His eyebrows lifted, and he stared at me for a few seconds. “You want to marry my daughter?”

“Oh yeah. I’d marry her tomorrow if she’d let me.”

He stood, and for a split second, I thought he might hit me. In that same split second, I knew I’d take it if he did.

But he didn’t. Instead, he walked around his desk and hugged me.

He clapped me on the back, then stepped away and gave me a short nod.

I had no idea what to say.

Apparently he didn’t either because he went back to his seat without saying anything.

“Thanks, Chief,” I said, knowing it wasn’t nearly enough. But I also knew that Chief understood. I turned to leave, but paused and glanced back at him. “My parents would have thought this was pretty cool, wouldn’t they? Their kid falling for your kid.”

“They would have been ecstatic.” He scratched his chin. “Actually, I’m realizing that I just lost a twenty-some-odd year-old bet.”

I grinned at him. “You should have known not to bet against me.”

“Isn’t that the truth. Your dad would be proud of you, son. You’re every bit the man he would have wanted you to be.”

I had to glance away again, but not because I didn’t want to hear it. For the first time, the mention of my parents wasn’t too painful to take. It was bittersweet—the familiar hurt still there—but it wasn’t all bad. There was a little bit of happiness too. “Thanks. That means a lot to me.”

He opened his mouth to say something else—probably to tell me to get back to work—when tones rang out. We had a call.

I sprang into action, heading straight downstairs to gear up. Before I had everything on, the engine bay door was already open. I glanced outside as I stepped onto the engine and my heart squeezed. Skylar was out there, standing next to her car, like she’d just parked and gotten out.

Our eyes met as the engine exited the station, and the weirdest thought ran through my head. What if that’s the last time I ever see her?

That was fucking morbid.

She watched me go and my chest felt like it might cave in. Why was she here? Looking for her dad? Was it too much to hope for that she’d come to see me?

Fuck.

I took my seat as the engine rumbled out onto the street, lights flashing. Hard as it was, I had to put Sky out of my mind for now. I had a job to do.

We got the rundown on the situation as we drove through town. Structure fire at the Haven House. First call-in was a neighbor reporting smoke coming from the building. Second call came in a few minutes later. It was closed today, but there was a volunteer from the historical society trapped inside.

The Haven House. That was so weird. Sky and I had just been there.

Adrenaline hit me, making my senses sharp, my body ready. I felt every bounce of the tires as we rushed across town. By the time we got on the scene, smoke was pouring from vents near the roof. Dispatch had the volunteer on the line—a woman named Sally Oliver. She was trapped in an upstairs bathroom.

We poured out of the engine and the hose crew got to work. Chief flew out of his truck and started giving orders.

“Get the pipe over on the alpha side,” Chief said, pointing. “We’ve got an electrical box arcing on bravo, don’t get fucking zapped. Interior attack, I want two in, two out. Christian and Jacob, you’re in first. Steve and Mason out. Gavin and Matt, primary search. Get her out of there for me.”

“Got it, Chief,” I said. Matt and I gave each other a quick nod and headed for the building while Chief kept barking orders.

A quick visual sweep of the outside made it hard to determine where the fire was burning. There was a lot of smoke everywhere. A voice in my radio reported that Sally was still in the upstairs bathroom and she had smoke leaking in the top of the door. We didn’t have a lot of time.

Christian and Jacob went in ahead of us, stretching the line inside so they could start attacking the fire head-on with water. Matt and I masked up and followed.

The smoke and heat were intense inside. I didn’t know where the fire had started, but it had obviously burned unchecked for a while before anyone had seen it. We should have been here ten minutes ago.

Visibility was low, but I could see wallpaper curling at the seams and waves of smoke rolling across the ceiling. The heat beat at me even through my gear.

The stairs were near the center of the house, so I waved Matt on. I had a bad feeling about this. We needed to get up there. Now.

I took another step and something felt off. The floor was too soft. My hand shot out to stop Matt from going forward.

“There’s a basement down there. If it’s burning, the floor’s gonna go.”

Matt pressed on the floor in front of him with his boot. “Shit.”

I could see the stairs from here. It was the most direct route to the second floor, and to Sally Oliver.

Any other day, I wouldn’t have hesitated. I would have made a run for it. I could make it.

But if I didn’t make it, I’d probably die. And I’d never see Skylar again.

“Chief, we need to get to Sally from the outside. Floor in here’s gonna go.”

“Copy that. Get out of there, Gav.”

A beam cracked nearby and a shower of sparks and debris flew toward us.

“Working on it.”

I whipped around and pushed Matt ahead of me. I couldn’t see a damn thing and the heat hitting my face shield was getting bad. Another ear-splitting crack filled the air and I glanced back as the floor in front of the stairs started to collapse.

Holy shit.

Over the roar, I could just make out voices through my radio. “Conditions worse… ladder access to upper window… report in…”

The floor beneath my feet felt wrong. Like stepping on foam, not wood. Heat beat at me from every direction, and something crashed behind me, but I didn’t look back.

I didn’t see any light from outside, and as we got closer to the front of the house, I realized why. Something had collapsed, blocking the front door.

Fuck.

The heat was starting to hurt, even through my turnouts. I had air, but the temperature was getting too high. I hoped someone had gotten Sally out, but there wasn’t anything I could do about that right now. I switched focus. Matt. He had a wife and kids. I wasn’t going to let him die in here.

We veered toward the windows in one of the front rooms. Matt quickly broke the glass with his ax. He gestured to me to go first, but I shoved him toward the window.

“Get the fuck out of here.”

He climbed through and turned around, reaching to help me get out.

Another loud crash rang out and the whole building shook. I looked back and it was like a gaping hole to hell opened up behind me. The floor collapsed inward, exposing a raging inferno underneath the building. The walls tilted and a sickening feeling hit me.

I was never going to see Sky again.

42

Skylar

With a racing heart, I pulled up across the street from the Haven House and got out of my car. Smoke filled the air and emergency vehicles lined the street. There was a flurry of activity, the controlled chaos of firefighters running hoses and cops directing traffic and keeping bystanders away from the blaze.

I knew I couldn’t get close, and there wasn’t anything I could do. I’d waited at the station after watching the engine pull away with Gavin on it. But the sense of urgency had only grown. I couldn’t just sit there and wait. When I’d noticed the plume of smoke rising from the middle of town, I’d gotten in my car and driven straight here.