A Firefighter in Her Stocking

To tell Charles he was sorry he’d shut him out of his life despite multiple efforts on Charles’s part to heal whatever rift that had come between them.

Despite Nina’s efforts to heal the rift.

Of course, Charles had never understood Jude’s distancing himself. How could he have when he’d never known how Jude had felt about Nina?

Yeah, he needed to apologize to his cousin.

And to Sarah.

He needed to tell Sarah how he felt about her.

Sarah. Beautiful, sweet Sarah.

She might think their conversation was over, but he knew better, had known better when he’d left her apartment. If it took him the rest of his life, he’d make tonight up to her, would prove to her that he was a better man than the one he’d shown her at Charles and Grace’s party.

He was a better man.

He was a man who did the right thing.

The right thing wasn’t leaving a trapped elderly couple to burn alive.

Jude stopped, waited to make sure his partner made it to the stairwell, then saluted his friend, who had realized Jude wasn’t immediately behind him and was shaking his head and mouthing all kinds of foul words.

Jude turned back to get the Millers.

A risky, foolish move. You didn’t go off on your own in a burning building. You stayed with your partner for the safety of both of you.

His partner would do the right thing, too, would get Betty Kingston down those stairs and to safety. Roger would be all right. If all went as planned, Jude would have the Millers busted free and would be down those stairs with them before Roger had time to attempt coming back for him.

If Jude died in the process of making an exit for the Millers, then so be it.

There were worse things than laying your life down for others.

CHAPTER FIFTEEN

“EARLIER I MEANT to tell you how fabulous you looked, but now you look as tired as I feel after being here all day. You okay?”

Sarah glanced at Shelley. Fabulous wasn’t how she’d have described herself at any point that evening. Well, prior to Jude and her arriving at the engagement party Sarah had felt a bit like a belle on her way to a ball. As if she’d been the star of the evening, shining for Jude.

Ha. If so, that star had burned out and now there was a painful gaping black hole where hope had once shone.

“Even before I got here, it had been a long night,” she admitted, squirting hand sanitizer on her hands and rubbing them together as she readied to go to the next patient. “But I’m fine.”

“It’s just getting started. Sorry you got called away from Charles and Grace’s party. Especially with as glam as you looked when you got here.”

“I was in scrubs when I got here,” she reminded her.

“Yeah, scrubs and make-up and a fancy hairdo. You looked like a movie star doctor.”

“That’s funny.” But neither Sarah nor Shelley were laughing. Or dallying to talk as they quickly moved from one patient to the next.

“Hot date?”

Her date had been hot. He’d also been a jerk. And admitted he was in love with another woman. No biggie.

“I went out with my neighbor, but it wasn’t a big deal. We’re not dating.”

Not anymore.