Into the Fire (First Responders 3)

corner.

Ally stared at the remnants of their dinner, the sight of his tie still lying in the middle of the living room floor.

What had she done?

A swath of lights swept across the living room, waking Ally from a light doze. It was still dark outside. Moose was sleeping at her feet, where he’d stayed the whole night.

She hadn’t been able to make herself go to bed. Instead, she’d curled up on the couch with a blanket, waiting. When Chris got home she’d run him a bath and look after him.

Except, as she wakened fully, she realized that the headlights coming up the driveway were not from Chris’s truck. And as the vehicle parked in front of the house, Ally could see the lights on the roof. The RCMP. The police had come instead of Chris.

Everything inside her froze.

The car door slammed and Moose jerked awake, started barking and rushed to the window. Ally still wasn’t able to move. Didn’t want to answer the door or hear the words that would come out of the officer’s mouth. She couldn’t do this. She couldn’t. Not again.

The knock came anyway. Twice.

She had to answer the door. Maybe she didn’t want to hear the words, but it wouldn’t stop them from coming eventually. When the knock sounded again, she mechanically pushed aside the blanket and got to her feet. Made the move, one step after the other, to the door. Put her hand on the knob. Swallowed.

Not now. Not when she’d just realized she loved him again.

The idea was so overwhelming that she opened the door just to chase it away. Constable Kendra Givens was on the step. “Ally,” she said gently.

“Just say it and get it over with,” Ally said, finding it hard to breathe. It was like someone was squeezing her lungs, making her breaths short and painful.

“Oh, Jesus, Ally.” Kendra reached out and steadied her with both hands on her arms. “He’s not dead. Is that what you thought?”

Relief swept through her so quickly she thought her knees might buckle and the air came out of her lungs in a rush. “A police officer comes to the door in the middle of the night? What was I supposed to think?”

“Can I come in?” Kendra asked. “You look like you’re going to drop.”

“Yes, of course.” She stood aside, feeling wobbly and off-balance.

Moose had retreated to his bed, being shy of strangers. As Ally and Kendra stepped into the kitchen, Ally flipped on a light. He’s not dead. He’s not dead. The thought kept repeating in her brain as she pulled out a chair at the table and sat down heavily.

Kendra took off her cap and put it on the table. “He’s okay. He asked if I’d come by and talk to you instead of you getting a phone call, that’s all.”

Kendra hadn’t been in town long. A few years, tops. She wouldn’t know about Ally’s sister, Becca. Wouldn’t understand that Ally had been through this once before.

“What happened?”

“I didn’t get all the details, but he was hurt. As far as I know, he’s got a broken arm that’s going to require surgery, and a few stitches. He’ll go in this morning, as soon as the surgeon shows up.”

“A broken arm?” Ally linked her fingers together and squeezed. Relief that he was okay warred with worry about the weeks ahead. “But…how is he going to work with only one arm?” It was October. She knew that soon Chris would be up to his eyeballs in work, putting snow tires on vehicles, doing winter checks, as well as regular repairs. “He’s got his business to run.”

And there was the fence to build for Moose. And the floors to put down in the house. And the dark, foreboding knowledge that just because he was going to be okay this time, didn’t mean he would be okay the next.

That stopped her up cold.

“Do you want me to take you to your mom and dad’s?”

The answer that came back immediately was a definite, “No”.

“Well, why don’t you come with me to the hospital? You can check in on him there. I know he wants to see you.”

“How do you know that?” She looked up and saw Kendra’s gaze soften.

“Because the first thing he said to me was to tell you he was all right. To tell me you would freak out but to reassure you that it was all okay. He’s in love with you, Ally.”