Page 43 of Finding Home (Willow Valley #1)

FORTY-THREE

CHLOE

I t’s two days after Christmas, Everett’s on shift, and Lila and I are in the middle of building a fort in the living room for our movie marathon when someone starts banging on the front door.

I have no idea who would be showing up to Everett’s; he’s still pretty solitary and hasn’t exactly made a lot of friends in town.

“Coming,” I call, and tell Lila I’ll be right back. The banging keeps going, seeming to become louder and more urgent. I pull the door open only to be surprised by Brinley on the other side.

Brinley’s my best friend, and from the look on her face, I know she’s not here for a social visit. Something’s wrong.

“Who?” I ask, and she checks over my shoulder and my heart sinks. She’s making sure Lila can’t hear.

Deep breaths, Chloe. Keep it together.

“Everett,” Brinley says. It feels like the entire world has stopped. Like sound is muffled and nothing moves as I stare at her, and my knees give. I grip onto her, trying to stay upright.

She guides me to the stairs and helps me sit.

“There’s a house fire up in the hills. I guess one of the summer families decided to come for Christmas.

James was in the area working on a house and texted that he heard that Everett’s stuck on the third floor,” she says solemnly, and my hand covers my mouth as I try to stifle my sob.

The last thing I need to do right now is crack with Lila here. I need to stay strong for her .

Brin takes my hand and squeezes. “I’m going to stay here with Lila, we’ll have fun. You go check on him.”

I take a deep breath, trying to muster all the strength I have. The thought of something bad happening to Everett while at work has come before, and I’ve worried about how it would absolutely crush me after I’ve given him so much of myself.

Lila calling my name pulls me from the start of my spiral and gives me the boost I need. I wipe at my face and force a smile before pushing off the stairs and heading into the living room to find her.

“Sweetheart, you remember my friend Brinley, right?” I ask, and she nods, looking confused. “I’ve got to run out quickly, so she’s going to stay with you. She’s an excellent fort builder, taught me everything I know!” Fake enthusiasm coats my voice, but I hope Lila doesn’t pick it up.

She hugs her stuffed bunny to her chest and tilts her head. “Can I come with you?” she asks, and my heart nearly breaks.

I shake my head. “No, sweetie, I’ve got to go alone. But I’ll be back as soon as I can.”

I see Lila wants to fight me on this, to ask more questions, but Brin steps in.

“I think we can make this a really cool fort! Maybe have some tunnels inside and different rooms.”

Lila’s still hesitant as she regards Brinley, but she nods, and I kiss her forehead before grabbing my purse and keys and rushing out the door.

Thankfully, the snow has melted a lot in the last two days and the sun is baring down, keeping it from freezing at the moment.

I rush towards the more expensive part of town where most of the tourist houses are, just east of the lake.

I never got an address from Brin, but hopefully I’ll catch the lights and sirens and find the house.

I have no idea what I’m going to do when I get there.

I’m not a firefighter. I have zero training.

They’ll have it all blocked off, not letting the nosy people of the town get too close.

But the thought of being on the other side of town knowing Everett’s in trouble has me wanting to puke.

I’m only five minutes from the house before I’m pulling off to the side of the road and bending over as I empty my stomach .

I take as many deep breaths as I can, wiping my mouth with the back of my hand before I get back in my car and continue driving. I’m on the street behind Brinley’s house when I catch sight of the lights flashing and the flames from the fire.

Tears start rushing down my face. I can’t lose him. This man made me go and fall in love with his grumpy ass, he can’t leave me like this. Not right now.

I park and push out of the car and rush as close to the trucks as I can, hoping to see someone I know. Ryder seems to be managing the men from outside the house, which Everett should be doing as chief, but for some dumb reason, he’s stuck inside the house.

I hear Everett’s voice crackle over their radios. I can’t quite make out what he’s saying except the words vent, south side, and wind. Just then, a burst of air cuts through, and one of the men swears.

“Ryder,” I call, and he turns, looking for where his name was called from. When he spots me, his eyes go wide.

He jogs up to me. “What are you doing here?” he asks.

“Brin told me Everett’s stuck.”

I wipe at a tear, and he shakes his head, not saying the information’s wrong, but showing how frustrated he is with the situation.

“There was a little girl on the third floor, he went in after her himself. Wouldn’t let one of us. Pulled rank.”

If I wasn’t so scared or even pissed, I’d laugh, because that’s so fucking Everett. I know that little girl reminded him of Lila and the thought of his own daughter being stuck scared the shit out of him. He wasn’t going to let that happen.

“How’s he doing?” I ask, crossing my arms over my chest. It’s freezing, and I left the house without a jacket.

“We’re trying to find a way out for him. He got the girl out, she’s already been taken to the hospital, but there was a back draft that took out the stairs. We have to find a way for him to get to a window so we can pull him out.”

I don’t know much about fires, but the words back draft fill me with fear and the fact he can’t get off the third floor right now has me nearly on my knees.

I wipe at my tears again and steel myself. I prepare for the potential fight I’m going to get into with Ryder right now at the request, really the demand, I’m about to make.

“I want to talk to him,” I say, my voice strong and steady, very far from the fragile way I’m feeling.

He looks over his shoulder and evaluates the situation behind him before nodding.

He goes to hand me the radio before pulling it back quickly.

“If he asks, you stole this, I didn’t give it to you. I’m not getting in shit with him. He’s gonna be in a sour mood when he gets out as it is.”

“Don’t worry, he’s in enough shit with me, you’ll be fine.”

I take the radio and press the button, saying his name into it.

“North!” Everett’s voice comes through, strong but confused.

“Yeah, it’s me.”

“What are you doing?”

“I’m making sure your ass makes it out of this. I’m reminding you to come home.”

“I’m working on it,” he says, a slight element of levity to his voice that I know only I get, especially when Ryder raises a brow at me.

“I love you,” I say, my voice cracking. Ryder’s still watching me and his eyes soften, but I close mine, unable to see that look. I push past the pain and worry and say, “Lila is expecting a movie marathon in a fort with her daddy.”

I bite my lip, my tears fighting to break free, to consume me, and look around. There’s people gathered all along the barrier, and anyone near a firefighter who has a radio is looking at me, hearing everything in our conversation.

Shuffling and crackling comes through the radio before I finally hear Everett’s voice again.

“I love you, North.” The radio cuts off. My heart stops, and a sob tears from me.

“You are not saying goodbye, you grumpy ass,” I yell through my tears before someone says, “We’re in!” through the radio.

My chest tightens as nothing else comes through.

I clutch the radio to my chest as though it’s my sole lifeline.

The metal cuts into my hand, but I ignore the sting, my eyes focused on the house.

A few minutes later, two men round the corner of the house with a third hanging on between them.

When he lifts his head, I see his eyes, eyes I’ll never forget until the day I die, and my legs finally give as I collapse onto the concrete.

Rocks dig into my knees as I fall forward and sob into my hands.

My chest heaves as I try to pull as much air into my lungs as I can, as if that alone with make me feel better.

The cold air burns with each inhale, but it’s the shock to my system that I need.

Ryder rubs my back as he whispers, “They’re taking him to the ambo. You should join them.”

He helps me up and points me in the right direction.

I start at a fast walk that morphs into a jog before I’m sprinting in the direction of the ambulance.

When I get there, Everett is holding an oxygen mask to his face and the image tears at me.

He opens his free arm and wraps it around me as I cry into his chest. When he kisses the top of my head, I cry harder.

“We’re going to need to take you into West Bridgejaw to get properly checked out at the hospital,” I hear one of the paramedics say and feel Everett nod against my head.

His hand rubs up and down my back. “North, I’ve got to get in.”

I pull my head back just enough to make eye contact. “I’m going with. I’ll call Brin and see if she can spend the night with Lila, or I’ll call Mom and see if she can grab her.”

He goes to pull the oxygen mask away again, and I shake my head. “Keep it on. I’ll make sure Lila’s okay, we’ve got an army here that will take care of her. You need someone who’s going to worry about you.”

His eyes soften, and he nods again. The paramedics load him into the ambulance, and I hop in with him. The ride to the hospital is quick, and once we arrive, they whisk him inside, forcing me to stay behind in the waiting room while the doctors check on him.