by JoAnna Grace
Bear drove like a bat out of hell down to Carreyville, the nearest major city with a burn unit.
“Does this mean he’s going to die?” Tina hated the unknown, hating the fear that ran in her veins like arctic water.
Bear kept getting phone calls and text messages. He knew something and he needed to talk to Tina. “Alex Moody, the fire marshal, is a friend of mine. He said there weren’t any major exterior burns that they could see, but they worry about smoke inhalation, plus the fact that he did have some water inhalation as well. They’re taking him to Carreyville because they specialize in this sort of injury, not because he’s dying.” Bear’s calm and firm voice made her hopeful. Then again, not too much ruffled big, bad Jake Harris.
The entire drive, Tina and Bear tried to figure out who in the world could’ve done this? Who hated them so much that they were willing to destroy their home and possibly even kill them? As hard as it was to admit, Tina had a tendency to piss people off with her big mouth, but she couldn’t think of anyone who would be angry enough to purposefully try to hurt her or her father.
“Any suppliers or homeowners mad at you?” Bear asked, grasping at straws.
“Not that I can think of.” Tina shook her head. “I mean, I doubt anyone would try to burn down my home over a messed-up supply order.”
“What about Bo’s mother? Didn’t you say that she was in the area?”
Tina pinched her temple. “I was really trying not to go there.”
“T,” Bear said, taking her hand. “Someone just tried to blow you up and nearly killed Bo. I think your mind needs to go anywhere it can to figure this out.”
“But why would Belinda give a rat’s ass about us?” Tina shrugged, throwing up her hands. “I can understand wanting to get to Bo, but why the world would she care about me and Daddy?” She shook her head. Belinda wasn’t out of the running, but she wasn’t Tina’s prime suspect, either. “Whoever it was, knew to aim at the back of the house to reach Daddy. They didn’t throw the bombs in the front windows. It was someone who knew our business was up there. I’ve never even seen Belinda, much less let her into our home.”
“There’s thousands of people who know Daddy lives in the back of the first floor. That doesn’t narrow it down.”
“True.” Tina groaned. They rode in silence for a moment before she realized Bear had walked out of his restaurant to literally run to her aid. “I’m sorry to pull you away from work. Is someone closing up for you?”
“Do not worry about that, seriously. How many times have you dropped everything for someone else? I’m happy to help. Hell, I’m glad I noticed the dirty table in front of the window so I could see the fire.”
“I feel bad, I didn’t really speak to Jayden.” Tina raked her hands through her hair and leaned her head back on the seat.
“Don’t worry. She knows all too well what shoes you’re in.” Bear’s lips pinched together.
Tina covered her hands with her face. “Oh God. Please, God, I hope not. I can’t lose Bo.”
“You’re not. Don’t think like that.”
“How can I not?” Tina pulled her legs up into her seat. “If the fire didn’t get him, that damn river will.”
The Sanguine harvested people. First Lance, then Chris— “Sean.” The thought hit her loud and clear. Sean Harris was with Rodman the night she and Bo went out. Rodman said she would regret firing him.
“What about him?”
Tina uncurled her legs as the pieces clicked into place. “He’s friends with Rodman. Rodman is Trey’s cousin and he worked for us. We fired him.”
Bear took out his phone and immediately dialed his little brother’s phone number. “Sean? Where are you? Good. You been there all night? Good. Where’s your buddy Rodman? Why? Because someone lit up Tina’s place like a fucking battlefield with Molotov cocktails. Yeah, she’s okay. Duane, too. But Bo was there and he’s being airlifted to the burn center in Carreyville. Yes, I’m serious and if I find out you had anything to do with this—”
Sean’s voice rose high enough on the phone Tina heard him from the passenger seat. “No! Hell, no. Tina is my friend, too.”
“I’m not the one with the loyalty issues. What do you know, Sean?”
“Nothing.”
“Sean?” Bear growled into the phone. “I’m your brother, and I love you, but if you’re lying to me, I’m going to beat the shit out of you and then help the police throw your dope-head ass in jail. If Rodman did this, he’s up for prison time. You want to join him?”
“No, man. Come on. Tina’s my girl.”
“Well your girl was nearly killed tonight.”
“I’m sorry, man. I’m sorry, okay. I don’t know anything.”
Bear pulled his phone away from his head and threw it on the dash of the truck. “Son of a bitch just hung up on me.”
“He knows something, doesn’t he?” Tina’s blood was boiling now.
Bear nodded and grabbed his phone again. “Alex? Hey, it’s Bear. I’ve got someone you need to check in on.” He gave the fire marshal all the information they could on Rodman. Alex would take it from there.
Her mind kept focused on Bo. That drive south had never felt so long. Once people found out she didn’t have her cell phone and she was with Bear, his phone lit up every five minutes with calls. Some of their neighbors who also knew Bear called to check on her, along with other friends in the community. Jayden, Keri, Holly, even Meg made sure to check on Tina.
“Are you okay?” Meg cried out over then line when Tina answered Bear’s phone. “Keri texted me and, oh my God, is your dad okay? What about Dixie? Was Bo with you?”
“Take a breath, Meg.” Tina smiled, so happy to hear her voice. She didn’t react when Bear leaned over slightly as if to hear their conversation better. “Right now Bo is the only one in question. Daddy and I are fine. Dixie is at the vet. Bo got the worst of it.”
“Oh,” Meg gasped. “Tina, I’m so sorry. Do I need to come? I’ll make Cole buy me a plane ticket right now.”
“As much as I’d love to see you again, I don’t think there’s a need. Thank God.”
“Well, that’s good, I guess.” Meg hesitated. “I’m glad Bear is with you.”
Tina smiled over at her driver. “Yeah, me, too.”
“Tell him—never mind. Do you know what started the fire?”
She would overlook that slip, this time. “Not what, who.”
Meg sucked in a breath. “Someone set your house on fire?”
After telling the story fifteen times, she gave Meg the watered-down version before Bear’s phone ran out of battery. She was blessed to have so many people who cared about her, but after the adrenaline rush of the last couple hours, Tina was starting to crash.
Meg promised to call later and demanded that if anything happened, she was to be notified so she could fly down.
“Or steal the car, those were her words.” Tina recited them to Bear. “She doesn’t even have her own car to drive. Cole won’t allow it.”
“Does that stupid asshole know if Meg had a car to take their kid to the hospital, Noah might still be alive?” Bear gripped her steering wheel so hard she heard the leather creak under his palms. “I swear to God, the next time I see that bastard, I’m going to rip his dic—”
“Bear,” Tina yelled to get his attention. “Stop trying to break my truck.”
He let out a heavy breath and loosened his grip. “Sorry.”
Tina reached over and placed her hand on Bear’s shoulder. “We’ll get her back, you know that, right? Cole isn’t enough to keep her up there.”
“Yeah.” He didn’t say more. Meg was a subject he often left untouched. Tina had never understood the dynamic between the two, but there was something there.
It felt like an eternity before Tina and Bear found Nancy. She sat in a waiting room with her elbows on her knees, one leg bouncing up and down. When she saw Tina she immediately rose and pulled her into a hug.
“He’s going to be okay
, sweet girl. Don’t you worry.”
Tina had lived her entire life not knowing what it was like to be held by a mother…until that moment. For the first time, she was safe to just be a scared little girl, crying to her mom. The shelter Nan provided was enough of a safety net that Tina knew she could fall apart, and Nan would be there to catch her.
All her strength crumbled as she embraced Nan. She released all the fear she’d bottled up on the drive there. Walls came crashing down and for once in her life, Tina didn’t have to be the rock.
“I gotcha, honey,” Nan whispered and kissed her cheek. “I’m strong enough for the both of us. You just let it out.”
“I love him so much.” Tina buried her head into Nan’s neck.
“I know you do. You can tell him as soon as he wakes up.”
Tina nodded and stepped back, taking a steadying breath and trying like hell to get herself together. “Sorry.”
“No apologizing. If crying were a sin, we’d be neighbors in Hell.” Nancy handed her a tissue. “You good?”
“Yes, ma’am.” Tina sniffled and Bear put his arm around her shoulder.
“The doctor is doing some internal scans and chest x-rays. They intubated him as a precaution because they didn’t want his air passages swelling during transport. He’s got a pretty nasty cut on his head, which is what they think knocked him out when he fell in the water. So far, nothing life-threatening, okay, honey? Take a breath, you’re turning green again.” Nan waved her hand around her chest and inhaled, indicating Tina to do the same. “Good girl.”
Nan sat Tina down beside her and they waited…and waited…and waited some more.
Tina checked her watch. It had barely been fifteen minutes. This was going to be a long night.
An hour later, Tina was greeted by a tall, lanky doctor. She didn’t catch his name. But he spoke to Nan about Bo’s condition. “We want to monitor him for at least the next twenty-four hours to make sure his lung function is optimal. Thankfully, we didn’t find any external burns. He did need stitches across the back of his head, again, minor injuries, given the events that brought him here.” The doctor met her eyes. “You must be Tina?”
She nodded.
“He’s asking for you…quite insistently.” He smiled and guided her down a corridor into a room. “Bo sustained limited injuries, but he is having some difficulty breathing and has some throat soreness. His blood oxygen levels are lower than average, not dangerously, but we do have him on high concentration oxygen. He woke up agitated from the sedatives. Please encourage him to calm down and not to speak.”
“Calm down?” Tina asked as they walked in the room.
“Get this crap off my face!” Bo’s voice didn’t sound right. It was hoarse and clogged, as if he strained to speak.
The doctor immediately had to step in and help the nurse. “Mr. Galloway, keep the mask on!” Bo pushed both of them off and wouldn’t lie down.
Then his bloodshot hazel eyes met Tina’s. He froze. The nurses turned to see what had enraptured him.
Moisture formed in the corners of his eyes. Tina smiled and took a deep breath. Without a word, she slowly came to the side of his bed and took the oxygen mask from the nurse, whose mouth fell open as Tina slid it over his head without any fight at all. The room was still and quiet, except for the machines. The hospital staff didn’t understand, but Tina did.
Bo belonged to her just as much as she belonged to him. He needed her and she needed him. Right now, he was the water, and she had to be the rock.
Tina gently ran her knuckles over his cheek and down his neck. Bo cupped her cheeks, a single tear slipped down his face. She wiped it away and pressed his shoulders until he leaned backwards on the bed. His eyes were zeroed in on hers as if she were the oxygen he needed to survive. Tina sat on the edge of the bed. He barely blinked. She trailed her hand over his head, down his cheek and across his jaw slowly. With every pass, his pulse slowed and his body relaxed against the pillows.
A nurse tapped Tina on the shoulder and handed her a small white clamp with a wire attached. “On his finger,” she whispered, not wanting to intrude.
Tina recognized the oxygen monitor and did as the nurse instructed. She couldn’t take her eyes away from Bo’s. From the day they met, his intensity had scared her and made her feel things right down to her toes. How could she not love the way he loved her? His eyes told her everything.
He needed her.
He wanted her.
He loved her.
Tina kept skimming her fingers over his skin, thankful that there were no burns. She knew the nurses were waiting patiently behind her to continue their work so she bent down close to his face. “I’m not going anywhere. I’ll be right here.” She winked at him and pursed her lips. “Behave, Galloway, or we’ll sedate you again.” Joy flowed from his smile through to her heart. “I love you.”
Bo touched her cheek and nodded once.
Tina moved off the bed and stepped back so the staff could do what they needed. Bo kept his gaze on her.
“I can do that to men, too,” said an older nurse. “But I usually have to inject ’em with something first.” She winked at Tina, who slapped a hand over her mouth to cover her teary laughter. The nurse clapped Tina on the shoulder. “There you go, sugar. Keep that smile on your face. He’s going to be fine, now.”
TWO WEEKS LATER, BO was released. Two miserable, awful, depressing—okay, maybe that was being dramatic, but Bo hated hospitals. He hated the way the nurses came in every five minutes to take his blood or make him breathe in some stupid tube. He hated the way the machines beeped and kept him up at night. The bed was uncomfortable and the wires bothered him.
All of that was minor compared to the way his chest burned, like he’d run a marathon in the freezing cold and breathed through his mouth the whole time. It hurt to inhale too deeply or cough or laugh even. His head finally quit hurting in time to have the stitches removed. He had a rocking bald spot where they shaved him.
The pain and the bald spot were tolerable if it meant being at home with Tina instead of being in the hospital. He was happy to get home and start helping Foster Construction get back to being Foster Construction. The fire had ruined Tina’s apartment upstairs. Duane’s apartment downstairs was damaged, but salvageable. The office area had smoke and water damage. Most of the important papers and cash were in a fireproof safe. Work had to keep going, the crews still needed a paycheck, so life didn’t stop to work on the warehouse. Bo was ready to get back to work, get in there and get his hands dirty on one of their many projects. Which would be great, if Nan and Tina didn’t have him on house arrest. By the time Bo snuck out and went over there, a month after the fire, it was nothing but a block shell.
Tina saw him and immediately scowled. She stomped over to him, angry as a wet hen, that blonde ponytail swinging behind her. “Bo, you should not be here. The doctors said any chemicals you inhale—”
“Tina, stop. I had to get out of the house. Nan is about to smother me and Belinda is calling every damn day to check in.” He pulled Tina into his arms. “I need you and I need a distraction.”
“You’re so hard-headed.” She hugged him back and everything good and whole in the world settled into place. “I’m glad to see you up and moving, but you have to at least wear a mask while you’re here. That’s an order from the boss, not your girlfriend. This is a construction site, after all.” Her sexy, cocky smirk turned him on like never before.
“Yes, ma’am.” Bo slipped the dust mask over his face, secretly thankful, not wanting to inhale anything that might irritate his lungs or throat. He was finally getting to the point where he could breathe deeply again.
Tina walked him through the building, rambling, like she usually did, about all the things they were going to do. The canning warehouse was technically a historical building. The insurance on it covered whatever it took to keep the building standing, not to mention the various policies that Tina and Duane carried for the business and personal
effects. His woman had great ideas, as always.
They would rebuild. Foster Construction would rise from the ashes, literally, and be better than ever.
That night, Tina and Bo sat on the front porch of Nan’s house cuddled under a blanket. The October nights were turning cold and the chilly air was good for the soul after a long, hot Texas summer.
“I have a confession,” Tina whispered, gnawing on her bottom lip. “When you were in the hospital I, um, well, I might’ve done something stupid.”
Bo raised a brow. “Might’ve?”
“Okay, I did do something stupid and rash and maybe even illegal.” She played with her hair, twirling it around her finger in a way he’d never seen her do. “Nan made me come home after I’d been down there a couple days and Bear told me the fire marshal was having a problem locating Rodman to question him. So I…I may have gone to Trey’s office…”
“Oh no.”
“…and I may have taken a nail gun…”
“Oh God.”
“…and I may have nailed his tie to his desk.”
“You didn’t.” Bo scrubbed a hand down his face.
“There’s a possibility that Trey will press charges.”
“A possibility?”
“Okay, Trey pressed charges.” Tina swallowed and lowered her gaze.
“Tina…” Bo sighed and his head fell back with a groan.
“It’s okay. He dropped them when Rodman was arrested…right after I was.”
Bo pinched the bridge of his nose and shook his head. “He was still wearing the tie, wasn’t he?”
“Maybe.” Tina cringed and bit her bottom lip. “Yes.”
“Oh my God, T.”
She crinkled her nose in the cutest way. “Just think, we can have matching mug shots on our Christmas card this year.”
Bo busted out laughing. He couldn’t hold it in. The very thought of that little firecracker marching into Trey’s engineering firm with her tool belt on and nail gun loaded just sent him to cackling uncontrollably. They laughed so hard they both had tears in their eyes and Bo started coughing. He hadn’t laughed that deep in months and it was worth every bit of burning in his chest.