Fireman Daddy - Taryn Quinn Page 0,18

He always has.”

I stared down at my feet. “We were kids.”

“I met your father when I was eighteen. Not so different.” She glanced over at my father working with Damien. “Some things you just know.”

I’d never doubted that my parents were anything other than perfect for one another. While plenty of my friends went through divorces and dealing with stepparents, my parents had grown together, accepting the people they had become with the passage of years. They had been meant for each other.

Maybe Jake and I were too. We’d just taken the long route.

I rubbed my chest. That was for later.

Right now, I had to focus on the goal ahead.

I picked up the little paint can and climbed up the small ladder to paint the trim around the doorway. My sister was right—she was terrible at it.

An hour passed, then another. Still, there wasn’t any word from Jake.

Anxiety buzzed in my stomach like a swarm of angry bees.

We heard reports about the fire on the local radio station, and I found myself checking the news apps on my phone.

My brother’s phone went off, followed by Gina’s and my mother’s.

My heart stopped when my mother turned off the radio and walked over to me. “Mami?”

She tucked one of my curls around my ear. “We should go to the hospital, mija.”

“Why?”

“Just get your things.”

“He’s okay, right?”

“I don’t know a lot of information. Your cousin is an EMT, and he saw Jake get taken away in an ambulance.”

My knees buckled, and my sister and my mother grabbed me. “I’m okay.” My voice was little more than a whisper. I swallowed a lump in my throat as my eyes burned. “Can you drive me?”

My mother curled her arm around my back. “Yes. We’ll all go.”

I gripped her hand. “Please tell me he’s going to be fine. Lie if you have to.”

Her smile was gentle, but deep lines of worry creased around her eyes. “He just got you back. Trust me, he’ll be just fine.”

Nine

The ride to the hospital was eternal. Then trying to get someone to allow me near him took another million hours. At least it felt like it. I wasn’t family so they wouldn’t give me any details.

The rest of the firemen were still working on the blaze so I couldn’t even ask them to find out for me. The mansion had a carriage house at the back and the fire had spread due to the winds off the water. One other person got hurt dragging Jake to safety, but he was in the burn unit.

I’d convinced my mom and sister to go check with the nurses’ station again just so I could have a minute to myself. Well, me and another woman about my age who was about to gnaw her fingernails down to the quick. She seemed vaguely familiar, but I couldn’t concentrate long enough to keep a thought in my head.

Was Jake burned?

Was he hurt?

Who had saved him?

I stared at my paint-splattered sneakers, forcing my breathing to level before I freaked out in the middle of the waiting room. I gripped my hands so hard to make them stop trembling that my knuckles went white.

“Ma’am.”

I looked up, my heart rate swinging into dangerous territory. Ben Sullivan stood in front of me, his hands wrapped in white gauze.

I popped to my feet and grabbed his wrist. “Ben. Are you okay?”

He winced and eased his hand out of mine.

“I’m sorry.”

He gave me a gentle smile. “I’m okay. Just superficial burns. I had to take my gloves off to move some debris off the chief.”

I closed my eyes and felt the room sway.

“Hey, hey. Relax. I can’t really catch you right now. He’s fine. I promise. One of the beams that fell on him—”

“God.” I sat back down.

Ben crouched in front of me. “It wasn’t that bad, just knocked his mask off so he got a little smoke inhalation. He’s fine—honestly. They just had to get him cleaned up and had to get his O2 stats back up.”

“But he’s okay?”

He nodded.

A tall, leggy blond with pink streaks in her hair stood up on the far side of the waiting room. “Are you talking about my brother?”

Ben rose. “Are you Kayla?”

She nodded.

His gaze quickly tracked her then hit the floor and bounced over her shoulder. Obviously, he was trying not to check her out.

Man, Kayla was Jake’s sister. She’d just been a kid when I moved away. Definitely not the case anymore.

Ben cleared his throat. “Jake sent me down to get you.”

My chest