Page 4 of From the Ashes (Redwood Bay Fire #2)

CHAPTER 4

Zahir

“You are such a traitor, Probie,” Lili says with a snort.

It’s eight in the morning and the end of our twenty-four-hour shift. Most of us are about ready to head out. But our probationary firefighter, Teddy, is dawdling as he takes an age styling his blond hair in the mirror hanging from his locker door. So it’s kind of fair game that the other guys start laying into him about the poster he’s got hanging on the inside.

“What?” Teddy says defensively with a frown. “Cassius Garda is a legend.”

Sawyer scoffs in mock outrage. “Who played for the Seahawks for over a decade.”

“Yeah, where’s your Chargers loyalty?” Lili asks.

Sawyer arches an eyebrow at her. “Uh, I think you mean Rams.”

“I think you both mean 49ers,” our lieutenant, Lieutenant Flores, chimes in.

Lili and Sawyer look at each other. “Nope,” they say in unison. I chuckle as I tie my shoelaces, finding their banter comforting, even if I’m only observing it.

Young Teddy closes his locker door and scowls at them. “Garda still holds the record for the highest completions and had more than four thousand passing yards every season. And he’s from right here in Redwood Bay!”

Lili softens. “We know, dude. We’re just pulling your chain. But did you know that our very own Beast played ball with him?”

Teddy’s eyes go wide and his head snaps over to where Lochlan is fussing over Rocky, who is clearly eager to get out of the station and go for a long walk. “Really?” Teddy practically squeaks.

Lochlan shoots his best friend Lili a look before nodding at Teddy. “Yeah, I did. How do you not know this already? I’m sure I’ve mentioned it before.”

Our probie scoffs. “I would definitely remember if you had.”

Lochlan chuckles. “Fair point. Well, we were in different grades, but yeah, we were on the high school team together. We’re not even Facebook friends or anything, so I’m afraid I can’t hook you up with an autograph.”

Teddy’s slightly rounded cheeks flush pink. “No, I’d never…that would be rude…I wouldn’t…” He huffs in frustration. “I just think it’s a shame he had to retire after that knee injury. But it’s cool that a local guy made it big, you know?”

“And your admiration has nothing to do with how smoking hot he is?” Lili says with a grin, slinging her arm around his shoulders as we all start to trail out. The second watch are already out on a call, so the house feels echoey as we walk out onto the empty floor.

“Oh, screw you,” Teddy grumbles, but he still lets Lili hug him and kiss his cheek.

Warmth ebbs through me. I always feel better after time with my work family. They’re a handful and slightly crazy at times, but there’s also an abundance of love between us all. It’s hard not to take comfort from them, even when they’re teasing.

The last few days have been rough on my mental health. I’ve tried not to let Colt’s reappearance rattle me so much, but I’m only human. There have been times where I’ve swung from feeling angry to sad to almost hysterical about it all. The uncertainty of whether or not Colt is just visiting or is back for good has left me on uneven footing. I always assumed he went off to get his law degree as his family has a practice on the outskirts of town, catering to the more upscale clientele in San Clemente. It wouldn’t be too much of a leap to think he was back to work there now.

When he was firmly in my past, I was able to push my memories of him to the peripheral of my mind. But the prospect of accidentally running into him has my nerves on edge. It’s like I’m anticipating getting rejected all over again.

After a day and night with the One-Thirteen, though, I’m feeling secure in myself once more. Despite the minor quake yesterday afternoon, our shift was a relatively calm one. Even the tremors only caused some minimal structural damage around town and a few fender benders, so it gave me plenty of time to reflect on the situation.

Redwood Bay is my home. It’s Colt who left. I’ve got nothing to be ashamed of. If he’s got any sense of self awareness, I’d hope he’s the one feeling anxious about coming back around.

Yes, some good company has reminded me of what really matters and where I stand. It makes me reluctant to go home to my empty apartment, but my grandma’s door is always open. In fact, she likes to complain that I don’t visit her enough, despite the fact that I’m there at least two to three times a week. The idea of surprising her for breakfast sounds like an appealing plan right now, and I smile to myself.

As the crew bustles toward the open front of the house, I cast my gaze across the concourse for Yara. She’s in the kitchen, boxing up the cookies she made early this morning for the current shift. I adore that she often does things like this. She’s a staunch believer that random acts of kindness are what make the world go round.

I wave the other guys off, then slow down and wait for her so we can walk out together. I also know that she’ll have a box of cookies to bring home that I can sneak a couple out of, but I mostly wait to have another few minutes of her company.

Mostly.

“Smells good,” I comment as she skips over to join me.

“White chocolate and raspberry,” she declares proudly. “Want one?”

“Oh, if you insist,” I say with a wink. It’s still warm when I bite into it, and I moan slightly.

“No sex noises this early in the day,” Yara tells me primly, and I just laugh.

“Trust me, if I were making sex noises, you’d know it, young lady.”

She giggles and wrinkles her nose. “Ew, Del. No thank you.”

“You started it.”

“And now I’m finishing it,” she says in her best, most smug mom voice.

I chuckle and shake my head. “Can I have another cookie?”

“You’re so predictable,” Yara says, but she’s already holding the box over to me.

“Hello?”

We both stop, me with my hand halfway to my mouth as we look around. We’re almost to our cars but the person who spoke is hovering by the wide entrance to the currently pretty empty house. Nancy, our administrator, is manning the fort, along with Smokey the cat. But a sense of duty draws me back to see who’s come to visit the station. I can feel Yara following just behind me.

They’re silhouetted by the morning sunlight, but I can tell it’s an adult and two children. Before I can even clearly see their faces, I have an inkling as to who it could be.

“Nevaeh?” I say as I approach.

The little girl’s face lights up like Christmas and she bursts into motion, throwing herself into my arms and knocking the cookie clean out of my hand.

“Sweetie, be careful!” her mom cries, but I shake my head as I squeeze Nevaeh tight, looking over her shoulder.

“It’s quite all right. We have plenty.”

“I hoped you’d both be here!” Nevaeh cries. She lets go of me and then launches herself at Yara who’s slightly more prepared than I was for a hug and manages to keep a hold of her box of spare cookies.

“You’re looking good!” she tells Nevaeh, and she’s right. You’d never know that this little thing had almost drowned only four days ago.

“I’ve been taking care of her,” her younger brother, Dashel, announces proudly.

“I bet you have,” Yara says sincerely as she and I both stand back up. Mrs. Adams has her own Tupperware box gripped in her hands. She looks a little tearful, but she smiles at us as she holds it out for us.

“The kids baked you cupcakes,” she tells us. “To say thank you. I’m not sure there are enough cupcakes in the world to thank you enough for what you did, but still…”

She sniffs and my heart pangs as I take the box with genuine gratitude. “That’s very kind of you, but you really didn’t have to.”

“It was fun!” Dashel cries.

“They’re rainbows,” Nevaeh adds as if this is very important information. I happen to think she’s right.

“Is that true?” I say with raised eyebrows.

She nods. “My best friend Rebecca Quick’s daddy works here, and she said that the One-Thirteen would like rainbows better than unicorns or flowers.”

“Your best friend is Anton Quick’s daughter?” I say in disbelief, glancing at Mrs. Adams as I peel back the box lid. Inside there are cupcakes with various different colored frosting and sprinkles, but each one has a little sugar rainbow decoration as well. My heart melts.

“It seemed like fate that you guys are the one who came to the beach,” Mrs. Adams says with a happy shrug.

“I’d say,” Yara agrees. “Is that how you knew how to find us here?”

Nevaeh nods, but then she nibbles on her thumbnail. “The cupcakes are for the other nice man, too. But we didn’t know how to find him.”

I freeze, trying not to let my surprise show on my face. Of course she’d want to thank the person who literally dragged her from the ocean as well.

How would she be expected to know the guy is my ex?

“Oh, I’m sure he knows how grateful you are—” I start to say.

But Yara talks over me.

“Del knows him,” she says brightly.

Mrs. Adams blinks and Nevaeh claps her hands in glee. “You do?” she squeals.

My mouth opens and closes but no sound comes out. I look in panic at Yara, but she’s still smiling at me like she hasn’t just put me in an absolutely terrible position.

“Uhh…” I say. But all three family members are looking so hopefully at me, I can’t bring myself to let them down. “We went to school together, yeah.”

Nevaeh presses her hands over her heart. “That’s the best news ever!” she says with the kind of enthusiasm only eight- year-olds can muster. “Can you tell us where he works so we can visit him as well?”

“I’m afraid we’re not allowed to give out that kind of information, sweetie,” Yara says apologetically. “But why don’t we take your mom’s phone number, and then Del can give it to the other nice man for you?”

“Could you really?” Nevaeh asks me. “You can give him some cupcakes as well, but I can bake some for him too if he’d like. I owe him my literal life, Mr. Del! I just have to tell him thank you!”

I forgot how dramatic eight-year-olds can be, too. It’s nothing to how sneaky my partner is, though. She knows there’s lingering, unresolved crap between Colt and I, and she thinks I’m never going to get over it unless I confront it.

Or more specifically, him.

Part of me wonders if she’s right. But right now, it doesn’t seem like I have a choice either way.

“I can try and pass your number along,” I promise with a smile that almost reaches my eyes. “And some cupcakes. He might have just been in town for the weekend, but I think I remember where his dad works. I’m sure he’d be very happy to hear from you and to know that you’re all better now.”

Nevaeh throws her arms around my waist. “Oh thank you, thank you, thank you! I’m so glad you were here when we came. It was fate again, bringing us together!”

Fate, yeah. Something like that certainly dropkicked Colton Ross back into my life. I give Yara a steely glare as she offers her cookies to the grateful family, but she just winks at me.

I know if I really didn’t want to put myself through this, I could tell her the name of Colt’s dad’s law firm and she’d go pass the message along, no problem. In fact, if she thought she’d genuinely upset me, I know she’d be mortified. Which suggests it’s possible that she’s better able to see the bigger picture here.

Perhaps it’s time I face my past and close the door on Colt and me for good. If I confront him, maybe I’ll get some of those answers I never had when I was a brokenhearted teenager.

So I nod, and she subtly crinkles her nose at me in victory. I reserve the right to still be a little bit mad at her. However, it’s hard to hold onto that with Nevaeh and her family’s gratitude surrounding us.

It’s a good thing I’ve got a bunch of cupcakes so fill me up, I guess. Because I’m sure not going to my grandma’s for breakfast anymore.

I’m going to head over to Ross & Associates and get this unpleasantness over with as soon as possible.