“I should beat your ass.” Frankie lunged at me and wrapped me in a hug that was half threat, half rescue. “When I heard the reports on the scanner, I almost drove my truck into a ditch.”
Jasper blinked at her. “You have access to emergency comms channels?”
Without releasing me, she shot him a dirty look. “If I do, you gonna narc on me to Nolan No Balls?”
Jasper opened his mouth, then shut it. “No.”
“I was so worried about you.” Frankie’s voice softened, but her fingers dug into my elbow like she was wound up tight with worry.
“I’m fine. We’re fine,” I soothed her, deeply touched by her uncharacteristically emotional behavior.
She took a step back, and as she wiped a tear from her cheek with the back of her hand, she blinked, like she was surprised by her own show of emotion. With a single sniff, she straightened up. “You better stay that way. And if Chief No Balls bothers you or causes you more harm”—her features went hard again, her hands balled into fists—“I will make sure terrible things happen to his patrol car.”
With that, she stomped away, though she pulled up short when Marigold Shaw entered holding a basket of muffins taller than she was.
“This is ridiculous.” I scoffed. “It’s a potluck with IV bags.”
Ruby darted over and plucked a muffin from the basket, then another. She held one out for me and sighed. “It’s how we process trauma here,” she said. “Carbs and gossip.”
“And caffeine,” Paul added, bouncing happily with Brooks in his arms.
Jasper sidled up next to me and laced his fingers with mine. The comforting gesture was probably second nature to him, but it made my chest ache all the same. Chaos swirled around us, equal parts laughter and chatter about the fire and what could have happened.
I breathed deeply, letting myself enjoy being cared for like this, relishing the solid weight of Jasper’s hand in mine, the quiet pulse of support that beat between us.
I never knew this existed. This kind of kindness. The community. The people who showed up.
When I moved to Maplewood, I’d been looking for something new. A way to break free of the patterns I’d been stuck in for far too long.
I hadn’t expected to be adopted by this strange place. Never mind have a baby, buy a house and become a card-carrying Vermonter.
Jasper shifted closer. “You okay?”
My throat tightened. “Yeah. Despite everything, I’m okay.”
He tucked a strand of hair behind my ear, the rough pads of his fingers making my skin light up with affection for him. “Good.”
In the corner of the room, Frankie sighed loudly. “If you guys start making heart eyes at each other, I’m calling the nurses to separate you.”
“Hush,” Ruby said. “They’ve earned a moment.” She shoved a muffin into her mouth, then turned our way. “You may resume your PDA.”
Jasper and I looked at one another and then at the assembled crowd and burst into laughter. Within seconds, though, we were both coughing.
“This town,” Jasper wheezed.
A warm feeling spread through me, and it wasn’t just the burning of my charred lungs. It was belonging. I belonged not only in my quirky little circle of friends, but also in this town.
And maybe, finally, with Jasper.
Chapter 40
Jasper
Maplewood never remained quiet for long, but for now, I relished the calm. Evie had gone to her own room to feed Vincent, and Josh and Jenn and I sat in the waiting room, the unspoken elephant settling between us.
I could have died today.
That reality sat in my ribs the way the smell of smoke lingered in a person’s clothes. Always there, impossible to ignore. I’d done what I always had. I’d run toward the noise, the danger, the risk. It was instinct after the years I’d spent as a firefighter. But this was different. This time the person needing the rescue mattered more to me than anyone, and that changed the calculus of risk.
