Chapter One

Evelyn

Fire.

Smoke.

I clung to Luke and Aneshya, trying my best to shield them from the chaos around us. We coughed as we tried to make our way down the hall, but the smoke was so thick, it was pitch-black inside the cramped space.

"We've gotta get out of here!" Mr. Knoxville from across the hall was the children's grandfather. The man always looked out for us, even when his son couldn't. "Evelyn!"

"We're over here!" I clutched my children close. We had a damp bed sheet over the three of us, but it wouldn't do much for long. The smoke was getting thicker and there was no way a bed sheet was going to protect us from fire. "I can't find Danny! He was just here!" I coughed and coughed as I sucked in a lungful of smoke with every breath. Luke tried to push me down, but I resisted. I needed to get my family to safety and that included Danny.

"Mommy, we need to go!" Aneshya sounded frantic, a round of coughing taking her as well. Luke stopped shoving at me and blanketed his sister, taking her to the floor.

"Crawl, Aneshya! Mom! Come on! Now!" Luke was only twelve, but he was protective of both me and his sister. "Grandpa! Make Mom follow us!" He tried to take charge and I knew he was right. But my long-term boyfriend and the kids' father, Danny, had been beside me only a moment before. I couldn't just leave him.

Mr. Knoxville suddenly appeared in front of me. He was in his late seventies, but the man was fit and strong as an ox. And protective as they came. I thought it might be where Luke learned it from. If Danny had inherited the trait from his father, he never showed it to me. Or the kids, really. As evidenced by the fact that it was his father and son trying to take care of me and Aneshya instead of Danny.

"Don't worry about him, Evelyn." Mr. Knoxville looked hard and almost dangerous. When he looked like this, it made me want to do anything he said without question. "He's a grown man. You've got to get the children out. Now!"

"But Danny --"

"Will be fine. Or he won't. Your first priority -- my first priority -- is you and the children." I'd never heard Mr. Knoxville speak so harshly to me. He was always the one to help me when Danny didn't come home. Or when Danny got mean. The kids were older, but I didn't like leaving them alone. Mr. Knoxville was always so sweet and kind. But then, this situation didn't call for sweet and kind. "Now get them and yourself out of here, Evelyn! Now!"

Luke and Aneshya were crawling on the floor down the hallway of our apartment building. Mr. Knoxville pushed me to my belly and urged me to crawl after the kids. The smoke was more tolerable low to the ground but still surrounding us. I choked with every breath. The fire was mostly behind us, but it was spreading. I thought I could hear sirens off in the distance.

"Keep movin', girl! Don't stop!"

"Luke!" I called out to my son, the smoke so thick and dark I'd lost sight of him and Aneshya as I lagged behind.

"We're at the stairs!" Luke coughed again, his voice faint in the distance separating us. I could hear Aneshya coughing too. I hated that they had trouble breathing but was also grateful they were on the move. "Hurry, Mom!"

"I'm coming, Luke!" I crawled faster. Mr. Knoxville touched my ankle, urging me forward each time I hesitated. "Keep going! Get your sister out!"

"You keep goin' too, girl. We're gonna get outta here!" Mr. Knoxville's voice was tight, and he coughed several times as he continually shoved me along.

The roar of the flames was growing louder. Heat billowed in a great rush from the flames I was certain were ready to bear down on us.

I heard the children cry out. Pain? Were they hurt?

"Luke! Aneshya!" When I sucked in another breath to scream again, I breathed in smoke which started a coughing fit. My lungs burned and spasmed, making it nearly impossible to take in another breath. I tried to keep moving, but it was all I could do to breathe. Panic tightened around my neck. With the smoke suffocating me, it really felt as if someone were actually strangling me.

I stumbled to my feet, needing to get to my kids as fast as I could and crawling wasn't getting it done. I called out to them with every breath I could suck in. Then strong hands grabbed my shoulders. In the blackness of the smoke all around me, those hands were the first indication I had there was someone in front of me.

"Get down." The gruff voice was muffled, and I realized he had on a mask. Firefighter? Then he shoved me back to the floor and pushed me to give me direction. "Keep crawling that way. The stairs are a few yards in front of you."

"My children! Did you see --"

"They're on the way out."

"Mr. Knoxville's behind me --"

"I'll get him."

"Danny --"

"I said go, woman! We'll be right behind you." He urged me onward, and all I could do was crawl in the direction he said. I hoped, since he'd sent me in that direction, he knew the way was clear. I trusted that my children were in that direction.

The farther I went, the heavier the smoke. Right up until I descended half the flight of stairs on my hands and knees. Coughing, I stood and hurried as fast as I could. With the receding smoke, it was easier to breathe. To move.

"Mom!"

"Luke?" I sobbed in relief as I recognized my son's voice.

"There she is, Luke!" Aneshya sounded strong. Not like she'd been hurt or couldn't breathe.

Then I was in the arms of my son, my daughter clinging tightly to me as they moved me out of the apartment building. I barely made it out into the grass before I collapsed, my legs finally giving out. I clutched Aneshya to me as tightly as I could. Luke had his arms around me but was still trying to get me to move farther away from the building.

"It's not safe here, Mom. We need to get farther back."

"Mr. Knoxville." Panic filled me. Did the older man get out? "He was right behind me. Where is he?"

"The fireman said he'd make sure you both got out." Aneshya tugged at me, following her brother's lead as usual. "Come on, Mom. Let's go."

Each breath seemed to bring on more coughing, but I sucked in a deep breath of clean air and managed to get the coughing mostly under control. "Where are the other firemen?" I looked around, not seeing anyone other than a few bystanders. I could hear sirens off in the distance getting closer, but no one was here yet.

"Not sure," Luke said with a frown. "But he said he would get you and Mr. Knoxville out and for us to go on."

"We were waiting for you." Aneshya's voice broke and tears made tracks through the streaks of soot on her face. "I thought you'd gotten lost."

It was then Mr. Knoxville stumbled through the same exit we'd managed to escape through. The fireman was right behind him.

"Mr. Knoxville! Oh, my God! Are you all right?" I hurried in his direction, trying to put the man's arm around my shoulders so he could lean on me if necessary. I should have known better. My knees were weak already. There was no way I could hold the older man's weight. Instead, I found him holding me up with an arm around my waist as he urged us farther away from the building which was engulfed in flames.

The guy coming up behind Mr. Knoxville was huge. He towered over all of us and was solidly built. He still had on a full-face mask with SCBA gear but I could see his face through the clear plate. The man looked familiar, but I couldn't quite place him.

"Please! My boyfriend, Danny! He's still in there somewhere!"

Instead of going back inside immediately, he turned to Mr. Knoxville.

"Up to you." Mr. Knoxville had leaned over with his hands braced on his knees while he coughed, same as the rest of us. "Fuckin' prick left his children in a burnin' fuckin' buildin'."

"What?" I gasped in surprise, looking up at Mr. Knoxville. Not only had I never heard the other man swear like that, but he was accusing Danny -- his own son -- of deserting us in a crisis. "No! Danny and I have had our problems, but he'd never leave his kids. We got separated. He's still in there. Probably looking for us! You have to find him!"

The firefighter took off the mask, and it was like I was looking at a slightly older, bigger, much scarier version of Danny. I sucked in a breath…

… then immediately started coughing. Luke was at my side when I collapsed on the ground on my knees. I fell forward onto my hands in the grass, coughing uncontrollably.

"We need to get Mom to the hospital." Luke handed me a bottle of water. I had no idea where that came from, but I took a gulp before promptly coughing again. I glanced over at Aneshya. She had a worried expression on her face but wasn't coughing anymore. Luke looked like he wasn't hurt either, but I had to be sure. Both of them were streaked with soot.

"Are… you…" I gasped. "Are you… hurt?"

"No, Mom." Luke was quick to reassure me. "Aneshya's fine too. Drink some more."

The next thing I knew an oxygen mask was placed over my face and the Danny look-alike was in front of me, holding my gaze with a steady one of his own.

"Take deep breaths, honey." He put what looked like an inhaler in the hole at the side of the mask and squeezed it. I felt the mist from the spray enter my lungs as I inhaled. I still coughed, but after a few seconds, the pressure in my chest relaxed a little. After another lungful of air and more coughing, he did it again. After that, it wasn't long until the pressure in my chest eased almost entirely. I still coughed, but it felt different. Like the coughing was actually helping to clear my lungs instead of being a futile effort.

"Mom?" Aneshya looked up at me with worry in her expression. She'd wiped her face with something, washing some of the soot off, but smearing it over her face.

"I'm okay, sweetie."

"Fire and EMS are on the way." The man kneeling in front of me moved the mask long enough to urge me to drink some more water before replacing the mask. "Just take some slow, deep breaths. I gave you an inhaler. Got something to help with the spasms in your lungs. Might make your heart race a bit, but nothing too bad."

"Who are you?"

He glanced over at Mr. Knoxville who was looking at him with a combination of pride and relief. If there were tears in the gruff old man's eyes, I was sure it was from the smoke. "Denver. Boy…"

"It's Knox." He stood before his face split into a grin. "It's good to see you, Pop."

"Fuckin' Christ, Denver!" Mr. Knoxville pulled Knox close, and the two men clapped each other on the back heavily, sharing a chuckle and a warm embrace.

"Denver?" Luke asked, his eyes narrowing. "Dad's older brother?" He shook his head slowly. "You're dead." Then he shifted his gaze back to his grandfather. "Or did you and Danny lie to us!" It was a demand instead of a question.

"He didn't lie," Knox said as he and Mr. Knoxville separated, still gripping each other's shoulders as if reluctant to let go. "It's complicated." Then he knelt beside me again. "Better?"

I couldn't speak. I was just trying to breathe. But yeah. I felt better so I nodded several times.

"Good." Again, he removed the mask long enough to give me some more sips of water. "Luke, I'm in the older black Ford truck with an enclosed black trailer behind it. In the trailer you'll find a stack of clean cloths in a clear tote. Bring a handful along with some more bottled water. It should all be just inside the door of the trailer."

Luke looked at his grandfather before looking back at me. "I don't know. I think I should stay with Mom while you go get whatever you want."

"It's all right, Luke." Mr. Knoxville gave Luke a serious look. He wasn't dismissing the older boy's worries. More like reassuring him. "I'll stay with Evelyn."

"I don't know…" He looked from his grandfather back to Knox again.

To his credit, Knox didn't try to hurry Luke or in any way dissuade him. Instead, he waited patiently for Luke to make up his mind.

"Mom? Will you be all right?"

I tried my best to smile. My chest still hurt, but it was more like my insides were raw and scraped. No doubt from smoke inhalation. I nodded, pulling the mask away once more. "I'll be fine, honey. Why don't you take Aneshya with you? She can help you."

That seemed to be what Luke needed, though he still looked worried. Likely he saw this as an opportunity to get his sister away from a strange man where he could find a safe place for her to wait until he could come back for me.

When the children were gone, Knox turned his full attention on me. It wasn't a very comfortable place to be. He looked so much like Danny, but where Danny was slender and leanly built, Knox was large and thickly muscled. He had a few scars on his face. Nothing too horrible, but enough to give him an edge and make him look rugged and battle-hardened. The thing was, he could be Danny's twin. If I remembered correctly, Denver -- Knox -- was older than Danny -- seven or eight years older. The most uncomfortable thing of all, though, was the fact that this man looked at me with a concern I'd never seen from Danny. While we got along well -- not even verbal arguments -- Danny wasn't an overly demonstrative person. In fact, he wasn't at home much because he worked constantly. I had my own job, but I mostly worked from home. Whatever we had never seemed to be enough for Danny. He always wanted more and worked hard to have whatever those things were.

Instantly, my gaze went to Mr. Knoxville. He knew Danny was never home. It was why he made sure we all lived so close to him. So we had someone close if we needed them. Mr. Knoxville was big on taking care of his family, and I'd been more than grateful for the help he'd given me when I'd had to be gone for short periods and he'd kept an eye on things.

"He's not like Danny, Evie. I swear it. Denver… er… Knox… takes care of his own. That includes you and his niece and nephew, too, now that he's back." The older man gave his son a look that said there would be a come-to-Jesus meeting. Soon.

Knox narrowed his gaze on Mr. Knoxville. "What're you gettin' at, old man?"

Mr. Knoxville just shrugged. "A discussion for another time. We need to get Evelyn to the hospital."

Knox nodded slowly, but I didn't think he was agreeing with his father. More like he acknowledged the fact that now wasn't the time. But I got the feeling he still intended to keep his secrets. No matter what his father wanted.

Luke and Aneshya hadn't returned. I knew Luke had no intention of bringing his sister back until he was certain Knox wasn't a threat to us. Knox glanced in the direction of his truck. "Fine. But the discussion will be about the kids. Can't promise anything else."

Knox shrugged out of his backpack and set it beside me with a heavy thump. From his pack he removed the small oxygen tank hooked to my mask and set it in my lap. I expected he'd hold out a hand to help me to my feet or something. Instead, he scooped me up -- oxygen tank and all -- and carried me toward the trailer where the children waited.

"What are you doing?"

"I'm takin' you to the hospital." There was a warning in his voice that said I shouldn't argue. But I didn't think it would be the smartest move to give in to this guy.

"If I need to go to the hospital, I'll go later. I need to take care of my children first."

"Evelyn." Mr. Knoxville was gentle as he adjusted the oxygen mask on my face to free a few strands of hair. "Your lungs were hurt because you inhaled too much smoke. We need to get you checked over to make sure you don't need additional treatment. You know that."

"I'll be fine. And I'm not saying I won't see my doctor, but I need to take care of the kids first. What if they need to see a doctor more than I do? We haven't taken stock of their injuries yet."

"I'm pretty sure there are enough doctors in the city to go around." Knox didn't so much as look at me as he set me down in the cab of the truck. "I vote we take you all to the hospital to get checked out." He glanced at Mr. Knoxville. "Including you, old man."

Mr. Knoxville rolled his eyes. "I'm not stupid, boy. I fully intend to get checked out, but you need to keep in mind we thought you were dead. You ain't been here in fifteen years, seven months, and four days. Which means you don't get to dictate to me. Old man or not."

"I think you really should get seen, Mom." Luke ignored the byplay between Mr. Knoxville and his son, focusing instead on me and his sister. "We'll all go and you'll be there with us."

"I'll take you and Aneshya. If I try to get seen too, they might put us in separate rooms. If I still feel bad after you guys are cleared, I'll check in then. OK? Besides, we've still got to find Danny. He was right beside me when we realized there was a fire."

"Fuck him," Luke muttered.

That shocked me. "Luke! Why would you say something like that?"

The kid looked disgruntled and more than a little miserable but shook his head. "Sorry, Mom."

Luke had started calling Danny by his first name a few weeks ago. Both of them refused to tell me why, and if Aneshya knew, she wasn't saying either. Given the fact the poor girl couldn't keep a secret to save her life, I figured she was telling the truth when she told me she didn't know what had happened. But the relationship between Luke and his father had changed. Drastically.

"Mr. Knoxville, I have to find him. Can you take the children to the ER, and I'll meet you there? I need to find Danny, but I don't want to wait to get them care."

"Evie. Honey." Mr. Knoxville sighed, placing a hand on my shoulder before giving it a gentle squeeze. "How many times have I told you to call me Grover? And yes, Danny is my son, but these are my grandkids. You are the daughter of my heart." He gave Knox a wry smile. "Had you been around when Danny first met Evie, I have no doubt you'd be their protector, Denver."

"Yeah, well, I wasn't. I'm not." Knox frowned, looking like he didn't take too kindly to Mr. Knoxville's words. The last thing I wanted was to be on this guy's bad side, but I wasn't asking for anything from him.

"Danny isn't their protector either. Someone needs to take care of them."

"Don't talk about me like I'm not here, or, worse, like I'm not capable of keeping my children safe." My heart was starting to pound. Anger and fear rose up to overshadow any injuries I had.

"No one's saying you can't take care of Luke and Aneshya." Mr. Knoxville sighed and shook his head. "Danny isn't the right man for you. He's not a good father to those kids, and you know it better than me. You're just too kind to say so."

"Good or bad, he's still their father."

"He's an asshole," Luke muttered.

"Luke!"

"Well, he is, Mom. He's never here. He's always got… other things to take care of," Luke said, not meeting my gaze.

"Honey, your father's a busy man. He works so hard."

Luke snorted. "Yeah. Whatever." Luke looked away but didn't stray far from me or his sister.

"Luke." Knox addressed my son. "Get your sister into the truck. Start it if you need to. I'm gonna secure my gear, then we'll go to the hospital."

"Why won't you guys listen to me?" I would have screamed if I could have, but it came out more of a croak. "Danny is still in there somewhere!"

"He's not." Mr. Knoxville said, giving Knox a look I couldn't decipher.

"Come on, Mom," Luke said, taking my hand. "Aneshya says her chest hurts. We need to get to the hospital."

I hadn't really noticed but firefighters and police had finally turned up and were fighting the fire and blocking the place off. "Aren't you with the fire department or the ambulance service?" I looked up at Knox who shook his head.

"No." No other explanation. How the hell did he have all this equipment if he wasn't with fire or EMS? "Come on. We need to get going."

Mr. Knoxville was already in the truck with the kids. Surprisingly, he'd started the vehicle before climbing in the back with them. Luke was fussing over Aneshya while Mr. Knoxville sat staring out the window at the burning building.

"I'm sure he got out, Mr. Knoxville."

The older man sighed before turning to face me. "Evelyn, I'm not going to tell you again. You'll call me Grover. You call me mister anything again, I'll put you over my knee."

That got a giggle from Aneshya. I glanced back at her. She had covered her mouth with her hand, and Luke was trying to smother a grin.

"I suppose that means he told you." Knox had opened the door and was climbing inside the cab. "Put that oxygen mask back on…" He glanced back at my children before adding, "young lady."

That got another giggle from Aneshya. Knox, though as scary a man as I'd ever seen, glanced back at my daughter and… winked.

Sweet God…

With that gleam of humor and the upward twitch of his lips, Knox was… devastating. It was only a glimpse before his mask of indifference was back, but I knew without a doubt he'd shown that side of himself to the children to ease their fears. Aneshya wasn't immune to his charm, though Luke just sneered at him. That was my son. If it involved me or his sister, he wasn't prepared to take anything at face value.

By the time we pulled up outside the Emergency Room, I was crashing. Hard. The adrenaline had left my system, and I shivered uncontrollably. The big man beside me put his truck in park, then reached over and engulfed my hand in his much bigger one. "It's gonna be all right. You're safe."

The kindness in his eyes… The concern. He looked at me like I'd wanted Danny to look at me during our entire years-long relationship. Perhaps he had looked at me that way once. Maybe when the kids had been born. All I knew for sure was, if Knox kept looking at me this way, that look would be my undoing.