“W-why’re you sharing this with me?”
Deborah finally looked back at me. “Because I want you to know what you’ve walked into.” She took my hand without the cup in hers. “My Carter was always destined to do great things and follow his own destiny. It took his father a little time to learn that, but he learned it eventually. I always believed his greatest joy would be his family. I see he’s finally found that. You keep his heart safe because I assure you he will guard yours and Diego’s with his entire life… and then some.”
My mouth fell open and shut a few times as I racked my mind for some sort of response. But everything I came up with seemed ridiculously shallow in the face of what she’d just shared.
But Deborah seemed to read my mind when she said, “You don’t have to say anything. It’s a lot to take in. Trust me, I know.”
At that moment, movement out of the corner of my eye caught my attention. I glanced over and saw Aaron walking past us, again reaming someone out on his phone. He’d been distracted with calls for much of the time we’d been there.
“You sure aboutallof the Townsend men loving hard?” I mumbled. I hadn’t meant to blurt that out loud.
I don’t know what I expected but it wasn’t for a mischievous grin to appear on her face as she carefully watched her second oldest son. “You know what they say, the meaner they are the harder they fall.”
I was pretty sure it was the bigger they are the harder they fall, but I kept quiet.
“That one,” she tilted her head at Aaron, “will fall the hardest. Especially since he already has.” Her eyes narrowed.
I wrinkled my forehead, wondering what the hell she was talking about, but she looked back at me and clapped her hands. “Enough about that. Tell me about that charming son ofyours.”We went on to talk for another few minutes before all the men started coming over to the table. It was the end of the day and the family day was wrapping up.
Just as Carter and I were saying our last good-byes, Diego’s shrieks of laughter pierced the air. I glanced over to see my little boy running circles around a scowling Aaron.
“Diego, leave Mr. Aaron alone,” I scolded my son.
“But he has fairies around him, Mama!” Diego exclaimed, again in awe of something that so obviously wasn’t there. I highly doubted any fairies ? should they exist ? wanted anything to do with the mean looking specimen in front of me. And once again I highly doubted Deborah’s words from earlier about Aaron loving the hardest. The man was as movable as a brick wall, and I wasn’t just talking physically, though he was as tall and broad as the rest of the Townsend men.
“Come on, buddy.” Carter scooped Diego up. “How about we head home and I fix us some pizzas while your mama and I discuss how she’s going to decorate the house?”
I cut my eyes at Carter. I still hadn’t spoken to him about the interior designer he’d hooked me up with. When I’d brought it up earlier, he simply said that he trusted my opinion and I had free reign to furnish and decorate however I wanted. The man was beyond impossible.
****
Carter
“Roll call!” Eric yelled out as he stood in the center of the main room, clipboard in hand. “Carter, you’re on equipment duty today. We need a total count of everything. Brass wants it within the week.”
“Everything?” I questioned, just to make sure I heard him correctly.
He nodded. “I don’t make the rules, I just follow ’em.”
“This is bullshit,” I grumbled. It could take weeks to properly inspect and count the station’s entire equipment count. “I’m definitely giving the rookies some of this bullshit task. Corey too.”
“Why me?” Corey called out from the other side of the room.
“’Cause unlike the rookies, I’m pretty sure you know how to count,” I chuckled.
Corey frowned but eventually laughed, too.
“Let’s get started, shall we?”
“Whatever, man. Hey, Harvard, to make it up to Carter and I, I say you have that wife of yours bake us up another one of her chocolate lava cakes.”
“My wife doesn’t take baking orders from your clowns.” Eric pointed his pen in Corey’s direction. I had a laugh at his possessiveness. Now, I knew exactly what he felt whenever someone in our squad mentioned his wife’s name. Immediate and swift protection is what mine felt like.
Speaking of Michelle ... I had finally gotten her onboard with the interior designer idea. She was reluctant from the start, especially pointing out that I’d had Diane ambush her at her office. She was right on that account. I’d told Diane to take some pictures and samples with her, knowing that once Michelle saw them she wouldn’t be able to turn her away. It was a risky move but it won her over. I waited a couple of hours after she sent that angry text when Diane first showed up. By then, she was much calmer having looked at the layout. Still, she was insistent that it wasn’t her place to design. After we spent family day together with my brother’s team, she was less hesitant. I took that opportunity to schedule another appointment with Diane for the following evening. That one was scheduled at my house and Michelle couldn’t help but get excited about decorating. We were making progress.
“Oop! That’s us!” Corey yelled seconds after the firehouse alarm sounded. We both tossed down the equipment we’d been sorting to grab our boots and fire repellant gear, and headed straight for the trucks.
“What address did they say?” I stopped in my tracks. Oddly, a feeling of trepidation moved through my entire body. I never got nervous when calls came through, but the address …
