Page 15 of Come Back to Me

Jack and I sit for a few more minutes while we wait for the server to bring the check. Jack makes eye contact with her and subtly gestures toward a man sitting out on the sidewalk.

Hmm, I wonder what that’s about.

A few minutes later, we get our check, and Jack insists on paying. As we make our way toward the door, the man from the sidewalk is now sitting at a table by the door with a cup of coffee and a plate of food in front of him. “Thanks, Jack,” he says, looking up.

Jack just pats him on the shoulder, smiles, and continues walking.

My eyes momentarily tear up when I realize Jack likely signaled the server to get a meal for the homeless man. That he knows Jack’s name means it probably wasn’t the first time. Jack Donley just got even more attractive in my eyes. I might be in real trouble with this one.

A few minutes later, we pull up to my apartment and Jack insists on escorting me to the door but also on keeping me and Bean company as I walk him around the block.I try to tell him that Beanie won’t let anyone bother me, but he insists that his mother would “box” his ears if she ever she found out he’d left a woman to walk outside in the dark at midnight—even if said woman was perfectly capable of taking care of herself.

As we circle back to the house and approach the door, Jack hesitates and then says, “This might sound weird, and it’s okay to say no if it is, but would you be interested in coming to the station tomorrow for a brunch sendoff for Teddy and Emily before they leave for their honeymoon?Gracie will be there, and Bean could come, too. The station yard is fenced in so they could play.”

I hesitate for a second, thinking I probably shouldn’t, with my rule and how damned attracted I am to this man. This same man I keep saying I need to get off my mind. But then when I make eye contact with him, I answer, “I’d love to. What time, and what can I bring?”

CHAPTER 9

ANNIE

I get out of the Uber in front of Station Three and thank the driver, Tim, giving him a five-star rating since he allowed Bean to come in his car. He even opened my car door so I didn’t spill the large bowl of fruit salad I made, though Jack insisted I didn’t need to bring anything.

I’m just trying to figure out the details of how I’m going to manage calling Jack to let him know I’m here while handling Bean and the food when Fitz walks up carrying a box of donuts.

He eyes my fruit salad and then his box of donuts and smiles shyly. As if in explanation, he says, “I don’t cook.”

I smile and giggle to myself that Charlie Fitz considers making a fruit salad cooking.

Fitz helps me inside and leads me through the station to the backyard, where everyone is gathered.

Jack’s manning a large griddle over an outdoor grill, with Gracie sitting by his side.

I let Beanie off his leash, and he spots Gracie at the sametime she notices him. They take off into the yard, chasing each other and rolling in the grass together.

Jack looks up and over at me, breaking into a gorgeous smile that makes me feel all the feels, even in places I haven’t felt things in quite a while.

“Hey, Annie, so glad you’re here! I’m almost done cooking. Teddy, introduce Annie to the rest of the guys while I finish, would you?”

“Sure thing.” Teddy smiles. “Annie, this is the rest of the B shift crew—Garcia, Jones, Reynolds, and Captain Johnson. And you know Fitz.”

“Doesn’t anyone have first names?” I whisper to Teddy, teasing.

“Not at the firehouse, they don’t.” He smirks.

Teddy finishes introducing me to the fellow firefighter/paramedics from his shift, as well as A shift. But most of the C shift are out on calls since it’s their day to work.

I say hello to my fellowSpicy Girls, Trina and Emily, but besides the three of us, there are only three other women here. I recognize them from the wedding but didn’t meet them there and Teddy doesn’t introduce us.

No one from Teddy’s family is here and only Trina from Emily’s family. Come to think of it, I didn’t see anyone else from either of their families at the wedding yesterday and there wasn’t a traditional father and daughter dance or walking of the mothers down the aisle. I wonder what that’s about.

By the time introductions are done, Jack is heading over to the main table to set up the pancake buffet he has created for today’s main course.

I smile as I watch him, thinking how the man really seems to love his pancakes.

As everyone gets their food, one firefighter asks, “What the heck is this, Donley? Cereal or pancakes?”

I look at the table and nearly melt.

Jack has recreated the pancakes that I had last night and has little cartons of whole milk next to them, instructing everyone he serves they must try these pancakes. Jack winks at me from across the table and something flutters low in my belly.

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