Page 17 of Rescued Dreams (Last Chance Fire and Rescue #8)

SEVENTEEN

A melia didn’t even want to turn around. That would mean the moment was over, which might be for the best, but she wasn’t ready to let go of it just yet. The feel of his lips against hers. The closeness of his warmth surrounding her. She’d never felt safe like that—not once in her life.

It was like a dream.

And she didn’t want it to be over.

She lifted her gaze to Ridge’s face, which was red and flustered. He hesitated in a way she’d never seen before, and it was seriously adorable. This self-assured man had turned into a puddle.

“Maddie. Ella.”

One of the girls giggled.

Amelia turned to see two slender girls, each a mirror image of the other with their long dark-blonde hair, almost brown at the center part, light on the ends.

They had Ridge’s height and teenage metabolism.

One of them grinned, sliding off a jacket.

The other looked far more shell-shocked and stared at her brother.

“Hi.” Amelia sounded choked, but she waved like this might be close to normal. Which it wasn’t for her. She had no idea if their finding Ridge kissing a woman in his kitchen was a run-of-the-mill occurrence.

She looked at him.

Ridge still had pink cheeks. “Um, guys, this is Amelia.” He cleared his throat and indicated one twin, then the other. “This is Maddie. And that’s Ella.”

Maddie swept over, her hand out, and shook Amelia’s. “Nice to meet you, Amelia .” As if her name meant something to them. Which meant he’d talked to them about her.

“Ella?” Ridge said. “Wanna come say hi?”

She didn’t look happy. Amelia had no idea why that could be. The list of possible reasons was way too long, and she didn’t know this girl.

She tried to smile and look approachable while her cheeks flamed.

Ella said, “I have a lot of homework.” She walked through the living area and disappeared down a hallway.

“So…” Maddie drew the word out. “You’re… her .”

“What does that mean?” Amelia glanced between Ridge and the teen. “Her?”

The girl gasped. “Did you make chicken and rice? Yes!” She whirled around and did a circuit of the breakfast bar to the pan, drawing down two bowls from a cupboard.

Ridge said, “Don’t worry about what it means.” He squeezed Amelia’s shoulder, looking like he wanted to explain more. “Teenage girls have wild imaginations.”

“And homework!” Maddie’s eyes were wide and full of something that looked like excitement mixed with embarrassment. “We’ll be upstairs, and we won’t bother you guys.”

What on earth did that mean?

Amelia had no idea what to say. It wasn’t like she hung out with teens…at all. Or ever.

Maddie took two bowls down the hall in the same direction her sister had gone.

“I should leave you to…deal with that, or whatever you need to do.” Amelia slid off the stool, which brought her closer to Ridge, who hadn’t moved.

“They have homework.” He didn’t step back. “That wasn’t so bad. Now you’ve met them, and no one is in tears. It could even be called successful.”

“Tears? Is it me who is supposed to be crying, or one of them? And why would they cry, unless there’s something to the fact that I’m her ?”

Ridge reached for her, but she stepped out of the way. “Amelia?—”

“I’m not leaving because I’m mad at you, but I would like to know what you’ve told them about me. Unless that was about someone else.” She didn’t like either option.

“It wasn’t…” He ran a hand through his hair. “They know you broke it off with me before.”

“So it isn’t about some other woman?”

Ridge shook his head. “There hasn’t been anyone else.”

That was something, at least. But with her being so settled on never getting into a relationship, it was also a little sad.

He’d resigned himself to…what? Waiting for her?

She didn’t know what that said about them.

If she didn’t let this continue to see where it would go, she was consigning him to being alone.

Lonely.

Until he gave up on her and moved on.

The man was so stubborn, who knew how long that would take?

But saving Ridge from being alone wasn’t a good reason to get into a relationship with him.

Which, technically, they weren’t supposed to do right now anyway.

There was nothing about him that constituted a red flag, but that wasn’t the way others would see it.

Or the higher-ups at the fire department.

Right now he was a lieutenant—and her superior.

“I need to go.” Amelia eased toward the door. “It’s late.”

“We could talk about what just happened.”

She shrugged, sliding her hands in her pockets. “I’m not saying I regret it, but it isn’t like it can happen again. That was the problem I had last time. Sneaking around, thinking it was exciting breaking the rules.”

“I’m not him.”

Amelia hadn’t even thought that. “That might be the only thing I’m certain of right now.”

Relief washed over his face. “I’ll see you tomorrow?”

Their shift wasn’t until six in the morning the day after. “If you wanna do something, text me. Or call. We could meet up.” She needed to do laundry and clean up in the big house. He had twin teenage girls to deal with. “Hopefully everything goes all right with the girls.”

“They’ll be fine.”

If they weren’t, he seemed not to want her to worry about it. Which Amelia didn’t have time for anyway, with everything else swirling around, so that was fine.

She went to the door, but he opened it for her and held it, standing near her while she stepped out. Amelia vacillated on the doorstep. Maybe she should have told him that the kiss had been a mistake.

“Let’s just talk tomorrow.”

She nodded.

Ridge leaned down and touched his lips to hers, just a quick press and it was over. “Good night.”

Yeah, that was going to get her in trouble. “Good night.”

She turned away, her cheeks warm as she walked to her car. No looking back. She was going to take tonight for what it was and not wonder what was next. Or if things were a good idea. He’d kissed her, and it had been nice. More than nice.

A long time coming.

About time.

In fact, she didn’t think a kiss had ever been like that for her. It was just… Ridge.

Amelia called Meg from her car. It rang a couple of times, then connected, and she heard Meg say a breathy, “Hello?”

“I woke you up.” Amelia winced, pulling out of the town-house complex. “Sorry, I didn’t think what time it was.” Or the fact Meg ran a coffee shop that opened early, so she got up at four on a workday. “I’ll call back later.”

“Tell me what you’re calling about first, or I’ll lie awake wondering.” Meg let out a moan, stretching and shifting in the covers, creating a rustle across the line.

Amelia would make it quick so her friend could go back to bed.

“I went to Ridge’s house. Wait, that’s not what happened first. Nicholas’s pregnant girlfriend showed up.

She left him and found me on her way south.

Also, she’s out of money. I put her up in a hotel for a couple of nights and gave her some cash so she’s not destitute. ”

“Whoa.” More shuffling over the line. “That’s big.”

“Yeah.”

“Considering…”

Amelia gripped the wheel. “I’ve been trying not to think about that.”

“And you went to Ridge?”

“I just…she’s me. But she’s wrong, we aren’t connected. I don’t owe her anything. We’re not sisters in any way. She’s a stranger, and I don’t want anything to do with anything about Nicholas.”

“Isn’t there a women’s shelter across town?”

Amelia said, “Right. I heard about that, but I don’t know where it is.”

“I’ll text you the info tomorrow. Then if she needs it, she can go stay there,” Meg said. “You’re right that you don’t owe her anything. She doesn’t need to be part of your life unless you want her to be.”

“Thanks.” Implementing a healthy boundary was one thing, but being reassured by your friend that it was the right thing to do meant a lot as well. “Sorry I woke you.”

“I’m not. You’re going through a lot right now.” Meg paused. “Have you thought about…praying about it?”

Amelia said, “I thought we agreed you weren’t going to push your beliefs on me.”

“Am I being pushy? It was only a question.”

She knew how Meg felt and that she saw sharing with Amelia as an imperative. That the outcome was life or death—Amelia’s.

Amelia stopped at a red light with barely any cars around her. “I don’t even know where to start praying. What on earth would I say?”

“It’s just a conversation. Talk to Him. Because the only peace you’re going to feel that actually lasts or sustains you through what’s happening is the peace that comes from God.”

“So it’s like a survival thing?” It sounded like a way to get through the bad stuff.

“It’s that when you need it,” Meg said. “But when you don’t need help through something hard, He is still there, and God wants a relationship with you in the good and the bad. He’s the one in control of everything.”

“And everything I’ve been through is my fault.”

Meg said, “Amelia, you made some bad choices. But you also made some good ones. God is the one you can rely on to guide you, and He brought you back to Last Chance County for a reason. So He could put people in your life who care. Who want to help. You can’t do this alone.

You need the people around you, and you need Him. ”

Amelia was used to pushing back when people talked about faith. There was so much of it swirling around her in the firehouse that she’d tried to tune it out.

But she had to admit Meg’s explanations made sense.

Her friend said, “God wants to give you more than you can imagine. He wants you to have the best, because we all know how bad things can get. He wants to be a safe place for you to go and the source of peace you’re looking for.”

Amelia drove to her neighborhood, trying not to dismiss Meg’s words, because that was what she always did.

“God wants to give you the things you’ve only dreamed of.”

No one knew those, because Amelia had never shared them with anyone. Even Meg didn’t know the things Amelia had wondered if she could have.

“All you have to do is start talking to Him.”

“I guess then I wouldn’t have called you and woken you up. I’d be praying, and you’d have two things you wanted.” Amelia chuckled, bringing a lightness to the conversation. There was something about what Meg had said that didn’t weigh heavy the way some things did.

“You can call me anytime, girl. You know that.”

“Thanks, Meg.” Amelia pulled into the long drive that ran down the side of this monstrosity of a house and drove slowly toward her cabin. “I’ll let you sleep now.”

Amelia passed the big house and didn’t see any sign that Kane and Maria were staying inside. No lights on. But that was by intention since they didn’t want intruders to know anyone was waiting there.

She’d never had family worth anything after her stepdad died.

Ridge had lost his grandpa, a man who’d shaped who Ridge was even after the older man’s tragic death. His family were the kind of people who showed up to help each other out, and it said a lot about the kind of man he was. The man she already knew him to be.

If she were going to pray, she’d pray she measured up to the woman he thought she could be.