together?

  But he’d turned her down.

  But what if things were different now? They were both a good bit older, and lord knew she’d had enough failed relationships to make her a little wiser. Fact was, her heart wasn’t convinced that things were over before they’d begun, as far as she and Nate were concerned. Her heart wanted her to give them a shot. And after the events of the past half hour?

  She wasn’t having much luck in ignoring those insidious whispers.

  “Think that’s the best plan,” Spencer was saying as Nate nodded his head.

  “Yeah. No need to send you guys a thousand bucks,” Nate said. “Splint me up, then.”

  Allison stood. “If you guys have it under control, I need to get back to my fundraiser.”

  Spencer nodded as he unzipped the duffel. “Got it covered.”

  She’d make sure that Spencer sent her the bill for the treatment. Nate had a decent job as a fireman, but she’d be damned if he got hurt financially, as well as physically, on her behalf.

  She did have that much pride.

  Walking away was a mixture of good and bad feelings. On the one hand, the distance helped her to breathe. On the other, being apart from him was curiously painful. Back inside, she thanked a few concerned partygoers, reassured them of her well-being, and urged them to loosen up and enjoy the party.

  “Are you okay?” Deborah Rossman, Allison’s right hand at Kurtz and Company for the past eight months, grabbed her arm with a motherly touch. “I was so worried about you!” Her deep-brown eyes were concerned.

  “I’m fine, Deb,” Allison said with a laugh. “Burt just had seller’s remorse, is all.”

  Deb shook her head. “He was insane to run around on you. A woman as beautiful and successful as you? No piece of ass was worth that.”

  Allison shrugged. “That ship has sailed. I’m over it. I was over it when I found out about it and decided to divorce him a year ago. He’s the one that can’t let go.”

  A tsk escaped Deb. “No matter. I covered for you with the foundation director, she’s waiting for you by the stage.”

  With a nod of thanks, Allison hurried to the front of the ballroom where a small stage had been erected for the orchestra and the speech. When she got there, Carol Evans, the Dallas Cancer Foundation’s executive director, gave her a concerned look.

  “Ms. Kurtz, are you sure you’re well enough to do this? I was under the impression that your assistant would be introducing me.”

  Wow, Deb must have sold a big story to the director. Allison would have to thank her later.

  “I’m sorry, just a momentary thing. I’m fine, and I apologize for the delay. Are you ready?”

  The director nodded, straightening the note cards in her hand. “Yes.”

  Allison ascended the stage steps and took a deep breath. No matter what had gone on, she had a job to do. And she never—ever—let her personal life interrupt her business. Hell, when she’d found out Burt had been cheating on her that Tuesday night, she’d come to work the very next morning.

  Her job was the only thing she could count on. The only thing that would never let her down and that she knew, with absolute crystal clarity, that she was good at. Everything else? Big ol’ question mark.

  “Good evening,” she said into the microphone when the orchestra fell silent. “Thank you for attending the Dallas Cancer Foundation’s holiday fundraiser.”

  With each sentence that fell from her lips, each break she took for the polite smattering of applause, she knew with absolute certainty that this was where she was supposed to be. She could be happy on her own, as long as she had this.

  The best job in the world. She’d made a career of helping people who were doing truly good things. She enabled those who were striving to make a difference actually get their hands on the funds to do what they needed to do. Money made the world go around, so why not help the world spin a little kinder? Her dad was a corporate lawyer, and had made his fortune by viciously protecting patents and scamming small-time companies out of ideas and legal recourse. He absolutely hated it. She’d decided to put her talents to a different use, and her parents were so proud.

  Yet another reason to focus on work.

  “And that is why, this holiday season, we hope that you’ll open your hearts to those who have fought—and are fighting—this terrible disease with such bravery, such courage, and such heart. Thank you for every single penny you’ve contributed thus far. And here to tell you where all those pennies—and those you will donate—go, is Carol Evans, Dallas Cancer Foundation’s executive director. Carol?”

  Allison stepped aside, joining the applause. And as Carol took the stage, and Allison turned to walk off, a man in a rumpled suit caught her eye.

  He was standing by the door to the ballroom, one hand tucked into his suit jacket, looking ill-at-ease.

  What the hell? Why was Nate still there? Spencer had been about to take him to the hospital, wasn’t he?

  As she walked his way, a sharp whisper caught her ear, and she stopped dead. Her head swiveled around and she spied exactly where the voice was coming from.

  “…believe she’d wear such a slutty dress to a black-tie event,” the woman in the deep-green Dior was saying to her husband. Their backs were to her, hidden as she was by the edge of the small stage. “It’s like she wants everyone to see her panties.”

  Allison glanced down at her dress. The slit. Burt had grabbed it, and she was flashing much more thigh than she’d ever intentionally have at an event like this. She’d totally forgotten.

  “She just divorced Burt Young,” the husband replied as Allison’s cheeks heated and she started toward the exit. “She’s on the prowl for husband number two.”

  Rage bubbled inside her, and she flexed her fingers as she took deep, cleansing breaths.

  Cool it, girl. They can’t touch you.

  But they could. They had. She wasn’t stupid. Moving in the social circles that she did, the same circles that Burt had, she’d known that this
little marriage implosion would cause talk. The dress was a mistake, a simple whoops. But the divorce?

  Texas would always be Texas, and divorce was one of those things that people loved to gossip over.

  But there, by the doors, was her saving grace. She caught Deb, who was in the middle of a conversation with Sam Vanderlove, and put her in charge for the rest of the event.

  It was a no brainer. Everything had already been done.

  With a smile and a wave, Allison headed over to the man who still stood by the door. His hand was out of this jacket now, Napoleon impression over.

  “I thought you had gone to the hospital,” Allison said as she walked with him from the ballroom and to the coat check.

  “Nah,” Nate said, taking Allison’s coat from the clerk and helping her slip into it. “I could save myself a thousand bucks in copays by driving to the overnight urgent care. I’ll head there when this is over.”

  “We’re heading there now,” Allison said, jingling her car keys at him. “Come on, Cowboy, I’ll drive.”

  “Don’t leave early on my account,” Nate grumbled as he accepted his Stetson from the clerk.

  “I wasn’t planning on staying all night. Deb’s got the last thirty minutes. Come on, I’ll treat you to a milkshake if you’re a good boy.” She winked. Nate loved sweets, especially shakes. Bundling up in the car on a winter’s night and heading out for ice cream was one of their “things.”

  Come to think of it, they had a lot of “things”, didn’t they? Heading to the bar near the firehouse for a beer. Hanging out in his garage while he worked on his trucks. Laying on the back lawn and looking at the stars. Her sitting on the kitchen counter while he cooked up huge batches of his famous chili for the firehouse freezer.

  So many of her favorite things were all tied up in Nathaniel York.

  The chill of the last days of November kissed her skin as he held the door open for her with his non-splinted hand.