Into the Fire (First Responders 3)

She held out her hand. “If I say yes, will you put it on me?”

The ring hovered by her fingertip.

She laughed. “Yes,” she answered. “Put it on.”

He slid the ring over her grease-stained knuckle, then folded her hand into his and squeezed. “This was not how I envisioned today going,” he admitted with a shaky laugh.

“Get up off the concrete, you fool. You should be relaxing anyway.”

“You offering to play nurse?”

She rubbed her thumb over the sharp edges of the diamonds in her ring. “Of course. Just like you’d do for me,” she answered. “Oh, and Chris?”

He lifted his brows, questioning.

“I’ve always thought a winter wedding would be beautiful. What do you think? Something small and simple?”

“This winter? What about your plans?”

She wrapped her arms around his ribs and tilted her head up to look at him. “No matter what my plans, I think I’d like to do them as Mrs. Jackson,” she replied.

“Mrs. Jackson,” he echoed. Then he kissed her forehead. “Sounds awfully good to me.”

Epilogue

It seemed the whole community turned up for the grand opening of Ally’s new business, The Purrfect Pooch. In the yard behind the store, tables were set up with food and coolers held cans of soft drinks in rapidly melting ice. Music played from a portable stereo and umbrellas were set up to give some relief from the summer sun. Ally’s parents were there, as well as Chris’s parents from Windsor. Gabe Brenner and his wife Carly were there with their son and another one on the way. Newlyweds Kendra Givens and Jake Symonds manned a barbeque, cooking up hotdogs. Several of Ally’s new clients showed up with their dogs on leashes, and Ally had cooked up a special batch of homemade treats for the furry guests.

Chris slid up behind her and wrapped his arms around her waist. “Happy?” he asked, covering her hand with his and absently spinning the wedding ring on her finger.

“Very. Tomorrow morning, the only sound you’ll hear from this shop is barking and clippers. Which reminds me, where are Moose and Midget?”

Midget was their new foster dog, a Jack Russell cross with more personality than Ally sometimes knew what to do with. In the end, she’d decided to open her own grooming business, but there was still a longing to rescue in her heart. It was a lucky thing that Chris loved animals as much as she did. In addition to Moose and Midget, they had two cats that called their place home. And Ally hadn’t told him, but she’d gotten a call last night asking if she could foster one more. Besides, one more cat was nothing compared to the other news she’d had this morning while he was out on the fire call.

“Over there, see?” He nodded towards a corner of the yard. Moose and Midget had discovered a group of kids and were currently performing tricks for treats. They looked so oddly perfect, one over one hundred pounds, the other barely twenty, that Ally laughed.

“So you did it,” he whispered in her ear. “Proud of you, babe.”

“Couldn’t have done it without you. Glad you made it back in time.”

“Just in time for a quick shower to wash the smoke off.”

“And it’s all good?” She couldn’t keep the worry out of her voice. It would always be there, just a little bit. But she was learning to deal with it.

He nodded. “It’s all good.”

Ally turned around and, despite having guests in the yard, wrapped her arms around his neck and gave him a big kiss. She’d been going to wait until they were alone to tell him the news, but right now, with everything just about perfect, it seemed like the right time. “You know, not so long ago I realized all you were missing was the wife, the kids and the dog. You don’t mind if our little menagerie gets bumped up by one more, do you?”

“Another dog? Don’t say it’s another dog.” He looked down at her, horror on his face. “I just replaced the last pair of shoes Midget ate.”

“Not a dog.”

“A cat? Oh Lord. I know I said I didn’t mind fostering when you gave up the shelter, but…”

She grinned. “Well, there is a cat I’ve been thinking about bringing home. I’d forgotten about that.”

“Forgotten? Then wha…”

She smiled up at him, waiting for him to realize what she was getting at. It took a few seconds but suddenly his face flattened and his eyes grew alarmed. “You mean…”