Page 16 of Rescued Dreams (Last Chance Fire and Rescue #8)

SIXTEEN

R idge stood at his front door. He’d told Amelia where to find the guest parking space and watched her walk from her car to the town house.

She’d changed at the end of shift like he always did and wore jeans, a pair of white Converse, and a T-shirt that Maddie would approve of.

Over the shirt, she had pulled on a thin gray hoodie and a black leather jacket.

Her hair hung loose around her shoulders, but like she’d run her hand through it.

On the phone, she’d sounded flustered in a way he’d never heard from her before—even with all the shocking situations they’d seen at work. Gruesome injuries. Bodies they’d recovered, burned beyond recognition because they’d been unable to rescue the person.

But it was the arrival of a pregnant woman that had shaken Amelia to her core.

He was beginning to wonder if being a firefighter was like a safe haven for her. A situation she could control—especially as a lieutenant. It made him want to give up the spot to her. If he could, and if it would help her get a handle on everything.

God, let this be the right thing. For both of us.

“Hey.” She approached the porch step, a three-foot square of concrete. One of the twins had set a yellow plant pot there, but whatever had been growing died a while back from teenage neglect.

“Hey.” He stepped back, holding the door open.

She came into his quiet house, the TV on low. The lighting down so it didn’t have that harsh glare. He much preferred dimmer switches to the usual on-off wall plates. “I thought your sisters lived with you?” She turned in the entryway, almost nervous.

He’d never seen this side of Amelia, and he found he liked it.

Ridge shut the front door. “They both have work, so they’ll be back later.

” Thankfully there was enough of this chicken and rice dish for a few days, something he liked to do so the twins had a good meal in the freezer if he was at work.

They always made enough for more than one meal when they cooked. “Do you want some dinner?”

She looked like she needed a hug, but she might be hungry as well. “Am I a horrible person?”

“I don’t know.” He spoke carefully. “Are you?”

“You’re supposed to tell me I’m great!” She shoved his shoulder, nowhere near full strength. “You aren’t supposed to agree with me.”

She was genuinely worried.

Ridge snagged her hand before it went back to her side and held it between them. “You aren’t a horrible person. But I have no context, so tell me who that woman was and the whole deal. Then after, I’ll tell you what I think.”

Amelia said, “It’s a long story.”

“Then you’re right on time, because dinner is ready.

” He squeezed her hand and let go, moving to the kitchen, where he dished up two portions and leaned over the sink to set the bowls on the breakfast bar.

“The girls turned the dining room, or what should be that, into an office so they have somewhere to study other than the couch and their bedroom.”

She slid onto a stool, and he handed her a fork.

“Soda? Water?”

“Water.” She stared at the bowl. “Did you make this?”

“Smells okay, right?”

She set the fork down.

“We could say grace?” Was that her hangup right now?

“Not being the first to eat, it’s part of the story. I don’t want to jump ahead.”

Ridge twisted around on the seat and faced her. “Tell me what it is. Because I’ve seen you wait for others to eat first, and I’ve wondered, but I never asked why you do that.” In fact, he’d thought she might not notice she did it. But she clearly did.

“It could be poisoned.” She turned to him, her attention snapping around. Almost as if she was watching for him to disagree or disparage her for thinking that. “So I wait for someone else to eat first. Just in case.”

Ridge grabbed his fork and took a big bite of the chicken and rice. He blew out a breath around the food in his mouth. “It’s hot.”

She smiled and took a small bite.

“If you’re worried something is poisoned, caution is a good idea.” He wanted to ask a hundred questions about why she had that particular fear, but he needed her to feel safe enough to talk without his barrage of demands for answers.

“This is really good.”

“I promise, if I gave it to you, then it’s safe.”

“Thanks, Ridge.” She had a couple more bites, then said, “It’s actually connected to Cherry. That’s what she said her name was.”

He’d left them to their conversation, not wanting to intrude, but was eager to hear about it now. “Is she a friend of yours?”

“Actually we’ve never met until today. She sought me out because…the father of her baby is my ex.”

Amelia had dated someone?

“Calm down, it was back in Benson.”

“What?” Had he reacted in some way?

She rolled her eyes. “Me dating. It was years ago, okay? And it wasn’t good. That’s putting it mildly, because it was a disaster that nearly cost me my job and my sanity, and it still might, since I got demoted.”

Ridge finished the last bite of his meal and turned to her again, his knees either side of her stool. He wanted to touch her in a way that would be reassuring. Problem was, she held herself stiff on the stool. As if with the slightest pressure, she might shatter.

“I’d like to hear about it.”

Amelia left her fork in the bowl and drank some of her water.

“His name is Nicholas Danielson. He was my captain in Benson, at the fire department. He doesn’t work there anymore.

I haven’t seen him since I left, but someone told me they did an investigation into his conduct about other things and he was dismissed. ”

“Your boss?”

She nodded. “My truck lieutenant’s superior.

Then he transferred out, and I got the spot after I passed the test.” She said that emphatically, as if she needed him to believe she spoke the truth.

“But Nicholas destroyed the paperwork, or he never even filed it. Everything was about earning favors from him. His entire existence is about making everyone do what he wants them to do.”

“How long were you…together?”

“Too long.” She took another sip of her drink.

“Eight months. I started to push back against his demands, and he retaliated by putting something in my coffee until others I worked with told me to get checked out by a psychologist. I didn’t know I was acting erratic and paranoid.

I was convinced I was fine and everyone else was crazy.

Until my chief sat me down, and I dissolved into tears about the entire relationship and what was going on, and he told me to leave town.

Clean slate. Try something else. He didn’t think I was cut out to be a firefighter. ”

“Because this Nicholas guy used his superior to undermine you, it sounds like. I’m guessing he’s the kind of guy who told everyone what a terrible job you were doing and that everything that went wrong was your fault.” Ridge wanted to find the guy and pummel him. Kane would probably help.

She nodded. “So I came back to Last Chance County. I had nothing, but I’d qualified as a firefighter here, so I got a job and convinced the chief over our house at the time to make me lieutenant.

” She winced. “Maybe it wasn’t right, but I earned that spot fair and square. Now I have to do it again.”

He leaned his elbow on the counter. “How does Cherry tie in?”

“Nicholas is the father of her baby. She left him like I did, and she was going south.”

“She looked you up?”

Amelia nodded. “Apparently he told her about me, but only to undermine her. I guess he hasn’t changed at all.

He’s still only interested in women who are subservient because he’s stripped away their self-worth and self-respect until they’re so twisted around in knots they just do what he tells them to do. ”

Ridge eased his fingers under her tight fist and took the now-squashed napkin. “I’m sorry you went through something like that.”

“The worst part is that the people I worked with saw me lose my cool, acting crazy, too many times. It’s why I can’t let anyone at the firehouse lose respect for me. I need to get back my rank.”

“I’ll help you,” he said. “Whatever you need.”

Now that he knew what drove her, Ridge was more determined than ever to help her.

He took their bowls to the sink and removed an old yellowed photo from the fridge. He set it on the counter by her. The old man in the picture was flanked by two boys, six and eight. Ridge and Kane. “I always think what Grandpa would say about what I’m doing. It’s kept me out of trouble.”

Ridge rinsed the bowls and opened the dishwasher as he continued talking. “I think about what choices he would make. And I work so he’d have been proud of me.”

“How did he pass away?”

Ridge closed the dishwasher. “It was raining. The road was slick, and his heart was bad. We went off the road and lodged in the dirt in a ditch.” He touched his shoulder. “I broke my collarbone, but Kane broke his leg. It took time for rescue to come, both of us sitting there in the dark.”

His grandpa, dead in the front seat.

The windshield shattered.

Rain coming into the car.

“Then all of a sudden there were bright lights everywhere. We were loaded onto a helicopter, but neither of us could enjoy it with the pain and Grandpa just lying there. I was twelve, and Kane was fourteen. But even back then, I knew that was what I wanted to do. Help people on the worst day of their lives.”

He looked at her then.

Tears streamed down her face. Amelia gasped and swiped at her cheeks. He grabbed two tissues from the twins’ box on the end table by the couch and brought them to her. Close enough that he’d be available if she wanted a hug.

“It’s okay to cry. I know that because I live with teenage girls.” Ridge laid a hand on her shoulder. “What I told you is a sad story. I cry about it sometimes, when I really miss him.”

Kane had told Ridge he did the same thing.

“Rest of my family aren’t worth two nickels. Except the twins.” Not even his mom. But he didn’t often want to admit that to himself. “Grandpa was the best. There was no one better.”

“I think you’re living up to his memory just fine, Ridge Foster. You’re a good man.”

His chest tightened.

Amelia wound her arms around his middle, and he hugged her. She said, “Thank you for telling me that story.”

“Thank you for trusting me with yours.”

She leaned back, and Ridge found himself closer to Amelia than he’d ever been. Not because they were still touching each other, half in a hug. They were closer than they’d ever been because they’d shared those parts of their histories. They’d opened up to each other.

It made him wonder what he’d been afraid of.

“Whatever is going on, I’m going to be here through it.” Even if she only ever let him be her friend, he wanted to be right here with her. Not in his house, but supporting her. “Making sure you’re okay.”

She stared up at him. “I don’t trust easily, but I want to trust you.”

“You can.”

“I’m starting to believe it.” She bit her lip.

Ridge tossed out all ideas of just being her friend. He couldn’t resist her. In that moment, there was nothing else he could do but lean down and touch his lips to hers. Softly. Just a slight touch, so gentle. It shifted into a hug, and he let it happen, trying to keep things easy.

Her arms tightened around his waist, and he heard her intake of breath. Ridge turned his head to the side, and since she hadn’t shoved him away, he eased his lips against hers again. Taking his time now. Soaking in the moment and experiencing what he’d wanted for so long.

From a distance, he heard the door lock.

Then a teenage squeal.

Ridge pulled back from Amelia’s inviting mouth and looked over, only to find his twin sisters in the doorway. “Uh…” How was he going to explain this?

Maddie’s brows rose. “Busted.” She grinned and started laughing.

Ella just stared at him.