Into the Fire (First Responders 3)

Which made him realize that she couldn’t possibly be wearing anything beneath the pants and T-shirt he’d given her.

His body went hard.

“Chris? The bag?”

“Oh, right.” He took the clothes from her hands, went into the kitchen to grab a shopping bag from the broom closet and dumped them inside. He let out a breath. Maybe bringing her back here had been a mistake. But he’d seen the glazed look in her eyes and he knew how her parents could be. Suffocating. It all stemmed from losing their older daughter. They tended to be on the overprotective side. What Ally had needed was space to breathe, to get her balance again.

He counted to ten, reminded himself that she had broken up with him, and hoped that the embarrassment and pain would be enough to deflate the situation. He was wrong. And he couldn’t stand in the kitchen forever. He’d have to just hope she didn’t notice. Things were awkward enough.

He kept the bag in front of him and once he’d handed it over, he sat down on the sofa. “Come, sit, drink your wine,” he suggested. He picked up his glass of ice water.

She sat on the opposite side, not quite pressed up against the arm of the sofa but with the centre cushion separating them. It was the only place to sit in the room, and the distance between them was obvious.

“You look better. Smell better.” He angled her a teasing look, hoping to dispel the tension that had filled the room ever since she’d come out of the bathroom. His heart twisted a little at the sight of her puffy eyelids.

“I feel better. I had a minor meltdown in there.”

“I figured. You took quite a while.”

“I can’t believe it’s gone, you know? And Chester, and the kittens…” Her eyes filled with tears again. “It is…was…a no-euthanize shelter. It doesn’t seem fair that after all that, they’re gone anyway.” She sniffled.

“I’m sorry they didn’t all get out.”

She shook her head. “No, you were right. No one else should have gone in there. It was too dangerous. It was way smarter to open the cages and let them go. If you hadn’t helped not many would have gotten out alive. I know it’s lucky that we only lost a few. But it still hurts. They were so sweet.” She held out her hand. “This kitten, Marmalade, would curl right up in your hand and purr. She loved having her ears rubbed.”

She turned her blue eyes up to his. They were bright with moisture, wide with pain, and yet there was something behind them he didn’t expect. Determination. “I want to find out why this happened, Chris. Even if it’s something I did unknowingly. I have to know why.”

“The investigation will shed some light on that,” he reassured her. “And while you were in the shower, I called Dr. Swan. She assured me that all the animals are doing fine. And they’re keeping their eyes open for the one that’s missing.”

“Moose,” she said, her brow furrowing. “I’m not surprised he took off. He has some fear issues.”

“Well, she said a couple of the dogs had gone home with staff for the night, and the others are at the clinic.”

“Oh, that’s good news.” She sank back into the cushions, letting out a sigh of relief.

“She also said you can call her if you want to, but otherwise she’ll speak to you tomorrow. And that you’re not to worry about a thing.”

“I think I might possibly be too tired to call. Thank you for doing that. I really appreciate it.”

“I knew you’d want to know. Dr. Swan said to tell you to look after yourself. She sounded very worried about you.”

“Lindsay is a good woman who has been a fantastic friend of the shelter. I couldn’t do this without her. I’ll call first thing in the morning and see what’s to be done about the dogs. There are too many for her to keep for very long.”

Chris put down his glass and reached over to put his hand on her knee. “It’ll all work out, you’ll see.”

“I hope so.” She toyed with her glass. “It was a big job getting it going in the first place. Now it’s like starting all over.”

“What about insurance?”

She shrugged. “Insurance will cover some of the contents, I suppose. But the building wasn’t ours. We rented it. In fact, we were looking at relocating because the landlord wanted to raise the rent. As a charity, that’s a tough pill to swallow, you know?” She sighed. “We don’t have a choice now. But we’ve also lost all our equipment, cages, food…”

“Don’t think about it.” Chris could tell she was feeling overwhelmed again. “You can figure that out later. One thing at a time, and right now it’s looking after you. Making sure you’re okay.”

She looked at him so sweetly he nearly forgot the edge of bitterness he still felt when he thought about their breakup. It still hurt, knowing they’d been so close but that she’d been able to walk away so easily.

“I’m okay thanks to you. A lot of animals are okay thanks to you. You saved us today, Chris.”

He’d left his hand on her knee, and now she put her hand on top of his. It was warm and soft and without thinking he turned his over so his fingers were twined with hers. For all the hurt, he’d never hated her. It was impossible to stay angry with Ally. She was too kind of a person.