“Do I?”
“You dragged Dhillon’s sorry ass out, didn’t you?”
Riya nodded.
“Did you do it because you loved him, or because his was a life that needed to be saved?”
Riya didn’t answer.
Hetal tilted her head, an irritating grin on her face. “That’s pretty damn amazing. He must weigh like one sixty.”
“Pssht.” Riya shook her head. “More like one eighty to one ninety. Your brother is solid muscle.”
“Is he, now?” Hetal’s face filled with mischief. “And how would you know that?”
“Never mind.” Huh. She didn’t want to tell Hetal that she’d spent the night with Dhillon any more than he did.
“I do think I want to be a vet after all, though.” Hetal lay back, relaxed. Apparently, Riya was forgiven.
“Really?” Riya narrowed her eyes. “What made you change your mind?”
“That fire ishot.” She lifted her head up. “Some mentor you are! You never mentioned how goddamn hot it was in there.”
Riya grinned and shrugged. “Work hazard.”
thirty-seven
DHILLON
Dhillon pulled up in front of the fire station. He actually couldn’t believe he was there. But he was curious about what Ambrose wanted to discuss, so there he was. At his mother’s request, he’d gone home to get Scout. No one wanted to leave her alone quite yet, and he didn’t have the energy to argue that being left alone was good for young Scout, so he picked her up and brought her with him.
Scout sat up in the seat as if she knew where she was. When Dhillon let her out of the car, she ran into the open bay. The firefighters were running drills, but they all stopped when Scout made her entrance.
Upon seeing the puppy, Ambrose looked out and nodded at Dhillon. “Glad you could make it, Doc.” He nodded at one of the men. “Evans, take over and start from the beginning. Run it all the way through.”
Dhillon followed Ambrose. He studied the brick face of the building, the four bays, the firefighters running their drills in the late July heat and humidity. Each time he went there, it seemed to get easier. He drifted back to the conversation with his mom. She was right. It was time to put the house fire behind him. It had defined him too long.
Ambrose led the way toward the captain’s office. “We’ll head back this way.” Scout trotted alongside them.
Dhillon followed Ambrose back through the offices to an area he hadn’t recalled seeing before.
“How’s Scout been doing?” Ambrose asked as they walked down a hallway. They were in an unfamiliar area. The walls were lined with pictures of firefighters.
“She’s great. She essentially lives between Riya’s house and mine.”Like Lucky used to.
“Not totally at your house yet?” He raised his eyebrows. “Your sister told me you’d eventually want Scout to come home with you. I just lost five bucks.”
Dhillon shrugged. “Moving forward, you should know that if Hetal is willing to put money on something, she’s going to win.”
Ambrose did a double take. “Moving forward?”
“Yes. Well, it turns out, my sister is grown up. She can decide for herself who and what makes her happy.”
“Anyway—” Ambrose’s smile broadened “—this is what I wanted to show you.” He nodded at the wall. “My whole family is in the fire service,” Ambrose continued. He side-eyed Dhillon. “My sister, too. So whenever I was hard on Desai, it was because I wanted her to be the best she could be. Quite frankly, my sister had a hard time of it as a woman. I wanted to make sure that Desai was up for everything that was coming her way. It’s my job to make sure my team can do what they need to do on scene.” He paused. “I do wish she’d have come to me when Walsh first started to harass her, though.”
“Riya likes to take care of herself,” Dhillon said.
The wall held formal photos of firefighters, most of them old men. One middle-aged woman and a couple of younger-looking men.
