Always and Forever Page 14

  She walks me out to my car when I’m finished. “Be safe. Text me when you get home, okay?”

  I hug my sister. “I will. Thank you for everything.”

  “Good luck,” she adds right before I close the Charger’s door. I wave and she gives me a thumbs up as I back out of the drive.

  ~~~

  I pull into Serenity Point a little after ten and thing’s are pretty quiet except for Jen’s. It’s Wednesday night which is “Free Draw Beer until Midnight” night and there’s usually a pretty good crowd that comes out each week for it and tonight’s no different.

  I tried calling Brody on the way back but he still isn’t answering, the stubborn ass, so I go right to the firehouse hoping to talk to him. I park and get out of my car, and looking through the glass door of the station before opening it I don’t see anyone.

  “Hello?” I call when I’m inside. I’m greeted with silence, so I take a small look around, going out to the garage area to see that both trucks are gone. Hm. As I walk back outside, I call Ryan.

  “Hey, you back yet?” she answers.

  “Just got into town and stopped at the fire station but no one’s here,” I reply as I get in my car.

  “Pipe, there was an explosion at the gas plant and they got called out.”

  “What? When?” Shit.

  “Around noon. I swear, Pipe, I felt the fucking explosion in my house.”

  “Oh, God. I’m coming over.” I hang up and head down Main Street turning right on Cherry Street and pull into her drive. She meets me at my car.

  “Look,” she says, pointing south.

  “Oh, my God,” I whisper. The gas plant is three miles to the south of town yet I can see an orange blaze coming from it in the dark night sky. Just then we hear sirens and see two fire engines blaze down Main Street toward the plant.

  “Those are from Hayes,” Ryan shares.

  Hayes is a town just north of us and now we know the fire must be really bad if they’re calling in backup.

  “What if he gets hurt?” I whisper.

  She puts her arm around my shoulders. “He won’t. He’s been doing this for over a year. They train them—Ahhh!” She’s suddenly screaming.

  I scream with her as a huge explosion flashes in the sky, bright flames filling the horizon and a second later there’s an enormous BOOM rattling the windows in the houses around us.

  “Oh, my God!” I shriek pulling back to look at her, tears streaming down my face. “Brody!”

  She hugs me to her. “He’s okay, Pipe. He’s fine. He’ll be okay,” she whispers in my ear.

  I pull away from her and shriek, “How do you know! How do you know he’s okay? I’ve got to make sure!”

  I start heading to my car but she stops me.

  “No, honey. You can’t go out there. They wouldn’t let you near it anyway. We just have to wait.”

  My legs wobble and I squat down to sit on the balls of my feet putting my face in my hands and start sobbing. “I’m so stupid. He was there. He came for me and I sent him away like an idiot. I told him we couldn’t get back together yet because I was embarrassed!”

  The town’s siren starts going off which means they’re calling in all the volunteer firemen now, which could mean some of the paid firefighters have been hurt.

  I stand and wipe my eyes looking toward the blaze. “If he’s hurt I’ll never forgive myself. And I won’t even ask him to forgive me because he deserves better.”

  She puts her hands on my shoulders. “Sweetie, you’re the best he could ever have,” she answers but I give her a doubtful look. “You are. And he’s going to be fine. Just wait and see.”

  The one ambulance that our little hospital in town has flies by on its way toward the scene, lights and siren going like crazy. Ryan and I turn and watch it go in silence. I cross my arms over my chest closing my eyes and picturing the falling star I’d seen when I’d come out of Jen’s a couple weeks ago. And I take back my wish that Brody and I will work things out.

  No, now I wish for his safety. I wish that he’s okay. As long as that happens, nothing else matters.

  Chapter 15

  “Have you heard anything yet?” I ask Amelia who I’ve called no less than five times over the past two hours.

  “No. Kade’s out there too but he hasn’t returned my calls. I promise to let you know if I hear anything, okay, honey?”

  “Thanks,” I answer quietly and we hang up. I set my phone on Ryan’s coffee table.

  “Nothing?” Ryan asks.

  I shake my head and continue staring at my phone willing it to ring. It’s after midnight and there’s no one else I can call because everyone’s asleep since they have to work in the morning.

  After the second explosion, Ryan and I had gotten in my car and gone to Jen’s but no one there had much news. Eli West, the bartender and whose dad owns the hardware store, had said he’d heard three guys had been hurt in the second explosion but since the ambulance hadn’t come back through town he assumed it wasn’t that bad. And that’s when the ambulance had sped by.

  We found out it had carried Kevin Underhill who’d received a pretty bad burn on one of his arms and Chris Ackley, Jane Ackley’s dad (she graduated in the same high school class with Ryan and me), who they thought may have had a heart attack, to the hospital. Jesse Jeffers, one of the plant managers, had been hit with debris but his injuries had been superficial so they’d bandaged him and that was it.

  We went back to Ryan’s and I’d called my dad but he hadn’t heard anything. Then I called Cassie who was freaking out just as much as I was because Jeremy and both her brothers were out there but she hadn’t heard anything either. I’d left messages on Brody’s phone telling him I was back and asking if he’d please call me as soon as he got my message. Then I called Fin since she was the only reporter in town but she was clueless as well.

  Over the past two hours, I’d heard a big fat total of nothing about Brody.

  “Hey, no news is good news, right?” Ryan states with a smile. She’s sitting in the big, cushy chair she bought from me last year. It’s got purple paisley fabric and doesn’t match any other object in what I’ve dubbed her Bohemian living room. Her walls are painted turquoise, her couch that I’m sitting on is fuchsia with gobs of brightly colored pillows on it, the love seat is a bright royal blue with more colorful pillows and her tables are a mish mash of varying styles.

  I love it.

  “I guess,” I mumble then can’t hold back a yawn.

  “We need some sleep. I’ve got an eight o’clock dye job in the morning with Mags. You wanna stay here or go to your house?”

  “If you don’t care, I’ll stay here. It’s closer to him.”

  She lets out a “Pfffttt” noise. “Of course I don’t care.”

  “Just gonna sleep on the couch, okay?” I stand to go to her hall closet to get a quilt.

  “Yep. You know where everything is.” She comes over and hugs me. “Everything’s going to be fine, okay? We’ll know more in the morning.”

  “Thanks, Ry. ‘Night.”

  “’Night.”

  After getting some sheets and a quilt, I go to the main bathroom and get ready for bed. Ryan and I always keep extra toothbrushes at our homes in case we need to crash with each other, so I get a new one out of a drawer and use it. She walks by with an armload of clothes.

  “Hey, here are the sweatpants you left here that day you decided to take up jogging but only made it from your house to mine before quitting.” She snorts. “There’s a pair of your undies in there too for some reason and some shorts and a t-shirt of mine.” She holds the stack toward me. I could just go out to my car and get some clothes out of a suitcase but I’m too tired, so I take it from her and place it on the counter.

  “Tell me again he’ll be okay.”

  She gives me a soft smile. “He’ll be okay, Pipe. ‘Night.”

&n
bsp; I take a quick shower because I feel gritty from the six-hour flight plus the hour drive from Richmond then put on what Ryan brought me. In the living room, I put a sheet down on the couch and one over it to crawl under with the quilt on top. After I’m lying down and comfortable, I reach back and turn the lamp off then lie there thinking of Brody out there battling that stupid fire in all kinds of danger and pray that he makes it back safe.

  Just before I drift off, a tear slides down the side of my face as I visualize us, eighty years old and sitting in rocking chairs on the front porch of our house. We’re holding hands and smiling as we watch tons of our grandchildren of all ages playing in the yard. He turns his still handsome face to me and winks then leans over, kisses my cheek and whispers, “Always and forever.”

  ~~~

  I’m awakened by my phone ringing and frown into the dark not knowing where I am. I turn and see it lit up on the coffee table and realize I’m at Ryan’s. Leaning over to grab it, I swipe the screen and put it to my ear and let out a raspy, “Hello?”

  “Piper? It’s Amelia. They’re back and safe.”

  I’m instantly awake and sit up. “What time is it?”

  “Almost two. Kade said Brody went to the hospital to see Kevin and Chris, so you might catch him there.”

  “Everyone’s okay then?”

  “Yes. The fire’s still burning a bit but they’ve got a fresh crew out there so the guys came in.”

  “Thanks, Mill,” I say and we hang up.

  I get up and change into the jeans and sweater I’d worn on the plane. I’m pulling on my boots when Ryan comes in.

  “They’re okay?” she asks.

  “Yes. That was Amelia. I’m going to see if I can find Brody.”

  “’Kay.” She yawns and starts heading back to her bedroom. “Come by the shop later.”

  I drive to the hospital on the east side of town and see Brody’s Jeep parked outside and pull into a space near it. I look in my rearview mirror and see that I look hideous and smooth my fingers under my eyes to diffuse the smudging that’s gone on. When I get out of my car, I run my fingers through my hair trying to allay some of the craziness that’s going on there but give up, instead finding a hair tie in my pocket and pull it up into a high ponytail.

  I go inside and head to the nurses’ station and stop dead in my tracks. Brody’s standing there in his blue uniform pants, t-shirt and jacket with smudges on his face and Bethany Yates, one of the assholes who asked me if she could ask him out after we broke up, is wiping them off for him with a cloth. She sees me, but he doesn’t, and I see a wicked spark flash in her eyes as she looks at me. I then watch in horror as she tiptoes up and puts her hands to his chest then proceeds to blow at an invisible spot of soot on his cheek. Brody’s hands land on her waist and he leans down to give her better access and I swear, their lips are only millimeters apart.

  What the fuck?

  He pulls back and blinks down at her, giving her what I’d say was a look of realization like he’s just figured out that he might be interested in her.

  Again. What the fuck?

  She smiles brightly up at him and as she goes flatfooted, brushes her hand sweetly over the scruff on his cheek.

  And he’s still got his hands on her waist.

  I breathe in deep and blow it out trying to remain calm then walk toward them. Brody finally sees me out of the corner of his eye and looks at me in surprise. He drops his hands and steps away from Bethany then narrows his eyes at me.

  “Thought you wouldn’t be back for another couple days?”

  Wow. That’s it? I bite my lips and feel my brow wrinkle as tears sting the backs of my eyes. I glance over at Bethany who smirks then goes to do some nursely duty or suck off one of the doctors. It’s a toss-up at this point, I’m sure.

  “I, uh,” I clear my throat, blinking several times to keep the tears at bay. “I came home early.”

  We stand and stare at each other. His eyes look tired. But they also look indifferent as if he could care less that I’m here.

  I take in a shaky breath and whisper, “I was so worried about you tonight. I’m glad you’re okay.” I look off to the side because I can’t take his eyes on me like that anymore. When I hear a rustling sound, I look back to see that he’s put his hands in the pockets of his jacket and he’s still looking at me with cold eyes.

  “Did some thinking,” he shares.

  Shit.

  Shit. Shit. Shit!

  I bite my lip as I meet his gaze. My heart’s pounding so fast I think I might pass out.

  “Taking a break.”

  Oh, my God.

  He doesn’t want to be with me.

  I knew I screwed it all up.

  Oh, my God!

  “Wh-what?”

  I can’t breathe. It’s just like the first time he broke up with me but worse. Then, I thought I’d die but I somehow made it through still breathing. But this time… this time I know it’s going to kill me.

  As in kill me dead.

  As in heart shattering-breath expiring-face planting-body convulsing-soul leaving-right here on the floor, dead.

  He nods. “Need a break.”

  Just then another firefighter, Drew Reynolds, walks out of one of the rooms midway down the hall to the left where I’m assuming either Kevin or Mr. Ackley is checked into.

  “Hey, Piper,” Drew says, smiling shyly at me when he walks up. He, too, has smudge marks on his face but it doesn’t take away from his hotness. He’s got blond hair that’s spiky on top but it’s looking a little mushed right now from wearing his helmet. He’s the same size as Brody, built almost the same but is really quiet and reserved.

  “Hey, Drew,” I reply but I don’t smile, I don’t do anything but stand there in a daze.

  “Mind if I take your guy for a minute?”

  My guy.

  I shake my head and see him put a hand on Brody’s shoulder turning him to lead him to the room that he just left.

  I’m still standing there when I hear a beeping noise at the desk then a doctor goes running by shouting something about cardiac arrest and for someone to get a crash cart. The doctor goes into the room Brody just entered and I see him and Drew come out, along with Will Dawson and Corey Appleton.

  I stand there until Brody looks my way, shakes his head and turns away.

  It’s only then that I leave.

  Chapter 16

  I leave the hospital and drive slowly back through town on Main Street looking around at the buildings. I know every owner of every business here as well as the people who work for them. I know everyone who works at the bank and not only because of Dad. I know every stocker and cashier at Shop and Bag. I know all the waiters at Maggie’s Diner. I know every bartender and waiter at Jen’s. I know Jen. I know Patty and her workers at her flower shop, Patty’s Petals. Everyone at Sanderson Insurance.

  I know all of them. And I love that I know all of them. And I love my town.

  I love that if I accidentally leave my doors unlocked at night I don’t really have a reason to be scared. I love that when I walk down the street, numerous people will greet me. I love that if I call someone in town, I usually don’t have to tell them who it is. They know my voice just like I know theirs.

  And I’m saddened that I’m going to have to leave all of it behind.

  I click the remote and pull into my garage after the door opens. As the door goes down, I contemplate getting my suitcases out of the trunk but decide to wait until later. I walk into the kitchen flipping on the light and see that Mom must’ve come by and done the couple of dishes I’d left in the sink before I left. I look around at how cute my kitchen is. Red cabinets, white embossed wainscoting and blue-gray paint on the walls make it my own. The rustic farmhouse table that I found for cheap brings it all together.

  I turn out the light then walk into the living room glancing by the light of the
two nightlights everything I’ve used to personalize my space and know I’ll miss it all too.

  I sigh before turning down the hallway and going to my bedroom. I love my bedroom. My iron four-poster canopied bed is the highlight of the room. The head and footboards have rails but the top third is a gorgeous curlicue pattern. On the canopy, I’ve draped two long strips of white material that flow down the thin, iron poles at the head and foot on each side and have tied each to the rails just below the curlicues.

  Brody tied me to the rails once then did very naughty things to me.

  I want to cry but I can’t. I’m too tired to cry.

  I strip naked in the dark taking my hair down and get under the covers then stare at the chiffon fabric on the canopy as I make plans to call a realtor in Richmond tomorrow to find space for a store and for a house.

  I can’t stay here.

  I love Serenity Point, but if I have to live the rest of my life here knowing I’ll run into Brody, perhaps see him with Bethany, I won’t be able to make it.

  I may be a survivor. But that. That would be the end of me whether figuratively or literally.

  Literally would be bad but figuratively would be devastating. I won’t become a ghost.

  So that’s what I plan to do: leave.

  Then everything will be better.

  ~~~

  I feel the mattress sink then I’m encased in strong arms. I don’t speak. I don’t make a sound. That would ruin it.

  This is his goodbye.

  My back is to Brody’s front and I feel his mouth at my neck. When he breathes me in then lets out his breath I shiver. I feel his lips caress the spot behind my ear as his hand slides down and glides over my folds making me tremble now. I gasp when he pushes a finger inside of me, touching a spot that makes my abdomen clench and my back arch.

  When his finger starts moving in and out in a steady rhythm my body instantly reacts, more so when his thumb presses against my clit. And even more when he rolls my nipple between the thumb and finger of his other hand.

  His mouth at my neck is sucking at my flesh now, biting, nipping, and it’s all too much yet not enough. He persists in playing my body with his fingers, with his lips, when my back urgently bows against him as the breath leaves my body in a rush of warm air as I not surprisingly come apart right there in his arms.