America's Bravest (10 page)

You almost died tonight. Is this how you
want to live your life? Running away from situations because
they’re hard?

This is more than hard. It’d ruin my
career.

Not if you don’t let it. You might take a
hit or two. You’d have to change groups, but wouldn’t that be worth
having Gabe in your life, maybe even a baby or two?

Thinking of the woman with the babies they’d
rushed to the hospital—there was still no word on the infant—Rachel
didn’t know where her head was at anymore.

When she returned to the table, she saw Gabe
click off his phone yet again. “Drinks on me for all of you. I got
great news.”

She stopped several feet away from him.

“Rachel, come here while I tell this.”

Walking over, she took her place next to him.
He put his arm around her, right in front of everybody. “The baby
that was in the van is gonna be fine.”

Cheers went up.

“There’s more. Guess who the mom is?” He
waited. “The deputy mayor’s daughter-in-law.” He peered down at
Rachel, whom he kept at his side, and, God, if she didn’t like it.
“She’s so grateful to you, Wellington, to all of us, she’s gonna
write on our blog about what we did tonight. She mentioned our girl
here by name.”

Good-natured boos and a chorus of “Teachers
pet!” all around.

“Hey, Rachel saved that baby.” He grinned
boyishly. “After I told her to get out, mind you.” He smiled
broadly. “Go ahead and celebrate, guys, and if you drink too much,
I’ll hang around to drive you home.”

“I can do it,” Ramirez said. “I’m designated
driver.”

“Then have a good time.”

Finally he let Rachel go. She looked up at
him, overcome with emotion from the night. With the good news for
the department. With being hugged by Gabe again. Tears sprang to
her eyes.

His dark brows furrowed. “What’s wrong?”

“Nothing. Just feeling emotional. I’m gonna
go get some air.”

She hurried outside and headed to her
Mitsubishi. She’d reached it when from behind, Gabe called out,
“Wait up.”

Oh, no.

Facing him, she swallowed hard. “Go back
inside, please, Gabe.”

“I got a better idea.” He grabbed her arm and
dragged her to the far side of the parking lot where his truck sat
under trees. Clicking the locks, he opened the passenger door. “Get
in.”

She shook her head. He gave her a nudge. Too
tired and overwrought to argue, she hiked up and slid onto the
buttery soft leather.

Slamming the door, Gabe circled around back.
He didn’t let himself think about what he was doing as he got into
the driver’s side. He was acting on gut, on instinct. And a high so
incredible he thought maybe he could leap tall buildings.

Instead of starting the engine, he faced his
woman. “Look at me, Rachel.”

Again, she shook her head. Gently, he tugged
her around and tilted her chin. Her eyes were wide and wet.

“We almost bought it again tonight. That gas
tank could have blown and we’d be dead.”

Tears coursed down her cheeks. “I can’t bear
the thought of you dying.”

He swiped at the droplets with his
fingertips, then ran them over her sculpted brow, her cute nose,
and brushed his knuckles down her cheeks. “I feel the same about
you. Not about other things, though.”

“What do you mean?”

“I can’t forget about us, Princess. I don’t
want to anymore, and I’m willing to compromise. I’ll ask for
transfer from House 7.”

“What? You’ve been at that fire station for
fifteen years, even before you got on the Rescue Squad.”

“I don’t care. If I have to give that up to
have you, I will.” He frowned. “But a transfer doesn’t address your
problem of having slept with your captain. About the female
firefighters’ reputation in the department.”

“Suddenly, that seems so small in comparison
to how sad I am missing you. And the scare I got tonight.”

“I know what you mean.” He couldn’t help it.
He drew her close and kissed her hard.

She returned the kiss and more. When he let
her draw back, her face was animated. “Maybe we could stack the
deck.”

“How?”

“Get Syd and some of the other women on our
side. Felicia will have a fit and is well respected among the
female HCFD. I’ll take some shit. But you can persuade the Malvaso
clan, especially your cousin Jenn, to back me.”

He grinned.

She stared hard at him but didn’t smile.

“What?”

“It seems stupid for you to leave the group.
Sydney will still have to go, too, because you’ll need to be
replaced with an officer. Maybe it would be better all around if I
transfer somewhere else.”

“You might not get on another Rescue
Squad.”

“There’ll be another opening sometime.”

He shook his head.

“What’s wrong?”

Emotion clogged his throat. “I can’t believe
you’d do this for me.”

“You were willing to do it for me. Besides,”
she said climbing over the gear shift and straddling his lap. “You
can spend a lot of time making my sacrifice up to me.” She kissed
him this time, long and sweet.

Afterward, he was overcome with tenderness
and gratitude. It wasn’t going to be easy, telling the higher ups,
having her switch houses and be the target of slurs. He could even
be demoted. But he didn’t mention any bad things right now. Instead
he held her close to his heart like he had in that basement a month
ago and basked in the promises they’d made to each other.

-oOo-

Hot Shot

Novella number two in the AMERICA’S
BRAVEST SERIES

Kathryn Shay

“You sure you want to do this? We weren’t
always nice guys in high school.”

Brody O’Malley toed the gravel in the parking
lot with his hand-tooled boots and glanced over at his twin
brother, who’d spoken the concern. They didn’t look exactly alike,
but both were over six feet, muscular, with sandy blond hair and
blue eyes, though Brody’s were darker than Ryan’s. “It’s only a
reunion. What can they do to us?”

Angling his head to the front door, Ryan
shrugged. “Some of the girls we scorned are probably lined up
inside picketing our arrival.”

“They don’t know we’re coming. The invite
said anybody could drop in Friday night.”

“There is that.”

Shaking off thoughts of their wild days,
Brody straightened his shoulders. “Anyway, we weren’t complete
jerks. We liked to play the field is all. I’m going in. Don’t let
me show you up.”

The latter comment was one of the reasons the
two of them had been such bad boys in their teen and young adult
years. They were always trying to outdo each other.

“That’ll be the day.”

Both men headed into Camden Cove Country
Club, which was hosting this Labor Day weekend shindig. They’d
grown up in town, though neither lived or worked here now.

“You ever been to this place?” Ryan asked at
the door. Their family was nowhere near country club rich.

Brody scanned the area, which sported a big
entryway with dining rooms in front and to the left of them, with a
bar to the right. Fancy chandeliers hung in strategic spots, and
the moldings were beautiful hand-carved wood. “Yeah. We had our
Senior Prom here, remember?”

A hostess approached them, and they got The
Once-over, a look often directed the twins’ way when they were out
together. Twice the sex appeal. Twice the fun. “You gentlemen here
for the reunion?”

Ryan winked at her. “Yes we are,
darlin’.”

“Your classmates are on the patio.”

Teetering on heels that made her legs look
great, she led them through the bar to the back of the club. A
cocktail party was in full swing on the outdoor patio overlooking
an expansive golf course. September had stayed warm. Balmy night
air surrounded them as stars twinkled down from the sky.

“Here we go,” Ryan said, and they headed
outside.

After he took a few steps, Brody stopped
short. He knew he was in for razzing tonight. It was one of the
reasons neither of the brothers had been back to a reunion. What he
hadn’t
expected was he’d come face-to-face, as soon as
they arrived, with a woman who didn’t seem to have changed at all
in a decade and a half. On closer inspection, though, her reddish
hair had turned more auburn but was still cut short. Makeup-less
blue eyes looked up, and the smile on her face died as soon as her
gaze landed on them. Pure shock suffused her delicate features,
making Brody feel like a first class shit.

“Oh, I didn’t know…didn’t see…um, hi, guys.”
Emma Walsh recovered quickly. She was—had been—too nice to do
otherwise.

“Hi, Emmy,” Ryan said first.

She blinked at the nickname.

But Brody couldn’t find his voice. He was
completely caught off guard by the only girl he’d ever loved—and
ditched—because he didn’t want to be tied down.

oOo

Despite the surprise of seeing Brody O’Malley
again, Emma brought herself in check. “Let’s start again. Hi, to
both of you. Nice to see you again.” She studied them quickly. Damn
it, they both still looked good. Better, even, than in their high
school days. Then, they’d been cute, hot teenagers; they’d grown up
to be sexy, virile men. For a few years, she’d seen them from a
distance around town now and again. But not in a while. Their
parents had moved out of Camden to the renovated cottage—now a nice
house—on Hidden Cove and the boys had settled there, too.

Ryan nodded and Brody stepped forward and
took her hand. “Hi, Emma.”

His touch was unfamiliar, bringing forth a
spurt of nostalgia over what they’d lost. “Come on over to the
reception desk. Get name tags.”

She didn’t precede them but finagled her way
next to Ryan and as far away from Brody as she could get. Just his
presence disturbed her.

“So, how you been?” Ryan asked.

“Great.”

“Are you still in the area?”

“Yes, I’m a teacher at Camden Elementary. I,
um, heard you majored in criminal justice and are a cop.”

“A sergeant. I’m on the streets, still in
uniform and train rookies. I’ve also done some special projects
like being the liaison in arson investigation.”

“How cool.”

“Brody’s a firefighter.”

“I heard that, too.” She shot Brody a glance
and smiled weakly. “Both noble professions.”

He rolled his eyes. Nobility was not a word
that would have applied to the O’Malley brothers fifteen years
ago.

“We’re bringing our fourth grade classes to a
fire station here in Camden Cove at the end of September.”

“Yeah, we have kids come visit ours all the
time.” Brody smiled. “The guys bitch about it, but I kinda like
being looked up to.”

“Since I haven’t talked to you two, let me
say I’m sorry about the colleagues you lost in 9/11.”

“Yeah, thanks.” Ryan touched Brody’s
shoulder. “This guy took it pretty hard.”

Soon, they reached the registration desk at
the end of the stone patio, thank God. Emma smiled graciously “Hey,
ladies, look who’s here.”

The two women who’d organized the event
glanced up. Karen’s eyebrows rose. Amy’s face got red. They’d been
two of the O’Malley brothers’ casualties. Before Emma, but
casualties nonetheless. She wondered if Ryan and Brody realized the
damage they’d left in their wakes.

“Hey, is that you, Rye? Brody?”

Turning, Emma smiled at the guy who wouldn’t
break her heart if his life depended on it.

Brody frowned and glanced at his name tag.
“Mark Adams? Wow, you look different.”

“Yep, I grew into my looks, my mother
says.”

He had. Gone was the nerd with glasses. He’d
filled out, gotten contacts and a great haircut. His features had
matured him into a handsome guy.

Sliding his hand around Emma’s waist, Mark
smiled broadly. “Surprised to see you here, though. You haven’t
come to a reunion before.”

Brody’s gaze dropped to Mark’s hand and where
it rested intimately on Emma. “Um, yeah. But this was our fifteenth
and all.”

“Then, welcome.” He moved in even closer to
Emma. “Right, Em?”

“Sure, of course.” To them she said, “You’ll
want to mingle.”

“Have fun.” Mark tugged on Emma’s hand. “Come
and see Joey Calder. He’s a coach at Hidden Cove High School. A
teacher, just like us.”

Emma left the O’Malleys, thankful to be
distanced from Brody’s still-overwhelming presence. At least she’d
be able to collect herself. God, she hated her reaction to him
after all these years. Holding on to Mark’s hand, she let this very
dear man lead her through the crowd and away from the guy who’d
hurt her like no other ever had.

But as they stopped to talk to Joey, amidst
the murmur of voices and a piano playing some cool jazz, Emma
couldn’t forestall the memory of her last contact with Brody all
those years ago. Maybe seeing him with their old classmates caused
images to come unfiltered.…

On graduation night, in the boathouse of the
cottage his family owned on Hidden Lake, Emma and Brody had gotten
dressed after a bout of lovemaking. He took her hand and shrugged
his shoulder, a telltale sign she wasn’t going to like what he was
about to say. Still, she hadn’t suspected the news.

“I’m, um, not gonna be around soon,” he said
casually.

She brushed a hand down his caramel-colored
hair. “I know, silly. We’re both heading off to college.” She’d
been so innocent then.

“I mean this summer. Rye and I are going to
backpack through Europe. A graduation present from Mom’s rich
brother.”

A scowl breached her mouth. “You have a job
as a lifeguard lined up.”

“I know. This was a last-minute gift. And,
um, look, Emmy. You know I care about you. A lot. But, I think we
should be, you know, nonexclusive. Now and when we go to
school.”