Page 58 of Melting for the Firefighter
“They are buying flowers.”
“Mrs. Ellison paid fifty dollars for three daisies.”
Tessa nods solemnly. “Very special daisies.”
“They came from the same bucket as the five-dollar ones.”
“Those did not speak to her soul.”
A laugh slips out of me.
Across the street, Jordan helps a group of children climb into the fire engine. He lets a little boy wear his helmet even though it drops low enough to cover the child’s eyes.
Zain stands nearby with his usual black coffee, watching the crowd with the same sharp focus he brings to everything. Kaia, his girlfriend, rests a hand lightly on his arm, and something in his expression softens whenever he looks at her.
It makes him seem almost human.
Then Lance steps around the front of the engine.
My heart recognizes him before the rest of me catches up.
He wears dark uniform pants and a fire department shirt stretched across his chest. Sunglasses hide his eyes. The morning sun catches on his stubble and the pale scars along his forearms.
He looks like every dangerous decision I have ever been too sensible to make.
His attention finds me immediately.
It does not move away.
He removes his sunglasses as he reaches the booth.
“How are your lungs?”
“Still attached.”
“Hip?”
“Also attached.”
“Hand?”
I hold up the smaller bandage the doctor approved yesterday.
“Any other body parts you need to inspect?”
Heat enters his eyes.
“Later.”
The promise travels down my spine.
Tessa makes a choking sound and suddenly becomes fascinated by a bucket of carnations.
Lance leans over the table and kisses me.
Right there on Main Street.
In front of the fire department, the town council, three generations of gossips, and half the population of Whispering Pines.
