“See? We’ll be okay.”
Lucy still looked a little dazed from my declaration and kiss.
“Thank you. I’ll be fast, promise. And if you need help or get busy and need someone else to watch her, Lars and Olive should be home so you could bring her to the lighthouse.”
“You will not rush. Blossom and I will be fine.”
Her shoulders relaxed and I was treated to her gorgeous smile. She stood on her tiptoes and pulled me in for a kiss. “Thank you.” She broke away too quickly and kissed Blossom on the forehead before heading out the door.
“Why the fuck do you get a goodbye kiss?” I muttered. Blossom whipped her head around to glare at me once more. I lifted her so we were eye-to-eye. “We are not going to add to Lucy’s worries. You are going to cooperate. No mischief, no drama.”
Blossom twitched her nose at me before giving me her back.
This was going to be fine.
58
Wilder
I pulled the pan ofenchiladas out of the oven at the firehouse and set it on top of the stove, joining the pan I’d already pulled out. The cheese was still bubbling, but I grabbed a plate to serve up my portion, anyway. In a few seconds, my guys would descend upon the kitchen like ravenous beasts. I wasn’t a gourmet cook or anything, but I liked feeding people. It made me feel good. Useful.
Like when I made Lucy a grilled cheese in my cabin. For the first time since I started firefighting, I wished I had a job with normal hours. Being away from her for these long stretches was torture, although being on this shift meant I could put off telling her the truth of my diagnosis for a bit longer.
It wasn’t fair to her, or the guys, for that matter. They all deserved to know.
My phone rang and my heart raced when I saw it was King calling. I’d texted him a couple hours ago about Lucy, and my mind immediately imagined the worst.
“Hello?”
“Wilder. I need your help.” King was always annoyingly calm and businesslike, but right now, he sounded like he was seconds away from losing it.
I gripped the counter, my knuckles turning white. “Is Lucy okay?”
“What? Yes, she’s totally fine. She had to go to Briar’s Landing and I’m watching the demon for her.”
“Demon? What the fuck are you talking about?”
“The bunny! The little demon bunny from hell who has it out for me! But she likes you. So you need to come here and talk some sense into her.”
My guys stampeded into the kitchen, and I stepped out into the hall so I could hear King. “You’re calling me because you can’t handle a tiny bunny that’s literally smaller than your fist?”
“You can judge me all you want as long as you get over here,” he hissed.
“I’m in the middle of a shift. I can’t just leave.”
“Wilder, I swear to god, if you don’t get over here, I will set fire to my house just so I can call 911 and get dispatch to send you over.”
What the fuck was happening at that house?
“I guess arson prevention is part of my job,” I said dryly.
“You have five minutes to get here before it’s no longer prevention.” He hung up the phone.
I stared at my uneaten plate of enchiladas, my stomach rumbling. Fuck. I had to go over there, didn’t I? We were a pack now.
I picked up my plate and headed back into the kitchen.
“This is great, boss,” Ezra said around a mouthful of food.
