A grim reality of their profession.
My stomach rolled even thinking about him having to notify me or Rhea’s family of something terrible happening to her.
“Ugh,” I groaned, rubbing my forehead as my palms got clammy again. “Just come home to me.” I whispered, staring out the window again as I heard a car on the street.
I should still have been at the bakery, that was where I had gone when Tanner got up out of bed in the middle of the night to run off to the accident. There was no way I could just stay in bed, even as peaceful as his bed was, with his strong masculine scent surrounding me in his absence, I was too anxious. So, I got up and went to Honey & Hearth to start baking.
It was what I did when I was trying to soothe the pain of the world.
Hours later, and hundreds of cinnamon rolls later, I finally heard from Tanner.
The initial 911 call was for an accident at the ice rink, where the charity tournament was supposed to be held. It was a massive part of the town, most of the school-aged kids did some sort of league there, and then the adults of Cedar Bluff either played in old-man beer leagues or jumped in on pickup games from time to time. The rest of us, who weren’t ice-skating capable, went to the rink to enjoy the festivities from the bleachers with a beer and hot dog in hand.
Yet now, the rink’s future was balancing precariously on the edge of ruin, depending on how bad the fire was.
When I talked to Tanner for a few minutes, he said the truck drove into the back of the rink, near where they kept the equipment and mechanicals, but he wasn’t sure how bad the flames got inside.
The whole town was reeling from the news, too. I made the mistake of sticking around at the bakery after it opened up in the early hours of the morning and was instantly swarmed by customers looking for insider news. I didn’t know if it wasbecause they knew I was a central hub for the town because of the bakery, some place everyone went and talked, or if it was because news had officially spread that Tanner, Rhea and I were all involved romantically. Either way, the townsfolk seemed to believe that I had the tea on everything, given my connection to the fire department and police in the town.
But I didn’t know anything.
I didn’t even know how Rhea was, other than she was ‘okay’ according to Tanner.
Whatever that meant.
I felt the rest of what he wasn’t saying with that one word, though. Something happened on that scene, and it left him shaken. And I needed to put my eyes on both of them to calm a little of my erratic mind and worry.
Gravel crunched from outside, and I leaned to look out the window along my driveway as Rhea and Tanner both pulled in with their vehicles.
I didn’t hesitate or pause to give them a chance to get inside before I was running through my house, flying down the back steps and racing straight to them in my socks.
Rhea got out of her jeep, still in her fire uniform with a haze of soot over her tan skin. “Marigold.” She said, with an urgency that called to mine. I launched myself at her, wrapping my arms tight around her neck as she buried her face into my shoulder and took a deep breath.
I didn’t know what to say, hearing the edge to her voice nearly broke me, so I just held onto her, squeezing her with everything I had as she dug her fingertips into my back, clinging back. Tanner got out of his truck, grabbing her duffel bag from the back seat of her jeep, and I hated how dark his gaze was as he held my stare.
What the hell happened?
As if he could read my mind, he put one of his big hands on the back of my head and leaned over us, kissing my temple. “Let’s get her inside.”
I pulled back, and Rhea had to pull herself from my neck to look at me. A haunted look filled her stare as she braced herself to get control of her emotions. “Come on.” I led her, wrapping my arms around her torso and kissing her neck as she wrapped one arm around my shoulders, keeping me with her. “I’ve got you.”
When we got inside, Tanner locked the door behind us and pulled the curtains closed like he was shutting the world out and creating a safe place for us inside.
I forced Rhea into a chair in the dining room and sank to my knees in front of her, unlacing her boots and pulling them free from her tired feet before pulling her socks off too, rubbing the pad of my thumb up the arch of each foot.
She watched me with a tired grin on her normally cocky face, but there was no real heat behind it, even if she was trying.
“What do you need?” I asked, trying to stop the millions of questions I had about what happened so I could focus on Rhea’s needs and emotions for now.
Physically, they were both okay, and they were here with me. Everything else could wait.
“This.” She said, cocking her head to the side as she rubbed her thumb over my cheek tenderly. “You.”
“I’m here.” I urged, leaning into her touch.
Rhea exhaled as if she’d been holding it for hours. “I almost—” she swallowed as Tanner kicked his boots off and circled the table. “I almost didn’t make it out.”
Tanner stiffened beside us, threading his fingers under her disheveled braid to knead her neck affectionately. “I would have come in after you.”