Page 74 of Melting for the Firefighter
Grandma’s Garden overflows with flowers.
My husband’s arm is around me.
Our daughter is trying to eat his collar.
The fire took the last place where I believed I had ever been wanted.
Love built something stronger in its place.
Something living.
Something chosen.
Something that stays.
Jordan and Lana come by after the festival to take our daughter for the evening.
Lance checks the car seat twice.
Then he checks the straps after Jordan buckles her in.
“She is secure,” Jordan says.
“Check the chest clip.”
“I did.”
“Again.”
Jordan looks at me over the roof of the car.
“Is he always like this?”
“Yes.”
“Good to know fatherhood has made him calmer.”
Lance checks the clip himself, shuts the door, and watches until the car reaches the end of the street.
The moment it disappears, he turns toward me.
The look in his eyes steals my next breath.
“Inside.”
I raise my eyebrows.
“That sounds like an order.”
“It is.”
“You know how I feel about those.”
His hand closes around mine.
“Inside, sweetheart.”
Better.
