Page 4 of Save Me
My mind made up, I decide we’re going to take care of that as quickly as possible. If it hadn’t been for the man who helped us, I don’t know what I would do, and if memory serves me right, he hadn’t been too hard on the eyes.
CHAPTER THREE
GUNNER
“What’s up, buttercup?” I drag my bag out of the passenger side of my truck as I see Ash doing the same.
“Dude, I’m glad to come to work. At least here I can get some damn rest. This planning-a-wedding shit is stressing me the fuck out.”
I grin. “Which part? Because I seem to remember you being all,I’ll be tasting cake off her body.”
He flips me a finger. “Go fuck yourself.”
My chuckle is loud as we walk into the fire station. We wave to our co-workers going off shift while we clock on. Every week we’re assigned new tasks at the station. Looks like this week, while I’m here, I’m cooking.
“Fuck,” one of our new recruits, Mark, whispers. “When you cook, we get no dessert. Why can’t you switch with Ash?”
“As Ash told me earlier, go fuck yourself. I cook damn good chili.”
“It’s summertime,” Mark argues, groaning. “We don’t want chili.”
“Too bad for your ass. I’m in charge of cooking this week.” I wave my finger in his face before I turn and head toward thekitchen. I hold my arms out wide, turning around in a circle obnoxiously. “This is my domain. You’ll eat what I cook.”
God, it feels good to be able to talk to people like my mom. It’s times like this I wish I had kids to boss around. The new recruits will have to do. One of the first jobs, as the one who’ll be handling the meals for the next forty-eight, is to make a grocery list and get us stocked up for whatever may come our way. It’s usually not that big of a deal, but it also depends on who you’re working after. Some of the guys love to buy in bulk, while some of them only get what we’ll need for their days.
Taking quick inventory, I see I’m going to have to purchase quite a few things. Grabbing a notebook and a pen, I begin making my list.
“You want some help?”
Turning, I see Ash. “If you wanna help, I’ll gladly take it. It’s gonna be a big grocery order.”
He nods, automatically opening up the pantry. I’ve known Ash for a long time. We’ve both lived here our whole lives and went to high school together. Sometimes I know him better than any of my siblings or even myself. Right now, he’s way too quiet.
“What’s up with you?”
He grunts. “A lot on my mind. Recently, Syd’s been paying more attention to the news. She sees that what we do is dangerous, and she’s starting to understand it. Emma’s been having to deal with Sydney losing her shit on a routine basis while I’m gone…” He trails off.
I haven’t spent much time with them lately, which makes me feel like shit. Before Emma came into their lives, I treated Syd like my own. It’s been a few months since I took her out on an afternoon with just the two of us. “You think I could help?”
“Probably. She’s feeling left out lately,” he sighs. “So much of what’s going on right now includes only Emma and me. We’re obviously including her, but it’s still not the same. She wasthe focus of my world for so long, and now she’s sharing me with another person. I know she loves Emma, but I think she’s struggling with how to express what she needs.”
“I’ll talk to her,” I offer. “I’ll come over sometime this week and give her some attention. I’m the one person she doesn’t really have to share with anyone else.”
“Which is dangerous too,” Ash interjects. “Because at some point you’re going to find a woman you’ll want to spend your time with, and then she’ll be going through this again.”
“Dude.” I put my hand out, hoping to keep him from stressing. “It’s called growing up. We all have to deal with it at some time in our life. Your girl is awesome. She’ll get this figured out. She’s got a lot of changes happening, and if I can do something to make it easier on you all, then I will. It’s not a problem for me to make some time to spend with her.” I finish writing down my grocery list. “You coming with me? I’m not packing all this shit in by myself.”
He chuckles. “C’mon, you whiny ass.”
“Excuse me, I wasn’t the one complaining about my daughter just a second ago,” I remind him.
“Only because you don’t have one,” he throws back as we walk out to my truck. “Give it time—sooner or later you’ll have someone to complain about too.”
That’s kinda what I want more than anything, but I’ll keep that secret to myself.
“Did you find out who she was?” Ash asks as the two of us drive to downtown Midnight Cove. Two days, and the traffic situation has started to change. We’re sitting through this stop light for the second time.
“Who?”
