Page 7 of From the Embers

“If I share, your brother might kill me,” Eric quips.

“Is that right?” She breaks me from my reverie and gives me a knowing smile.

I watch as she wipes the bar’s surface with a cloth and rests both palms on top of it. I never cared to notice the burgundy hue with cherry undertones to the wood before. I’ve never noticed a lot of things until Adelaide was in my line of sight. She looks like a goddess with her flaming mane in long waves down her back, one side of her hair pulled up with an antique looking pin.

“Yep.” I strain to keep my eyes on hers and not wander down to her ample cleavage.

Jesus, I’m turning into a fucking pervert. It also doesn’t help that when we lock eyes like this, she never looks away first. It’s been the same ever since we got reacquainted three weeks ago. I can’t say I’ve ever been intimidated by a woman before, but Adelaide is certainly a woman who plays by nobody’s rules.

It definitely isn’t supposed to be like this; me fucking crushing on her. It’s certainly not what I promised Daryl in the days leading up to his departure. The timing wasn’t perfect with Adi coming here to start her new life and to be closer to her folks and then Daryl heading off, but he’ll be back soon enough. The pair still fight like cats and dogs, a lot like me and Abby, but deep down we love each other.

“How’s your week been?” she asks with a smile.

“Ah, you know, drills and paperwork,” I say. “A stuck elevator and a rollover on the Kennedy was about the size of it.” We take plenty of calls during our shifts, and maybe a few emergencies per week for actual fires which may lead to several minor call-outs. Nothing too major.

She seems to listen to my words carefully, not breaking contact, and nods. We’ve never had the conversation of how I got involved in the fire department, and it could be my imagination, but a part of me wonders if she’s thinking that right now. I mean, it’s no coincidence that the night their house was on fire really set the stage in my life for what I wanted to do. It didn’t put me off, seeing the destruction as Daryl’s house all but burned to the ground before our very eyes. It made me want to be part of something even bigger. Something important. I wanted to help people.

Despite the events from that night, and putting my own life in danger, I knew from twelve years old what I wanted to do.

“Never a dull moment,” she finally says. “Would you boys like another round?”

“Sure thing.” I nod. “It must be Brax’s turn here to pay.” I slap him on the shoulder for good measure and he flips me the bird.

“I got the first round,” he clarifies. “If anything, it’s between you and Eric.”

“Touchy, bud?” I give him a nudge, the same time as I flash Adi a wink. “Having woman troubles again?”

Adelaide presses those big, full lips together with amusement laced in the crinkle of her eyes. She may have only been here a few weeks but she’s getting used to our ridiculous banter.

Brax glances at Adi. “Charge him double.”

That only makes me laugh harder.

“If there’s a third round, I’ll get the tab,” Eric adds. I’m guessing there will be a third round because someone decided it was a good idea to re-run the Blackhawks NHL win tonight on the big-screen and I’m getting hungry. I’ll eat at the bar so I can keep an eye on Adi and make it nice and convenient.

“I’ve had a big week, okay,” Brax explains. He works in construction for a major Chicago building company. He leads a team of workers and has quite a bit on his plate with a new housing development on the edge of the city. Friday nights are his one chance to kiss a crazy week goodbye. Much like mine. Though, with my shifts always changing, we don’t catch up as much as I’d like to. I’ve just been lucky these past few weeks. “In fact, we should all have shots, Denver’s buying. You in?” he asks Adi.

We all look at her in turn, her smile turning into a full-blown grin. “I’m in.”

three

Adelaide

Three weeks ago at the bar

“I should drive you home,” Denver says when I shrug into my warm jacket and kick off my heels into my comfortable walking shoes. I may only be a block or two away, but still, my feet have had about as much as they can take tonight.

“You know you can practically see my place from the bar,” I remind him. “I’m happy to walk.”

We’ve been talking all night, in between customers, and that hug we gave each other was nothing short of epic. Of course when I first looked at him I knew something resonated inside me. I mean, it’s been a long time since I’ve seen him, the lights were low, and I didn’t catch on at first. But then when I heard him call out my childhood nickname, it all fell into place.

It felt like a safety blanket that I didn’t know I needed being wrapped around my shoulders.

Warm. Comforting. Safe.

Even though I haven’t been in contact with Denver all these years, it doesn’t mean I haven’t thought of him. Not a day goes by where I don’t think about that night and the close call we had. I was four, going on five, so I barely remember, and some memories are too painful to relive. Carrie barely made it out alive, and struggled more than any of us combined. She suffered smoke inhalation and burns to significant parts of her body.

My parents were caught on the ground floor with her. I shudder to think what would have happened if we’d all been trapped down there.