When he stepped inside, he was surprised to find Amanda standing at the stove, wearing one of his flannels over the tank and pajama pants she’d worn to bed.
“Hey,” he said. “You’re up early.”
“I never really went back to sleep after you left.”
He kicked off his boots and hung up his coat before crouching to tend to the woodstove. “How come?”
“You were going to fight a fire—my new biggest fear. Triggered some anxiety.”
With the fire stoked, Landon stood, crossed the room and hugged her from behind, kissing her neck as he peeked around her to see that she was cooking eggs. “I’m okay.”
“You smell like smoke.”
“I know. Sorry. I’ll go shower.”
She covered the hand he’d flattened against her abdomen. “Stay.”
He tightened his hold on her. “I’m here, and I’m fine.”
“Did you go into the house while it was on fire?”
For a second, he thought about lying to calm her fears, but he didn’t want to be dishonest with her. “I went in for the family’s dog.”
She shuddered. “I can’t bear to think of you willingly walking into a fire.”
“I do it all the time, sweetheart. I’m very well protected.”
“So was Lucas, and he was nearly killed saving me.”
“Nothing like that had ever happened to either of us in all the years we’ve been working for the department.”
“Still, don’t pretend it can’t happen.”
“I’d never deny that, but I can’t have you losing sleep every time I get called out.”
“I’m sorry. I don’t mean to make it about me when you’re the one who was in danger.”
“You’re still recovering from a very frightening experience. It’s only natural that any thought of fire would trigger your fears. But I’m highly trained and very experienced. You really don’t need to worry about me.”
“And yet I did anyway.”
“That’s very sweet of you.” He held her for a long time as she used a spatula to move the scrambled eggs around in the pan.
“I made extra for you.”
“Thank you.”
“We also have those chocolate chip muffins your sister Charley made.”
“That’s great, because I’m starving.”
“You have to let go of me.”
“Don’t want to.”
“Don’t really want you to.”
“Can I hold you some more after breakfast?”
When she nodded, he let her go, but not before the simple contact with her had him right back to where he’d been when he left her last night—dying for more of her, and that, right there, was how he knew she was different from every other woman he’d met since he lost Naomi.
Chapter Ten
“We could never learn to be brave and patient
if there was only joy in the world.”
—Helen Keller
Amanda had never been happier to see anyone than she was to see Landon when he came in the door looking tired and dirty and better than any man had a right to look. She’d had a rough night since he left, tossing, turning, worrying, reliving her own near miss until she finally gave up on sleep and got up to watch TV for a few hours.
After breakfast, she did the dishes while he showered. He’d declined the coffee she’d offered him, because he said he needed to sleep at some point.
When he emerged from the bathroom, she was sitting on the bed waiting for him. Her gaze traveled over his bare torso and landed on the massive bruise on his wrist that she hadn’t noticed earlier. “What happened to your arm?”
“The dog wasn’t interested in being rescued.”
“He bit you?”
Landon stretched out on the bed next to her, propping his head on his uninjured arm. “It’s okay. He was scared.”
Amanda took his other hand and ran her fingertips gently over the nasty bruise. “Does it hurt?”
“Not too bad. I was wearing thick gloves that protected my skin.” He gave her hand a gentle tug. “Come here.”
Amanda slid closer to him, sighing with relief when he tucked her in close to him. Despite his shower, a hint of smoke still lingered, mixed in with the appealing scents of body wash and shampoo. She tried not to focus overly much on the smoke.
“I don’t want you to worry about me when I’m working.”
“I’m kind of a hot mess since the fire, no pun intended.”
Landon chuckled. “It’ll take a while for you to get past that.”
“What if I never do? What if I can’t bear the thought of what you do for a living in light of what happened to me?”
“You’ll be okay. The memories of that night will start to fade as you make new ones.”