Rescue Me: Park City Firefighter Romance

by Hart, Taylor

  He turned back to Sam, trying to be normal.

  They were seated quickly, and he took note of the elegant setting with candles floating amidst white lilies on the table. The ambiance was serene, and there was a small waterfall next to them.

  Sam watched the hostess walk away and opened her menu. “You Freestones sure know how to name-drop when you need to. ‘A thoroughbred you might say.’” She imitated his voice.

  He let out a light laugh. “Guess so.”

  “And it ticked Luke off.” She smiled at him like she’d heard every word.

  Averting his eyes, he shrugged, not wanting to get into it about Luke. She was working for his brother, so she’d probably witnessed the elitism ooze out. Luke was the worst, always had been. Part of the reason all the brothers had a bad name was because of the way Luke had bragged and shown off all through school. Damon got why guys like Tommy hated him, but he still wouldn’t roll over and let the guy have his way with him. “Let’s see what we want.” It only took him a moment to confirm his favorite was still there.

  A server appeared with another following him, waiting. “Can I interest you in wine?”

  Damon turned to her, waiting for her lead, knowing he wouldn’t be drinking it.

  She shook her head.

  “No,” he said.

  The second server moved forward, efficiently removed the wine glasses, smoothly put down water glasses, and filled them.

  The first server waited. “May I suggest the filet with the mushroom and onions, smothered in blue cheese? Or if you like fish—”

  “I don’t,” she said.

  He grinned at her, thinking they would get along just fine. He ate fish for the health benefits of it, but it wasn’t his favorite either.

  “I’ll give you a few minutes.”

  The server left, and Damon put his menu down.

  “Do you already know what you’re getting?” she asked.

  “Yep.”

  Cocking an eyebrow, she kept her eyes on the menu. “How do you already know?”

  Leaning back, he took in the ambiance and thoroughly enjoyed it. He was out with a beautiful woman at a beautiful restaurant. “Because I always get the filet.”

  It looked almost as if she was worrying over the menu. “Hmm.” She was examining it, like she was studying something really important.

  “So your sister.”

  “Oh.” She looked up. “Why do you care so much?”

  He didn’t know why, but he just knew that he did. “I just want to know more about you.” He realized that was honest and true. Of course, he was also looking for a safe topic. Safe for him, anyway.

  Shutting the menu, she let out a breath.

  “What did you pick?”

  She smiled. “The filet.”

  Holy cow, he loved the way she looked at him. He loved how he was feeling about her, like he’d struck gold.

  “I have to back way up if you want to understand about my sister.”

  “Back up.”

  “I told you my parents were killed in a car crash when I was seventeen. Well, my sister was put in foster care. She … picked the wrong friends. Even though I did everything I could do to petition the courts. By the time I got her back, she was off the rails.”

  “I’m sorry.”

  She waved him off. “It was a long time ago.”

  He could see in her eyes that it still mattered. “So you chose family law.”

  She nodded. “Thus, my passion for law. I spent a lot of time learning the law before going to law school because I was fighting to get her.” Tears misted her eyes, but she blinked them away.

  Darn, she was pretty, and she had a heart of gold.

  “Anyway, so now, here we are. I’m twenty-five. She’s twenty-two and still a complete wreck. She was living with me, but someone has to pay the bills. I had to move here, and she wouldn’t come with me.”

  “Where is she?”

  She sighed. “Living with her druggie boyfriend.” She pinched her lips in distaste.

  “Is she okay?” He found himself actually caring.

  She shrugged. “I … it’s hard to explain, but I know she’s not. I can just feel things sometimes. My obnoxious sister, Janet, says I have something like a hovering mother’s intuition. That’s not it though. I just know things sometimes.”

  He found this intriguing. “Like what?”

  She blushed.

  “What?” Now he was curious.

  “It’s …” She let out a breath and took a sip of water.

  The server came back, and they ordered their food. Another server came and put down a loaf of bread.

  She picked up the knife and cut slices for both of them. He waited for a minute then decided to forget his carb intake and put some butter on a slice.

  She kind of picked at it, not committing to a full bite. “It’s hard to explain. I just kind of know where they are.”

  “So you’re a witch.”

  She looked up. “Yeah. Okay, cat’s out of the bag.” She flashed her eyes wider. “I’m a witch. What can I say?”

  Something deep inside of him, something that didn’t think, wanted to admit he didn’t care if she was a witch. “Okay,” he said softly. “Then you’re a witch. Now that that’s out of the way …”

  She laughed, and he realized he liked her laugh.

  “Seriously, is your sister all right?”

  She put the bread down. “I don’t know. I asked my other sister to check on her yesterday.”

  “Did she?”

  “Janet is too busy getting nose surgery.”

  He frowned.

  “Not for any medical necessity, just because she wanted it. Apparently, I got the good nose, and she’s always hated me for it.”

  Damon smiled, thinking of the stupid things he and his brothers fought over. “Sweet.”

  Hearing her mumble what he assumed, but couldn’t hear to verify, were choice words, he smiled. “Well, it’s nice to hear we all have a jerk face sibling.”

  She let out a light laugh. “Yeah, I wanted to ask her if there was a surgery to cure her jerkiness, but I don’t think she’d get it done anyway.”

  Now he was roaring with laughter, laughing harder than he’d laughed in as long as he could remember.

  Shaking her head, she waved a hand in the air.

  Their meal came, and the server spent time adjusting everything just right on the table and filling up the water.

  Sam cut into the steak and then put a piece in her mouth and closed her eyes, letting out a sound Damon knew he wanted to hear again and again. “This is delicious.”

  Damon took a bite, and all his taste buds sang in agreement. “It is.”

  They ate for a few minutes. Then she said, “Thank you.”

  He smiled. “You’re welcome.”

  “No.” She wiped her lips and leaned back. “I really needed a night out. As neighbors.”

  She was funny, smart, witty, and caring, and she could tell it straight when she wanted to. He liked that.

  Damon let out a breath. “I needed it too.”

  It looked like she wanted to say something, but she took another bite instead.

  He grinned. “So what are your witchy powers telling you now?”

  She smiled. “It doesn’t work like that. I can’t read thoughts.”

  It was funny to him that she acted serious about it. “Oh, then what can you do exactly?”

  She shook her head. “I know it sounds ridiculous.”

  He waited a moment before saying, “It doesn’t sound ridiculous.”

  Turning to him, she seemed to measure him. “You believe me?”

  Uncomfortable with the question, he wiped his mouth and took a sip of water. “What has my brother said about me? Besides saying I flunked Harvard.” It was stupid, but it did smart.

  Not saying anything for a moment, she leaned back. “Well, everything he says about you either sounds angry or a bit jealous.”

  This was interes
ting. “Pray tell.”

  “Oh.” She smiled delightfully. “Quoting Shakespeare, are we?”

  Liking feeling as though he impressed her, he answered. “To thine own self be true.”

  She blushed. “Well, Nick was in the office the other day, and I heard him telling Luke about some fight you’re in. It must be the boxing match you were telling me about. What I didn’t realize is that it’s brother against brother. You’re fighting Nick?”

  He sighed. “I guess I am. Don’t really have a choice.”

  Obviously puzzled, she frowned. “Why?”

  “Well, my captain pulled a favor to get me back to Park City, so he says I owe him this favor.”

  She shook her head. “The days of the gladiators still rule.”

  He wanted to blow her mind. “What did Julius Caesar say? Give them bread and circuses, and they will be happy.”

  “Ah, I don’t think that was Caesar. It was Juvenal, the Roman poet.”

  Of course she got the reference. He realized she might be the smartest woman he had ever dated. Not that the other women weren’t smart, but she was the most cultured and well-read woman. Not that they were dating, he reminded himself.

  She grinned at him, almost as if she was seeing him for the first time.

  “What?”

  “I want to know the truth.”

  He didn’t understand. “About what?”

  She leaned forward. “I want to know why you really dropped out of Harvard.”

  8

  Sam watched his face turn from fun and open to closed and thoughtful. It bothered her that she wanted to know. Really wanted to know.

  Before tonight, she’d been thinking he was some jerk who came back to town to cash in on his daddy’s cabins. Now, she realized he didn’t really want the property. Every time she spoke about doing what he had to do to start collecting rents, he basically brushed her off.

  All she saw was a guy who had so much potential, but just seemed ticked off.

  He took a long breath.

  The server came to gather some dishes and fill the water.

  He studied her intently. “Do you really want to know about Harvard?”

  She grinned. “Hey, I told you about my witchlike powers.”

  He looked skeptical, lifting both brows. “Yeah. All right.” He put both hands on the table. “I’ll tell you the truth.”

  “Okay.”

  “I got about halfway through the first semester when I began realizing law wasn’t what I thought it was.”

  He hesitated, and she pressed. “Go on.”

  “I wanted to believe I could make a difference, that I could really affect change in the world, but the more I started learning, and the more connections my dad started putting in place for me, the more I began to realize all of the whole show of Harvard. It was all about the connections and the next thing and all the money you could make and blah blah blah … It just wasn’t for me.”

  Mildly insulted, but kind of understanding, she crossed her arms. “Then who is it for?”

  He flashed a grin, and she realized how much she liked his teeth. They were a brilliant white and perfectly even. It was shallow of her, but teeth were a thing for her. “Look, I’m not saying it’s dishonorable or anything …”

  “That’s what it sounds like.”

  He nodded. “I know.”

  “Then that’s what you said.”

  “No, you’re not understanding.”

  “What?”

  “I just felt like there were too many hoops to jump through. Too many targets. I felt like if I sat in class all day every day for three years, trying to get to a point to help people … I would waste away. Then I would need to spend even more time getting a reputation and breaking into the system. You know about that. You know how hard it is.” He gestured to her. “You came here expecting to work in family law and do your passion, but my jerk brother tells you that you have to pay some dues by doing this real estate crap.”

  She had to laugh because he’d just described his brother so well and her situation perfectly. “So you gave up.”

  He snorted. “No, I wanted to be a firefighter, and Boston Fire Department is the best.”

  She smiled. “Aren’t all of them best?”

  “No.” He answered immediately.

  “Why’d you leave?”

  He looked away. “Stuff happened.”

  “What?”

  Giving her an intense look, he challenged her. “Are you everyone’s shrink?”

  Now she smiled. “If you ask Zoey, I am.”

  He scoffed. “Your sister.”

  “Yep.” She could tell he didn’t want to talk about it. “That bad?”

  “I just … stuff happened, and afterwards I just felt … well, you’ll understand this. Like I wasn’t clairvoyant anymore.”

  “You were clairvoyant?”

  He grinned. “I’m just using that as an analogy. If you can understand what that is. I mean, since you didn’t go to Harvard either.”

  Man, she liked this guy more and more. He could dish it back to her. She’d never dated a guy who could do that.

  “Explain without an analogy, please.”

  He shrugged and looked away evasively.

  “Explain.” She prompted quietly. For some reason, she was invested and wanted to know.

  Turing his piercing blue eyes to her, he looked uncomfortable. “My whole life, I just believed I was going to do something to help people. Maybe it was my mother and my Catholic upbringing. She always said my patron saint was St. John, the one who wards off fires. I loved fire. Started a million fires. In fact, it’s why I worked with the fire department here, volunteering before I went to Harvard. I always knew someone was there. I thought I had St. John. But …” He trailed off. “I messed up.” He flashed a sarcastic grin. “Let everyone down, especially my dad.”

  “How?”

  He shrugged then let out a light laugh. “No, it is not the time to talk about all my problems.”

  “Okay. You just gave me a major hook in the story, but now you don’t want to finish it.”

  “Some other time, maybe.”

  “Fine. But you’re here now?”

  He shrugged. “Yes, I am.”

  “Do you still believe you have St. John with you?”

  He blew out a breath and turned away, looking out the window. “I don’t know.”

  She let out a long breath. “I think you know. I just think you’re one of those guys.”

  Looking back, he gave her an incredulous look. “What kind of guy is that?”

  “The kind who extracts secrets but never gives away their own.”

  She wondered if he was upset, but then he set his jaw and turned back to her. “You want to hear it?”

  She nodded. “Yep.”

  He sighed and hesitated for a few seconds, seeming to decide something. Then he shrugged. “Fine. Yesterday, I went into this house. An older home in the older part of Park City, the ones with yards where you can’t hardly fit the fire engine, and you have to climb a bunch of steps in the yard just to reach the house.”

  She grinned. “Yeah, I know.”

  “Anyway, I was busting down doors and clearing out the rooms, and I heard this sound. It sounded like a baby. My partner didn’t hear it, and the captain kept calling us out. In my gut, I knew someone was there. Someone was missing.”

  “Okay.”

  “And then, right before I was about to get out, I couldn’t do it. I turned away from the window to go back. That’s when I saw a lever to pull down an attic cord. It was like I was led to it. Like God showed it to me. I pulled it and got up there. The space was so small I couldn’t get through it. I had to shed my air tank, but I could see this little girl. She looked like she was about four or five. She was passed out, and she was holding onto a baby.”

  Everything inside of her felt loose and free. Tears rushed into her eyes. She was captivated. “So what happened?”

  “It might soun
d funny, but when I get into situations like that, it’s like my brain has this hyper focus, and I can see three different ways to do something. Then I can pick the quickest way, the way that will save somebody, and my body just goes into motion. It doesn’t matter if there’s an obstacle; it doesn’t matter if someone is yelling at me; it doesn’t matter if it doesn’t seem possible. I just make it happen.”

  She was mystified. “So what happened?”

  He shrugged, tears in his eyes. “I picked up the little girl and the baby, and when I looked at the bottom of the ladder, my partner was gone. I knew if I kicked out the window, we would get air. I looked for the ladder which was coming my way, but we were smoldering, couldn’t breathe. I knew the little girls needed air, and that I couldn’t last long either. So I held them both in my arms.” He showed her by making a cupping into the chest motion. “And I prayed. I told God these were his children, and if he wanted them alive, then I needed his help.”

  Tears blinded her before she blinked them back.

  “Then I basically did a back dive out the window and slid on my back down the roof to the garage. I didn’t know if I would live or if they would live. I say that, but deep down I knew. Ya know? I knew it would be okay. I knew that they would be okay.”

  She wasn’t sure how it’d happened, but now she had a river of tears running down her cheeks. He had ones to match.

  He smiled. “It was a good day. I haven’t had that good of a day in six months.” He shrugged. “Maybe St. John’s back. I don’t know.”

  She leaned over the table and put her hand over his. “So you have a saint, and I’m a witch?”

  They sat there for a moment. Then he smiled. “C’mon, let’s go. I want to show you something.”

  * * *

  Twenty minutes later, they were at the lookout of another mountain, one that was closer to Midway. Neither of them had spoken after the restaurant. Somehow, she’d felt moved and different. Different than she’d ever felt about any man before. Humbled. In sync. It was just like she knew her sisters and felt where they were. When he had told her the story, she felt like she’d been there, part of it, inside his head. Most guys would have bragged about it the whole night, but she’d had to drag it out of him. That made every word more real, and it moved her.