Shelter for Adeline (27 page)

Adeline didn’t take her eyes off the small phone screen, torn between terror that Dean was lying trapped in a burning building and the conviction that he and his friends were just fine. She finally fell asleep around two in the morning on the couch, Coco sleeping on his side on the floor near her.

Once more she was awakened by the feel of Dean sitting next to her. But this time she was immediately awake and alert. “Are you all right?”

He smiled gently at her. “I’m fine.”

“Everyone else?”

“All fine too.”

Adeline breathed out a sigh of relief. “Good.”

“How long have you been out here?” Dean asked, leaning down and kissing her forehead.

She smelled the faint scent of smoke, but since his hair was damp, it was obvious he’d showered before coming home. “What time is it?”

“Six.”

Adeline shrugged. “My parents went to bed around one.”

“You up for breakfast?”

“With you? Always.”

He helped her up and they went into the kitchen. For the first time since her surgery, she felt almost no pain. When the bacon was frying, Dean went and got her medicine, and she took the pills with a big glass of orange juice.

When the eggs and bacon were done, they settled into chairs at the dining room table. Dean took her hand in his. “You okay?”

Adeline nodded. “I was scared, I won’t lie. But I know you and the others are good at what you do. Beth was listening to the commander in charge of the scene and I got a little worried when I heard about the trapped firefighters, but then I decided that if, God forbid, it was
you
who was trapped, I would’ve heard about it from someone. Your boss, one of your friends, Beth,
someone
. Then I remembered our vows. In sickness and health. It truly hit home that my fears before my surgery, about you leaving me, were ridiculous. You would’ve no more left if something went wrong than I would if you were hurt on the job. I love you, Dean. I’m proud of what you do and even though I don’t particularly enjoy seeing the fires and stuff on the news, I know you’re doing what you love, and if there’s any chance, I mean
any
chance, you’ll come home to me. So yeah, I’m okay.”

“God, I love you,” Dean said reverently, gently pulling her to him with a hand on the back of her neck. He kissed her, then pulled back just enough to rest his forehead on hers. Whispering, he asked, “When are your parents leaving?”

Adeline giggled and whispered back, “Not soon enough.”

Still keeping his voice down, Dean said, “I can’t wait to taste you again. To watch as you come hard for me as I’m sucking on your clit. If you think you’re up to it, we can start slow and easy.”

“I’m not sure I’m up for multiple orgasms, but maybe a little fooling around. I’ve missed your touch.” Adeline confirmed immediately with a smile.

“I love you.”

“And I love you.”

Dean pulled back and kissed the side of her head right above the still healing wound. “I’ll be careful, beautiful. If you feel even one twinge of pain, let me know and I’ll stop.”

“I will.”

“Good. Now eat. You need to keep your strength up.”

Adeline smiled at her husband as Dean sat back. Living with a firefighter wasn’t easy, but then again, neither was living with someone with epilepsy. It was a matter of give and take, and she was content to do both.

Happily forking some eggs into her mouth, Adeline couldn’t help but think about Dean’s single friends. After a hellacious, dangerous night, they were going home to empty houses and apartments. It seemed heartbreaking that they didn’t have the love that she and Dean did.

* * *

A
round one in the afternoon
, Chief pulled his SUV into his driveway and saw that his lawn had been freshly mowed. He was surprised, but grateful as well. He was exhausted after having stayed until any chance of the large warehouse rekindling had been suppressed. His shoulder hurt from where a section of a wall he’d been standing near had collapsed. He’d moved fast enough so he wasn’t trapped beneath it, but it’d glanced off his shoulder when he’d turned away from the falling wall.

Chief knew he hadn’t hired anyone to cut the grass for him, even though it was about a week and a half longer than it should’ve been since it was last mowed. Once again, he thought about selling the house and buying a condo or townhouse…someplace that had monthly dues so he didn’t have to worry about maintaining the lawn. Crash had the right idea there for sure. He was crazy for thinking about buying a house. Maybe they should just switch residences.

He smiled at the thought, then noticed there was a beaten-up-looking mower sitting in the driveway of the house next to him. After parking, Chief headed that way. He’d been meaning to cut his grass, but between his long shifts, Adeline’s surgery, and just plain being exhausted, he’d let it go too long.

“Hello?” he called out.

A woman walked out of the open door of the garage at the sound of his voice. Chief had seen her in passing before. He hadn’t ever talked to her, and didn’t know her name or who else might be living with her. He didn’t have a lot of time to make nice with his neighbors, choosing instead to keep his distance.

Chief had learned his lesson when he was young and new to San Antonio. Using the casino proceeds he’d received from the council back home, he’d bought a small house in an upscale neighborhood. But instead of being welcomed with open arms, he’d been shunned and harassed until, disgusted, he’d sold the house and moved. It was hard to believe racism toward Native Americans still existed today, but he’d seen it up close and personal.

So instead of trying to get to know anyone, as he’d done before only to have it blow up in his face, Chief worked longer hours and didn’t bother making any attempts to be friendly. But now that someone had gone out of their way to mow his lawn, he felt as though he needed to at least say thank you.

He noted that his neighbor was pretty, even though she was blonde. Chief had never been attracted to women with blonde hair; they seemed too…Anglo for him. He’d always chosen to go out with women who had features similar to his own, to the people he’d grown up with, darker skin and brown or black hair. He’d learned early in his life that it was easier to blend in if he stuck to people who looked like him.

One glance at his neighbor and it was obvious she wouldn’t blend in no matter where she went. Her hair was so blonde, it was almost white. At the moment it was pulled back into a messy knot at the back of her head. Her eyes were a bright blue, almost as though she was wearing colored contacts. She was tall, nearly as tall as his six feet. She was wearing sneakers, which most likely put her around five eight or nine. And she was muscular. The yellow tank top and jean shorts she was wearing did nothing to hide the strength in her arms and legs. She looked to be in her mid to late twenties, maybe a bit older, it was hard to tell and he’d never been a good judge of age.

Recognizing the stirring of desire in his body, Chief bit out, probably harsher than he would’ve if she’d been shorter, darker, weaker, and less appealing, “Your man around?”

She didn’t say a word, but her lips parted twice as if she was trying to decide what she wanted to say.

“Your husband? Boyfriend?”

When she continued to stand there, mute, Chief muttered, “Fuck it,” and reached around to his back pocket for his wallet. He winced when the action pulled the already sore muscles of his shoulder. He pulled out a twenty-dollar bill and held it out to the silent woman. “Here.”

He could see the word “what” form on her lips, but she still stubbornly kept quiet.

“Give that to your boyfriend for mowing my lawn. I appreciate it. I’ve been busy. I’ll do my best to keep it cut from here on out, but if he wants to keep it up, I won’t complain. Twenty bucks for each time he cuts it. That work?”

This time she bit her lip, looked back into the garage, then faced him again and nodded slowly.

Done with the awkward conversation—if it could be called that; the woman talked less than he did, and that was saying something—Chief gave her a chin lift and headed back across her lawn, through his own freshly mowed grass to his garage.

Without giving his odd neighbor another thought, Chief lowered his garage door and headed inside. A long, hot shower, a big glass of iced tea, and his mattress were calling his name. Thank God he had the next two days off. He needed every minute to recover from the clusterfuck that had been the warehouse fire.

The bitch of it was, they’d learned this afternoon that it had been the work of an arsonist. Millions of dollars’ worth of merchandise had gone up in flames, not to mention the property damage of the nearby buildings and the safety of each and every firefighter who had spent hours trying to put out the fire.

He never heard the woman he’d left standing in the driveway next door whisper to his back as he stalked away, “My name is S-S-Sophie. It’s good to m-meet you. I’m not m-married and I was happy to cut your grass to thank you for your s-service to our city.”

He never saw her look down at the twenty dollar bill in her hand and say sadly, “I didn’t want your m-money. I just wanted to introduce m-myself.”

And he didn’t hear her mumble to herself as she pushed the mower back into her garage and shut the door behind her, “S-so much for m-making a good first impression.”

* * *

S
helter for Sophie
, Chief and Sophie’s story, will be out later this year! In the meantime, check out
Marrying Emily
, which comes out in less than a month, book 4 (stand alone) in the Delta Force Series. You’ll see some familiar characters in that one, including some firefighters and cops you’ve come to know and love in the Badge of Honor series!

T
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