Page 27 of Rescued Dreams (Last Chance Fire and Rescue #8)

TWENTY-SIX

R idge opened the oven and pulled out the tray of cookies, which he set on the wire rack on the counter. He’d give it a matter of minutes before one of the firefighters swung by to?—

Zack strode by the counter, on the other side where the coffee carafe was now empty, and tried to grab one of the cookies. From the hot tray. With his fingers.

The cookie bent in his grasp and started to fall apart.

Ridge rolled his eyes, looking for a spatula so he could transfer the cookies to the wire rack. “You need to let it cool.”

“Sorry, Mom.”

Ridge snorted. He couldn’t find the spatula, so he just lifted the tray and used the parchment to slide the whole sheet onto the rack. “Ten minutes. No sooner.”

Someone over on the couch groaned.

Zoe sat up, looking over the back of the couch. “Is there coffee at least?” She had a kids’ cartoon movie on the TV, and after the callout they’d just had, he didn’t blame her. And no one had asked her to put on something else.

“Coffee is Eddie’s job.”

The rescue squad firefighter jumped up from his seat, where he’d been playing a card game with Bryce and Della.

“I’m on it. Tell me when it’s my turn again.” Eddie jogged over to the container where they kept the coffee grounds, stealing a cookie on the way past. “Ah. Hot. Haha.” He chewed. “Okay, those are good.”

A distinctly teenage voice called out, “What did you make, Ridgey? Chocolate chip or the banana ones?” Maddie, of all people, stepped into the room at the far end, by the entrance. Followed by her sister.

Then Amelia.

Then Kane and Maria.

Ridge stared at them. “You guys are here.”

Way to state the obvious. But Kane had messaged him about Amelia getting taken in for questioning, so he figured he knew why they were here.

Everyone in the room, which was most everyone except the EMTs who weren’t back yet, stared at them.

“Of course we’re here.” Maddie widened her eyes, wordlessly telling him something was up. She came around the counter and wound her arms around his middle, giving him a side hug. “Banana?”

Ridge shook his head. “Just chocolate chips.”

“Sweet!” She eyed the coffeepot.

“No caffeine after dinner.”

Maddie rolled her eyes. Eddie looked over from his spot across from them and said, “Okay, she looked a lot like you when she did that.” Eddie glanced at Ella, then back at Maddie. “Your sisters…or?”

Yeah. They were young enough to be his kids—though only barely.

“Everyone,” Ridge started, keeping an eye on Amelia, who had gone to the kettle and hadn’t said a word. Something heavy on her mind. The real reason they were here—not just so the twins could break his separation rule. “This is Maddie and Ella. They’re my sisters.”

The firefighters gathered around, shaking the girls’ hands. Kane introduced them to Maria. Bryce told Maddie and Ella that he had a twin brother but that they weren’t identical.

Zoe beamed at them. “So great to meet you. Ridge doesn’t talk much about his family.”

Maddie said, “That’s cause they’re all losers except us.”

Ella snickered. “What she means is…”

Maddie finished, “It’s nice to meet you.”

Both the girls grabbed a cookie at the same time. Maddie said, “Ridgey’s cookies are the best.”

Zack snickered, as did Izan, who had appeared out of nowhere.

Ridge folded his arms. “Not that I’m not happy to see you guys.”

“Sure,” Maddie interjected.

“It’s a school night, and it’s late.”

“We had pizza at Amelia’s house,” Ella said, as if that explained things. Which it sort of did. Maddie always got restless when she had a heavy meal for dinner. Add dessert and she was going to be bouncing off the walls.

Ridge leaned over and said, “One cookie.”

“Fine.” Maddie pouted.

“I’m glad you came so everyone could meet you.” Even if it was because there had been some kind of problem that meant they needed to bring Amelia here.

Maddie leaned close to him and whispered, “The police took her in for questioning, but she only said she’s being set up.”

Ella continued from where her sister left off. “She proved to them it wasn’t her, but we didn’t think she should go home.”

They’d brought her to see Ridge.

He kissed one twin on the forehead, then the other. “Don’t get comfortable. This is a one-time thing.”

Maddie gasped, her attention in the direction of the TV. “I love this movie!”

Ella followed her to the couch, where they sat with Zoe.

The others had gathered around Maria and Kane, all talking but too low for him to hear what they were saying.

Ridge took the opportunity to go over to Amelia, still by the kettle.

Staring intently while it boiled, shaking slightly with white steam coming out of the spout.

He moved beside her so she knew it was him, faced her left shoulder and ran a hand between her shoulder blades.

“I won’t bother asking if you’re all right. ”

“I will be.”

He gently squeezed the back of her neck, under the fall of blonde hair. “Come to the LT office and talk about it with me?”

“What’s to talk about?” She grabbed the kettle and poured water over the tea bag. “They know it wasn’t me. They’re wrong.”

“It shook you.”

“It made me think of—” She stopped suddenly, glanced around to see where everyone else was, then said, “Nicholas.” Keeping her voice low so the information stayed between them.

“Are we a hundred percent certain he isn’t here in town?” Ridge said. “I had Bryce ask Penny to run his name and see if she could find out where he is, but he hasn’t mentioned her having any results yet.”

Amelia shuddered. “I don’t want to see him. But it would explain a lot.”

He wanted to pull her close, but it couldn’t be here and now. “You’ll get through this. I know you will.”

No matter what, he wasn’t going to let anything else happen to her. He’d been praying all shift for her to cry out to the Lord for salvation. She needed Jesus in her life so that He could give her peace. Ridge wanted to make her happy, but God was the only one who could fully satisfy her.

She leaned over and he heard her inhale. “Cookies? On a shift where you smell like smoke? That can’t be good.”

“You should try one.”

She smiled for a second, then said, “It was bad.”

“Seventeen rescues, half a dozen with minor injuries. One fatality.”

Amelia winced. “Sorry. I should’ve called before the twins showed up. I had no idea what kind of atmosphere they’d be walking into.”

A rough call would produce a bunch of grouchy firefighters who needed to blow off some frustration. He’d done what he could, not even knowing his sisters would show up with Amelia and his cousin and cousin’s fiancée, and it needed to be enough.

“How do you deal with it, as lieutenant?”

Amelia shrugged. “Give people space to process. Everyone deals in their own way. Della is probably bench-pressing right now, and Izan will check on her.”

Ridge walked over to see their Hispanic firefighter walk out of the room toward the gym. When he turned back, Amelia had a cookie in her mouth. Her eyes widened.

He waited while she finished, pleased that she was clearly enjoying it. When she was done, he said, “We can find somewhere quiet to talk about your evening if you want.”

She studied him, her tea on the counter forgotten. “What do you want?”

“A cookie, some more coffee, and for the twins to go to bed at a reasonable hour since this is a school night.”

“I meant from me.”

Whoa, there was a loaded question. “Amelia?—”

“I’m serious. What do you want?”

She was serious. Ridge wanted to back up and wipe the counters down, but that would only delay the inevitable. And it would make it look like he didn’t know or hadn’t decided. When the reality was that he’d never been surer of anything, with the exception of having the twins come and live with him.

“I want you to become a lieutenant again so I can kiss you in the firehouse.”

Her eyes flared.

“I’m also serious.” Seriously in love with her. “And I’d like to be around to help you with whatever is happening. Anytime, anywhere.”

One eyebrow lifted. “You’re on shift.”

“Then hang out here. Kane and Maria can make sure the twins are safe at the town house.”

She bit her lip. “If anything happens to them…”

“I know.” He touched her shoulder. “That’s why it’s good that they’re here, because now we have the best of the best, elite-trained operators to protect Maddie and Ella.” He glanced over and saw the twins were both looking at them over the back of the couch.

Watching Ridge with Amelia.

He was counting on his cousin and Maria a whole lot to see that there was a satisfying outcome to this. One second to the next, anything could happen, and Ridge would lose everything. What if that happened? Tangling in this business with Amelia put the twins at risk.

Was he really willing to do that?

The answer was yes, provided Kane and Maria—and anyone they called—helped. He couldn’t do much when he was on shift, as Amelia had pointed out. But no one would object to her being here.

Amelia said, “Kane and Maria have been amazing. They’re running down the information I gave them on the bank account that’s supposed to be mine. Trying to figure out who opened it.” She took a breath. “Who is setting me up.”

“That’s good, isn’t it?”

“They believed me.” She lifted her chin and looked at him. “No questions. No qualifiers. They just believed me that it’s a setup and said they’d do anything they could to help.”

“Isn’t that a good thing?”

She seemed unsure. “It’s never happened before. They just took my word for it.”

“Because you’re telling the truth.”

“I wish I knew who it was. The woman with the hat.”

Ridge frowned. “What woman?”

“In the bank. She had a hat on so no one could see her face,” Amelia said. “The cops said they were going to talk to the teller tomorrow, but I won’t be holding my breath for what they come up with.”

Ridge touched her cheek. “It’s going to work out.

You didn’t do anything wrong.” He had an odd thought that might distract her.

“I saw a hat tonight as well. At the callout. Must’ve been fifteen people we took down the ladder out of that blaze.

Every time I went back up, I saw it on the hallway floor.

This huge straw thing with a black band around it.

” He shook his head. “That was random, but I saw it so many times.”

Amelia frowned. “That sounds like the hat in the bank surveillance video.”

“Okay, but it’s just coincidence, right? It isn’t like it’s the same hat.”

Amelia took her mug from the counter. “I have no idea what it is, but with my history, it’s more likely that this turns out to be the thing that proves I’m the one who set the fire you fought tonight. So it isn’t like I’m going to ignore something like that.”

“Forget I mentioned it.” Ridge lifted his hands. “Let Kane and the police work the case. Just focus on getting better, okay?”

“When someone is most likely going to show up tomorrow and tell everyone that I’m so stressed out by being injured that I set that fire because I’m an arsonist? Sure, that’ll help me rest easy.” She blew out a breath.

His phone ringing cut off anything either one was about to say next. She didn’t know what she’d have said anyway.

Ridge frowned at the screen of his phone. “Hey, Mom?—”

He was cut off by the caller, who had a deep voice. So loud that Amelia could probably hear it. Did you get her to tell you where that money is yet?

Amelia flinched. She stared at Ridge.

His cheeks heated. “Don’t call me unless it’s because you’ve decided to set up a college fund for the twins.” He hung up.

The girls looked over from the couch.

He set his phone on the counter beside him. “That was my stepdad. He doesn’t?—”

“You think I’d believe you’re actually after the money and nothing else?”

“Maybe not, but?—”

“Listen, I’m glad we came. It’s just that nothing in my life ever goes smoothly. I’m glad you think it will all work out fine. But why would I believe that when it never has for me?”

“Amelia—”

“Thanks for talking to me. It means a lot.” She squeezed his arm.

“But I’m going to drink this and then go with the girls.

Right now I want to be at your house, where I can pretend none of this exists and I’m just a normal person no one is targeting with an elaborate plan to destroy my entire life.

” She lifted up on her tiptoes and kissed his cheek, then wandered off.

Leaving Ridge standing there wondering what had just happened.