Married by Christmas: Park City Firefighter Romances

by Hart, Taylor

  The minister continued talking, and Tom looked up at the couple, who were holding each other’s hands and giving each other dramatic looks. It was almost like this was a show, like they were at a theater and the bride and groom were pretending to get married.

  Emily gasped next to him, her face turning white. When he followed her gaze, her eyes were locked with a guy who was on the other side of the wedding attendees. The guy met his gaze but didn’t stare very long, quickly turning back to the front.

  Worry pulsed through him. “What?” He leaned over, protectively putting his arm around her chair.

  Emily blinked furiously and sucked in a breath. “I don’t know,” she whispered.

  Tom watched as the guy slowly got up from the edge of the aisle on the other side, rushed back toward the tent, and disappeared. Emily’s face regained a little color, but Tom saw fear in her eyes. “What’s wrong?” he asked.

  Emily shook her head like she didn’t want to talk about it.

  Tom waited, feeling all keyed up, like he needed to chase the guy down and kick his butt. Something had clearly happened.

  Before Tom knew it, the minister announced, “I now pronounce you man and wife.”

  The audience clapped and cheered. Tom wasn’t watching the couple, though, and he wasn’t clapping.

  Emily pasted on a fake smile, clapped half-heartedly, and smiled at some joke Melissa was telling. Then she put her hand to her stomach. Tom had seen that look all through grade school whenever someone in class lost their lunch. Emily had a weak stomach, and he knew she was going to puke.

  Chapter 16

  Emily didn’t protest when Tom took her hand and quickly pulled her down the aisle, then along the main red carpet. She rushed with Tom as they searched for a bathroom. Unfortunately, the closest bathroom was at the end of the carpet. In her nauseated state, Emily wasn’t fast enough.

  Tom picked her up and booked it. “Hold on, Ems. I got ya.”

  The urge to barf was right there, but Emily prayed she would make it, closing her eyes.

  There was a thud, and Emily opened her eyes to see Tom kicking in the door to the women’s bathroom. Quickly, he put her down. She didn’t have time to do anything but skitter to the first stall before it all came back up.

  Not that there was much. She’d only had toast for breakfast and a salad for lunch, but whatever remnants were in her stomach now splattered all over.

  Tom’s hands pulled her hair back. “It’s okay.” The smell of his aftershave was a fresh and a welcome distraction.

  Why was she noticing this? “Please go.” She coughed.

  “No.”

  She didn’t have time to complain, because the next round hit her. She bent lower into the toilet, hating this. Hating that she was barfing, hating that it was so humiliating, hating that Tom was here helping her and she couldn’t even talk to tell him to leave.

  As she pulled back, Tom held out a stack of toilet paper for her. She wiped her mouth, bracing herself with the other hand on the stall. “I’m sorry.”

  “Don’t worry about it,” Tom said. “I’ve seen you barf plenty of times.”

  She flushed the toilet, looking down at her dress. She found that, surprisingly, there was nothing on it. “This is disgusting.”

  Tom nodded and let go of her hair, moving out of the stall. “I think you’re okay now, Ems. I’ll wait outside.”

  She did feel fine, she realized. Following him out of the stall, she went straight for the sink as Tom disappeared out of the bathroom. The sound of the pools and the kids playing and glasses tinkling floated through the air before the door swung shut.

  Relief washed through her as she stared at herself in the mirror. At least it wasn’t in her hair. She had Tom to thank for that. Also, it wasn’t all over her dress. It would have been totally humiliating to throw up in front of the entire who’s who of the firm.

  She rinsed her mouth and wished for some mouthwash. Alas, she had to settle for pushing her hair back into place. Maybe she could still do the rest of this night.

  When she emerged from the bathroom, Tom was standing on the line between the carpet and the beach, staring out at the little bit of sunset left. He wore his tux comfortably, and his hands were in his pockets. He couldn’t see her yet, so she took a moment to observe him. She marveled at his blond hair. All the Kent brothers had the same blond locks. At times, when she would watch one of Grant’s movies, she would think about how closely they all resembled each other, but to her, Tom was even better-looking.

  Farther off, people were already getting seated at the tables. She saw the boat on the dock with Mr. Owens and Alice walking toward the tent. She really didn’t want to put on a show right now.

  “Are you okay?” Tom stepped closer to her, eyeing her up and down like a doctor would look at a patient.

  “Fine,” she lied.

  “What happened with that guy?”

  Emily sighed, knowing Tom had noticed and she couldn’t shrug this off. “The other day there was a guy I saw at Black Sand Beach and then at the ice cream place. It was the same guy that was at the wedding. I got that feeling the first time I saw him.”

  “Uh-oh. Your premonitions?”

  It was annoying that he knew, yet somewhat comforting. “Yeah. At first, I thought I could just leave, but he kept showing up. At the coconut ice cream place, he kept asking me where my boyfriend was.”

  Tom looked around and absently pulled a piece of gum from his pocket.

  “Oh my gosh, thank you.” She took the gum and slipped it into her mouth. “I saw him at the wedding and had that feeling times ten.”

  “Hence the barfing.”

  She shrugged. “Yeah.”

  “I’m going to go talk to security.” He turned to go.

  “No, please, just stay with me.”

  He stopped, frowning. “I don’t like this creeper, whoever he is, running around out there.”

  Meeting his blue eyes, she realized she didn’t want him to leave her. “Please, just stay with me. I need you. It could get worse. Remember third grade, Mr. Hansen’s class?”

  There was a smile on his face, and she found herself laughing, thinking of how the janitor had come to clean it up.

  Tom wagged a finger at her. “I saw that look, and I knew it was coming.”

  She pointed back, rolling her eyes. “Yeah, back then you ran away from me, yelling, ‘She’s gonna barf, people!’”

  He laughed, and she found herself remembering even more things about being little with him. Like how they’d sat by each other every day at lunch, even when someone started a humiliating rumor that they liked each other.

  Tom reached out and took her hand, his face growing serious. “You barf when you’re scared, Ems, so don’t play casual with me.” He swallowed. “Go through it all again.”

  She sighed. It was annoying he knew her so well on some levels. She relented and went over it all again.

  “I don’t like this. We’re reporting it to security.” Tom put his arm around her, and they moved toward the security guy. “Don’t worry. I’ll keep you safe.”

  Twenty minutes later, they discovered that the security presence at the event was a bit lacking. It was wrapped up in the resort security, and there wasn’t really a way to track who was coming to events and who was staying at the hotel, especially because there were several events going on at the resort.

  “Maybe we should go to the police,” Tom said.

  It was so stupid for her to compare Tom to Brett, but she couldn’t stop herself. Tom was comforting and compassionate; Brett was a fast talker and not uncompassionate—after all, he saved lives on death row—but he wasn’t the same. What would she call him?

  Tom frowned at her. “What are you thinking?”

  “Umm …” Not wanting to tell him what she’d been thinking, she glanced at the tent. “I’m thinking I feel safe with you.”

  A smile softened his face. “You are safe with me.” Slowly, he leaned in and brushed
his lips to her forehead.

  Warmth rushed through her. Not just warmth, but attraction. It felt natural to need him and for him to be here. How many times had she denied herself needing anyone else? She thought of Brett. “Sensible,” she muttered.

  “What?”

  “Nothing.”

  “Ems, tell me what you’re thinking. If you’re having one of your premonitions, I need to know about it.”

  “I’m not,” she said quickly.

  “Then what?”

  Reluctantly, she told him the truth. “I was thinking that Brett was a sensible relationship for me, but I never felt safe with him. I never even thought about him taking care of me.” Her heart hammered inside of her chest.

  He blinked and let out a light laugh. “O-kay.”

  “You don’t have to say anything about that.”

  “I was just processing it.”

  “Right.” She knew that. This was how Tom was. He liked to process things.

  Squeezing her hand, he narrowed his eyes. “The real question is, why would you put up with that, Ems? Why? Sure, you’ve always been a realist, but to put up with a ‘sensible’ relationship where you don’t feel like someone would take care of you? That’s disappointing.”

  His criticism felt suddenly unbearable. No, this wasn’t how it was supposed to go. Tom didn’t get to come into her life and criticize decisions she’d made. “Don’t do that.” He’d always been that way, so black and white. Right and wrong. Love or not love. “You don’t live in the real world, Tom. You don’t understand the things I’ve gone through.”

  He let out a puff of breath. “Don’t I, Ems? Did you forget I went to war? Have you forgotten I got dumped by the love of my life ten years ago?”

  She wanted to run, melt into the ground, do anything but squirm under Tom Kent’s microscope. She’d forgotten how intense he could be when he was nailing you to the wall. Belatedly, she remembered that while he might not have been good in a debate setting, he was usually good in proving what he believed was the right version of life.

  Not wanting to hear this, she pushed away from him and began moving back to the resort.

  “Ems, wait. We haven’t even mingled. Don’t you want your promotion?”

  She stopped, realizing that it would be stupid to leave before she got in brownie points with Mr. Owens.

  Tom reached for her hand. “C’mon, let’s focus on the deal.”

  Chapter 17

  After hobnobbing with Emily’s boss and getting leered at again by Alice, Tom and Emily finally left. It didn’t seem like Emily wanted to talk, so Tom just took her hand and walked around the hotel property toward the pools. He was glad she didn’t pull away. Part of him felt bad for being so intense, but what could he say? Why had she allowed herself to be in that kind of relationship?

  Most of the crowds were gone, and only a few parents and kids were still swimming. They stopped next to the artificial waterfall. Tom stared at their joined hands. He didn’t want to let hers go. That thought made him feel vulnerable, but he knew the truth.

  The truth was that he still loved her. It was undeniable when he’d sat and held back her hair as she was throwing up. Which he knew was disgusting, but that was just it. Helping her didn’t disgust him at all.

  “Thank you. You …” She shook her head, and he saw tears mist in her eyes. “You really saved me today.”

  “I told you to quit thanking me.” But dang, how come he liked hearing those words from her so much? He shrugged. “You know, I kinda like helping you. What did you used to say about me?”

  She let out a light laugh. “You have a bit of hero complex when it comes to people you love.”

  Yes, she used to get crazy about it, telling him she could pay for stuff and hating when he doted all over her. “You hated that so bad,” he whispered, peering into her green eyes and reaching up and touching her hair. It was still smooth and silky. He pulled it up to his nose and inhaled.

  Batting him away, she laughed. “You’re crazy.”

  Tom put a hand around her waist. His heart hammered in his chest. “Am I? Do you feel this, Ems? Do you?”

  The way she breathed rapidly told him she felt it all. All the attraction. Everything.

  With a surge of dismay, he thought about what she’d said yesterday. “I never wanted that night to be something you regretted. I’m sorry about that.”

  She blinked. “It’s … I can’t really blame you, can I? I’m the one to blame.”

  Every part of him wanted this woman. Just like then. No. Even more now. So much more, because he’d been without her for so long. He’d forgotten how much he needed her. “I’ve been mad as all get out at you and so sad, but I never regretted anything about you, Ems. Never.”

  Tears spilled from her eyes. “Tom, I’m sor—”

  All apologies stopped when he pressed his lips to hers. She melted into him. Just as she always had. Exactly how he liked her. Putting her hands on his face, she pulled him into her.

  He loved it. So much. It was a rush because he was falling, just like jumping off the cliffs all those years ago. Just like when he’d gone skydiving, or when he went too fast on his motorcycle. This was Emily to him—pure adrenaline.

  His lips moved against hers as they had before, when make-out sessions had been a daily thing. Slipping her hands around his neck, she ran her hands through his hair. Every part of him was on fire, and he could feel her fire matching his own.

  Pulling back a bit, he laughed against her lips. “It’s still there, Ems. It’s still there.”

  The air thickened between them, and he couldn’t stop himself. He kept his voice low. “Em, I used to dream of this. I used to dream of us somehow getting back together. I used to think about how our life would have been and what it would be like to come home to you.” He let out a breath and knew this made him more vulnerable, but he didn’t care right now. Maybe he wanted to be vulnerable with her again. “I actually bought a house last year in a town outside of Park City, a rural town called Heber. I bought—”

  “You bought our house?”

  It was insane what her words did to him. He laughed but also felt tears emerging. He nodded. “Well, the house is on five acres.”

  “A house to restore?”

  “Oh yeah. It’s in process. Grant’s there right now, and he thought I was kidding about how much construction it needs, but …”

  “But we would paint a blue room and a pink one.” Her tears matched his.

  Chills rushed over him. “Yes. I don’t have the horses yet—”

  “We have to learn to ride first anyway,” she said, sniffing and looking like she would crumble to pieces.

  He laughed and held her closer, running a hand down her hair. “Exactly. The best part is the wraparound porch. It’s falling apart at the moment, but it’s there.”

  “Does it have a white swing chair on the porch?”

  “Not yet.” He could see her swinging in it. With him. Maybe holding a baby. “It could.”

  She held his gaze and swallowed. Abruptly, she took a step away. He wanted to pull her back, but she held a hand up. “Oh, whew.” She wiped beneath her eyes. “I don’t know what …” She shook her head, looking confused. “Tom, this is crazy.”

  Desire washed over him. Unbelievably, the woman he loved was standing in the moonlight with him, holding his hand, and they were remembering all the perfect dreams together.

  “What are you thinking, Tom?” she asked softly.

  He sighed. “It’s not crazy, Ems. It’s not.”

  She looked unconvinced.

  “It’s been ten years. For so much time, I stood in the desert, guarding the helos at night. Yeah, I worked on them too. Turns out if you can work on a motorcycle, you can fix a helicopter.”

  She smiled.

  Part of him didn’t want to admit to this, but he couldn’t stop. “I would think about those times, hanging out in my garage. You there, us talking about our life together.” After everything h
e’d done in his life, those simple moments were still the best memories he had.

  “I have thought of it, too.”

  Tom knew how dangerous hope could be. Hope could keep men fighting a war they couldn’t win. Was he fighting that war right now? He cradled her hand in both of his and turned it so he could see the blue topaz ring from her grandmother. “Isn’t it funny I even know that your grandmother gave you this ring?”

  Letting out a light sigh, she smiled. “It is funny.”

  Tom grinned. “She was a good lady.”

  “Yes, she was. So—” She swallowed. “—so is my mother.”

  Hesitating, Tom knew her mother was a complicated topic for her, and he didn’t want to say what he was thinking. Neither of them spoke for a while.

  Tom decided to go straight to the root of what he knew had taken Emily away from him. “Emily, you can’t worry about being strong all the time. You can’t let all those insecurities about someone leaving you keep us apart.”

  Slowly, Emily pulled her hand away. “You don’t know what you’re talking about.”

  “Your father left you. Left your mother, and it broke your mother. You admitted you couldn’t have me leave, even just to be in the military, but Ems—” He reached for her again. “—I’m not in the military now. I won’t leave you. I wouldn’t—”

  Before he could finish, she cut him off. “Trina told me.”

  “What?”

  “That you went to visit my mother in the care center the last time you were in Greeley.”

  His mind flashed to his spur-of-the-moment decision to see her. “So what?”

  “So what? That’s not …I mean, why wouldn’t you see me when I came to Salt Lake last summer? I know you saw my Facebook message. It said ‘read.’” Her eyes narrowed, and he felt like he had found himself smack in the middle of the Spanish Inquisition.

  “What?” He stepped back, unprepared for this turn in the conversation.