Page 27 of Fire Fight

I appreciated that much more than I did the woman clinging to my body.

After long, uncomfortable minutes, Mrs. McKay finally let go and swiped the tears from her face.

“Thank you…” she trailed off.

“Oh, Crew, ma’am. Crew Lawless.”

A brow raised. “Lawless?” She hooked her thumb at Lane. “You related to this one?”

I fought back a chuckle at her unimpressed tone. “Yes, ma’am. He’s my brother.”

Mrs. McKay pursed her lips, eyes darting between us, then said, “Well, at least one of you has some sense.”

This time, my laughter bubbled free, unbidden, and Lane’s face darkened like a thunder cloud.

“I’ll see myself out,” he said petulantly. “I’ll be in touch, Miss McKay.”

Aspen weakly saluted him.

“Do you want to walk the scene Tuesday morning?” I murmured to him before he could leave. “I’ll be back on shift.”

Lane nodded. “Around ten? We can meet at the garage.”

“Yeah, as long as no early calls come in.”

“See you then,” he said, then disappeared down the hall.

Returning my attention to the room, I found four sets of eyes watching me expectantly.

“Is that for me?” Aspen croaked, glancing pointedly at the tray of food I still carried.

“Oh! Yeah,” I said awkwardly, moving to her bedside. “Sonya kind of passed it off to me when we heard the commotion.”

“Good thing,” Aspen said. “I’m starving.”

“Small bites,” Sonya warned as she walked out, leaving me alone with the McKay family.

“Here, honey,” Mrs. McKay said to her daughter but approached me and reached for the tray. “Let me feed you.”

“Moooooooooom,” Aspen groaned. “I’m thirty-three, not three. I can feed myself.”

Mrs. McKay sniffed. “I’m only trying to help.”

“You’re hovering,” Aspen deadpanned. “I’m fine.”

Aspen’s mother huffed out a disgusted sigh. “We fly acrossthe country to be by your side while you heal and this is how you repay us? You’re terribly ungrateful, Aspen.”

“I’m not ungrateful,” Aspen murmured. “I’m exhausted and in pain, but I’m still perfectly capable of feeding myself.”

Mrs. McKay sighed heavily and opened her mouth to further the argument, but her husband put a hand on her arm.

“Leesa.”

All the fight left Mrs. McKay with the utterance of her name, and she nodded at her husband. To Aspen she said, “Okay, honey. I’ll just sit with you then. Is that okay?”

Aspen smiled at her. “Of course, Mom.”

“Would you like to join us?” Mr. McKay asked, mirroring his wife by pulling up a seat on Aspen’s other side.