“Mommy can pick the movie,” Ben says, turning from the TV where he and Win were scrolling through potential movie choices. “Me and Grandpa Trey always fell asleep to those.”
Ouch. My kid can be downright brutal.
And the worst part? He isn’t even lying.
Joel leaves laughing after ruffling Ben’s hair and telling him to go easy on me. I sink back onto the couch with a sigh, and Murph wraps his arm around my shoulders and kisses my forehead in silent sympathy.
Chapter 26
Joel
The Benson barn fire was bigger than I expected.
A box fan clogged and overheated, starting a fire that nearly engulfed all the hay. I helped as best I could, though I didn’t have my gear to join the guys inside the barn. It took hours to put out the fire and move all the animals.
We eventually left the sweet corn farm outside town exhausted but relieved that no animals or people were harmed. It’s the best outcome we always hope for. A barn can be rebuilt; people cannot.
By the time I pull up outside the house at 11:30 p.m., my clothes are dusty and smell of smoke, and I’m ready for bed. The house is quiet, and the lights are off as I slip inside, closing the door behind me. I step out of my boots and leave them by the door. Noah told me to come in late to work tomorrow, and I fully intend to do just that.
Yawning on my way to the staircase, a bead of light from the living room stops me before I can take a single step up the stairs.
I frown. It’s late. Everyone is usually asleep by now, and if someone were awake, why didn’t they call out when they heard me shut the front door?
Curious, I head to the living room. Someone must have left the light on when they went to bed. Missing the movie and a fun night on the couch wasn’t what I’d hoped for tonight, and Rose had looked so scared, despite trying to hide it from me, but fighting fires and saving people is what I do, what I’ve done for years, and what I’ll keep doing as long as I’m able.
I stop in the living room doorway, a big, fat stupid grin on my face.
Rose, in pink and white polka-dot pajamas, is curled up on the couch, a book on the floor, and the floor lamp on.
No one has ever waited up for me like this before.
I told her not to worry, but she still waited down here for me to get home safe.
I have a big brother who always has my back, parents who are on their endless retirement vacation but are always there at the end of the phone, pack mates for the first time, and a boy I love more each day.
But this…
I never had this before.
Still grinning, I walk over to Rose and drop into a crouch in front of her, picking up the book—a fantasy—from the floor and setting it on the coffee table. It’s one of Win’s. He has a stack of them filling the small bookcase in the room’s corner. On the rare occasion he wants to be alone, he’ll sit in the rocking chair on the back porch for an hour and read a couple of chapters.
I thought I’d put the book down quietly, not wanting to wake Rose before I figured out whether to leave her to sleep or risk disturbing her by carrying her up to her room, but she stirs and blinks her gorgeous chocolate-brown eyes open.
“Joel?” she yawns and sits up. “You’re back. Uh, I didn’t mean to fall asleep. A book with heavy political intrigue was not the best idea. I should have put an action movie on.”
Smiling softly, I rise and draw her toward me, pressing a kiss to her lips, then perching on the edge of the coffee table right in front of her. “You didn’t have to wait up for me,” I say, voice low, not wanting to wake anyone else up.
“Win and Murph said the same thing, but I didn’t want to sleep until you were back.” She leans toward me and sniffs, wrinkling her nose. “You smell smoky.”
“Need a shower.” But I make no move to do that. I stay sitting on the coffee table, inches away from Rose, fighting to keep my hands to myself.
“What time is it?”
“11:30.”
Her eyes widen. “Was the fire really bad for you to have been gone so long?”
“The guys were pretty much on top of everything when I got there. I had too many animals to move and get situated in another barn. Turns out, animals like to work on their own time, and didn’t appreciate that I had a bed waiting for me.”
