Her mother’s features softened. “I do. I always have. But maybe this is a sign that I can’t do everything.”
“Or maybe,” Emma said, “this is a sign that you should return to running The Rainy Day Bookshop yourself. Let Bryce step up to handle things at Lucas Construction. He’s more than capable. You know he is.”
“Of course he is.”
“You can take over rebuilding the bookstore. Make it exactly what you’ve always dreamed it could become, Mom.”
Her mother and Bryce both looked stunned at the suggestion. This wasn’t the time to make any big decisions, especially when they still didn’t know how extensive the damage would be, but perhaps it would give her mother something to think about.
“You need to keep that oxygen mask on, Kendall.” The EMT had gone to school with her and Bryce, Emma realized. Kelly Miller didn’t look happy at any of them as she bustled around her patient.
Emma knew she should probably get out of the way but she wasn’t willing to relinquish her hold on him.
She didn’t want to let go right now... or ever.
Chapter Thirty-Nine
Bryce
Every breath felt like razor blades slicing at his lungs but Bryce didn’t care. The only thing that mattered was Emma. He would never forget the way she had run to him, her face distressed, her eyes wild with fear.
She had rushed to him and wrapped her arms around him as if she couldn’t bear to let him go.
He couldn’t keep up with her quicksilver moods. The last time they spoke, she had pushed him away, making it clear she wasn’t interested in anything but friendship between them. Yet she had cried his name with so much emotion in it, he felt like his head was spinning from far more than the smoke.
As soon as he smelled something wrong in the bookstore, all he could think about was protecting Emma’s dream.
He couldn’t let her fail. He didn’t want her to leave town again, even if they could never be together. Yeah, that would mean he once more would be stuck at the edges of her life, but none of that mattered.
But now she was here, and she hadn’t left his side since she had rushed up to him. That had to mean something, didn’t it?
“What’s the verdict?” he asked Kelly Miller.
“We need to transport you to the ER so the docs can check you out. Sorry, man. Protocol.”
“I’m fine. A little burn on my hand, but it’s nothing. I’ve had worse cooking chili in my kitchen.”
“I don’t make the rules,” Kelly informed him. “You wereinjured in a fire so you need to be checked out. I don’t expect they’ll keep you, but we have to do our job.”
Bryce sighed in resignation, aware he didn’t have a choice in the matter unless he jumped off the ambulance and made his way home through the darkness.
“You can ride along with him if you want,” Kelly said to Emma as she took in their still-entwined fingers.
She looked startled but nodded. “Yes. I’ll go with you.”
“What about Olive?” he had to ask.
“She’s with my grandma. I’m sure she’ll be okay. She can sleep there tonight and I’ll get her in the morning,” she replied. “Right now making sure you’re okay is the priority.”
He wasn’t about to argue. Bryce couldn’t remember the last time someone had wanted to take care of him. It left him feeling uneasy but also more touched than he had been in a long time.
In the end, they agreed she should drive his truck to the hospital so he would have a way home, since Wood Briar wasn’t exactly overflowing with taxis or rideshare services.
He didn’t want to let go of her but comforted himself to know it would only be for a short time.
The next few hours were a blur of tests. Blood work, X-rays, consultations with a pulmonologist and burn specialist. While Bryce wasn’t a fan of hospitals, this time he didn’t mind, with Emma by his side.
He did feel vulnerable and more than a little embarrassed to be stretched out on an emergency room gurney wearing the stupid hospital gown they put on him. But having Emma nearby, solicitous and concerned, made all of that awkwardness fade into the background.