Fireman's Filthy 4th: An Older Man Younger Woman Holiday Romance (A Man Who Knows What He Wants Book 22)

by Flora Ferrari

  “I was at her house,” I say. I haven’t lied, but now I’m putting myself in a situation where I’m going to be forced into explaining what’s going on. The truth’s about to find its way out…real fast.

  “So if you were at her house, but she wasn’t at her house, then what exactly were you doing over there?”

  I consider all the things I could say, but there’s only one thing I can. My parents have always been open and honest with me, and I’m not about to betray them, or show them all the hard work that went into raising me right went for nothing.

  “I met somebody.”

  “What do you mean you met somebody?”

  “A guy dad! I met a guy.”

  “And so you used your friend’s house to shack up with him…for four days!”

  “It’s his house too.”

  “So that’s why you didn’t tell Laura. You’re in a relationship with her brother. Why didn’t you just come out and say so?”

  I don’t say anything. I don’t move. I don’t give any indication of what’s going on with my body language. None at all. As long as I just stand here I’m still truthful. I’m not about to answer the unasked question.

  My dad moves back to the couch, and takes a drink of his Coke.

  I take another step towards the stairs.

  “Wait one second!”

  I freeze for the second time.

  “What’s Laura’s brother’s name?”

  Oh shoot.

  “What…is…Laura’s…brother’s…name? Don’t make me ask you again.”

  I try to think of a way to answer that satisfies the question, but doesn’t give away that she doesn’t have a brother. “There isn’t one.”

  “There isn’t one, because she doesn’t have a brother. Who in the hell were you with over there? And where was her dad during all this time?”

  “He was there,” I say.

  “He was there! He let this all go on right under his own roof? What in the hell is wrong with him? He’s a parent, he should know better. I thought he was on our side.” My dad shakes his head disapprovingly. “But that’s beside the point. What’s this boy’s name?”

  “There is no boy.”

  “You just said you were over there with some boy. What’s his name? Quit playing games with me young lady.”

  “Ben. His name is Benjamin.”

  “Benjamin what? And how come I don’t know about him? Not that you two are going to be seeing each other again anytime soon.”

  “Burns.”

  “Burns. Nobody you know…has…that… Why you little. Are you sleeping with her father?”

  “Dad, it’s not—”

  “Holy shit! Get the fuck out of my house.”

  “Dad, you—”

  “Out!”

  I hear a loud smash, and turn to see my mom standing by the door with her hands over her mouth. Her favorite vase is in hundreds of tiny little pieces on the hard tile floor in front of her.

  I storm out the door and have no idea where I’m going to go. Benjamin went back to work at eight this morning and Laura’s back at college, not that it seems very appropriate to run to her at the moment. I am totally screwed.

  I march across the street and down the block, coming to a stop under a tree. I need a minute to come up with a plan before I do anything too drastic.

  I look down the block and see my dad has already beaten me to it.

  He’s barreling down the small street in front of our house at speeds that are well above the limit. The tires squeak as he rounds the corner without slowing down one bit. I run out into the street and watch as he turns onto the on-ramp. Oh my god, is he going to confront Benjamin at the station?

  I started my morning on cloud nine, and now I feel like my life has sunk to the depths of the bottom of the ocean, and my chances of being with Benjamin just hit a massive turning of the tides, especially if my dad does what I think he’s about to do.

  CHAPTER 17

  Dad

  “I am going to kill that son of a bitch!” I yell inside my car as death metal blasts over the speakers. I’ll show up at that damn place in a Swedish station wagon and still whoop his ass. Volvo or not, I’m coming for him.

  That cocky bastard thought he made a grand entrance on the 4th at my place, well I’m going to do the same at his right fucking now!

  I had the whole fireworks thing under control. All I needed was another minute to get the hose out and I would have had the whole lawn watered down and everything would have been fine, but oh no. Now the city is deciding if they’re going to press charges for a whole laundry list of violations from illegal fireworks to child endangerment. I don’t put my kinds in danger.

  The city doesn’t know a damn thing about me. I put on the best fireworks show in town, and the one year we have a malfunction the city is ready to empty my wallet and throw me in the slammer. Well, I pay my taxes and now it’s time to get my money’s worth.

  Cops, fireman…those kinds are all the same. Think they’re untouchable, that they’re above the law. Well I’ll show him what happens when somebody lays a finger on my daughter. He’s the one who should be going to jail!

  I turn the volume knob further to the right as I swerve in and out of traffic. I know which station he works at and I’ll be there in less than twenty minutes. Boy is he going to get a surprise.

  “Watch where you’re going asshole!” I stick my head out the window and yell at the douchebag in the fast lane going fifty-five. Dumbass tries to get out of my way way to late, and almost causes me to crash. Clueless jerk!

  I hit the horn and cut across into the carpool lane before swerving back into regular traffic. “Not following the laws anymore. Feels fuckin’ A fantastic!”

  “As a matter of fact,” I say, cutting back into the carpool lane. I roll my passenger window down and give the bird to all the suckers stuck in the slow lanes…the regular lanes. “Losers!” I yell as I continue flipping off all those sorry saps. “Yeah, that’s right. I don’t give a shit how many passengers I’ve got in my car, I’m riding in the fast lane. Laws don’t apply for the fine public servants of L.A. then they don’t apply to me either. They work for the taxpayers anyways. I’m their boss so they can just fuck off!”

  “Woo-hoo,” I yell. I can’t wait to get to that station and punch him square in the jaw! “I’m almost there, you prick!”

  I reach down for the cd player button to change the track. It’s time for some really heavy stuff. The stuff that will get me pumped up enough that I’ll be throwing fireman off me left and right. Ten men won’t be able to get in-between him and me. I need that stuff I used to listen to back in high school. “Damn, so this is what it feels like to be Kevin Spacey in American Beauty.” Free as a bird and reliving my youth, but my beef isn’t with my wife, it’s with another guy. And this guy isn’t a retired Marine Corps alpha neighbor like it was in that movie, but it’s just about the same. Hotshot fireman who’s my daughter’s best friend’s dad. What a schmuck!

  I press the track forward button and glance down to look at the names of the song. “What number was that one I always liked?”

  I look back up just as a big rig pulls into the carpool lane.

  “What the?”

  I pull the wheel right, but the lane is occupied. I pull the wheel back left and hit the brakes hard. I’m going to slide under the semi!

  I pull the wheel left again and ram right into the center divider, my car flips in midair and everything goes black.

  CHAPTER 18

  Benjamin

  I’m down the pole and the first onto the engine. Seconds later we pull out of the garage.

  Sirens are blaring as we round the corner heading for the on-ramp as quickly as we can while keeping our speed safe.

  “Pass it! Take the next ramp,” I yell.

  “That’s the wrong side,” the driver fires back.

  “It’s our only hope,” I say. “Traffic is gonna be backed up for miles. We’ll never get to him in time
. We have to come in from the other direction and cut across the divider.”

  “That’s suicide.”

  “That’s our job…to save lives. Do it!”

  The driver knows I’m right and he speeds pass the onramp and onto the next one.

  We blaze down the highway, before merging onto the other highway, which will put us right across the center divider from the scene. We’re closing in, avoiding the cars that are starting to slow as they anticipate a rubbernecking situation up ahead.

  The engine slows and I grab the Jaws of Life. I’m out before we even come to a stop.

  “Watch out, Benjamin!” I hear one of the other fireman behind me yell, but pay them no mind. The car is in sorry shape and I can see gas is leaking onto the pavement. It could blow at any second.

  It’s hot as hell outside and I’m sweating buckets as I breathe in through my nose and out my mouth. I can’t save this person if I pass out from the heat of the day and the suit.

  “Sir, can you hear me?” I yell, as I approach the driver’s side window.

  The car is upside down and the man inside appears unconscious.

  “Generator!”

  The two fireman behind me pull up just in time. I hook up the tool to the generator and begin cutting through his door, making sure not to injure him.

  “It’s leaking gas. It’s gonna blow,” one of the other guys on the team yells.

  “We’re not going to be able to save him,” a second fireman warns.

  “Let’s go, Benjamin. We’ve got to get out of here. It’s too late.”

  I feel a hand on my shoulder and I reach across my body, pushing it away. “Nobody’s going down on my watch.”

  The other guys on the team take off running, just as the blade on the Jaws of Life makes it through the door. I drop the tool and jerk at the door. It comes off the hinges, hitting me right in the face knocking me back. I spring back up and see the man inside. There’s blood, but he’s still breathing and he’s not trapped. I grab him underneath the armpits and pull him from the car, putting him in a fireman’s carry and running like hell to get the two of us out of there.

  “Run Benjamin!”

  The guys at the truck look scared as hell and I’m going as fast as I can when suddenly I feel a warm gush of air hit the back of my neck and my body pushed forward as I lose consciousness.

  CHAPTER 19

  Amy

  “His finger is moving! He’s waking up!”

  My dad’s eyes open and I immediately start crying.

  I feel my hand shaking, and I reach forward putting my hand on his.

  “Where am I?”

  “Everything’s going to be okay. You’re in the hospital.”

  “Hospital?”

  “You had an accident,” I say. “You flipped your car.”

  He’s staring directly at me, causing me to wonder just how much of this he’s understanding.

  His eyes come off mine and he scans the room. Thank god, he seems to be okay.

  “Do you remember?”

  “I remember,” he says. “I was going to kick that fireman’s ass…and I’m still going to.”

  “I don’t know if that’s such a good idea,” I say.

  “And why not?”

  “Dad,” I say in a hushed tone as I lean in to kiss his cheek. “He saved you.”

  “He didn’t save me. What craziness has gotten into you this time?”

  “He pulled you out of your car, just before it exploded.”

  “My car?”

  “It’s gone. Up in a ball of flames.”

  “Impossible.”

  “Possible. We even have the video, I mean the whole of Southern California has the video. It’s everywhere online. Millions of YouTube views and everything. Benjamin’s a hero.”

  “He’s no hero.”

  “Dad. Look.”

  I pull my phone out of my pocket and play the video for him. It’s the one with the helicopter footage where they zoom in and you can really see my dad…and how far the two of them flew through the air after the blast.

  “You were unconscious. The other firemen left, but he stayed there for you. He didn’t leave you, even though he was supposed to.”

  My dad says nothing.

  “And he didn’t even know it was you. He did it because you were a person, and he loves helping people…and he loves me.”

  My dad mumbles something.

  “His body broke your fall after the blast. You could be in a lot worse shape right now.”

  “I’m in terrible shape. Look at me.”

  “At least I can look at you. Without him, I’d be staring into a casket.”

  It’s too much and I start crying again. My dad’s in no condition to hug me right now, but I instinctively lean into him, putting my head on his shoulder.

  The door suddenly opens. “Doctor’s coming. We need everybody out.”

  “I’m the only one,” I say.

  “What about the fireman?”

  “He went to the bathroom real quick.”

  “The fireman? He’s here?” my dad says.

  “He’s been here with me the whole time, watching over you. Mom too.”

  “Where’s your mother?”

  “She also went to the bathroom.”

  “First my daughter and now he goes after my wife.”

  I smile. I know my dad’s sarcastic sense of humor when I hear it, and this is it. He’s got a long way to go, but that sense of humor of his will definitely help bring him back to being the dad I know and love sooner rather than later.

  “I love you, dad. It’s good to see you awake.”

  “Okay. We really need to clear out the room now.”

  I nod to the nurse and make my way to the door just as the doctor walks in. It looks like he’s been running, and he’s out of breath.

  He looks at my dad and sees that he’s awake. “Sir, you’re a lucky man.”

  And thanks to Benjamin he’s even luckier than he knows. Not only did Benjamin save his life, but he also saved his pocketbook. He made some calls and was able to have all the 4th of July charges they were considering throwing at him dropped.

  CHAPTER 20

  Benjamin

  “See anything interesting?”

  I can’t help but smile as I pull my head away from the telescope at Griffith Observatory and turn to address the voice, which I’d recognize anywhere.

  “Nothing as interesting as who’s standing in front of me.”

  “Oh daddy!”

  My daughter runs to me and we hug.

  “I’m so glad you’re safe.”

  “You know me. I’m not about to run off and get hurt and leave you down here all by yourself.”

  “I know, but dad…please don’t scare me like that again.”

  “I’ll try not to, pumpkin,” I say as I lean down and kiss her on top of her head. “Want to walk a little?”

  “Sure,” she says.

  We slowly make our way across the grass.

  “You picked the perfect night,” she says.

  “Every night with you is perfect. You’re my little girl. We need more moments like these, don’t we?”

  “We do,” she says, looking up at me and smiling. I reach my hand over and with the back I rub the tear out of the corner of her eye. “Just not under the same circumstances. You really scared me.”

  “I can’t lie. That was a close call.”

  “Way too close. And it was even on TV.”

  “That’s the part I don’t like.”

  “You don’t like. What about me? I watched it live knowing it was you the whole time. I could tell by the way you move it was you. They were trying to identify the brave firefighter, the newsperson from the helicopter said. I knew, and I think my professor knew too.”

  “Your professor?”

  “Yeah, she was watching it live just before class started. She flipped on the TV in the room so the whole class could see. I was terrified, but when you pulled him out t
he entire class gave you a standing ovation.”